Julia Simon

She's climate and energy director at the Center for International Environmental Law.

Also, it turns out the pledges that countries are making for the Paris Agreement, they're not enough to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

A new U.N.

report finds that right now countries are pursuing policies that would cut emissions by just 12 percent by 2035.

What scientists say countries need to do is cut emissions in half by 2035.

They tell me they're still nailing down the official agenda.

But the big conversation topic is how to transition away from fossil fuels in an equitable way.

So globally, there are still lots of subsidies for the oil, gas and coal industries.

One thing that organizers tell me that they'll probably be discussing is how to redirect that money away from oil, gas and coal towards helping countries pay for things like more renewable energy and batteries.

Also, there are tens of millions of people who work in the fossil fuel industries.

People who work in coal mines and people who work on drilling rigs.

These organizers say countries are going to have to find a way to get these people new jobs in an equitable and fair way.

Well, that's the goal, right, is to make the transition away from fossil fuels really happen.

Sophie Hermans is Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is co-hosting this new conference with the Colombian government.

And the minister says the Santa Marta conference is complementary to what they promised in Paris.

But Emily, there is one other thing that they plan to discuss in Santa Marta in the spring.

And that is something called the fossil fuel treaty.

Ooh, what is the Fossil Fuel Treaty?

It is an initiative to make a legally binding treaty for a just transition to phase out fossil fuels.