TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Colombia and the Netherlands have agreed to jointly host the first international conference on a fair transition from fossil fuels next year, as drama unfolded at COP 30. Colombian Minister of Environment Irene Vlez Torres and Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Climate Policy Sophie Hermans announced this during a press conference in Belm, Brazil.
Colombia and the Netherlands' stance has been praised by environmental activists who were disappointed by the second Global Mutiro decision text released on Friday morning, November 21, 2025, as the COP 30 negotiations were nearing their end. The text, called 'Collective Efforts,' did not mention fossil fuels at all.
This development dashed hopes for a more concrete roadmap from COP 30 to end the fossil fuel era. The initiative to end the use of fuel that emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere had started at COP 28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, but was not continued at COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
According to Irene, the conference on the fair transition from fossil fuels will take place on April 28-29, 2026 in the port city of Santa Marta, Colombia, despite Colombia being the fifth largest coal exporter in the world. Pacific countries have also committed to holding follow-up meetings in the region to advance its results.
Climate policy expert at Greenpeace International, Tracy Carty, said that the 2035 emission target is very off track, and the Global Mutiro text is empty as it does not do much to bridge the gap in 1.5 degrees Celsius ambition or push countries to accelerate action. According to her, there is no option but for countries to reject it and send the text back to the presidency for revision.
"Hope emerged from the initial roadmap proposal to end deforestation and fossil fuels, but this roadmap has disappeared and we are back to feeling lost without a map towards 1.5 degrees Celsius and groping in the dark while time continues to pass," Tracy said in a written statement on Saturday, November 22, 2025.
Rebecca Newsom, a climate finance policy expert at Greenpeace International, added that funding also suffered in the latest text. The proposal to double adaptation funding and establish a climate finance work program is not strong enough.
Indonesia Being Regretted, Indonesia Responses
Previously, 83 countries declared a joint agreement to phase out fossil energy. However, from the beginning, Indonesia's delegation was not involved in it. "The Indonesian delegation was busy trading emission permits or in other words, selling carbon," said Coordinator of the Secretariat of the People's Alliance for Climate Justice, Torry Kuswardono.
He reminded that Indonesia is a vulnerable archipelagic state. "Delaying the reduction of emissions from fossil energy means we are only prolonging the suffering of vulnerable groups in the Indonesian archipelago."
Chair of the Political Team for the Global Forest Solutions Campaign of Greenpeace, Rayhan Dudayev, also regretted Indonesia's absence in the initiative to promote climate action synergy and biodiversity protection. However, he emphasized that Indonesia is the country with the third largest rainforest in the world.
"The Indonesian government, despite boasting recognition of 1.4 million hectares of customary forests domestically, also did not participate in pushing for the strengthening of indigenous community rights protection in the Mutiro text," said Ryhan.
Deputy of Climate Change Control and Carbon Value Governance at the Environmental Control Agency (BPLH) Ary Sudijanto argued that Indonesia's position in the Global Mutiro text focused on consistency with the agreements at previous conferences. This is especially related to the commitment of all countries to adhere to the global roadmap for transitioning away from fossil fuels.
"Indonesia still needs time before it can implement this gradual reduction in fossil fuels, consistent with the decision points in CMA 5 that developing countries are given leeway regarding this gradual reduction," he said.
Indonesia's consistent stance on the text is regrettable, considering the two previous conferences - in the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan, both of which are fossil energy exporting countries - and the conferences were dominated by a very strong pro-fossil energy industry lobbyist.
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