As leaders prepare to gather in Santa Marta, Colombia to chart a course away from fossil fuels, the world is being reminded, again, of the cost of coal, oil and gas dependence.

The war on Iran has sent shockwaves through global energy markets. Disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has caused oil and gas prices to surge, and the effects are sparking chaos across the world: higher transport costs, rising food prices, and more expensive heating and electricity. For millions of families already challenged with a prolonged cost-of-living crisis, this is another hit they can ill afford.

Even if the conflict ends tomorrow, the environmental damage will linger and because complex oil and gas infrastructure could take years to repair, household energy costs won’t fall immediately. This is a structural flaw of the fossil fuel system that political leaders need to face.

Fossil fuels are traded globally, but are controlled by a small number of states or corporations with the power to shape supply and price. When conflict erupts, when infrastructure is damaged, or when geopolitical tensions rise, the entire system shudders. The consequences are felt far beyond the point of conflict, landing hardest on households and communities.

Oil and gas corporations benefit from this instability and post enormous wartime profits, while families pay more for essentials like transport, food and energy. 

This is happening in addition to another growing cost: the toll of climate-driven extreme weather, where communities are already paying for fossil fuel dependence through damaged homes and disrupted livelihoods. Now they are paying again through higher energy prices.

Santa Marta can unlock renewable energy transition

This is why Santa Marta is vital. It is the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels and will bring together a broad coalition of committed countries ready to move beyond fossil fuels and can be a key turning point towards a clean energy future.

More than 50 countries are set to attend, reinforcing what emerged at last year’s UN climate talks (COP30) in Belem, Brazil: many governments are willing to move ahead on the transition and leave behind those clinging to fossil fuels. 

But this shift  is not just about cutting emissions. It is about building energy systems that are stable, affordable and resistant to geopolitical shocks.

Renewable energy is a game changer and the future will be increasingly powered by cheap, abundant clean energy, coupled with electrification. Wind and solar are produced locally, and do not rely on shipping routes that can be blocked. They are not priced on volatile global markets. And once built, they provide energy at predictable and increasingly low cost.

Electrification backed by renewables, reduces dependence on imported fuels, stabilises prices and strengthens energy sovereignty. In a world defined by uncertainty, that is not just a climate solution, but an economic and security strategy.

Activists urge governments to end fossil fuels 

In the lead-up to Santa Marta, campaigners and communities have been mobilising around the world to demand an end to fossil fuel dependence and a just transition to renewable energy.

In Madrid, Greenpeace Spain activists called on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to lead a roadmap to end Spain’s reliance on petrostates, and called out US President Donald Trump, with a giant image of president Trump spewing oil into a fountain, staining the water black. The action was accompanied with a banner that said:  ”NO OIL, NO WAR” making the message crystal clear.

In Australia, Greenpeace Australia Pacific activists displayed a banner in front of Sydney’s iconic Opera House, carrying the message “Oil and gas fuel war, renewables power peace”.

The striking visual activities are both underpinned by the same insight: fossil fuels are tied to conflict, volatility and rising costs. Renewable energy offers a path away from all three.

Greenpeace Nordic and partner organisations held a pre-conference gathering in Norway, bringing together civil society voices to push for stronger commitments and clearer timelines ahead of the Santa Marta conference.

And the activities and demonstrations won’t end there. From Europe to the Pacific, people are aligning around a shared goal to phase out fossil fuels and replace them with systems that are cleaner, fairer and more secure.

That demand is increasingly backed by evidence and lived experience. 

Governments heading to Santa Marta face a choice: They can continue dealing with the fallout of a system punctuated by crises, or they can start phasing out fossil fuels in a fair, deliberate, funded and coordinated way.

What governments must do to enable a just transition

That means setting concrete and ambitious timelines to end fossil fuel extraction and use, removing barriers to renewable energy deployment, while preventing further extractivism and petrochemical expansion, and ensuring the rights and voices of affected workers, communities and countries are safeguarded in the process.

It also means holding polluters to account. Coal, oil and gas corporations have profited from a system that drives climate breakdown and economic instability. The costs of that system should be borne by them, not the public. 

Santa Marta is not the end stage, but must be the start of change towards an energy system that is cheaper for households, is climate friendly, safer for communities and works to end the world’s dependence on unstable and disrupted fossil fuel supply chains.

The alternative is tried and tested. Renewable energy systems are already delivering cheaper, more stable and more secure power in the countries that are investing in them.

The direction is clear. The only question is how quickly governments are prepared to move.

Martin Zavan is a freelance communications strategist at Greenpeace International, based in Sydney, Australia.

Madrid, Spain – Greenpeace Spain activists displayed a giant image of US President Trump vomiting oil alongside a banner in Madrid that read “NO OIL, NO WAR” to demand an urgent phase-out of fossil fuels amid the current energy supply crisis.

The banner was displayed ahead of the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia on April 24-29. More than 50 governments will meet in Santa Marta to discuss how to ​​implement the transition away from fossil fuels amid the current global energy shock sparked by the war on Iran. 

Pedro Zorrilla Miras, Climate and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace Spain said: “We are saying no to oil and war! Current conflicts prove that moving away from fossil fuels is an urgent necessity for security, wellbeing and the climate. Instead of war, ending our reliance on fossil fuels is our best possible defence. 

“That is why governments must show leadership at the Santa Marta conference to accelerate a just transition away from fossil fuels. We are calling for clear and ambitious action from Spain that matches its rhetoric and embraces pathways that show Spain can achieve a 99 percent decarbonisation rate by 2040.”[1]  

Fossil fuel dependence is exposing countries to volatile global markets, where conflict, disruption and political tensions rapidly translate into higher energy, food and transport prices. The Santa Marta summit is therefore a key political moment for leaders to progress the delivery of energy systems that are affordable, stable and resilient in an increasingly uncertain world.

Tracy Carty, Climate Politics Expert at Greenpeace International said: “In the midst of a fossil fuel driven energy crisis, the Santa Marta meeting offers light on the horizon. Rather than prolonging exposure to volatile and conflict-prone fossil fuels, governments must use this moment to accelerate a just transition to renewable energy that protects people from price shocks and builds long-term stability. 

“The coalition of committed states coming together in Santa Marta has the potential to spark bolder national action and international cooperation. That requires the development of national roadmaps for transitioning away from fossil fuels, including ambitious renewable energy targets, and to scale up predictable, accessible and affordable climate finance to support developing countries in delivering a just transition.”[2]

Activists have been mobilising globally ahead of the conference. In Australia, Greenpeace Australia Pacific activists displayed a banner in front of Sydney’s iconic Opera House, carrying the message “Oil and gas fuel war, renewables power peace”. Other events are planned in coming days culminating with the arrival of government representatives in Santa Marta. 

In Vanuatu last week, ministers from Pacific island states Tuvalu, Samoa, Fiji, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Vanuatu met in Port Fila and issued a new landmark declaration: The Tassiriki Call for a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific. Leaders cited the energy crisis as evidence of the dangers of fossil fuel dependence.[3]

Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific said: “Never before has the need to end the fossil fuel chokehold been so abundantly clear, amid the current energy crisis, as our Pacific communities again suffer the consequences of a global economy hooked on coal, oil and gas.

“Urgent action to transition away from fossil fuels is fundamental to limiting warming to 1.5°C – a survival line for Pacific communities. The phase out of fossil fuels depends on determined international cooperation, particularly when it comes to unlocking the finance needed to support countries and communities with implementing solutions.”

ENDS

Photos in the Greenpeace Media Library 

Notes:
[1] Greenpeace Spain and Portugal report: Energy for a Better Life: a sufficient, efficient and 100% renewable model for the Iberian Peninsula

[2] A Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels: Policy Briefing

[3] The Tassiriki Call for a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific.

 
Contact:

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org

Long before environmental protection became a global effort, Indigenous Peoples, local and coastal communities already cared for the Earth. Whether by the ocean or deep in the forests, their ways of life have always been shaped by a deep connection to their territories, which they have defended for generations.

Across regions, those communities have been fighting to protect their homes, lives and livelihoods from industries plundering nature for profits, such as illegal gold mining in the Amazon and nickel mining in Indonesia, industrial fishmeal and fish-oil plants draining coastal waters in Senegal and industrial megaprojects threatening coastal livelihoods in Thailand. No matter the geography, a common reality emerges: those least responsible for the crisis are on the frontlines of confronting it. In doing so, they are not only protecting their territories, but safeguarding the ecosystems that sustain life on Earth, often at great personal risk. 

