WECAN ADVOCACY AT THE FIRST CONFERENCE ON TRANSITIONING AWAY FROM FOSSIL FUELS
APRIL 23-30, 2026
WECAN will be in Santa Marta, Colombia from April 23-30 for the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels.
Hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, the Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels will catalyze action toward an orderly fossil fuel phaseout, while complimenting the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Already, 45 countries are committed to participating in the Conference, including the COP30 and COP31 Presidencies.
WECAN, alongside global justice movements, will be participating in pre-conference activities virtually and in-person to uplift women-led strategies and solutions for a fossil fuel phaseout, and to provide feminist and climate justice analyses on the three thematic pillars of the conference: overcoming economic dependence; transforming supply and demand; and advancing international cooperation and climate diplomacy. We will be at the conference to ensure that a transition centers communities, care, and justice. Please look for more announcements in our newsletter and on social media.
WECAN is hosting a public event while in Santa Marta— learn more below!
If you are interested in engaging in or planning a local event of your own, please see this website organized by global climate justice movements: https://fossilfreerising.org/
WECAN EVENTS
Women's Fossil Fuel Phaseout Forum:
Halting Extraction and Advancing a Just Transition
Saturday, April 25
6:00 - 9:00pm COT Colombia Time
Santa Marta, Colombia
To build a healthy and equitable future, we must transform our local and global systems, and champion a regenerative, rights-based approach that prioritizes communities and nature, tackling the root causes of our intertwined social, economic, and climate crises. Please join us in-person in Santa Marta, Colombia for an inspiring and strategic WECAN event on April 25 from 6:00 - 9:00PM COT, "Women's Fossil Fuel Phaseout Forum: Halting Harms and Advancing a Just Transition."
During this event, global women leaders will highlight ongoing efforts to end fossil fuel extraction in the Amazon rainforest, advance a fossil fuel phaseout, and build a Just Transition. Critical topics include: policies to address phaseout, forest protection, climate justice frameworks, care economies, women’s leadership, Indigenous Just Transition projects, food sovereignty, fossil fuel resistance, Rights of Nature, and more.
EVENT AGENDA
OPENING PRAYER & KEYNOTE
PANEL 1: No Extraction in the Amazon: Indigenous Women Protecting Forests and Communities
Co-hosted by Amazon Watch and WECAN
Indigenous women are continuing to mobilize to stop fossil fuel extraction in the Amazon, while protecting Indigenous rights, biodiversity, and our global climate. The Amazon is at a critical tipping point, and leaders from across the region will bring forward calls to action and advocacy efforts to stop extraction and ensure a fossil fuel free Amazon.
Speakers include:
✨President Olivia Bisa Tirko (Chapra), President of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Chapra Nation (GTANCH), Peru
✨Aura Tegria (Uwa), Uwa Indigenous Leader, Lawyer and Vice Minister of Ethnic Peoples and Campesinos of Colombia, Colombia
✨Abigail Gualinga (Kichwa), Vice President Elect of the Kichwa Community of Sarayaku, Ecuadorian Amazon, Ecuador
✨Luene Karipuna (Karipuna), Executive Coordinator of the Association of Indigenous Organizations of Amapa & Northern Para (APOIAP) in the Brazilian Amazon, Brazil
✨Jani Silva, Campesina Leader from Perla Amazonica in Putumayo, Colombia
✨Co-moderated by Leila Salazar-Lopez, Executive Director of Amazon Watch, Turtle Island/USA and Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of WECAN, Turtle Island/USA
KEYNOTE:
✨ Susana Muhamad, Special Envoy to the Fossil Fuel Treaty, and Former Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia, Colombia
PANEL 2: Women in Action for a Just Transition
To build a healthy and equitable future, we must transform our local and global systems, and champion a regenerative, rights-based approach that prioritizes communities and nature, tackling the root causes of our intertwined social, economic, and climate crises. Join us for this inspiring event where global women leaders in all of their diversity will shine a light on a Just Transition and share comprehensive, intersectional approaches and strategies to accelerate community-led climate solutions, phase out fossil fuels, protect democracy, and uplift the climate justice movement.
Speakers, with more to be announced, include:
✨Yuvelis Natalia Morales Blanco, Member of the Alianza Colombia Libre de Fracking, and 2026 Goldman Prize Winner, Colombia
✨Seble Samuel, Head of Africa Campaigns & Advocacy with the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, Ethiopia
✨Xiye Bastida (Otomi-Toltec), Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Re-Earth Initiative, Mexico
✨Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, Turtle Island/USA
✨Moderated by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of WECAN, Turtle Island/USA
CLOSING
WECAN ADVOCACY AND COLLABORATION
People's Summit for a Fossil Free Future
April 24-26, 2026
Civil society and social justice movements are organizing the People's Summit for a Fossil Free Future ahead of the high-level dialogues in Santa Marta. For the past several months WECAN has been engaged in collective processes to develop submissions and other written documents to deliver to the Colombian government to inform the high-level government dialogues on April 28-29.
In Colombia, WECAN will participate in several meetings and assemblies with regional partners, feminist organizers, and global movements for climate justice.
First Conference for Fossil-Fuel-Free Territories
Aoril 24-25, 2026
Learn more and register for the First Conference for Fossil-Fuel-Free Territories here.
Join the Conferencia por Territorios Libres de Fósiles in Santa Marta to strengthen and connect territorial struggles against extractivism and collectively advance pathways to move beyond fossil fuels.
In the context of escalating climate crisis, geopolitical conflict, and corporate capture, this conference will bring together movements, organizations, and communities to: Share frontline experiences; Advance legal strategies and Rights of Nature approaches; Build real alternatives to fossil fuels; and Develop a collective action plan and international declaration.
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Fossil Fuel Extraction in the Amazon: Reception of Cases
April 26, 2026
During this private event, the Rights of Nature Tribunal will accept casese filed by impacted communities and organizations regarding current or proposed fossil fuel projects in the Amazon. The reception of cases comes ahead of the upcoming Rights of Nature Tribunal in Ecuador this August.
WECAN is honored to serve on the Executive Committee of GARN. Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Chair of the Indigenous Council for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) and WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, and Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director and Executive Committee member of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, are both participating as Judges in the event.
