Trump's return forces Colombia to reconsider its $40 billion green plan
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The country failed to secure US funding before former President Joe Biden's departure and is now turning to other sources.
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this month, Colombia has been forced to postpone its $40 billion climate investment plan.
Susana Muhamad, Colombia's environment minister, has been frantically asking officials in Washington for seed funding to help the South American nation's economy move away from fossil fuels and toward green investments.
Colombia's initial plan was to reach an agreement with the United States while former President Joe Biden was still in office, and the country sent a delegation to Washington earlier this month to achieve that goal. But that failed, so Colombia was forced to turn to a new approach. Muhamad said she still hopes to have "a good financial plan in place" by the start of the COP30 climate summit in Brazil in November. President Biden Meets with Colombian President Gustavo Petro
Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia, meets with former U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on April 20, 2023. Photo: Oliver Contreras/Sipa
The complications add to political turmoil in Germany, another country that was expected to play a leading role in the deal. "We had to change our entire strategy," Muhamad said in an interview. "We were expecting a group of countries to come together to support [the plan], led by the United States and Germany. But with the political change in both countries, they had to back down," he said.
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On the first day of his second term, Trump took steps to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, scrapping the U.S. international climate finance plan and suspending all foreign aid, signaling a broad retreat from global climate action. FrenchZero
Colombia's plan to abandon fossil fuels
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Trump's election and the rise of populism around the world add new challenges to securing global climate finance at a time when developing countries desperately need funds to offset climate impacts and invest in clean, safe alternative sources of income.
Read more: The global climate order is under Trump's second attack
Withdrawing support for climate action "creates air cover for other countries that want to say they want to do less financing and less emissions control," said David Victor, a professor of innovation and public policy at the University of California, San Diego, who follows. closely. global climate diplomacy.
Colombia's investment plan aims to attract clean energy investment to replace fossil fuel export revenues, which are expected to decline after the country halted new oil and gas exploration two years ago. It mimics the so-called Joint Energy Transition Partnerships, multi-billion dollar programs signed between rich countries and countries such as Indonesia, South Africa and Vietnam.
Indonesia's special envoy for climate and energy said on Friday that Trump was "certain" to withdraw the United States from the JETP in that country, dealing a blow to an agreement that has been plagued by political tensions, local administrative formalities and growing difficulties in financing. Colombia is now working with other countries to become key partners, Muhamad said. She declined to name any, but has previously mentioned China as an alternative to the United States. Muhamad said she also met with representatives of the private sector and philanthropic organizations during her recent visit to Washington. The Colombian government is providing up to 30 percent of the plan's funds and expects governments in developed countries to contribute additional funding. The government is also working with the Inter-American Development Bank and the country's export credit agency, ProColombia, to help meet remaining investment needs, Muhamad said. "We are changing the direction, but we are maintaining the strategy," he said. "There are many opportunities in the world.
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