Impakter
  • News
    • Culture
      • Art
      • Cinema
      • Entertainment
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Photography
    • Style
      • Architecture
      • Design
      • Fashion
      • Foodscape
      • Lifestyle
    • Society
      • Business
      • Foreign Affairs & Politics
      • Health
      • Tech
      • Science
      • Start-up
    • Impact
      • Eco Life
      • Circular Economy
      • COP26
      • CityLife
        • Copenhagen
        • San Francisco
        • Seattle
        • Sydney
      • Sustainability Series
        • SDGs Series
        • Shape Your Future
        • 2030: Dream or Reality
      • Philanthropy
        • United Nations
        • NGO & Charities
        • Essays
  • Environment
  • Sustainability Index
  • Partners
  • About
    • Team
      • Global Leaders
      • Contributors
      • Write for Impakter
        • Republishing Content
        • Permissions and Copyright
        • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Culture
      • Art
      • Cinema
      • Entertainment
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Photography
    • Style
      • Architecture
      • Design
      • Fashion
      • Foodscape
      • Lifestyle
    • Society
      • Business
      • Foreign Affairs & Politics
      • Health
      • Tech
      • Science
      • Start-up
    • Impact
      • Eco Life
      • Circular Economy
      • COP26
      • CityLife
        • Copenhagen
        • San Francisco
        • Seattle
        • Sydney
      • Sustainability Series
        • SDGs Series
        • Shape Your Future
        • 2030: Dream or Reality
      • Philanthropy
        • United Nations
        • NGO & Charities
        • Essays
  • Environment
  • Sustainability Index
  • Partners
  • About
    • Team
      • Global Leaders
      • Contributors
      • Write for Impakter
        • Republishing Content
        • Permissions and Copyright
        • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Impakter
No Result
View All Result
Home Environment

How Colombia’s President is Ignoring the Climate Crisis

byImpakter Editorial Board
November 8, 2019
in Environment, Politics & Foreign Affairs, Society
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A Reflection of Colombia President’s address at the UN Climate Action Summit Climate Crisis in South America: Real Action or Just Talk? What a President’s Speech at the UN really tells us about Commitment.


This article is part of an editorial collaboration with Earth.Org. The Earth.Org Series can be found here. The original publication can be found here.

 


Colombia. A country the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) described as “at high risk from climate change impacts.” So how do the remarks made by Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez at the UN Climate Action Summit held in New York on September 23 align with this very real threat? This piece seeks to illustrate how the balance between environmental rhetoric and economic development is mired in deliberate omissions, that often favour pure market calculations.

Colombia compromises on climate change

The President duly pointed to domestic policies aimed at protecting ecosystems and promoting clean energy production and protection of the commons.

Natural disasters as a collateral effect of the climate crisis were also mentioned. The President said that they ‘demand that we act with a sense of urgency and determination; that we understand that this is the greatest challenge’.

However, Márquez neglected to address the root causes of human-induced disasters in Colombia that include environmentally detrimental practices in the mining and extraction sector as well as surface level resource exploitation. This can have rippling effects on communities.

‘Researchers have argued that ‘the substitution of social justice for market laws leads to different crises, especially those that erode human rights.’

Opposition to Fracking 

Columbia’s state-run oil company, Ecopetrol, plans to embark on a fracking pilot programme in 2020. Not with standing the ongoing legal challenges in national courts, the company has been given permission to proceed with the implementation of the programme galvanising opposition movements against fracking, which environmental activists have linked to water contamination.

With the government having given a green light, natural reserves both terrestrial and marine-protected areas have been put at risk. According to Alessi, Zolfagharu, Kletke, Gehman, Allen, and Goss (2017), hydraulic fracturing fluid components such as petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals that are byproducts of the extraction process, pose major health risks to humans, and are major drivers of ecosystem toxicity.

In the picture: Cocora Mountains in Colombia. Photo Credit: Unsplash

A Contradiction in Terms

As the case of Colombia attests, what is preached abroad, is often not what’s witnessed on the ground. What is delivered from the podiums to the international community, does not always bare resemblance to the realities on the ground.

President Márquez revelled in the climate change rhetoric but his failings reside mostly in what went unsaid. Brushing aside controversial projects does not alter nor help resolve the fundamental tension between economic empowerment and the need for sustainable growth.

Colombia’s example is not unique. A global comparison between what political leaders claim in the international arena and their actual policy implementations might reveal other significant gaps between what is said and what is being done.


EDITOR’S NOTE: The opinions expressed here by Impakter.com columnists are their own, not those of Impakter.com.

Tags: Climate ChangeColombiaEnvironmentIvan Duque MarquezLatin America
Previous Post

Sustainable Finance: How to Address Nature Risks and Climate Change

Next Post

Shape Your Future with Céline Cousteau, Documentary filmmaker and Founder and Executive Director of CauseCentric Production

Impakter Editorial Board

Impakter Editorial Board

Related Posts

Our World Is Changing Ever Faster: What This Means For Our Survival
Impact

Our World Is Changing Ever Faster: What This Means For Our Survival

February 4, 2023
A photo demonstrating the loss and damage caused by flooding
Climate Change

Climate Loss & Damage: What Gaps Will the New Fund Fill?

February 4, 2023
Coca Is Not Cocaine: The Truth Behind the Sacred South American Coca Leaf
Agriculture

Coca Is Not Cocaine: The Truth Behind the Sacred South American Coca Leaf

February 3, 2023
Next Post
Shape Your Future with Céline Cousteau, Documentary filmmaker and Founder and Executive Director of CauseCentric Production

Shape Your Future with Céline Cousteau, Documentary filmmaker and Founder and Executive Director of CauseCentric Production

Recent News

Our World Is Changing Ever Faster: What This Means For Our Survival

Our World Is Changing Ever Faster: What This Means For Our Survival

February 4, 2023
A photo demonstrating the loss and damage caused by flooding

Climate Loss & Damage: What Gaps Will the New Fund Fill?

February 4, 2023
Coca Is Not Cocaine: The Truth Behind the Sacred South American Coca Leaf

Coca Is Not Cocaine: The Truth Behind the Sacred South American Coca Leaf

February 3, 2023
impakter-logo-light

Impakter informs you through the eco news site and empowers your sustainable lifestyle with its eco products marketplace.

Visit here IMPAKTER ECO for your eco products needs.

Registered Office Address

32 Lots Road, London
SW10 0QJ, United Kingdom


IMPAKTER Limited

Company number: 10806931

Impakter is a publication that is identified by the following International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is the following 2515-9569 (Printed) and 2515-9577 (online – Website).


Office Hours - Monday to Friday

9.30am - 5.00pm CEST


Email

stories [at] impakter.com

About Us

  • Team
  • Contributors
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Partners

By Audience

  • Lifestyle
  • Green Finance
  • Culture
  • Society
  • Style
  • Impact

Impakter Platforms

  • Media
  • Index

© 2023 IMPAKTER. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • ECO Products Shop – Try now!
  • Culture
  • Style
  • Society
  • Impact
  • Sustainability Index
  • About
    • Partners
    • Team
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy

© 2023 IMPAKTER. All rights reserved.

Impakter.com uses cookies to enhance your experience when visiting the website and to serve you with advertisements that might interest you. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.