Just over two years have passed between the inauguration of Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first-ever left-wing president, and the United Nations Conference on Biological Diversity (COP16), hosted by his government from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1 in Cali, the country’s third-most populated city. Representatives and decision-makers from more than 190 countries are set to attend or watch the event, including 10 heads of state, more than 100 environment ministers and many Indigenous organizations. During the first half of Petro’s term, the country that is renowned for its rich and diverse biodiversity, but also for owing half of its exports to oil and coal, has witnessed several attempts to shift its environmental paradigm. From the very beginning, Petro pledged to turn Colombia into a “leader in the protection of life,” underscoring the efficient use of land around water, energy transition, the reduction of deforestation, the empowerment of Indigenous groups and the fight against climate change, among other issues, as cornerstones of his 2022-26 development plan. The president has been joined in his ambitious mission by his environment minister, Susana Muhamad. A former mid-2000s Shell scientist and sustainability consultant, she has been described by The Guardian newspaper as the “Frida Kahlo of environmental geopolitics” due to her efforts to show Colombia an escape route from heavy dependence on fossil fuels. Under Petro and Muhamad, at the 2023 COP28 in Dubai, the Andean nation formally joined a bloc of states ahead of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, following Bogotá’s prior decision to reject all…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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