Court says Colombia votes cannot block mining, oil projects
BOGOTA – Colombia's constitutional court on Thursday ruled that local referendums that ban mining and oil extraction cannot halt energy projects, after a raft of votes spooked multinational companies.
A wave of environmentally focused anti-mining referendums over the past 18 months have worried investors, and forced some to alter investment plans, like AngloGold Ashanti which suspended a potential $2-billion project last year.
The ruling on the suit brought by Mansarovar Energy Colombia, a joint venture between India's ONGC-Videsh and China's Sinopec, was backed five to one by magistrates, the court said.
The Colombian Mining Association (ACM) said in a statement after the court decision it was now optimistic projects would get back on track.
"This decision not only gives life to several mining projects that would have been truncated by the (votes) but begins to give positive signals in terms of legal security," it said.
The previous government failed to legislate the issue, but President Ivan Duque, who took office two months ago, promised during his campaign to boost investment in the sector, which meant providing legal clarity to the mining sector.
The country's subsoil is national property and cannot be restricted by local authorities, the court ruling said.
The national government, however, cannot exercise sole control over extractive projects and Congress must pass regulations as soon as possible that allow communities to voice opposition to mining and oil projects, the court said.
There are 158 referendum initiatives in 135 municipalities nationwide, of which nine votes have been held, all against mining and oil exploitation, the ACM said.
Mansarovar brought the suit after residents of Cumaral municipality in central Meta province voted last year to ban oil exploration.
Mansarovar could not immediately be reached for comment.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation