• The Colombian government will no longer issue new concessions for oil and gas exploration.
• This was declared by Minister of Mines and Energy Irene Veléz.
• This change of direction had been promised by President Gustavo Petro during the election campaign.
• It is a radical choice, because today Colombia's economy depends on hydrocarbon exports.

"We have decided to no longer issue new concessions for gas and oil exploration. Although this has been a very controversial issue at the national level, for us it is a clear signal of our commitment against climate change. Because we know that this is a planetary and absolutely urgent decision that requires immediate action." With these words, spoken on Thursday 19 January during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Colombia's Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Veléz, announced a sharp change of pace in the South American country's energy transition.

A halt to new oil and gas exploration

Gustavo Petro, Colombia's president since the summer of 2022, built his election campaign in part on the promise of ending the country's dependence on oil resources. In his first months in office, however, he found himself contending with a divided Congress, in which no party holds a majority of seats, and with rather bleak economic prospects. Finance Minister José Ocampo had even contradicted him on several occasions, telling the press that Colombia would issue new authorisations for oil exploration.

Minister Irene Veléz's announcement appears to have settled the administration's position once and for all. It was subsequently confirmed by Gustavo Petro. Speaking to journalists in Davos, the Colombian president stated: "We are convinced that strong investment in tourism, given the beauty of our country, and the capacity and potential the country has for clean energy production, can — in the short term — perfectly fill the gap left by fossil fuels."

Colombia's historic dependence on oil

Colombia does not actually need fossil fuels for its own use, given that it already meets around 80 per cent of its energy needs from renewable sources, hydropower above all. The problem lies in the fact that, especially over the past four decades, the country has placed enormous weight on exports. In 2020, crude oil was the most exported commodity, with a turnover of nearly 6.9 billion euros, destined above all for the United States (nearly 2.5 billion), China (2 billion) and Panama (just under one billion). In short, oil has become a cornerstone of the Colombian economy. Petro's choice therefore appears courageous, all the more so for a state that is a neighbour of Venezuela, a country brought to its knees by an economic collapse that has forced millions of people to emigrate.

Gustavo Petro is nonetheless convinced that "the market is not the main mechanism for overcoming the climate crisis. It was the market, with the accumulation of capital, that produced it. And it will never be its remedy" — to echo the words he delivered at Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh. "The climate crisis can only be overcome if we stop consuming hydrocarbons."