Just transitions from coal in Colombia

The document identifies significant obstacles to Colombia's transition from thermal coal, including heavy fiscal dependence on coal royalties, weak subnational institutional capacities, and long-term environmental liabilities. It emphasizes that while the national government has made commitments, local regions like Cesar and La Guajira face severe risks from unplanned mine closures and a lack of diversified economic alternatives. The brief recommends establishing a permanent transition fund, strengthening local government competencies, and ensuring inclusive planning that protects the rights of Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.

• Colombia faces significant macroeconomic risks from transitioning away from coal because the sector is the country's second-largest export and contributes 2.4% of total fiscal income, with coal royalties making up over 80% of all mining royalties.
• Regional dependence on coal is extreme in the Caribbean; in 2019 and 2020, coal accounted for nearly 43% of departmental income in Cesar and 61% in La Guajira. Some municipalities, such as Becerril, relied on coal royalties for up to 79% of their budgets in 2021.
• Subnational governments lack the institutional capacity and financial mechanisms to manage the transition. This is evidenced by the case of La Jagua de Ibirico in Cesar, where sudden mine closures massively reduced local revenues, hindering the municipality's ability to plan for a just transition during a simultaneous social and environmental crisis.
• Environmental regulations for mine closures are insufficient, typically covering only a three-year period, which fails to address long-term environmental liabilities. The closure of the Prodeco mine in Cesar is cited as an example of the difficulties in managing these liabilities.
• Sociocultural barriers include a fragile civic space characterized by distrust of government and companies, as well as the exclusion of Indigenous and Afro-Colombian groups from planning processes despite their right to prior consultation under ILO Convention 169.
• Colombia is the only country among the three studied (which also included Indonesia and South Africa) that does not have a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) agreement for bilateral cooperation.

APA

Arond, E., Vega-Araújo, J., Niño, J. P., & Patzy, F. (2024). Just transitions from coal in Colombia. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/just-transitions-coal-colombia-policy-reality-sei2024-038.pdf

Chicago

Arond, Elisa, José Vega-Araújo, Juliana Peña Niño, and Fernando Patzy. Just transitions from coal in Colombia. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2024. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/just-transitions-coal-colombia-policy-reality-sei2024-038.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Arond |first1=Elisa |last2=Vega-Araújo |first2=José |last3=Niño |first3=Juliana Peña |last4=Patzy |first4=Fernando |title=Just transitions from coal in Colombia |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=October 2024 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/just-transitions-coal-colombia-policy-reality-sei2024-038.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{arond2024just, author = {Arond, Elisa and Vega-Araújo, José and Niño, Juliana Peña and Patzy, Fernando}, title = {{Just transitions from coal in Colombia}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/just-transitions-coal-colombia-policy-reality-sei2024-038.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }