*Originally published in 2023. Get E-International Relations delivered to your inbox, free of charge. As you sign up, consider becoming a paid subscriber, or make a donation, to support our work.

At the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) in November 2021, Colombia pledged to be a carbon-neutral state by 2050 and was hailed for having the most ambitious plan in Latin America. Then-president Iván Duque also signed the Declaration on Forest and Land Use in which signatories committed to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. Despite the much-applauded pledge and commitment, Colombia has been failing to protect environmental activists in the country. According to a 2021 Global Witness report, Colombia was the country with the highest number of documented killings of environmental activists in 2019 and 2020. In 2020 alone, 65 out of a recorded 227 land and environmental activists killed worldwide were from Colombia. Global Witness also ranked Colombia second after Brazil in the number of land and environmental defenders killed in 2021. These figures paint a picture of Colombia as one of the most dangerous countries for environmental activists.

The killing of environmentalists has been closely linked to the country’s delayed peace. The 2016 peace accord between the Colombian government and the largest rebel group in the country, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, marked the beginning of new era for the country. The historic peace deal, which received international praise and earned then-president Juan Manuel Santos the Nobel Peace Prize, was expected to end the decades-long guerilla war that had killed more than 220,000 people in the country. However, the demobilization of FARC led to a power vacuum in the jungle territory of Colombia, accompanied by the rise of FARC splinter groups, right-wing paramilitary groups, and criminal organizations. Experts have already warned that Colombia’s delayed implementation of the accord, especially in rural areas, may close the window for achieving lasting peace in the country. What is not discussed as much is the fact that these on-going conflicts intensify the most urgent environmental problem in Colombia—deforestation—and undermine international efforts to protect the Amazon, a crucial safeguard against climate change. This paper highlights the link between ongoing conflicts among armed groups and the deforestation of the Amazon, a problem that has been exacerbated by the failures of domestic and international institutions. We argue that the efforts of Colombia’s current government toward “total peace” provide a good path forward, and ought to receive more international attention.  

Continued Conflicts and the Loss of the Amazon Forest Since 2016

The 2016 peace deal should have marked the end of the decades-long conflict in Colombia. The FARC turned over its weapons under UN supervision and some 13,000 ex-combatants agreed to reintegrate into Colombian society in exchange for government concessions, including social and economic development of rural areas, land reform, and political participation for former guerilla leaders. Despite the initial widespread adherence by former combatants, dissident groups emerged and continued armed conflicts with the government in rural areas. Members of these groups include former FARC fighters who never demobilized, other members who participated in the demobilization process but since returned to arms, and newly recruited fighters. In August 2019, three years into the accord, FARC’s former second-in-command and top peace negotiator, Iván Márquez, announced that he was taking up arms again. He and other former FARC commanders created the Second Marquetalia, named after a 1960s stronghold of the groups that eventually formed the FARC. These groups have continued to engage in terrorist activities and assassinated human rights........

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