A coal port is a curious location to plot the end of fossil fuels, but the Colombian city of Santa Marta has long been a contested space. It might actually be the perfect spot to face the challenge clearly and chart a cleaner, safer future. 

There’s certainly a large dose of the magical realism and dramatic irony that Latin Americans plumb better than any others in the decision to host diplomats, ministers and a sweeping cross-section of humanity for the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels — all within earshot of the Carbosan coal terminal.

It’s right there in the name after all. Carbon. Great piles of it. Even if the conference rooms block the grinding sound of conveyors loading bulk carriers in the port, it’s all on full display out the window.

But profound tensions are nothing new for Santa Marta. It is the oldest colonial city in South America, founded by conquistadors in the early 1500s to secure control over the rumoured gold wealth of the Indigenous Tayrona peoples. Extractivist suffering continued on through the dark era of the United Fruit Company and the massacres of workers demanding decent conditions. Today, there is shattering poverty alongside seaview hotels for holiday goers. The region inspired the setting for One Hundred Years of Solitude and hospiced the final days of the greatest fighter for South American independence. The battle between fossil fuels and clean energy is almost a prosaic problem for this part of the world. 

Look out towards what the great Colombian journalist and author, Gabriel García Márquez, called the "most beautiful bay in America," and families play on idyllic beaches. Just offshore, rusting carriers ply their trade in carbon. Over there, a picturesque marina. A few hundred metres farther, the black gantries of the Carbosan terminal fill ship after ship with sooty loads.

Turn from views of the Caribbean to rooftops in the city and another future is emerging. Workers, braving the midday heat, installing solar panels — thousands of points turned towards the light. 

Colombia is lagging in the solar revolution, as are most of the Americas. But the current administration of Gustavo Petro recently launched........

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