Beyond a unilateral public policy, the energy transition must include all voices from the sector so that an initiative is built that allows changing the energy model without leaving consumers and suppliers especially vulnerable.
Milton Fernando Montoya (PhD), director of the Department of Mining-Energy Law at the Universidad Externado de Colombia
In multiple spaces such as conferences, forums, and speeches by authorities, we repeatedly hear references to the need for the energy transition (ET) to be just, and often, this concept of justice is exclusively associated with the social aspect of the transition or even with the tariff component, restricting the expression to a mere economic-social component.
Well, although the economic and social implications are part of a just ET, this is not its only scope, especially in countries like Colombia, where there are primary energy resources (gas, oil, coal, water wealth, etc.) and where the right to development stands, in our opinion, as another variable of justice in our transition.
Indeed, a first component of a just ET is distributive justice. That is, the impacts, costs, risks, burdens, and negative consequences of public policy decisions associated with the ET must be proportionally, equitably, and rationally distributed among all actors, according to needs, characteristics, capacities, etc., based on the principle of solidarity.
The first component of a just ET is distributive justice.
This would mean in the national context that all decisions associated with the ET must consider the effects on the various industries that make up the affected sector, such as mining, hydrocarbons, and electricity. Considering the increasingly close convergence between them, that is, without particularly affecting any one in particular, it must also consider the rights of users, residential, commercial, industrial, vehicular, thermal generators; and those of vulnerable communities, or in a condition of special constitutional protection, such as indigenous communities. And, of course, keeping in mind the interests of authorities and trade associations.
In other words, a just energy transition is not one in which public policy decisions prohibit the signing of new exploration and production contracts for hydrocarbons, which can accelerate the loss of the country's energy self-sufficiency (particularly at stake is the exploration and production of gas), energy security, and also economically impact the most vulnerable population that uses the service, due to the increases in the bill that are estimated could occur in a possible gas import scenario.
The decisions made regarding the ET must ensure timely, inclusive, and equitable participation in the decision-making processes.
The second component that integrates a robust concept of a just ET is procedural justice. That is, the decisions made regarding the ET must ensure timely, inclusive, and equitable participation of all agents in the decision-making processes. When referring to all agents, we include both communities and companies, guilds, NGOs, universities, etc. Therefore, a just ET is not one that privileges the participation of only one actor, where the participation spaces favor only one collective or do not consider the opinions, voices, and/or arguments of all stakeholders.
Therefore, a just energy transition (TE) is not one that, in the face of technical and solid arguments from companies, unions, academia, associated with the impacts and consequences of increasing the tax burden (or its economic counter-performances) on the mining, hydrocarbons, or energy industry, ignores these opinions and acts, deliberately, contrary to them. Nor would it be a just TE, then, one where, despite the arguments, there is an attempt to undermine the constitutional and legal technical independence of the energy regulator and to influence, with political rather than technical-legal criteria and instruments, the tariff formula of the electricity sector.
Finally, a just TE recognizes and respects the rights, needs, values, and customs of the groups involved or affected by the transition. That is to say, a just TE is not one that leaves out the necessary institutional support for the indigenous communities that inhabit the territories where renewable energy projects are executed or where decisions regarding the transition disregard and affect the practice of artisanal mining, linked to the culture and tradition of some municipalities in the country.
A just TE is not simply striving, by any means necessary, to decarbonize or reduce emissions.
Thus, a just TE is not simply striving, by any means necessary, to decarbonize or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is an exercise in definition, construction, and collective implementation, addressing the specific characteristics of each country and society, without ignoring all participants in the sector and those affected. A just TE considers, at its core, the principle of “leaving no one behind,” caring for the most vulnerable, applying the complementarity of energy sources, environmental co-responsibility, international solidarity, and the need for development.
A just (and responsible) TE in Colombia must start from a public policy built collectively,
in a technical, planned manner, with concrete actions that can be materialized in the short, medium, and long term.
In summary, a just (and responsible) TE in Colombia must start from a public policy built collectively, technically, and planned with concrete actions that can be materialized in the short, medium, and long term; that considers all our energy sources, prioritizes self-sufficiency, energy security, and reliability, and projects the reduction of our dependence on the sector (at the national and regional level) in a responsible manner in the medium and long term.
The policy must set the conditions that make Colombia an attractive country for investment in the mining-energy sector; strengthen governance and institutional technical capacities; promote technology transfer, innovation, and the strengthening of local capacities in terms of transformation (value added); and define clear rules regarding ethnic and citizen participation. These tasks must ultimately strengthen legal security, incorporate new technological developments into our energy matrix (hydrogen, CCUS - Carbon Capture, Use and Storage, SMRs - Small Modular Reactors) and avoid unilateral vetoes and prohibitions from the territories, with a responsible vision of sustainable development based on the sensible use of our non-renewable natural resources, in order to contribute to reducing the unjustifiable conditions of inequality and social inequity that still afflict our country.
Colombian Association of Oil and Gas