‘Cut fossil fuel industry’s lifeline’: How subsidies and petrochemicals are propping up oil and gas
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Experts on the major wins they want to see from the Santa Marta fossil fuel phaseout conference.
The first ever international meeting to make a concrete plan to phase out fossil fuels kicks off this weekend.
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At the First International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, more than 50 countries will discuss how to overcome economic dependence on fossil fuels, transform supply and demand, and improve international cooperation to usher in the green transition.
It will be held in Santa Marta in Colombia from 24-29 April, with hundreds of organisations, campaigners and academics taking part in discussions, too.
It is hoped that countries will be able to agree on a roadmap to moving away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy sources, like wind and solar.
Co-sponsors Colombia and the Netherlands announced the gathering at COP30 in 2025. The annual UN COP summits have repeatedly failed to address the issue of fossil fuels, proven to be the biggest contributor to the world being on track to dangerously high temperatures, reduced water supplies and critically reduced biodiversity. Can Santa Marta succeed where 30 years of COPS have failed?
RelatedWill fossil fuel lobbyists be at the Santa Marta conference?
Despite COP climate summits purportedly aiming to tackle the damaging effects of oil and gas, thousands of fossil fuel lobbyists are welcomed into the talks every year.
These delegates, who work with or for fossil fuel companies, influence the summit’s final deal to ensure it benefits their employers or clients - allowing them to continue in their role as the biggest polluters.
Analysis by the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition has shown that at least 2,456 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access to COP28 in 2023. The Baku summit in 2024 had at least 1,773 in attendance, then there were more than 1,600 at COP30 in Brazil in 2025, meaning they outnumbered almost every country delegation.
Some say lobbyists have similar influence at EU level and that this is a barrier to what the Santa Marta conference is trying to achieve: “Since the 2024 Antwerp Declaration, a corporate wishlist has steadily become European policy, dismantling hard-won environmental protections. Without restoring equitable civil society participation in EU policymaking, grounded in democratic principles and social justice, no genuine transition away from fossil fuels is possible," says Silvia Pastorelli, EU Petrochemicals campaigner at the Center for International Environmental Law.
RelatedSo how will the Santa Marta conference be different?
According to organisers, anyone wishing to attend the conference was asked to sign a disclosure stating that they do not work with or for fossil fuel companies. It’s hoped that this step will restrict attendance to the “coalition of doers” - those who are committed to, and serious about, phasing out fossil fuels - who organisers have targeted for attendance.
There are many routes to ending the world’s addiction to fossil fuels. But what should those at the Santa Marta conference prioritise?
Euronews Earth asked experts from across Europe: If money were no object, what’s the one thing you believe European governments should do immediately to help to end our reliance on fossil fuels?
Treat fossil fuels like cigarettes - deadly
Dr Abi Deivanayagam from the UK Faculty of Public Health said fossil fuels should be treated as an “industry fundamentally incompatible with health” - just like tobacco. But how would this be done in reality?
She said that her Faculty’s work has shown that “protecting people’s health means restricting industry influence, ending subsidies and advertising, and investing instead in clean energy that delivers the greatest benefits to people affected by pollution, climate change, and fuel poverty, as well as building resilience to external shocks.”
RelatedEnd all fossil fuel subsidies now
Ending fossil fuel subsidies often comes up as a way to make oil and gas a less attractive prospect. But what exactly are they? According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development: “Fossil fuel subsidies can take many forms, including direct budget transfers, tax breaks, retail prices held artificially below cost, and preferential finance or regulated tariffs for enterprises that do not reflect full production costs. While each measure differs in design, the effect is the same: fossil fuels are mostly priced below their real costs.”
Campaigners have plenty of ideas on where the money currently taken up by fossil fuels could go: "European governments should immediately end fossil fuel expansion and subsidies, and invest those resources in clean energy and frontline communities—protecting health, cutting pollution, and delivering long-overdue justice,” says Shweta Narayan from the Global Climate and Health Alliance.
RelatedPetrochemicals are a huge, hidden win for the fossil fuel industry
The energy crisis caused by the closure of the Hormuz Strait has focused the world on the oil and gas used to power our homes, businesses and public services. But even if leaders were to enact a transition away from dirty energy, the fossil fuel industry has another “lifeline”. Crude oil isn't just refined as fuel: 15 per cent of global oil consumption goes into chemicals, waxes, oils and other petrochemicals.
These petrochemicals are used to make more than 6,000 everyday items, according to the US Department of Energy. Computer keyboards, lipstick, tennis rackets, pyjamas, soft contact lenses, detergent, chewing gum, shoes, crayons, shaving cream, pillows, aspirin, dentures, tape, umbrellas and nylon guitar strings are just a few of them.
As a result, consumers can expect to pay more for these goods if the war continues.
But it’s not just the financial costs we should be worried about. Petrochemicals constitute “a major climate threat and a worldwide public health emergency” according to Ana Rocha from the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. She urges leaders to force manufacturers to turn to agro-ecological practices and zero waste systems so that “Europe can shorten its supply chains, increase its energy and food security, and help free itself from its deadly dependence on fossil fuels.”
“Cut the fossil fuel industry’s lifeline: petrochemicals such as plastics and ammonia sustain oil and gas demand," agrees Delphine Lévi Alvarès, Global Petrochemicals Campaign Manager at the Center for International Environmental Law.
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