GUSTAVO PETRO AT UNAM

In his presentation, titled “Debt for Climate: Colombia’s Proposal as a Life Force to Save the Planet,” Gustavo Petro explained that his country has implemented energy communities in indigenous areas that aim to utilize solar energy and reduce the use of energy generated from oil, gas, and coal. However, he acknowledged that capital is not moving towards decarbonization because the former does not yield the same profits as the latter.

The Latin American leader considered the climate crisis to be humanity’s primary challenge, one that permeates the structures and paradigms of global thought and political action. He noted, however, that there are still reluctant attitudes toward addressing this issue.

Petro explained that since the 19th century, the traveler and scientist Alexander von Humboldt had already expressed the possibility of human beings altering the climate through carbon dioxide emissions. Subsequently, many physicists approached the problem of atmospheric warming caused by various gases; nevertheless, there was a reluctance to acknowledge the gravity of the situation.