Episode Details

Colombia’s outgoing Environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres is sounding the alarm as the country braces for a major environmental shift under the incoming administration of President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella. With fracking and fossil fuel expansion now central to the new government’s economic agenda, Vélez warns that hard-won climate progress — including Amazon protections and páramo conservation — could unravel. She’s particularly alarmed by potential rollbacks on indigenous environmental governance and the possible return of glyphosate spraying, a herbicide she calls carcinogenic. While the new administration defends extractive industries under “strict controls,” environmentalists and indigenous leaders fear a dangerous retreat from climate leadership. Vélez insists that social and environmental justice must remain non-negotiable, even as Colombia faces mounting ecological pressures from El Niño and political change.

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