More than 50 countries including Germany, the UK, Brazil, Nigeria and Australia are due to gather in Colombia this week for the first international meeting dedicated to phasing out fossil fuels, despite the absence of the world’s top three carbon-emitting nations.
Some officials attending the talks, taking place against the backdrop of the energy crisis driven by the Middle East war, say they want to discuss trade deals that would give preferential treatment to those taking action to end the use of fossil fuels and craft national roadmaps guiding a shift away from oil, gas and coal use.
Irene Veléz Torres, environment minister of Colombia, which is co-hosting the event with the Netherlands, said the talks would be “difficult”, but the energy crisis had made them more relevant.