This meeting closely follows the Third Senior Officials Meeting (3SOM), which took place in June prior to the 62nd Subsidiary Body Meetings (SB62) in Bonn, Germany. The Fourth Senior Officials Meeting built on the work achieved at 3SOM, where Officials expressed their unanimous support for a dedicated process to focus on the negotiation and development of a Fossil Fuel Treaty in 2026.  This dedicated process—currently planned to take place outside of existing fora, supported by UN resolutions and other diplomatic outreach—is expected to kick off at the Conference for the Phase-Out of Fossil Fuels, hosted by Colombia in April 2026. Representatives of the Government of Colombia briefed delegates of the Meeting on their plans for the upcoming Conference. 

Gillian Cooper, Political Director, Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative said to delegates in the room:

“The commitment of states at this point is to join the discussion amongst countries around the table. There are no legal or financial obligations while we build momentum for these talks - that is our collective priority at this stage. The greatest need for countries willing to address the three pillars of the Treaty Initiative is to join this group of states and to bring the voice of your own country's interest to the table.”

The Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative is gaining rapid momentum globally. 17 nation-states are participating in the process to negotiate a Fossil Fuel Treaty, with the proposal being formally endorsed by  135+ cities and subnational governments around the world, who agree a binding agreement is necessary to stop the expansion of oil, gas, and coal in order to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. 

For the Concluding Statement of the Meeting please see here. 

The Meeting was attended by representatives of Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Colombia, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, St Kitts and Nevis, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. The Meeting was observed by representatives of Cambodia, Ghana, Maldives, Uruguay and Wales.