Santa Marta · Colombia · April 2026
Santa Marta
The First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels brought 57 countries to Santa Marta, Colombia, from 24 to 29 April 2026. ERI led the planning and coordination of its scientific chapter – the Academic Dialogue.
The conference
From commitment to pathways.
Co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, the conference was the first international meeting dedicated entirely to the transition away from fossil fuels. Governments, subnational authorities, Indigenous peoples, civil society, youth and science came together to turn the commitment into concrete pathways.
Countries agreed to continue the work in three areas – national and regional transition roadmaps, reform of financial systems, and fossil-fuel-free trade – supported by a new scientific panel.
- 24–29 April 2026
- 57 countries
- Colombia & the Netherlands
- Science pre-conference
Our role
The Academic Dialogue.
Working bottom-up with researchers across disciplines and regions, ERI assembled the science network behind Santa Marta and turned its work into a joint synthesis.
01 · Network
Assembling the science
Using ERI’s participatory systems-mapping approach, we identified the expertise needed, brought together the science team and structured the work into twelve Action Insight groups.
02 · Dialogue
Science pre-conference
ERI organised the scientific pre-conference and coordinated the thematic workstreams and the dialogue across participating experts and institutions.
03 · Synthesis
12 Action Insights
The process resulted in the Santa Marta Action Repertoire (SMART): twelve Action Insights with actors and recommendations for the transition away from fossil fuels.
Reports
Publications from the process.
Report · Zenodo · 2026
Santa Marta Action Repertoire (SMART) – Summary
The synthesis of the Academic Dialogue: twelve Action Insights in three areas – overcoming economic dependence, transforming supply and demand, and advancing international cooperation and climate diplomacy.
Working documents · PDF · 2026
SMART – Additional information on the 12 Action Insights
Further details and background information from the twelve Action Insight groups: system outcomes, lock-ins, intervention points and literature. Living working documents.
Video
The conference on film.
Official videos by Colombia’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MinAmbiente). Main film: “Transición Energética: Primera Conferencia Mundial en Santa Marta”.
What comes next
Pacific, July 2027.
The Second Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels will be co-hosted by Tuvalu and Ireland and take place in the Pacific in July 2027 – moving from pathways to delivery. ERI carries the Santa Marta science process forward into its preparation.
Santa Marta also showed that the academic chapter must become more inclusive. With the Do It Better Initiative, we are developing guidelines for inclusive and equitable participation at the 2027 academic chapter – join the workshops on 21/22 October 2026.