Colombia’s left-wing government has announced that it will shift away from fossil fuels and toward a new sustainable economy, not approving any new oil and gas exploration projects.
On the occasion of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Irene Vélez, the minister for mines told world leaders that the time had come to begin a new, greener chapter in the country’s history.
Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, made ending the country’s long history of economic reliance on oil a key part of his campaign before becoming the country’s first leftist leader in August last year.
However, the finance minister, José Ocampo has contradicted government ministers several times, reassuring financial markets. In fact, he has repeatedly told reporters that the country remains open to new oil and gas projects as it relies heavily on the sector’s revenue.
But Petro backed Vélez, saying that alternative economies would make up the loss from oil, which accounts for around half of all of Colombia’s total export revenue. He told reporters in Davos «We are convinced that strong investment in tourism, given the beauty of the country, and the capacity and potential that the country has to generate clean energy, could, in the short term, perfectly fill the void left by fossil fuels».
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