From the Amazon to the Congo Basin to Thailand, meet five Earth Defenders whose stories of resistance and close relationship with their homes and community serve as inspiration to join the movement to protect the planet. 

Valentin Engobo, Leader of the village of Lokolama in the Congo Basin

Meet Valentin Engobo, an Indigenous leader in the community of Lokolama, deep within the equatorial forests of the Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a territory shaped by generations of Indigenous knowledge, where the Tshwa people have long lived in close relationship with the forest and its peatlands. A representative of his people and president of the Association of Pygmy Peasants of Lokolama (APPL), Valentin has dedicated his life to defending these lands. Yet, as he describes, “we are still seen as ‘sub-citizens,’ obstacles to development, shadows in the trees,” while decisions about their territories continue to be made without them.

Lokolama sits at the heart of one of the world’s largest tropical peatland complexes, a vast carbon sink storing the equivalent of three years of global emissions. Working alongside scientists, Valentin and his community helped bring global attention to this ecosystem and its importance for the climate. “It is not only our culture that is under threat. It is also your future,” he warns. Through community-led forest management, advocacy and international action – including challenging harmful policies imposed on their lands – he continues a struggle rooted in generations of resistance, defending both the rights of his people and ecosystems that are critical to the future of the planet.

Diaba Diop, Leader of artisanal fishing communities in Senegal

Diaba Diop embodies the resilience of fishing communities in Senegal. As head of the Network of Artisanal Fisherwomen in Senegal (REFEPAS), she represents thousands of women processors, fishmongers and small-scale traders, fighting for recognition of their work and their role in the local economy and food security.

She also advocates for the social and professional rights of women in the sector, pushing for professional identification, better organisation and access to social protection. Her work seeks to move these workers out of informality and ensure dignity, security and institutional recognition.

A powerful ocean defender, Diaba Diop promotes sustainable fisheries and warns of the impacts of overexploitation. She stands on the front line against industrial fishing vessels that deplete fish stocks and threaten her community’s livelihoods, calling for fairer practices. She also mobilises against fishmeal and fish oil factories that divert fish from local consumption to animal feed abroad, undermining women’s incomes and local food security. Together with the women she represents, Diaba continues to defend both marine resources and the future of her community.

Maria Socorro, Community Leader from the Médio Juruá region, Brazilian Amazon

“The Amazon is my home, my country, where I live happily,” says Maria Socorro, a ribeirinha (riverside community member) born and raised between the forest and the river. She has lived for over 40 years in the Roque community, in the Médio Juruá region in the Amazon, building her life in close relationship with the forest, working with the collection of andiroba seeds, a practice rooted in both livelihood and care for the territory. “This tree was already here when I arrived,” she says, pointing to one of the andiroba trees she has harvested for years. “It has given so much”. 

Each year, during the harvest season, Maria Socorro and other women from the community gather in the forest, often collecting more than 50 cans of seeds together. The work is collective, marked not only by effort but by moments of joy – “we sing, we laugh, we go together,” she recalls – and by a deep understanding of the forest’s rhythms. The seeds are used to produce oil for medicines, soap and cosmetics, generating income that sustains families throughout the year. For Maria Socorro, protecting the forest is inseparable from survival: “If you cut it down, it’s over. The forest ends, and so does our production.”

Her story is part of a broader transformation in the Médio Juruá region, where communities have organised over the years to defend their territories and build sustainable economies rooted in standing forests. Today, Maria Socorro is one of many women whose daily work helps sustain this model – one that keeps the forest alive while securing dignified livelihoods.

Khairiyah Rahmanyah, “Daughter of the Chana Sea” and youth activist from Chana, Thailand

Khairiyah Rahmanyah rose to national prominence when she took her village’s fight from the shores of Chana to the gates of Government House in Bangkok. A fisherman’s daughter from a small village in the Chana district, she has dedicated her young adulthood to protecting her seaside hometown from a massive industrial megaproject. This development threatens to transform over 26 square kilometres of pristine coastline into a hub for heavy industry and petrochemical plants, a move Khairiyah warns would destroy the marine ecosystems and the traditional livelihoods of her community.

