Building a sustainable and resilient energy & power sector in Colombia

About MME and ANH

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) is responsible for the administration of non-renewable natural resources in Colombia. As a national public executive agency, the Ministry guides and regulates supply, protects and restores natural resources, safeguards its preservation, and ensures the country's sustainable development. The National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) is the authority in charge of promoting the optimal and sustainable use of the country's hydrocarbon resources, managing them integrally and harmonizing the interests of society, the state, and companies in the sector.

The two entities both address environmental and social challenges caused by the operations of the mining and energy sector. They both have a central role in mitigation measures for climate change and preventing environmental degradation that contributes to instability, internal & irregular migration and conflict. Moreover, the mines and energy sector operations are affecting the rural economic development in the water and agriculture sectors.

Local context

Colombia, like any other Latin American country, is highly vulnerable to climate change because of its geographical, bio-physical and socio-economic characteristics. Climate-related natural disasters impact the most vulnerable populations, like Afro-Colombians and indigenous peoples, and droughts in the Andes impact the whole country’s access to water reserves. (2022, USAID)

Although Colombia is not a major emitter of greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, it still ranks 35th globally, according to climate watch data. Around 35% of the gas emissions come from the energy sector, including transportation. The Colombian government, as a response to climate change issues, has set very ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets.

Building capacities for the staff on MME and ANH

Aligned with the ministry's goals to reduce climate change vulnerability and promote low-carbon development in the sector, it has committed to strengthening its institutional capacity through staff capacity-building activities in these fields. The training will develop and strengthen the capacity of ministerial & agency staff by equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills to adapt and mitigate climate change impacts in the energy & power sector, thereby contributing to sustainable development in the country. The trained staff could further maximize acquired knowledge and skills from the training to further trained fellow colleagues in the ministry, creating a snowball effect of the training within the ministry. The training could hugely contribute to building staff's knowledge and technical know-how on nature-based solutions (NBS) and ecosystem-based approaches (EBA) in climate mitigation and adaptation. The ministerial staff will be able to update their knowledge and skills in utilizing and integrating these approaches into the ministries' policies, plans and programs.

Training objectives

At the end of the training, the participants should be able to:

• Understand and explain the impacts of climate change on the water, energy and natural resources
• Understand and define the concepts of community resilience and stakeholder engagement in the context of the energy and power sector
• Understand and describe the relationship between climate change mitigation and adaptation actions towards sustainability and resilience in the energy & power sector
• Define and apply the concepts of nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches
• Illustrate how to integrate gender equity and inclusive, participatory approaches to planning and management
• Apply the Action Planning Methodology in the energy & power sector

Impact of the training

The participants will gain the following knowledge and skills:

• Understanding the climate change impacts on water, energy and power sectors
• Understanding the concepts of community resilience and stakeholder engagement in the context of the energy & power sectors
• Acquiring knowledge and skills in ecosystem-based approaches, nature-based solutions
• Knowledge and skills in integrating gender equity and inclusive & participatory approaches to planning and management
• Tools and approaches to building resilient communities
• Tools and methodologies in developing an action plan with financing and governance components