Colombia was Latin America’s sixth largest emitter of CO2 in 2015, accounting for 4.4% of the region’s total that year, which increased by 24.8% since 2010, owing to government efforts to encourage oil exploration and production, along with substantial coal extraction (given that it is the world’s fifth largest exporter of coal). The energy sector was the main source of greenhouse gas emissions in Colombia in 2012 (latest data available), overtaking agriculture, according to industry sources.

Colombia is one of the 180 signatories to the Paris Climate Agreement due to come into force in 2020, the target of which is to prevent the global temperature rising above 2.0 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels and to achieve net-zero emissions from 2050. The country has yet to ratify the agreement, which it hopes to achieve through cooperation with key organisations. Additionally, Colombia has also pledged to lower its greenhouse gas emissions by 20.0% by 2030.

MinAmbiente has developed and published a slide presentation on an approach to calculating penalties for violating environmental laws. The presentation appears to reflect an internal effort to provide more certainty regarding the imposition of fines and penalties and provides an equation intended to reflect factors for assessing optimum penalties and apply them evenly.

Colombia  issued two draft national policies intended to address air and water pollution on a comprehensive national basis. While these policies are only in proposed form, and even when final will not provide binding legal requirements, both demonstrate MinAmbiente’s attention to key areas that have not been of considerable focus over the past years, taking a back seat to waste and product stewardship issues. MinAmbiente has a reputation for being both proactive and progressive -- should the Agency take on air and water quality platforms as key strategic objectives, these will be areas of regulatory activity to watch.

 

http://www.portal.euromonitor.com.ez.unisabana.edu.co/portal/analysis/tab

http://www.bdlaw.com/news-784.html