The Colombian Caribbean as the Epicenter of Energy Transition
The Colombian Caribbean is the heart of the country's energy transition, and it's no coincidence that the First Conference on Transition Beyond Fossil Fuels was held in Santa Marta. For decades, La Guajira and Cesar concentrated about 85% of national coal extraction, leaving behind conflicts over water, territory, and the environment, and unresolved disputes about who bears the costs and who reaps the benefits. It's a region key to exporting coal for energy generation in other countries, but where communities have faced access difficulties. Today, Atlántico and La Guajira are consolidating as the epicenter of renewable energies. However, the risk is that the transition may reproduce the same logic and inequalities left by fossil fuel extractivism.