Working Together on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels

Executive Summary

Many fossil fuel producing countries face structural challenges in capturing the benefits of the global clean energy transition, due to dependence of their fiscal and political systems on fossil fuel revenues. To secure these gains across all countries, the transition must be orderly and equitable. Without deliberate planning and cooperation, countries risk increased economic volatility, fiscal instability, and disruption. The transition away from fossil fuels (TAFF) is a macro fiscal and whole of economy development challenge, with key barriers including demand uncertainty, cost of capital and governance challenges. Different producer economies have different starting points and priorities.

The Wilton Park dialogue on ‘Working together on transitioning away from fossil fuels’, held from 17-19 June 2026, brought together 48 participants from across governments, academia, civil society and multilateral institutions. The event was hosted by the UK Government and the Government of Brazil.

The dialogue objectives included strengthening understanding of country-specific structural challenges and priorities in TAFF; identifying key options for international partners to support Global South fossil fuel producers to address persistent barriers to TAFF; and identifying pathways towards delivering tailored support to the countries in attendance for their national TAFF planning. The dialogue occurred in the context of the Brazil COP30 Presidency’s TAFF roadmap, as well as the First International Conference on TAFF held in Santa Marta in April 2026.

Key issues discussed were:

• TAFF is not just a climate conversation, but an economic resilience and social development agenda. For many producing countries, the challenge is not so much an energy transition but rather a whole-of-economy transition.
• TAFF will be harder to manage if left to market shocks and fragmented policy signals. There is a need to focus on implementation of existing targets, rather than setting new ones.
• TAFF must be country-led; there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the transition. Fossil fuel producing countries in the Global South each experience unique challenges and opportunities and have differing priorities, starting points and capacities. Participants discussed how timelines for TAFF should be sequenced according to responsibilities and capacities of countries. TAFF needs to address both supply and demand, recognising the role of consumer/importer countries.
• There is a need for nationally owned TAFF plans that bring inter-ministerial coherence. National planning should build upon and align with existing national plans, NDCs and transition strategies. The international community needs to present a better offer of coordinated support. The right institutions and stakeholders need to be represented in, drive and own TAFF decision-making: not only ministries of environment and climate, but also ministries of finance, ministries of energy, and national oil companies.
• Universal, affordable access to energy is important for all countries, particularly for countries in the Global South that have not yet achieved this goal. For those countries energy transition must advance alongside energy access. In some cases countries do not consider the TAFF framing to be applicable to them, because they do not have the fossil energy to transition away from.
• Lack of predictable and accessible international finance and technology transfer are among major barriers to TAFF in many Global South fossil fuel producing countries. Finance, when it is available, often comes with conditionalities that disregard national priorities. Other barriers include domestic political economy and governance challenges. The need for reform of the international financial architecture was also raised, including high costs of capital and debt burdens.