German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has promised Colombia support for its coal phase-out after talks with government representatives in Bogotá on Wednesday.
Both countries want to wind up fossil fuel within the next 10 years, Habeck pointed out, with Colombia planning to stop coal mining and Germany planning to stop coal-fired power generation.
Coal mining in Colombia is seen as an ecological and social issue.
The Colombian Minister of Trade, German Umaña, stressed the importance of cooperation with Germany in the energy transition.
Habeck said the task at hand was to invest in green hydrogen, which is produced using renewable energy, as an alternative.
Colombia's potential for this is "very, very large," Habeck said, adding that Germany wants to support the country in the development of its hydrogen industry.
Habeck also mentioned an explosion in a coal mine in central Colombia in which at least 11 people had died. This showed that this "dirty practice" had to be stopped.
The fact that Germany is buying more coal from Colombia is more than ambivalent, he said. "The fact remains: we have to phase out of coal quickly."
Germany plans to phase out coal-fired power production completely by 2038. However, in the western German state of North Rhine Westphalia, where the majority of the country's lignite mines are located, the date has been pulled forward to 2030.
Currently, Colombia is one of Germany's larger coal suppliers; since August, imports of Russian coal into the EU have been banned due to the Ukraine war. In addition, coal-fired power plants had returned to the grid from reserve to secure the energy supply in Germany.
