Essay by Eric Worrall
The committed are uniting into a big fluffy green ball of commitment.
A new economic superpower could spark a global retreat from fossil fuels
Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope
Tue 7 Apr 2026 20.00 AESTEighty-five countries have sought a roadmap to phasing out fossil fuels. A conference this month offers hope they could unite
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At the UN Cop30 climate summit last November, Saudi Arabia led a group of petrostates in vetoing calls to develop a “roadmap” to phase out fossil fuels globally; indeed, the words “fossil fuels” were not even mentioned in the final text agreed at Cop30. But the 85 countries on the losing end of that veto may soon turn the tables.
Many of those governments will gather in Colombia on 28-29 April for a conference to begin a global transition away from oil, gas and coal. Critically, the First International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels will not be governed by UN rules, which require consensus, but by majority rule, thus preventing a handful of countries from sabotaging progress as petrostates did at Cop30. …
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Combine the gross national products of those 85 countries and the total is $33.3tn. That’s larger than the $30.6tn GNP of the US, the world’s biggest economy, and considerably larger than the $19.4tn GNP of China, the world’s second-biggest economy.
…The scales could tilt even further if California joins the “coalition of the willing”. Adding California’s $4.1tn GDP to the $33.3tn of the 85 countries that backed a roadmap at Cop30 – and subtracting that $4.1tn from the rest of the US economy – yields an economic superpower worth $37.4tn, not far behind the $50tn combined GDP of the US and China.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/07/iran-war-oil-phase-out-fossil-fuels
If there is a credible roadmap to phase out fossil fuel, why not just do it, and prove by doing that green energy is cheaper? Why do greens need to assemble a “superpower” of 80 nations to convince each other they’re committed to climate action?
The fact is there is no credible path to Net Zero, so the Colombia conference is just political theatre – a pathetic attempt to replay the failed dumpster fire COP30 Belém climate conference. All the talk about trillions of dollars is a weak attempted put down of US economic success, and a lure to ensure delegates actually show up to their pointless conference.
The Iran War has exposed the fantasies of people who claim trillions of dollars spent on green subsidies have reduced our dependence on fossil fuel even a little.
