National Development Plan article prohibits large-scale surface coal mining, but in Congress they want to scrap it

Since campaigning for Casa de Nariño, President Gustavo Petro underlined its intention to move Colombia towards a energetic transition. In such a way that she was embodied in the National Development Plan (PND) presented by your Government in November 2022.

It is proposed to encourage the development of small associative projects in “areas of strategic mining reserves with high potential for strategic minerals (such as steel, copper, lithium, molybdenum) needed for energy transition, industrialization, food security and public infrastructure.

And, on the other hand, he forbids in his section 186 large-scale surface mining for thermal coal, although “without prejudice to rights acquired by privately owned mining titles”.

However, the representative Christian Avendano He warned via his Twitter account that “traditional congressional parties” would seek to eliminate this specific article, thus trying to ensure that large-scale surface coal mining is not banned.

“We warn that the traditional parties in Congress want to remove Article 186 from the JPN a ban on large-scale coal mining. Today, 21 miners died in Sutatausa, do you want to continue to be complicit in situations like this?”, the deputy wrote on his social network.

“Is the right to mining more important than human life? It’s incredible that some are opposed to this article, ”questions the representative of the Green Alliance in another trill.

The same President Petro also referred to the tragedy of the mine of sutatusa emphasize the need for a energetic transition for the country, an issue on which he has insisted since the beginning of his government alongside the Minister of Mines, Irene Velez.

“Coal mining still kills 21 people in Sutatausa. Workforce and business retraining plans are increasingly essential in coalfields. Every workplace death is not just a business failure, but also a social and governmental failure,” the national president wrote on Twitter.

“The energy transition involves a strong component of reconversion of jobs and businesses. The development plan envisages it but its application must begin now. The transition to clean energy goes hand in hand with workers and businessmen who are now localized in fossil fuels,” he added.

Precisely, the national government presented on March 15 the axes of the energy transition envisaged, which envisages the progressive abolition of subsidies for the consumption of liquid fossil fuels, but the maintenance of their exploration and exploitation, as well as gas, to ensure “ the self-sufficiency of the energetic matrix”.

It would also seek to pursue and promote the production and industrialization of minerals such as copper, cobalt and lithium, the demand for which is expected to continue to rise worldwide in the coming years. All this mining-energy production would be done with carbon neutrality.

Regarding the Sutatausa mine tragedy, according to figures from the National Mines Agency (ANM), from 2005 to date, there have been 1,743 mining emergencies in Colombia, and left a balance of 1,978 dead in the country. In the calendar days of this year it was recorded 25 tragedies and 34 deaths.

The department that reports the highest number of tragedies is boyaca, followed by Cundinamarca, then Norte de Santander and Antioquia.

According to figures from the Agency, from 2020, which was the second year with the greatest tragedies (153 accidents and 171 deaths), there has been a decrease in the numbers. For its part, 117 accidents and 146 deaths were recorded in 2022. In 2021, there were 128 emergencies in sinkholes and 148 people died.

It should be taken into account that between 2011 and May 31, 2022, there were 1,262 mining accidentswith an average of 103 deaths each year.