Forum: Energy Transition “how to undertake it?” What is the price?,

Description

The Forum: Energy Transition “How to undertake it?” What is the price?, was held on May 30 in Valledupar, in the marvelous Auditorium Macondo, named after the fictious and hopeless town recreated in his books by our Nobel prize winner García Márquez.

🪨Valledupar is the capital city of el Cesar, the largest coal exporter province of Colombia, and neighboring to the province of La Guajira, home of the largest open-pit coal mine in LATAM. Therefore, the importance and sensitivity of this forum.

🚨This, sumed to the fact that in 2024 the Colombian government proposed a mining law that would ban the grant of licenses to explore and produce thermal coal.

A diverse group of panelists exposed their viewpoints: representatives from academia, coal companies, guilds of the fossil fuel industries, and renowned politicians. Most of the interventions focused on the initiatives of the government to de-scalate the exploration of coal.

I identified 2 main positions, both economic-centered:

1. Radical: Colombia should exploit up to the last tonne of coal because, the thermal coal produced here is the most efficient worldwide, our contribution to GHG is minimal and the country receives important incomes.

2. Moderated: phasing out coal production requires to go hand in hand with concrete actions to replace the incomes and jobs created by the coal industry, as well as a real advancement in renewable energies.

🍀 I adscribe to the 2nd position and add an environmental and social perspective: Colombia should not be the place where the last tonne of coal is produced. Regardless of GHG emissions, the exploitation of coal has brought major environmental and social damages: air pollution, the deviation of rivers, the pollution of the Caribbean Sea, the displacement of people and many other human rights violations. The economics benefits of coal production shouldn’t neglect its negative impacts nor make us feel proud for producing coal. The continuity of coal production demands stringent environmental and safety regulations, transparency, as well as to strengthen the environmental authorities and the role of local communities in the monitoring process.

❌The region is already experiencing the negative impacts of the energy transition: 4000 employees lost their jobs after the voluntary closure of coal mines operated by Glencore.

⁉️The question is how the Green Climate Fund and developed countries will help Colombia to overcome the economic crises that de-escalating coal production is already causing? Given the high levels of corruption in the country, an international audit is also needed for the use of such funds.

💨 I highlighted the importance of renewable energies such as wind energy to diversify our economy. In 20 years only 3 wind parks have been built in Colombia; In Brazil: 800. What is the difference between Colombia and Brazil? What I already call: “the leadership gap”.

Period	30-May-2024
Held at	Universidad del Área Andina, Colombia
Degree of Recognition	International