The Future of the Colombian Economy
Written by Saskia Hervey, Public Affairs Adviser
This week GROW Colombia published two new reports* on the future of the Colombian economy. These two reports call on decision makers to prioritise biodiversity by transitioning to an economic development strategy based on sustainability principles and low carbon characteristics.
Policy recommendations in these reports are designed to help Colombian decision makers to address the most urgent challenges of our time, such as post-COVID-19 economic recovery, the sustainability of Colombia’s agriculture and ecotourism sectors, and delivering Colombia’s Nationally Determined Contribution as part of the international Paris Agreement on climate change.
Colombia is the second most biodiverse country on Earth in terms of plants, animals and habitats. This natural ‘capital’ offers opportunities for long-term wealth creation and accelerated sustainable development, based on rising levels of employment and improved living standards.
The research for these reports was led by Prof Kerry Turner and Dr Silvia Ferrini at the UK’s University of East Anglia. The team studied three sectors of the Colombian economy and concluded that green investments – such as projects, policies and courses of action – can provide an economic multiplier effect, which will help create new business and employment opportunities.
The Colombian Government aims to generate 10 per cent of its national income (GDP) from the bio-economy by 2030. The GROW Colombia team hopes these reports will help to drive up the Government’s ambition and bring forward practical policy tools to accelerate the growth of the bio-economy. We hope Colombia will choose to prioritise a sustainable bio-economy, powered by renewable, biological resources and able to conserve the ecological integrity of the country’s impressive natural capital before it’s too late.
*Colombia’s Natural Capital and Biodiversity Protection in Colombia: An Economic Perspective
