Australia has joined a Colombian government initiative to plan a phase out of oil, gas and coal marking the strongest statement the government has made regarding the future of fossil fuels.
Irene Vélez Torres, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia announced the Colombia Declaration on Friday morning in Belém, Brazil to a standing ovation and rapturous applause.
“We are not asking for a lengthy document. We are not asking for a lengthy discussion,” she said. “We believe there is a consensus rising from the people of the world.
“As we governments are responsible for the decisions that will impact future generations, we have a moral responsibility to improve the people’s demand for Climate Justice.”
Australia was one among 24 founding countries to sign the declaration that included fossil fuel producer Mexico and The Netherlands, where global oil giant Shell was founded.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen was not present on stage during the announcement, held just before a major meeting of governments as part of the COP process due to a fire the day before, but David Higgins, the Australian head of delegation was sent in his place.
No Australian official or representative made a statement following the announcement.
The Colombian initiative sits outside the formal COP31 process where talk of a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels stalled overnight with the release of a draft text that stripped out any mention of the commitment at the eleventh hour of the process.
Dozens of countries have responded by threatening to block any agreement that did not include a commitment to phase out fossil fuels, a call that was agreed to at COP28 in Dubai in 2023, and has been a fundamental goal of the COP process since the creation of the UNFCCC.
In the end, more than 80 other countries to sign up to the Belém Declaration, which calls for a roadmap to end the world’s use of fuels like coal and gas. It was separate to the final COP30 statement.
Greenpeace Chief Executive David Ritter, who attended the conference in the city of Belém, said the deal presented a “great new hope”.
Juan Carlos Monterrey, Climate Envoy for Panama, had earlier criticised the Brazilian COP Presidency for the last minute change to drop the fossil fuel declaration from the office text.
“It fails the Amazon, it fails science, it fails justice, and it fails the people we’re here to represent. It simply cannot be recognised,” Carlos said. “Failing to name the causes of the climate crisis is not compromised. It’s denial. It’s criminal.”
Colombia’s initiative follows a separate campaign by Pacific countries to push for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty launched in 2020. Vanuatu and Tuvalu were the first to endorse the proposal and both countries are signatories to the Colombia Declaration.
Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s Minister of Climate Change, said the cause of climate change was fossil fuels and that it was necessary to act to address this.
“We came here to Belem to see the UNFCCC come up with a clear action plan for transitioning away from fossil fuels,” he said. “On this final day, unfortunately, we do not have that yet. We need to build a group of states that will make that happen”
The creation of the group represents a challenge to the COP process where major fossil fuel producing countries such as Russia and Saudi Arabia have sought to block discussion or commitment to working through how to get the world off fossil fuels.
Torres later told reporters that the world expected a “substantial result” in Belém and that the initiative was needed because the COP process itself was being used to stop action.
“I think what the problem is right now is the methodology of consensus, because this consensus has turned into veto,” Torres said. “So the most ambitious agenda has been eliminated. Veto is what is happening here.”
As a founding member of the group, Australia will automatically be invited to its first meeting in the Colombian city of Santa Marta next year which will be co-hosted between Colombia and the Netherlands.
Australia was a late signatory to the declaration despite having raised objections in early negotiations around the language of the final declaration along with Switzerland and Canada – both of which did not sign.
It is understood Australian negotiators were concerned about language referring to the recent ICJ advisory opinion on the obligations of states in respect of climate change, specifically around references to fossil fuel licensing and subsidies.
References to fossil fuel licencing and subsidies remain in other parts of the final text but were removed from paragraphs concerning the ICJ opinion.
An earlier draft version of the paragraph stated: “We welcome the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice as a milestone for advancing the transition away from fossil fuels, which notes that States need to take appropriate action to protect the climate system from greenhouse gas emissions, including by addressing fossil fuel production, consumption, licensing and subsidies.”
Similar language was used in the ICJ advisory opinion itself but was absent from the final declaration which only states: “We welcome the Advisory Opinion (AO) on the obligations of states in respect of climate change from the International Court of Justice (ICJ).”
Renew Economy contacted Australian and Colombian government officials but did not receive a response.
The ICJ opinion is a sore spot for Australia, which argued before the court that the only obligations any country had to address climate change were contained within the Paris Agreement – an argument that was categorically thrown out by the judges.
The decision means Australia, which has positioned itself as a defender of multilateralism, may be held liable in international law for its ongoing expansion of gas and coal production. According to a recent Oil Change International Report, Australia increased its fossil fuel production by 77% over the last ten years, more than the US, Canada or Norway. China, meanwhile, is building 74% of all renewable projects, according to a separate report.
Still, Thom Woodroofe, Senior International Fellow at the Smart Energy Council in Australia and a former climate diplomat, welcomed the decision as the strongest move Australia has made on the issue to date.
“This is a sliding doors moment and the strongest statement Australia has ever made on phasing out fossil fuels, which requires rapidly scaling up renewable energy,” he said.