Determined to save her home, Khairiyah gained national attention after traveling to Bangkok to petition the Prime Minister and camping out in front of government buildings to demand transparent public hearings. The event gained mass media and social media attention and trended on Thai Twitter as #SAVECHANA. Despite facing surveillance and intimidation, she continued to mobilise her community and joined Greenpeace during the Ocean Justice ship tour in 2024. She continues to challenge the narrative that GDP growth from industrial estates outweighs the declining quality of life seen in other industrial hubs. Currently, Khairiyah, the Chana community in Songkhla province, and Greenpeace are calling for coastal communities to have the right to determine the direction of development in their own homelands.

Her advocacy is rooted in a deep connection to the ocean, where she fights to ensure that future generations can still see dolphins from their doorsteps, grow in a healthy environment and maintain the cultural heritage of Thailand’s coastal villages.

Rifka Kmesrar, Indigenous youth leader from West Papua, Indonesia

From Indonesia, meet Rifka Kmesrar, an Indigenous youth leader from Haha Village, in the Seremuk Subdistrict of South Sorong Regency, in West Papua. This is a region of dense tropical forests and rich biodiversity, where Indigenous communities have long depended on their ancestral lands and natural resources for their livelihoods, culture and identity. As a young leader of the Tival Community, Rifka represents a new generation that has grown up witnessing the ongoing struggle of their parents to defend their territories from external pressures. “We have seen our parents fight for generations,” she says, “and we feel it is our responsibility to continue that work.”

Together with other Indigenous youth, Rifka is working to protect both her community’s culture and its food systems, ensuring that traditional knowledge and local resources are not displaced by logging, palm oil expansion and other threats. Their efforts include organising collectively, strengthening cultural practices and mapping the boundaries of their customary territories to prevent land grabbing and secure formal recognition. In a context where forests are increasingly threatened, her leadership reflects a broader movement of Indigenous youth rising to defend their lands, safeguard their future and keep their connection to the territory alive.

Acting locally for global Impact

These stories are not isolated. Research shows that while Indigenous Peoples make up 6% of the global population, they manage over 25% of the world’s land surface and are the primary stewards of some of the most biodiverse and intact ecosystems on Earth. Their territories regulate the climate, support livelihoods and sustain ecosystems far beyond their boundaries. Still, their leadership is too often overlooked in decisions about conservation and climate action.

2026 is a decisive year for nature. Governments are now under growing pressure to turn global commitments into real action, including the pledge made under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to protect at least 30% of the planet by 2030. What happens next will determine not just how much of the planet is protected, but how that protection is defined, and who it serves.

Ensuring that communities have the recognition, rights and direct access to resources they need is key to translating global promises into lasting protection on land and in the water.

Jaqueline Sordi is the Communications and Engagement Lead for the Tropical Forests campaign at Greenpeace International.

The US-Israel war on Iran is shattering lives across Iran and the wider region. Civilians pay first and hardest — through fear, displacement, destroyed infrastructure, and deepening environmental harm. Greenpeace calls for an immediate end to the violence and a return to diplomacy. As we push for that, we also need to understand the systems that keep the conflict running.

Bottled water. Baby formula. Food. Shoes. Lipstick. The cost of everyday goods is spiking as a result of the conflict in Iran. This isn’t a coincidence; it’s oil. It’s plastic. 

When war disrupts oil, it doesn’t just hit us at the pump. It hits the grocery aisle, the pharmacy, and the toy store. Because nearly everything we buy, from shampoo to strawberries, is made from petrochemicals, wrapped in plastic, or both. 

The crisis in Iran reveals a painful truth: our supply chain has a plastics problem, and we’ll keep paying for it until we break free.

Plastics run on oil

Ninety-nine percent of plastic is made from fossil fuels. Crude oil is refined into petrochemicals like naphtha, cracked into ethylene and propylene, and polymerised into the resins that become the bottle in your hand, the bag carrying your chips, and the fabric in your shirt. Plastic isn’t just dependent on oil. Plastic is oil. 

Every bottle, bag, and sneaker runs on the same supply chain and the same geopolitical tensions.

The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas flows, according to IEA, is the passageway for reported US $20 to US $25 billion worth of petrochemical products every year. When that flow is disrupted, the building blocks of plastic become scarce. Prices climb. And supply chains shudder.

