CLIMATE ACTION SHOW

JUNE 22nd 2026

Produced by Vivien Langford

S A N T A   M A R T A

M O M E N T U M  &   S E T B A C K

Guests

Professor Elisa Morgera U.N. Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human rights

She is  Professor of International Law and Sustainability at Durham University (UK) and Professor in International and European Union Environmental Law at the University of Eastern Finland. 

Her Report to UN 2025

https://www.durham.ac.uk/research/institutes-and-centres/csdlp/news-and-...

Stientje van Veldhoven - Netherlands Climate Minister

Describing the talks as an "accelerator of work", she stated that Santa Marta provided an essential, informal space to collaborate and solve problems without the "de facto vetoes" that often stall formal U.N. (COP) negotiations.

Irene Velez Torres - Colombia Environment Minister

She criticized governments for listening to "disinformation and lobbying" and argued that the Santa Marta talks were designed to close the growing gap between science and political decision-making.

Ana Carolina Gonzalez Espinosa - A prominent  Climate Leader in Latin America

She serves as the Senior Program Director at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI)

and is a well-known associate researcher at the Universidad Externado de Colombia

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Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez  - Panama As Panama’s first Special Representative for Climate Change, he became the youngest lead negotiator in UN history at age 28.

President of Colombia Gustavo Petro -  He made decarbonization and anti-extractivism central to his governance, advancing the global phase-out of fossil fuels, campaigning for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, and committing Colombia to a 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.He committed to stopping new oil, coal, and gas exploration contracts, attempting to break Colombia's historic dependence on resource extraction

Fergus Green - 2015 Interview from 3CR Archive in celebration of its 50th birthday and contribution to public education on climate action

He is  now Associate Professor, University College London
Consultant - climate change policy, law and politics

In 2015 just before the Paris Climate Conference Fergus spoke to me at Melbourne University about phasing out fossil fuels. His example of the  successful 1989 diplomatic initiative, led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke (alongside French Prime Minister Michel Rocard), to stop mining in Antarctica is still a beacon today.

By Fergus Green

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-revie...

BREAKING NEWS

The news that the Colombian Government is now in the hands of a Trump Ally is a real setback for many of the gains made by Gustavo Petro's Government. "Abelardo de la Espriella, the apparent winner of the presidential election, has vowed to expand oil, gas and mining production". I wonder what will happen to all the talent flowering at the Santa Marta Conference. See the previous programmes on Santa Marta in the Climate Action Podcast list to know which voices are out of power..... for the moment.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22062026/colombia-de-la-espriella-pre...

Background to achievement of outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro

He spearheaded regional efforts to protect the Amazon rainforest, hosting global summits to prevent the biome from reaching an ecological "point of no return. In today's speech he mentions the rivers in the sky which brings water from forest transpiration to the uplands of the Andes. The severe drought of 2024/25 raised awareness of the results of deforestation in the Amazon.

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/latinamerica/mantenerse-unidos-tiempos-cr...