Author: Valeria Peláez Cardona, Programme Manager for Gender & Climate at WECF 

In a geopolitical context where the rollback of rights is becoming the norm, where ‘petromasculinity’ prevails, and where war is becoming commonplace (2025 has been the year with the most active armed conflicts since the Second World War), the participation of feminists in shaping the transition away from fossil fuels is more necessary than ever.  

We, as feminists, will therefore be present at the first “Transition Away from Fossil Fuels” Conference in Santa Marta to discuss solutions for a just transition. Co-hosted by the Colombian and the Dutch governments from 27 to 29 April, the event will bring together more than 50 representatives from governments and civil society. 

This moment marks a milestone in climate action, as it is the first intergovernmental forum dedicated specifically to debating solutions for a just transition outside the conventional framework of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

 The discussion on a just transition must start from the understanding that the climate and environmental crises generated by fossil fuels are not gender-neutral and that, unless we challenge the underlying economic model, based primarily on dependence on fossil fuels, we run the grave risk of reproducing the same inequalities against women and gender-diverse people.  

Fossil Fuels as a System of Violence 

The production of fossil fuels is so deeply entrenched in a system of exploitation, colonialism and destruction that its impacts extend far beyond climate change. From exploration to combustion, fossil fuels leave a trail of death and destruction that undermines the rights of women, migrants, indigenous peoples and marginalised communities. The demand for a just transition towards a fossil-fuel-free future is therefore a call for care and peace with nature to prevail, and for reparations for those who have historically been harmed by an extractive industry. The conference in Santa Marta is crucial for demanding greater national and international ambition regarding the phasing out of fossil fuels, but also for securing more and better commitments to limit the influence of the fossil fuel industries on climate, social and environmental policies, and for calling for accountability measures to prevent fossil fuels and critical minerals from being channelled into the arms industry.  

Gender Just Climate Solutions as the Backbone of the Transition 

Those most affected by the climate and environmental crisis caused by fossil fuels have been historically marginalised local communities; yet these communities have consistently demonstrated their collective power to implement climate solutions that are gender-just and intersectional. The transition must necessarily involve strengthening and scaling up gender just climate solutions through grants rather than more debt, and through capacity-building and technology transfer that is context-specific and based on the needs of those communities. 

Clean Energy, Same Violence? The Risks of a Transition Without Consent 

The transition to be discussed in Santa Marta cannot be a reloaded version of the current extractivist and colonial fossil fuel model. The exploitation of critical minerals and water for ‘clean’ energy and artificial intelligence could reproduce exactly the same violence and inequalities in the absence of free, prior, and informed consent from the communities inhabiting these territories and enforceable binding mechanisms in place. Justice cannot be a mere decorative adjective within the transition; on the contrary, it must be a prerequisite, so that communities in the Global South do not become trapped in new or inherited debts, and exploitation patterns.  

The Feminist Future We Want to Build in Santa Marta 

Santa Marta presents an unprecedented opportunity for countries to begin implementing real, measurable and quantifiable solutions. From a feminist perspective, the conference can only be deemed a success if its outcomes incorporate binding language on gender justice, rather than merely a symbolic mention. Feminists will not arrive in Santa Marta to ask for permission to speak but rather to ensure that the discussion around fossil fuels is transformed. The work of dismantling fossil fuel dependence must go hand in hand with dismantling the patriarchal, colonial and extractivist systems that sustain it. Anything less is just a transition. 

About the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) 
The lead of the GJCS program, a coalition of 64 NGOs established in 2009, with official observer status since 2011. Demanding full realization of women’s rights, gender justice, and environmental protection throughout all UNFCCC processes and Agenda 2030.