IN APRIL, REPRESENTATIVES from 57 nations met in Santa Marta, Colombia, shattering bureaucratic climate change gridlock to forge a “coalition of the willing“ for a just transition beyond the use of fossil fuels. Together, they moved past the question of if we should abandon fossil fuels; the gathering in Santa Marta focused entirely on how. Global climate leadership is being rewritten, forged through a rare convergence of political courage and multifaith prophetic witness.
For three decades, international climate diplomacy has been held back by fossil-fuel producing countries. The 2025 U.N. climate summit held in Belém, Brazil, ended in deep disappointment. Despite taking place inside the Amazon, the gathering’s final text backpedaled on addressing the key climate change driver: fossil fuels. A minority of nations blocked the global will to address the root cause of our crisis—the burning of fossil fuels that drives roughly 75% of global emissions. The final deal did not mention this primary cause of global warming.
In the face of this injustice, a holy disruption occurred. Leaders from Colombia and the Netherlands bypassed the blockers by convening the Santa Marta meeting, birthing a flexible, trust-building space rather than a rigid decision-making body. This new process unites a coalition of nations—representing one-third of the global GDP, 30% of energy demand, and 20% of fuel production—to ignite fresh momentum and creatively influence formal climate arenas, such as the U.N. climate conferences, on how to justly transition beyond fossil-fuel dependency.
From the Santa Marta summit emerged a front-runner coalition yielding tangible results: a permanent global science panel to analyze phaseout pathways; tools to address carbon-intensive trade and harmful subsidies; and some nations, such as France, debuted concrete transition roadmaps.
Diplomacy was transformed into a sacred space for active listening.
“For 30 years, the frameworks we have built have not been sufficient to stop this crisis and address fossil fuel expansion,” said Steven Victor, a representative from the Republic of Palau. “The market will not save us. Voluntary commitments will not save us. That is why we are here in Santa Marta—not to replace what exists, but to build something complementary.”
One reason for the success of the Santa Marta event was its commitment to horizontal multilateralism. Traditional summits favor state delegates while shutting out civil society. At Santa Marta, ministers sat beside Indigenous leaders, grassroots activists, climate scientists, and faith representatives. As modeled by the democratic preparatory meetings and a vibrant People’s Summit, diplomacy was transformed into a sacred space for active listening.
Faith communities have been critical and courageous in this process from the beginning. Prior to the Santa Marta meeting, several grassroots faith organizations began virtual gatherings. By April, that modest group had blossomed into a vibrant center of moral leadership. Recognizing this energy, the Colombian government opened four official summit spaces for faith representatives. In a profound testament to grassroots leadership, all four elected representatives were women: Catholics Sulman Hincapié and Madeleine Wörner, Presbyterian pastor Neddy Astudillo, and Anglican priest Emilie T. Smith.
These four carried into the deliberations the spiritual convictions reflected in a statement endorsed by a broad coalition of global Christian, ecumenical, interfaith, and spiritual organizations, “A Call from the Ecumenical, Interfaith and Eco-Spiritual Coalition of the Global South.” Faith leadership unites diverse voices across Latin America, Africa, and Asia, framing climate collapse as “a profound spiritual, ethical and existential crisis.” Signers commit “with active hope to redouble our efforts to educate our communities and lobby our leaders for the implementation of this [fossil-fuel non-proliferation] Treaty.”
The faith coalition made a moral appeal for a global, binding Fossil Fuel Treaty, demanding an immediate halt to new extraction, a rapid phaseout based on historical responsibility, and Global South debt cancellation to fund a just transition. As the Faith Network for Climate Justice noted, a truly just transition must place those who suffer the most at its center.
The Santa Marta declaration issues a clear mandate for global faith communities. As Panamanian Catholic Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta declared: “Church advocacy does not end here: it begins here.” Around the world, faith networks are lobbying political leaders to demand a rapid phaseout of fossil fuels and actively auditing their own financial investments and fossil fuel consumption to ensure that their institutional practices align with a just energy transition. Every household can do this too.
The next major gathering to implement a fossil-fuel phaseout will be cosponsored by Ireland and Tuvalu in early 2027. For Tuvalu, a small Pacific Island Nation, the partnership serves as a powerful global bridge. These partnerships model a key value of justice: Those on the frontlines of vulnerability carry the unique wisdom and leadership needed to guide our human family toward a healed, interconnected earth that is freed from fossil fuels.
The author attended the conference in Santa Marta, Colombia.
Lisa Sullivan is the senior program officer on integral ecology at the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.
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