Colombia

We evaluate Colombia’s net zero target as: Acceptable.

Colombia has a 2050 net zero GHG emissions target, which has been enshrined in domestic law (Ley de Accion Climatica N°2169/2021, 2021). In November 2021, Colombia submitted its long-term Climate Strategy E2050 to the UNFCCC. The strategy includes a pathway to reach the 2050 target, and outlines nine strategic initiatives with 48 transformation options for decision-makers to consider (Government of Colombia, 2021).

The strategy describes the need to carry out mitigation actions in all sectors, intending to reduce GHG emissions by 90% compared to 2015. The remaining 10% of emissions will be either covered by carbon capture and storage or compensated through land-based CO2 sequestration in order to reach net zero. The E2050 allows a continued role for fossil fuels in the Colombian energy matrix.

Scope

• Target year – Colombia aims to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2050 (Ley de Accion Climatica N°2169/2021, 2021) .
• Emissions coverage – The target covers all GHG emissions and sectors of the economy (Ley de Accion Climatica N°2169/2021, 2021).
• International aviation and shipping – The 2021 Climate Action Law does not make any reference to international aviation and shipping.
• Reductions or removals outside of own borders – Colombia plans to reach net zero emissions through domestic action (Government of Colombia, 2021).

Target architecture

• Legal status – Colombia enshrined its net zero target into law in December 2021 (Ley 2169 de 2021). It also submitted its long-term strategy to the UNFCCC in November 2021.
• Separate reduction & removal targets – Colombia aims to reduce GHG emissions by around 90% compared to 2015 emissions and balance the remaining 10% with proportional domestic removals and capture to achieve a net zero balance between GHG emissions and removals from 2050 onwards.
• Review process – Colombia stated in Art. 24 of the Climate Law that from 2023 onwards and every 2 years, the Inter-sectoral Commission on Climate Change will review the results from monitoring the state of compliance in order to make adjustments to the implementation and adoption of new measures if necessary.

Transparency

• Carbon dioxide removal – Colombia is transparent in its estimated emissions reductions through actions in the LULUCF sector and stated that further action is needed to reach decarbonisation as 14.4 to 31.5 MtCO₂e would need to be captured. It also aims to achieve further reductions through carbon removal and storage, but this is currently not clearly quantified.
• Comprehensive planning – The Strategy includes a defined pathway to reach the 2050 target, and outlines nine strategic initiatives with 48 transformation options for decision-makers to consider. Further, Art. 23 of Law 2169 establishes the mandate to develop an implementation and monitoring plan, and Art. 24 mentions the minimum components that the plan should include (Ley de Accion Climatica N°2169/2021, 2021) .
• Clarity on fairness of target – Colombia E250 long-term strategy mentions that Colombia is one of the most exposed countries to climate change and that its share of global emissions is 0.6% of total CO₂ and that its contribution is in line with science and the global goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

The Climate Action Tracker has defined the following good practice for all ten key elements of net zero targets. Countries can refer to this good practice to design or enhance their net zero targets.