Colombia: Official start of cooperation with the National Environmental Licensing Authority

29 February 2024

In February the NCEA visited Colombia to meet with partners in Bogotá and Cartagena. There we discussed areas of cooperation on ESIA and SEA, in the framework of the ‘Water as Leverage’ programme and in other contexts. One of these meetings was with the National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA) to discuss collaboration in four specific area’s;

•  Knowledge exchange on ESIA and SEA for the following themes: closing, decommissioning abandonment of coal mines and renewable energy;
• Technical input into the Terms of Reference and methodologies for ESIA and SEA for offshore wind energy;
• Integration of gender and human right issues in environmental licensing;
• Workshops for ANLA staff on how to organise community environmental monitoring (ESIA follow up) in priority regions. 

A Memorandum of Understanding was drafted to start a one year collaboration. 

As part of our ongoing involvement in the Water as Leverage programme, we also met with regional and local environmental authorities (CARDIQUE and EPA respectively) to (1) assess their potential needs for NCEA support in capacity building and (2) to align review of ESIA (scoping) reports that will be prepared for selected Water as Leverage projects. 

We look forward to working together with our environmental partners on strengthening SEA and ESIA in Colombia!