Colombia Looks to Future Without Oil in $40 Billion Transition Plan
The Latin American nation has halted new exploration of oil and gas. Now it wants developed countries and multilateral development banks to help it move away from fossil fuels.
A worker cleans solar panels at the Celsia solar farm facility in Yumbo, Valle del Cauca department, Colombia.
Photographer: Jair F. Coll/BloombergColombia is set to announce a $40 billion investment plan aimed at replacing fossil-fuel export revenues that are expected to decline after the country ended new oil and gas exploration two years ago.
Susana Muhamad, Colombia’s environment minister, said in an interview during New York Climate Week that she will make the plan public at an economic fair on Oct. 2. She hopes that as much as $10 billion will come from international financial institutions and developed countries.
“All of this is a huge economic transformation,” Muhamad said. “The portfolio of investments is around developing sectors that we think could start replacing oil revenues.” She added that the money will go to nature-based climate solutions, clean energy and electrification of transport, as well as projects that improve agricultural practices and protect biodiversity.