The Legal Foundations for Fossil Fuel Phaseout: An Open Letter to the Co-Hosts and Participants of the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels Santa Marta, Colombia

This open letter, published by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), is addressed to the participants of the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia. It features a collection of statements from legal experts, academics, and policy advisors who argue that phasing out fossil fuels is a binding legal obligation under international law, rather than a matter of political discretion. The document emphasizes that current approvals for new fossil fuel projects and the continued use of subsidies violate international legal duties to prevent climate harm and protect human rights.

• Legal experts assert that phasing out fossil fuels is a binding legal obligation under multiple sources of international law, and that states are required to act to prevent climate harm by eliminating fossil fuel production and use.
• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has established that states have a legal duty to combat dangerous climate change through good faith international cooperation and the prevention of significant harm, regardless of whether they participate in specific climate treaties.
• Various international judicial bodies have reinforced the legal necessity of a fossil fuel phaseout, including the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding the climate emergency, the European Court of Human Rights, and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which set a "stringent" due diligence standard.
• The document argues that continuing to approve new oil, gas, and coal projects—particularly by wealthy nations—violates international law and contradicts states' climate, human rights, and environmental obligations.
• There is a call for a just transition that is decolonial and adequately financed, specifically noting that Africa cannot be asked to forgo development to meet a global agenda shaped by nations that industrialized using fossil fuels.
• The letter highlights that Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms should not be permitted to act as barriers to climate action or make the fulfillment of international legal duties prohibitively expensive for governments.
• Some experts suggest that because the UNFCCC process has failed to achieve transformation through consensus due to economic interests, states should establish a parallel treaty regime with majority voting rules.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). The Legal Foundations for Fossil Fuel Phaseout: An Open Letter to the Co-Hosts and Participants of the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels Santa Marta, Colombia. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/fossil_fuel_phaseout_legal_letter_santa_marta_QUOTES.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. The Legal Foundations for Fossil Fuel Phaseout: An Open Letter to the Co-Hosts and Participants of the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels Santa Marta, Colombia. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/fossil_fuel_phaseout_legal_letter_santa_marta_QUOTES.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=The Legal Foundations for Fossil Fuel Phaseout: An Open Letter to the Co-Hosts and Participants of the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels Santa Marta, Colombia |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/fossil_fuel_phaseout_legal_letter_santa_marta_QUOTES.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndlegal, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{The Legal Foundations for Fossil Fuel Phaseout: An Open Letter to the Co-Hosts and Participants of the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels Santa Marta, Colombia}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/fossil_fuel_phaseout_legal_letter_santa_marta_QUOTES.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }