Acelerando la eliminación gradual de la minería de carbón en Colombia con enfoque de transición justa

This policy brief by Transforma argues for a planned, inclusive phase-out of coal mining in Colombia using a 'just transition' framework. It highlights the vulnerability of the national and regional economies to declining global coal demand and recommends diversifying the economy toward low-carbon assets, addressing historical socio-environmental liabilities, and expanding social protections beyond simple employment metrics to include regional development and climate justice.

• Colombia is the world's fifth-largest coal exporter, making its national and regional economies highly vulnerable to external shocks and the global decline in coal demand, which was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Coal mining has a disproportionate impact on the regional GDP of Cesar and La Guajira, representing nearly 36% and 42% respectively in 2019, yet it provides very limited local employment, employing only 0.9% of the workforce in Cesar and 1.8% in La Guajira.
• Despite the economic contributions of coal, the mining regions of La Guajira and Cesar suffer from high levels of monetary and multidimensional poverty, with La Guajira showing a 52.8% monetary poverty incidence and 48.9% multidimensional poverty incidence in 2019.
• The document criticizes the Colombian government's 'neutral coal' strategy and the Economic Recovery Policy (CONPES 4023) for continuing to support the extractive sector and failing to set a clear end date for coal mining in line with the 1.5ºC global warming limit.
• Colombia's economic complexity has decreased over the last 10 years due to a lack of export diversification, remaining dependent on raw materials like fossil fuels; the report suggests a shift toward 'asset diversification' (natural and intangible assets) rather than traditional industrialization which remains carbon-intensive.
• Large-scale coal mining has caused severe socio-environmental damage, including the diversion of streams by the Cerrejón operation and air and water pollution, which disproportionately affects indigenous, Afro-descendant, and peasant communities.
• A just transition in Colombia must move beyond employment-centric views to include regional economic development, poverty alleviation, energy access, and the quantification of socio-environmental liabilities to ensure the private sector, not the public, bears the cost of remediation.
• The report recommends that any transition financing provided to prevent the collapse of traditional operators must be strictly conditioned on quantifiable greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and significant reparations for affected communities.

APA

Barcha, J. U., Walker, F. B., Limas, A. P., Puerto, L., Sanmiguel, V., & Restrepo, G. P. (2021). Acelerando la eliminación gradual de la minería de carbón en Colombia con enfoque de transición justa. Transforma. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/21.05-Documento-2-1-Transicion-justa.pdf

Chicago

Barcha, Juan Uribe, Felipe Bonilla Walker, Andrea Perez Limas, Lina Puerto, Valentina Sanmiguel, and Giovanni Pabón Restrepo. Acelerando la eliminación gradual de la minería de carbón en Colombia con enfoque de transición justa. Transforma, 2021. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/21.05-Documento-2-1-Transicion-justa.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Barcha |first1=Juan Uribe |last2=Walker |first2=Felipe Bonilla |last3=Limas |first3=Andrea Perez |last4=Puerto |first4=Lina |last5=Sanmiguel |first5=Valentina |last6=Restrepo |first6=Giovanni Pabón |title=Acelerando la eliminación gradual de la minería de carbón en Colombia con enfoque de transición justa |publisher=Transforma |date=2021 |url=https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/21.05-Documento-2-1-Transicion-justa.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{barcha2021acelerando, author = {Barcha, Juan Uribe and Walker, Felipe Bonilla and Limas, Andrea Perez and Puerto, Lina and Sanmiguel, Valentina and Restrepo, Giovanni Pabón}, title = {{Acelerando la eliminación gradual de la minería de carbón en Colombia con enfoque de transición justa}}, institution = {Transforma}, year = {2021}, url = {https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/21.05-Documento-2-1-Transicion-justa.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }