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Guy Edwards @guywhedwards.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Colombia's next Minister of Foreign Affairs, Omar Bula Escobar, appears to deny the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change. The Santos, Duque & Petro govts worked actively to support global climate action not least given Colombia is highly vulnerable to climate impacts.

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...se podría reducir su demanda en una cifra equivalente a 1,5 veces el déficit proyectado para 2030 /10

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Como señala un 📗 de Transforma y Ember, al sustituir el 30% de los calentadores y el 10% de las estufas de gas por equipos eléctricos en el sector residencial, y al disminuir un 14% el uso de gas en los procesos industriales invirtiendo en eficiencia energética.../9

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Además, se debe descartar el fracking, ya que la prioridad es mejorar la eficiencia en el uso del gas y aprovechar las energías renovables para reducir esa dependencia /8

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Le decía que el nuevo gobierno tendrá la oportunidad de construir una hoja de ruta junto a las comunidades afectadas por los combustibles fósiles para seguir construyendo una transición energética justa /7

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Y sobre el interés del equipo de ADLE en impulsar los dos proyectos de piloto de fracking en Puerto Wilches, Santander, me llama la atención que Cepeda ganó en este municipio con una campaña nacional abiertamente en contra del fracking /6

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Además, me pregunto si el líder del equipo de empalme del sector minero-energético, José Miguel Saab de Independence Drilling, hablará de una transición energética justa de manera transversal o solo la verá con los ojos del negocio del gas y el petróleo /5

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Me genera incertidumbre que la mayor asociación internacional de ADLE sea con el gobierno de Trump, el cual poco puede ofrecer en materia de transición energética dado su fuerte oposición a las energías renovables y a la acción climática /4

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Que Colombia lideró la primera conferencia sobre la transición justa hacia la eliminación de los combustibles fósiles representa un tipo de liderazgo diplomático que aumenta la posibilidad de atraer recursos y cooperación técnica. /3

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Le comenté que fueron varias las políticas públicas que sacó adelante el gobierno de Petro (Colombia Solar, Comunidades Energéticas etc) para impulsar la transición energética, a pesar de los varios retos en su implementación. /2

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transitionawayconference.com

- Brazil's COP30 presidency supported the SM conference and it outcomes. - The conference is complementary to the UNFCCC COPs and was never intended to be a formal negotiation. Further details are in the official SM conference report: transitionawayconference.com/report /END

Report — First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels

Colombia and the Netherlands will host the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels. The Conference is designed as a space for countries, subnational governments and other stakeholders...

Worth recalling that the SM conf was a major success: - 57 countries discussed how to move away from fossil fuels. - On the sidelines, 400 scholars participated in an academic dialogue while NGOs, indigenous ppls, communities & trade unions held meetings & a People’s Assembly /3

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...he dodged the question and said the Santa Marta conference was "an absolute waste of money and time", achieved nothing, was not legally connected to the UN and was an "international jamboree centered on anti-fossil fuel activism." /2

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MinAmbiente designado descarta acabar con la ANLA, pero pide que no se use para frenar proyectos

Quite an extraordinary interview by Colombia's incoming Minister of Envir., Fabio Arjona. He said the 3 enemies of sustainability are poverty, ignorance & environmental hysteria. Asked if they'd participate in the Santa Marta process to transition away from FFs...🧵 caracol.com.co/2026/07/03/m...

caracol.com.co

No obstante, Fabio Arjona, designado ministro de Ambiente del Gobierno de Abelardo de la Espriella revisará la contratación en el Ministerio de Ambiente y sus fondos adscritos.

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Guy Edwards @guywhedwards.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

One of Colombia's main newspapers, @eltiempo.com.web.brid.gy, reports that according to the preliminary count, Abelardo de la Espriella has won the second round of the presidential elections. ADLE appears to have won by around 246,000 votes. In 2022, Petro beat Hernández by over 600,000 votes.

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As my supervisor, @peternewell.bsky.social, wrote in Power Shift, distinct actors must capitalise on these openings when incumbents are disorientated and facing legitimacy crisis, to push for demands and reforms. Santa Marta was one such moment and urgently needs to be built upon / END

Yet what happened in Santa Marta is still historic not least as fossil fuel dependency is being shown by the Iran conflict to be a massive liability and source of global destabilisation /6

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The Santa Marta conference was no silver bullet and as the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, keeps reminding us every key climate indicator is flashing red and we urgently need to transform our economies /5

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We then had excellent interventions from Juliana Peña Niño, Wilmar Suarez and Stephan Sampaio, who are working to advance a just energy transition and confront those trying to keep us shackled to fossil fuels. Thanks to our moderators, María Mónica Monsalve Sánchez & Camilo Andrés Garzón Martínez /4

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With fellow scholars at the @cssn.org, Janaina Pinto and Elisabeth Möhle, we had the pleasure of running a side event at the University of Magdelena where we presented some of our research on climate obstruction in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia published in the journal Climate and Development /3

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As I commented to a RTVC journalist, the govts of Colombia and the Netherlands, as well as many activists, deserve enormous credit for making this conference a success and finally putting fossil fuel phase out front and centre after decades of obstruction and delay at the UN climate talks /2

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Guy Edwards @guywhedwards.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

For a PhD student @sussex.ac.uk exploring Colombia's energy transition, it was a great privilege to attend the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, witness history being made and talk to many of the Colombians working tirelessly to make that transition a reality 🧵

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🎉Happy 100th Birthday to the inimitable David Attenborough. who I had the good fortune to briefly meet in 2015!! Sir David has spent a lifetime teaching us about the beauty, fragility and importance of nature, and how we are connected to it. Today we need to listen to him more than ever.

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Reposted by Guy Edwards

Climate Social Science Network @cssn.org · 22/04/2026

An exciting event to look out for this weekend at the energy transition conference in Colombia. The event will feature experts on climate obstruction, and will offer strategies for a just energy transition. See the link for more information and how to attend!

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Guy Edwards @guywhedwards.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Ponentes confirmados: - Juliana Peña Niño, NRGI - Wilmar Suarez, Ember - Thais Lazzeri, FALA - Camilo Andrés Garzón, La Silla Vacia - María Mónica Monsalve, El País - Elisabeth Möhle, UNSAM - Janaina Pinto, UERJ - Guy Edwards, Sussex Uni Inscripción: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

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Guy Edwards @guywhedwards.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Únete a nuestro diálogo en la Universidad del Magdalena organizado por @cssn.org y el OIMC sobre los actores en Argentina, Brasil y Colombia que obstaculizan la transición energética y conversa con expertos que están trabajando para enfrentarlos. #MásAlláDeLosCombustiblesFósiles 🧵

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Guy Edwards @guywhedwards.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

This Thursday 5th March at 9:00 am (🇨🇴), the governments of Colombia and The Netherlands will host an event on the Colombian environment ministry's social media channels to share details about the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels taking place this April in Santa Marta.

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Guy Edwards @guywhedwards.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Exciting to see the website for the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, to be co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands this April, is now live.

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Guy Edwards @guywhedwards.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

As Petro prepares to meet Trump on Feb 3, I argue in this new commentary for Backchannel that despite their various disagreements – and the potential for diplomatic fireworks – there is one unlikely area where a deal could emerge: Venezuela’s gas. backchannel1.substack.com/p/will-petro...

backchannel1.substack.com

Will Petro stand up to Trump on climate?

Petro can confront Trump on climate change and risk confrontation or focus on a gas deal among other areas, that improves relations with Washington.

Guy Edwards @guywhedwards.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Amid worsening geopolitics, the EU-CELAC summit showed that climate action remains a strategic priority for both regions. In this @rielcano.bsky.social commentary, I show how they can enhance cooperation by developing fossil fuel transition roadmaps & confronting misinformation & disinformation.

realinstitutoelcano.org

The IV EU-CELAC summit’s outcomes on climate action can be built upon in 2026

Considering the volatile geopolitical situation, the IV EU-CELAC summit in Santa Marta was a successful summit.

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The article will be part of a special issue on climate obstruction in the Global South edited by Carlos R.S. Milani and Ruth E. McKie. I am very grateful to various colleagues, particularly my supervisor, @peternewell.bsky.social, for their helpful comments and the @cssn.org for funding this work /6

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It also argues that those actors opposing the contract pledge sought to politicize discussions rather than engage with some of the technical rationales for the pledge, which was part of a discursive strategy to characterise the pledge as disastrous for Colombia /5

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The study argues that Colombia’s media represents an important site of climate obstruction and shows how some publications are not neutral actors in the energy transition debate but rather enable, amplify and circulate these delay discourses /4

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It shows how opponents of the pledge combined discourses of climate delay with issues including energy security and economic stability, with various media outlets failing to challenge or contextualise these claims /3

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The article finds that discourses of climate delay are widely used in five national publications by various actors who opposed the pledge by the Petro government to suspend the granting of new hydrocarbon contracts /2

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