This Thursday, January 19, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez, confirmed what the government of Gustavo Petro has commented since the first day of work: that no new oil and gas exploration contracts will be awarded.
Vélez’s words were given during his participation in the World Economic Forum, in Davos (Switzerland).
“We decided that we will not award new oil and gas exploration contractsVelez said.
According to the head of the portfolio, although this decision “it has been controversial“, It represents a commitment to the fight against climate change, It is an urgent decision to make the transition.
In his participation in the World Economic Forum in #Davosthe Minister of Mines and Energy, Irene Vélez, affirmed that no new oil and gas exploration contracts would be delivered. pic.twitter.com/6B0j5MQPaG
— Portfolio (@Portafolioco) January 19, 2023
Following the statements by Minminas, President Gustavo Petro, who is also in Davos, came out in defense of the position.
“Part of what we have come to do here has to do with the replacement of the Colombian export matrix on our national scale and that, basically, has to do with tourism and export of clean energy.“, the president asserted.
And he added that his government is convinced that a “Strong investment in tourism, given the beauty of the country, and in the country’s capacity and potential for clean energy generation could, in a short term, fill the gaps that the fossil economy can leave“.
It should be remembered that although the Ministry had highlighted this message on several occasions, the Minister of Finance, José Antonio Ocampo, explained, on other occasions, that it was an analysis that was ongoing and for which the Ministry of Commerce and Ecopetrol were working together, in order to establish if it was necessary or not to grant new explorations.
The issue of oil exploration is a sensitive issue in public opinion, since much of the country’s income depends on that sector.
Petro, for its part, has been critical of that industry and on several occasions, such as at COP 27, in November 2022, asked banks not to finance these projects.
Petro, at COP 27.
“The world’s private and multilateral banks must stop financing the hydrocarbon economy“He said at the time, in Egypt, adding:”The climate crisis is only overcome if we stop consuming hydrocarbons. It is time to devalue the hydrocarbon economy with defined dates for its end and value the branches of the decarbonized economy. The solution is a world without oil and without coal“.
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