Colombia’s outgoing president Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla and the country’s first leftist leader, came to power in 2022. He promised something few leaders of fossil fuel-producing countries have seriously attempted: to reduce his country’s dependence on oil, gas and coal.
Together with his vice-president Francia Márquez, a former environmental activist, Petro put together an ambitious plan to make Colombia less dependent on resource extraction. Instead, the focus was on economic diversification, renewable energy, greater democratic control over energy systems and environmental protection. With declining reserves of oil and gas, and growing costs of inaction on climate change, reducing dependence on fossil fuels has become increasingly urgent.
