Energy Embargo Now: Climate Justice Flotilla stands in solidarity and demands immediate action after Santa Marta Declaration

We stand in solidarity with Palestine and Global Sumud Flotilla members  kidnapped by the zionist entity and call participants of the First Conference on Transitioning Away to enact an energy embargo and end complicity

April 30, 2026    

SANTA MARTA, COLOMBIA, – The Climate Justice Flotilla’s notes note with regret that the Co-host takeaways from the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, the conference Final Document, makes no mention of limiting harmful fossil fuel uses. As 860 civilians from 22 Global Sumud Flotilla vessels are kidnapped in international waters by Israeli warships, we must be firm and clear: not a single drop of oil must reach the shores of Israel.

We strongly support the Transitioning Away process, including the next conference in Tuvalu, and we believe that any credible Fossil Fuel Treaty should include an energy embargo. To end complicity by ceasing fossil fuel transfers that materially sustain genocide, war crimes, illegal occupation, or other grave violations of international humanitarian law is a necessary condition to enact coherent project for a global just transition away from fossil fuels.

By blocking Drummond Port in Santa Marta, we affirmed that  Impunity must come to an end and the empire who sustains this must be boycotted. A Global Just Transition must address historical inequalities and harm: secure reparations, restore economic sovereignty, reduce excessive energy use in the Global North, and build community-led energy systems from Gaza to Santa Marta, from Cuba to the wider Caribbean.

For this reason we believe that other countries should follow Colombia’s example and stop any fossil fuel export that could support genocide. At the same time, a Fossil Fuel Treaty can play a central role in building the enforcing architecture that makes embargoes real: a global supply-chain transparency instrument with public shipment tracking, that would provide clear information on the destination of fossil fuels. The 56 participant countries could reach the critical mass that is necessary to make an energy embargo impactful.

Together we can support life and humanity in the middle of this tempest.

Paolo Destilo, Dutch climate justice activist and steering committee member of Climate Justice Flotilla, said: “Fossil fuels are being routed, traded, insured, and weaponized through systems of war, occupation, and colonial power. Climate governance does not regulate the production, trade, insurance, refining, and supply chains that continue to funnel fossil fuels to genocide, colonial war, and military occupation. An energy embargo, in which states refuse to aid or assist grave internationally wrongful acts, is key for the credibility of a Fossil Fuel Treaty in the current scenario.”