Colombia

Colombia plans to submit its second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for the period up to 2035 at COP30 in November 2025. The "NDC 3.0" will be developed in line with the country's long-term climate strategy and is expected to strengthen the adaptation component and improve the information and implementation of the measures used for the national mitigation target. The first updated NDC from 2020 included a significant increase in the level of ambition compared to the original NDC from 2015 by raising the reduction target from 20 to 51 per cent. Reducing emissions from deforestation is a key component of Colombia's mitigation measures. To fully decarbonise its economy, further efforts are needed in the energy and transportation sectors, according to the Climate Action Tracker.

At the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP 26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Glasgow in 2021, Colombia also unveiled its Long-Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategy (LTS), the so called "E2025". The overarching goal is to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, with a focus on sectors responsible for the highest greenhouse gas emissions – energy, agriculture, forestry, and other land uses (AFOLU). Colombia’s government intends a government-wide coordination through the LTS for a low-carbon and resilient development of the country. The 2050 carbon neutrality target was also enshrined in Colombia’s domestic law in 2021.

Back in 2016, the country initiated its process to develop a National Adaptation Plan (NAP), which was led by the National Planning Department (DNP) and submitted in 2021.

In 2012, Colombia published its National Biodiversity Policy, followed in 2017 by its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) (2016-2030), within the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), aimed at implementing strategic biodiversity targets. In 2024, the country published its updated NBSAP at the CBD COP16 in Cali - the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) 2024 - 2030. It defines four national priority areas with six goals for the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Until the next CBD COP in Armenia in 2026, Colombia will hold the COP presidency and is particularly responsible for supporting the CBD.

Together with Germany, Colombia launched the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership at COP 15 in September 2023 and is currently receiving IKI support through the project Operationalizing the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership with a funding volume of EUR 30 Million.

Colombia was also a founding member of the NDC Partnership in 2016 and has since received support for various requests, including from IKI projects directly.

The cooperation with Colombia is particularly strong in the IKI funding areas of Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Conserving Biological Diversity.
In the area of mitigation, cooperation is primarily covered by several multi-country projects and represents the largest funding area. Main topics are

• NDC and LTS support, 
• Just Energy Transition (JET), including coal phase-out and energy communities,
• Sustainably Energy and Resilience,
• Green Financing, and
• Sustainable Urban Development and Low-carbon Mobility.

In the funding area of Conserving Biological Diversity (Biodiversity and Marine Protection) the main topics are 

• Management of Protected Areas and Peace,
• Ecosystem protection and restoration and the sustainable use of ecosystem-based services,
• Cross-border measures to protect marine megafauna,
• Nature-based Solutions, NbS,  
• NBSAPs and biodiversity monitoring approaches,
• Support for Indigenous Peoples and Community Conserved Areas and Territories (ICCAs), and 
• Biodiversity Financing. 

The other IKI funding areas are a little less represented. 

In the funding area of Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change, the most important topics are 

• NAPs and NDC,
• Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), 
• Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for resilient, low-carbon and biodiverse developments, as well as 
• Land Use and Agriculture. 

In the funding area of Preserving and Restoring Natural Carbon Sinks, the focus is on 

• Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), 
• Protection and conservation of moors and wetlands,
• deforestation-free and sustainable supply and value chains.

Strengthening bilateral cooperation Through the IKI Country Call Colombia

Colombia was one of the first three countries with which the IKI prepared and implemented country calls in 2017/18.

The second Country Call Colombia was implemented in 2024 and projects on two key topics were selected:

• Roll-out of renewable energies and economic diversification for a just coal phase-out (BMWE)
• Landscape scale restoration as an economic and multifunctional nature-based solution for peace (BMUKN)

Partnership for Climate and a Just Energy Transition

In June 2023, Colombia and Germany signed an Alliance for the Climate and a Just Energy Transition (KEP) and launched it in October 2023. From the German side, along with the IKI ministries (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN), and Federal Foreign Office (AA)), the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is also a partner. The first high-level CEP dialogue between Colombia and Germany took place in Bogotá in June 2025.

The key topics of the Partnership for Climate and a Just Energy Transition are:

• Just energy transition: Expansion of renewable energies, green hydrogen, coal phase-out, energy communities
• Climate action: strategic dialogues in the context of international negotiations, support for COP30, strengthening capacities in international negotiations, support for the training of female leaders
• Protection and sustainable use of biodiversity and the environment: support for COP17, synergies between biodiversity and climate, bioeconomy
• Sustainable and resilient urban development: strengthening decentralised cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development, energy transition in the transport sector, strengthening the gender approach in the field of sustainable urban development, Conversápolis platform
• Climate and biodiversity finance: access to finance for climate action and biodiversity, promoting exchange on green taxonomy, strengthening capacities for green finance, event on climate finance 2025