ONWARD TO THE PACIFIC: BUILDING A FUTURE BEYOND FOSSIL FUELS
Dear Friends,
We come back from New York, where the UN Secretary-General António Guterres brought renewed attention to the urgency of moving beyond fossil fuels through international cooperation and determination to achieve the urgent global just transition that the world requires. He also highlighted the need to ensure that the mining of the critical minerals does not deepen inequalities. The energy transition cannot mean more plundering, more exploitation, or simply replacing one form of extraction with another.
That same week, Tuvalu and Ireland shared their vision of the Second International Conference on a Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, to be hosted in the Pacific in July 2027. For this next chapter of the Santa Marta Process, they are inviting governments, Indigenous Peoples and civil society to join them in the Pacific, and participate through written submissions - more details on how to engage to be released soon.
What stays with me from New York, and from the past few weeks of work across the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative network, is the growing political leadership from Indigenous Peoples and the Global South in shaping what comes next. In New York, Indigenous Peoples came together and reaffirmed their collective work towards the development of a Fossil Fuel Treaty, building on the coordination initiated in Puyo, Ecuador, and the Indigenous Peoples’ autonomous space in Santa Marta.
Pacific governments reaffirmed their support for the Santa Marta Process, just weeks after calling for a fast, fair and financed phase-out of coal, oil and gas in Palau during the Pacific Island Forum. In early September, Kenya, with more than 90% of its electricity already coming from renewables, brought partners together in Nairobi to explore how a Fossil Fuel Treaty can support financing without deepening debt. And right now in Bangkok, governments and partners from across Asia are building regional momentum towards securing a negotiating mandate for a Treaty at the second conference in Tuvalu.
Together, we will continue working to strengthen support for a Fossil Fuel Treaty, and to ensure that one of the key outcomes of the Tuvalu conference is securing a negotiating mandate - a concrete next step toward the international instrument that so many governments and stakeholders called for in Santa Marta.
Abrazos,
Laura Veronica Muñoz Indigenous Peoples' Issues Coordinator for the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative
From Dialogue to Delivery: Tuvalu and Ireland Set Vision for Second Conference in the Pacific in July 2027
Building on the historic first conference in Santa Marta, the conference will bring together countries ready to turn dialogue into concrete action for a just and financed transition away from oil, gas and coal. The hosts invited inputs from governments, civil society, Indigenous Peoples and other sectors to help identify practical forms of international cooperation that can remove barriers to a fast and fair fossil fuel phase-out.
Kenya Advances Dialogue On A Just And Financed Transition from Fossil Fuels
On September 7, the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative and the State Department for Energy at the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum of Kenya brought together civil society, academia, interfaith institutions, trade unions, the private sector and government representatives in Nairobi. Participants explored how international cooperation, including the proposed Fossil Fuel Treaty, can support fair financing, renewable energy development and economic diversification without deepening debt burdens.
With more than 90% of its electricity grid already powered by renewables, Kenya is demonstrating what is possible. Building on its participation in Santa Marta, the meeting explored how the country can help shape a just and financed global transition that strengthens energy sovereignty, economic resilience and equitable development.
“1.5 To Stay Alive”: Pacific Leaders Call For A Fossil Fuel Phase-Out
Leaders gathered in Palau for the 55th Pacific Islands Forum, called for a rapid, fair and financed transition away from coal, oil and gas, an end to fossil fuel subsidies and a renewable energy future for the region.
In the same week, UNEP released its report ‘Limiting Overshoot’ showing that the world is set to cross the 1.5°C threshold in the coming years, reinforcing the urgent need to move away from fossil fuels and protect small island states from escalating climate impacts.
Pacific leaders’ demands underscore the need for a Fossil Fuel Treaty that can turn international cooperation into a practical pathway for countries facing threats they did little to cause. As Marshall Islands Climate Envoy Tina Stege reminded the world: “1.5 to stay alive is not a slogan, it’s a lifeline.”
Join us at Bangkok Climate Action Week
We’re bringing together governments, policymakers and advocates from across Asia and the Pacific to advance a just transition away from fossil fuels. Hear frontline perspectives, explore national transition roadmaps and build regional solidarity ahead of COP31 and the Second Conference in the Pacific in 2027. Explore our Bangkok Climate Action Week events
IN THE MEDIA
“On the need to phase out fossil fuels, Guterres effectively endorsed the process laid out in Brazil and boosted by the countries that gathered in Colombia earlier this year, supported by theFossil Fuel Treaty initiative. He called on "every government to adopt a national plan to transition away from fossil fuels." Those plans, he said, should include "clear timelines and protection for affected workers and communities."
“Conflict of interest rules aren’t an accusation that someone has done something wrong,” said Tzeporah Berman, founder and chair of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative. “They exist to protect an institution’s integrity by ensuring professional, financial or governmental interests that could reasonably be perceived to influence its work are disclosed and appropriately managed.”
SOCIALS WORTH SHARING
“A future beyond fossil fuels is in sight. The question is how.”
At the opening of the UNGA81, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for international cooperation for a just transition away from fossil fuels.
Help sustain this growing global momentum by making a donation to advance the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative’s work toward a fast, fair and financed transition from oil, gas and coal extraction. Thank you for helping us take the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative to the next level!