Prices for plastic resins have already surged by more than 30% in the past month.

Higher plastic costs ripple quickly through to consumers, compounding across every element of a product, from the materials inside to the packaging wrapped around it.

Already, the beauty industry is warning of price increases, and toymakers are sounding the alarm about Christmas as they reportedly face low-density polyethylene price hikes of up to 55%. The burden lands, as it always does, on the people who can least afford it.

Fossil fuel and petrochemical companies profit from war and price shocks

While people absorb the shock, fossil fuel and petrochemical industry profits are soaring. U.S. oil producers could see an additional US $63 billion in profit as crude oil climbs past US $100 a barrel, according to energy research company Rystad. Russia’s oil income doubled to US $9 billion in April alone, according to Reuters calculations. According to the Financial Times, TotalEnergies made more than US $1 billion in profit after buying up large quantities of oil as the conflict began — their profits are soaring even as the conflict has taken 15% of its operations offline. Oil executives have pocketed US $1.4 billion selling stock amid the conflict, according to an analysis of insider-transaction disclosures from analytics firm VerityData.

When the ceasefire was announced, Shell, BP, and TotalEnergies stocks reportedly fell between 6% and 8% in a single day — the EU region’s biggest one-day fall all year. 

We’ve been here before. In 2022, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted energy markets, Big Oil reportedly recorded its biggest year in history — more than doubling its profits. 

Geopolitical crisis has become a profit mechanism for an industry that reportedly spends hundreds of millions lobbying to keep us dependent on it. Our governments aren’t just complicit, they are locking us in — funneling billions into the fossil fuel industry, which pours it right back into their campaigns. 

No one should profit off war. But again and again, fossil fuel interests turn crisis into opportunity, pushing deregulation and deepening dependence while communities are left to live with the consequences.

Winners and losers: Which countries are most exposed to petrochemical disruption

The United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia account for more than 40% of the world’s oil supply, and as the world’s largest producer, the US is positioned to gain the most. A point Donald Trump made sure to say out loud.

Europe, too, is being squeezed by rising feedstock prices. Most exposed, however, are Japan, South Korea, India, and much of Asia — nations heavily dependent on imported crude and petrochemical feedstocks. As much as 70% of Asia’s naphtha reportedly passed through the Strait of Hormuz last year. South Korea is so reliant on naphtha, a critical building block for plastics, that many refer to it as the “rice of the petrochemical industry.” Recognizing this vulnerability, President Lee Jae Myung has called for prioritizing a plastics-free economy alongside his calls for peace.

At the very bottom of the chain — everywhere, in every country — are the people, absorbing every ripple.

How reuse and renewable energy can build resilience

This is the third major shock in five years to tear through the fossil-fuelled supply chain: COVID, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and now this. Each crisis points to the same conclusion: a future less dependent on fossil fuels is not only better for the planet but also more stable, secure, and resilient to the disruptions we face today.

Every piece of plastic ties us to a volatile, extractive system — one that leaves us exposed to price shocks, pollution, and conflict. 

Just as renewables break our dependence on the fossil fuels that power our grid, reuse breaks our dependence on the oil that stocks our grocery aisles. Both provide supply chain stability, local resilience, and independence from whoever controls the chokepoint.

The barrier is not capability. It is political will and investment – both of which are currently being directed at an enormous scale in exactly the wrong direction.

Why a Global Plastics Treaty matters now more than ever 

With plastic production poised to become the single largest driver of growth in global oil demand, a binding Global Plastics Treaty that cuts plastic production would be a turning point, not just for oceans and public health, but for economic security, geopolitical stability, and the resilience of the systems we all depend on. 

As long as corporations keep us hooked on plastic, we remain chained to oil. And as long as we’re addicted to oil, we remain exposed to conflict, price shocks, and to the decisions made by whoever controls the supply.

We’ve paid for this system in prices, pollution, and war. We can stay locked in a cycle of crisis, or break free. Reuse systems, renewable energy, and local resilience aren’t a distant dream. They’re ready. And so are we.

Let’s end the age of plastic!

Ask world leaders to support Global Plastic Treaty so that we can finally turn off the tap and end the age of plastic.

Take action

Lindsey Jurca is a senior plastics campaigner from Greenpeace USA.