GoKawiilA new climate coalition to steer the transition away from fossil fuels is good news, but it must avoid undermining existing global scientific structures.
Colombia’s environment minister Irene Vélez Torres (left) with her Netherlands counterpart Stientje van Veldhoven in Santa Marta, Colombia.Credit: Ivan Valencia/AP Photo/Alamy
An important international climate-change initiative was launched last week: more than 50 countries gathered in Santa Marta, Colombia, for the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels. Co-chaired by the governments of Colombia and the Netherlands, the initiative was born at least partly out of frustration with the official United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) process, in which all UN member states attempt to work together on their climate-action policies. The Santa Marta meeting’s organizers said that their meeting was a forum to discuss practical steps to move away from fossil fuels. It is intended to complement the COP process, not replace it.
‘Beyond COP’ climate summit puts scientists at the centre of the action
The new initiative’s strong focus on having scientists lay out a path towards a fossil-free future deserves much applause. But it must not inadvertently undermine the scientific structures that inform climate policies all over the world — most notably the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Many climate scientists are disheartened by the COPs’ slow pace in addressing climate change. Scientific consensus leaves little doubt that, without more urgent action, a less stable, less prosperous future awaits humanity. First held in 1995, the annual COP events have failed to prioritize the creation of a road map for a just and equitable plan to phase out fossil-fuel use. This is despite overwhelming evidence that the world must do this to stay within 2 ºC of warming above pre-industrial levels and avert the most devastating effects of climate change.
As Nature’s news team reported last week, the formation of a panel of researchers representing different subdisciplines of climate science was also announced at the Santa Marta meeting (Nature https://doi.org/q5jd; 2026). Among other things, the Science Panel for the Global Energy Transition (SPGET) will help countries with their plans to phase out fossil fuels and provide benchmarks for progress.
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It’s heartening to see climate scientists at the centre of the initiative, providing advice to the governments that convened the meeting. At the same time, it’s important that SPGET’s leadership states explicitly that its science advice will be within the IPCC consensus.
SPGET and the IPCC have different roles. The IPCC is the UN body that assesses the latest climate research — but it does not issue climate-action recommendations to countries. SPGET, by contrast, will use scientific expertise and the best available evidence to advise countries on how to meet their goals to wind down fossil-fuel use.
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