Carbon Tracker Initiative

24 June | London

Join ClientEarth, Carbon Tracker and a panel of experts for an energising morning discussion during London Climate Action Week.

From the Strait of Hormuz to the North Sea, oil and gas markets are shaped by chokepoints. Some are physical; others are legal, regulatory and financial.  

Amid shifting market dynamics and significant legal developments, this event will explore the complex and changing path through which oil and gas projects are approved, financed, and retired in the UK.  

As policymakers balance energy security with a commitment not to issue new exploration licences in the declining North Sea basin, and as legal requirements tighten around project consent and asset retirement, the discussion will examine whether current capital raising rules are fit for purpose. 

ClientEarth and Carbon Tracker will also launch a pivotal new report, testing whether fossil reserves valuations are matching changes in the legal landscape, or leaving investors blind to climate-related risk. 

Bringing together leading voices from law, finance, academia and civil society, the expert panel will explore structural pressure points across the oil and gas lifecycle. And lay out the context for further action. 

This is an in-person event at the Inner Temple in London. If you are unable to attend in person and would like to join remotely please email events@clientearth.org to request a Zoom link. Thank you! 

The post Disruption on the horizon: consent, capital and clean-up in the oil and gas sector appeared first on Carbon Tracker Initiative.

As geopolitical shocks drive jet fuel price volatility and emissions rebound, alternative aviation fuels are increasingly presented as the solution. But can they realistically hedge fuel risk and deliver decarbonisation—or do they introduce new financial and policy vulnerabilities?

This webinar cuts through the hype, using market data, policy analysis, and lifecycle evidence to assess the true scale, cost, and sustainability of alternative jet fuels. The goal is not to dismiss them, but to recalibrate expectations, challenge overreliance, and position alternative fuels as one tool among many in aviation’s transition.

• A clear understanding of why truly sustainable fuels face structural limits.
• Insight into where alternative fuel investment makes sense—and where it doesn’t.
• A stronger basis for allocating capital and policy across aviation decarbonisation options.

The post Fuel Disclosure appeared first on Carbon Tracker Initiative.

New analysis from Carbon Tracker finds that accelerated battery electric vehicle adoption in Colombia could save around US$40 billion in fossil fuel import costs through to 2050. It would also reduce pollution-related health costs and avoid climate-related economic damage.

London, 20 April, 2026 – Colombia’s continued reliance on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles is creating long-term economic liabilities and increasing exposure to imported refined fuels, according to a new report from Carbon Tracker. Transport accounted for 75% of Colombia’s oil consumption in 2023, with over 25% imported. Under a business-as-usual pathway, Colombia could spend up to US$226bn on fuel import for road transport through to 2050.

By contrast, an accelerated transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) would avoid 600 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) in fossil fuel use through to 2050 and deliver around US$40 billion in fuel import savings.

The report argues that continued ICE vehicle sales lock Colombia into decades of higher fuel demand, health costs and climate-related economic damage. Carbon Tracker estimates that every new petrol and diesel vehicle sold today adds substantial lifetime costs: nearly US$6k per passenger car, US$120k per medium-duty truck, US$278k per heavy-duty truck and US$350k per bus.

The analysis also points to the pressure on public finances. Carbon Tracker estimates fossil fuel subsidies at around US$6.8bn in 2025, compared with US$6.3bn in government revenues from fossil fuel sales, leaving a shortfall of US$0.5bn.

At the same time, the report finds that the global automotive market is shifting rapidly in ways that de-risk BEV adoption. China’s manufacturing expansion has helped cut battery costs by more than 80% since 2013, while expanding model availability and strengthening supply chains. For emerging economies such as Colombia, this is improving access to lower-cost electric mobility.

Carbon Tracker argues that Colombia is well placed to move faster in BEV adoption. The report highlights three key advantages: a relatively low (car ownership per capita), an electricity system primarily (72%) dependenton (clean) hydropower, and limited exposure to legacy domestic automotive manufacturing. Electricity also remains cheaper than petrol or diesel for road transport, lowering the lifetime ownership cost of BEVs compared to ICE cars for consumers.

Alongside the economic case, the report finds that an accelerated BEV transition could generate health cost savings from lower levels of harmful air pollution. It also estimates that lower vehicle fleet emissions could avoid up to c US$35bn (present value) in climate-related economic damages through to 2050.

Ben Scott, report author and Head of Energy Demand at Carbon Tracker, said:

“Colombia has a clear opportunity to avoid deeper dependence on imported transport fuels and the long-term costs associated with continued ICE vehicle sales. The country has structural advantages that support transition to BEVs, while providing an opportunity to phase down fuel subsidies, reducing pressure on public finances.”

The report calls on the Colombian government to develop a joined-up economic and industrial strategy that positions BEVs as a key sector in a modernised, low-carbon economy. It recommends strong supply-side regulations, co-ordinated fiscal reform, and targeted charging infrastructure rollout.

