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Wind turbines along the main road in the Media Luna area, Cabo de la Vela, Uribia.

Engaging communities in a just transition: La Guajira, Colombia

Exploring how the energy transition is impacting community livelihoods

This story is part of a global project, “Engaging communities in a just transition”, launched by the EITI in early 2022 with support from the Ford Foundation. Implemented in four communities in Colombia, Ghana and Indonesia, this two-year project explores how the energy transition is impacting community livelihoods and the obstacles that communities face in accessing and using data and dialogue platforms. It seeks to strengthen the EITI’s role in ensuring that community priorities are better taken into account in public debate and decision-making on the energy transition.  


La Guajira in pictures

In 2022, the EITI commissioned a photo project on Wayúu communities and renewable energy industry in La Guajira, Colombia.


The community

La Guajira is a department on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. This remote, arid region is home to the Wayúu indigenous community, whose livelihoods have traditionally depended on fishing, subsistence agriculture, hunting and salt mining. 

For decades, La Guajira’s economy has been dominated by natural gas extraction and coal mining. It is home to Cerrejón, one of the world’s largest open pit coal mines. The mine’s owner anticipates that production volumes will decline significantly from 2030 onwards, with plans to relinquish mining areas to the government from 2034. 

In recent years, La Guajira has seen a major increase in investments by renewable energy companies attracted by the area’s wind and solar potential. In 2004, the Jepirachi wind farm was built, the first of its kind in Colombia. As of 2022, there were 26 renewable energy projects in La Guajira (19 wind and seven solar) in different phases of development. 

DEPARTMENT OF LA GUAJIRA
  • Population: 825,364 
  • Main industries: Fishing, agriculture, salt mining, natural gas, coal 
In the department of La Guajira, 44% of households use firewood for cooking, according to figures from the National Department of Statistics (DANE 2020).
In the department of La Guajira, 44% of households use firewood for cooking, according to figures from the National Department of Statistics (DANE 2020). 

While large electricity projects are being installed in our territories, we have no energy in our homes.

– Eliel de Jesus Castillo, Wayúu leader

For Wayúu women, traditional weaving is an important cultural practice. The sale of handbags and backpacks provides income for women in the region.
For Wayúu women, traditional weaving is an important cultural practice. The sale of handbags and backpacks provides income for women in the region.
Children carry water in the Cururi community, a rural area between the municipalities of Uribia and Maicao. Access to drinking water can be difficult in some parts of La Guajira.
Children carry water in the Cururi community, a rural area between the municipalities of Uribia and Maicao. Access to drinking water can be difficult in some parts of La Guajira. 
Wind turbines along the main road to the La Media Luna area in Cabo de la Vela, Uribia.
Wind turbines along the main road to the La Media Luna area in Cabo de la Vela, Uribia.
Wind turbines line the coast in the La Media Luna area, Cabo de la Vela, in Uribia. Cargo ships carry coal in the Caribbean Sea. La Guajira hosts a railway terminal, a shipping and export port for thermal coal, and several wind farms.
Wind turbines line the coast in the La Media Luna area, Cabo de la Vela, in Uribia. Cargo ships carry coal in the Caribbean Sea. La Guajira hosts a railway terminal, a shipping and export port for thermal coal, and several wind farms. 
Wind turbines on the road to the Media Luna area, Cabo de la Vela, Uribia.
Wind turbines on the road to the Media Luna area, Cabo de la Vela, Uribia.

Opportunities and challenges

The coal mining industry is an important driver of La Guajira’s economy. As of 2020, the Cerrejón mine employs more than 5,000 people, mainly from La Guajira and other departments of the Atlantic Coast. 

But there are tensions between the mining industry and some members of the Wayúu community. Community concerns have focused on the project’s impacts on land and the environment.

Similar patterns are emerging in the community’s relationship with the renewable energy industry. As wind turbines are installed on their lands, many members of the Wayúu community are concerned about how these projects will impact the surrounding landscape and biodiversity. They fear that previous challenges from the mining industry will be replicated in the context of the boom in renewables investments.

A Wayúu community house borders a wind turbine in Cabo de la Vela, Uribia.
A Wayúu community house borders a wind turbine in Cabo de la Vela, Uribia.

Land tenure in the Wayúu social structure and negotiation with companies is a complex element that can create conflict between communities.

– Odilon Montiel, Traditional “Palabrero” community leader

Wind turbines along the main road in the Media Luna area, Cabo de la Vela, Uribia.
Wind turbines along the main road in the Media Luna area, Cabo de la Vela, Uribia.
Wind turbines along the main road in the Media Luna area, Cabo de la Vela, Uribia.
Community meetings are spaces for information and participation. Communities attend many meetings for prior consultations on the projects that are planned in the area. At this gathering, consultants speak about the project “Engaging communities in a just transition”. 

The community has created relationships and is dependent in many ways on this wind farm, and we don’t know what will happen when it is dismantled.

– Nancy Gutiérrez, Community leader

Wind turbines along the main road in the Media Luna area, Cabo de la Vela, Uribia.
This wind farm, built in 2004, will be dismantled in 2024 when it comes to the end of its operational life cycle. 

Solutions

Members of the Wayúu community have expressed a strong interest in knowing more about the mining and renewable energy industries. They want information on contracts, royalty payments, and social and environmental impacts. While public data exists, it is scattered and difficult to access, hindering the community’s ability to make informed decisions and engage in consultations and dialogue with government and companies. A lack of capacity to understand and consolidate information, as well as technological and resource constraints, also pose a barrier to accessing and using information. 

Stakeholders remarked that the EITI could play a crucial role in making data accessible at the subnational level, including on the renewable sector. Through its multi-stakeholder approach, the EITI could facilitate regular and open dialogue between local communities and authorities, helping to address the impacts of the energy transition and planning for sustainable development. 

Members of the Wayúu communities gather for a capacity building session organised by the ”Engaging communities in a just transition” project in Uribia, La Guajira.
Members of the Wayúu communities gather for a capacity building session organised by the ”Engaging communities in a just transition” project in Uribia, La Guajira.
A Wayúu leader engages in a community meeting in Uribia, La Guajira. Community members expressed interest in data highlighting the environmental and social impacts of the energy transition.
A Wayúu leader engages in a community meeting in Uribia, La Guajira. Community members expressed interest in data highlighting the environmental and social impacts of the energy transition.
Women community leaders participate in the capacity building session in Uribia, La Guajira. During the session, community members expressed a need for accessing information in their local language.
Women community leaders participate in the capacity building session in Uribia, La Guajira. During the session, community members expressed a need for accessing information in their local language. 
Community leaders participate in the capacity building session in Uribia, La Guajira.
Community leaders participate in the capacity building session in Uribia, La Guajira. 

Acknowledgments

Photographer: Nelson David Alonso Charry

Project consultant: Universidad Externado De Colombia

    Countries
    Colombia
    Photo attribution
    Nelson David Alonso Charry