Aerial view of members of Greenpeace next to a sign during the First Conference Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels at the Port Beach in Santa Marta, Colombia, April 27, 2026. RAUL ARBOLEDA / AFP
France on Tuesday, April 28, announced a "first of its kind" plan to phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 during a global conference aimed at breaking reliance on fossil fuels. The "roadmap" was published as dozens of nations gather in Santa Marta, Colombia for the first-ever international talks on how to transition away from planet-heating fossil fuels.
France's roadmap does not present new pledges but brings existing climate and energy policies and targets under one umbrella with an explicit goal. Analysts said no other country had published such a clear and comprehensive plan and it sent an important signal at a moment when countries are reassessing their reliance on fossil fuels.
France's envoy at the conference, Benoît Faraco, said the roadmap set deadlines for the end of fossil fuel use across the economy, the second-largest in Europe. Coal would be phased out by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 for energy purposes, the roadmap said. "That's quite original, because we are probably one of the rarest countries who have a clear deadline for all fossil fuel energy," he told reporters in Santa Marta. France only generates a fraction of its electricity from hydrocarbons, thanks to its extensive nuclear power generation.