Leapfrog to Electric: Colombia. The Economic Benefits of Pro-Electric Vehicle Policy can be downloaded, free at [Link]. This report was produced in association with Polen Transiciones Justas.

Spokesperson: Ben Scott, Head of Energy Demand, Carbon Tracker

For more information and to arrange interviews please contact:
media@tracker-group.org

Carbon Tracker is a not-for-profit independent financial think tank that seeks to promote a climate-secure global energy market by aligning capital markets with climate reality. Part of the Tracker Group, Carbon Tracker’s research on the carbon bubble, unburnable carbon and stranded assets started a new debate on how to align the financial system with the energy transition to a low-carbon future.

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These are testing times for climate action – which is why Santa Marta is so important 

The war in the Gulf has demonstrated once again that the energy system is at the mercy of capricious geopolitics. Clean local energy offers the antidote to this, as ECB Board Member and senior Dutch banker Frank Elderson wrote in an article in the Financial Times on 7 April. Apart from stating that repeated energy shocks – of which the war in the Gulf is the latest – pose a threat to the ECB’s primary mandate of price stability, Elderson’s core message was that the most effective way for Europe to reduce geopolitical risk was to accelerate the clean energy transition. Or to put it another way: the solution to volatile and expensive fossil fuels is not more volatile and expensive fossil fuels.

It is therefore perhaps surprising (and even more so given the uncertainty about when things will settle down in the Middle East and by extension on global energy markets) that many politicians and commentators in Europe and elsewhere continue loudly to lobby for more exploration and production of oil and gas – not only as the quick fix but as the longer-term policy approach.

There is however an alternative view, to be rigorously examined at a landmark international conference co-hosted by the Colombian and Dutch Governments at the Colombian port of Santa Marta on 28/29 April. And Santa Marta feels like it could not be more timely: as the first ever inter-governmental conference specifically to address a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, so we can stay within Paris warming goals.

These are testing times for climate action. Which is why Santa Marta is significant; not only to demonstrate that international co-operation is alive and kicking; but that practical solutions can be found about how to accelerate the transition – and with many Global North countries recognising their historic responsibilities through their participation.

Politically, Santa Marta can herald a “new multilateralism”, where progressive countries in a coalition of the willing can co-operate on global issues; and crucially that co-ordinated, collective action can show in practice that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In the case of Santa Marta, the hope is that this coalition will not only bring much-needed forward movement on climate change, but that it kickstarts a process to complement and reinforce the UNFCCC process. The existing Brazilian Presidency is running its own roadmap process to take back to COP31 in November; but whether they can square the circle of the consensus principle, where large oil and gas producing countries have consistently blocked action on tackling fossil fuel phase-out, remains to be seen.

Although progress remains uneven across regions, the global energy transition is advancing rapidly – driven by falling clean technology costs and electrification. As Carbon Tracker research has shown, fossil fuel producing countries face a future of declining revenues as the energy transition drives down demand. Policymakers must proactively anticipate and prepare for these losses – for it. Anticipating declining export revenues can strengthen fiscal resilience in advance. One lever is to gradually reduce fossil fuel subsidies and responsibly redirecting resources before revenue pressures intensify. Reducing fossil production is not a policy choice – the market will impose it.

Global North oil and gas producers can help show the way with a strategic policy shift to low-carbon energy systems. The UK provides a good example of what can be achieved, and will feature as a case study in Carbon Tracker’s discussions in Santa Marta.

But tackling the risks is only one half of the equation. Santa Marta can also showcase the opportunities for countries to plot a path from a high-carbon to a low-carbon economy. Carbon Tracker’s recent research on Brazil and Colombia shows that an accelerated transition to electric vehicles could save $250bn and $40bn respectively in fossil fuel imports by 2050, compared with a ‘business as usual’ scenario.

Policymakers in Santa Marta will also benefit from innovative ideas on data tools and solutions as experts come together to shape a collective view of what data we have now – and what we still need – to move forward urgently with policies and initiatives on decarbonisation.

In conclusion, the governments meeting on 28/29 April will need to emerge from Santa Marta with momentum. The key will be to create some political space – tough when the eyes of the world are focused elsewhere – to enable a progressive coalition to take forward its work so that Santa Marta becomes both a process and a forum for a step-change in international co-operation on climate and the transition. Traditional economic thinking that the costs of transitioning away from a fossil-free economy will be too great still resides in ministries. This is why partnering with experts from civil society will be vital, to harness imaginative ideas and turn them into meaningful solutions.

Finance and investment, as Frank Elderson emphasises in his FT piece, are vital requirements to securing the transition. Public finance will supply only approximately 25% of the total $5-7trn transition finance required per annum, so it is incumbent on policymakers to create the incentives to scale in the other 75% from private capital. The investment perspective is therefore fundamental, and an important reason why Carbon Tracker is heading to Santa Marta to play our part there.

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