Topic: 2025 – Impact of Climate Change on Air Quality
Country: Colombia
Delegate Name: Eva Carr
Colombia is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on air quality. Particularly air pollution poses a significant threat to Colombians health and wellbeing, environment and economy. Climate change directly harms the clean air breathed, water drinked, food eaten, the house lived in, education and livelihood grown. Greenhouse gases are what cause these necessities to diminish further exacerbating climate change. Colombia recognizes these impacts climate change has on its people’s health, environment, and economy. We believe major activities such as transportation, agriculture (particularly deforestation), waste, fossil fuel operations, commercial and residential energy should be reduced for the sake of Colombians and the Earth. To succeed in this goal, our Nation has made previous regulations for these major contributors to climate change in order to prevent further pollution on the air quality. One of these domestic policies include the revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) officially submitted on December 29, 2020. The NDC was developed under the Ministry of Environmental and Sustainable Development with the Intersectoral Commission on Climate Change (CICC). This aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% and black carbon emissions by 40% in 2030 protecting both the health of its people and the environment.
Climate change affects Colombians’ health greatly. Currently, 60% of Colombians breathe polluted air that does not meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air quality guidelines. The particles in Black Carbon, known as particulate matter, can pierce through the lungs making it easier to transport toxic compounds into the bloodstream. This polluted air has resulted in poor health and premature deaths of countless Colombians; most of whom live in vulnerable communities. Some of these premature deaths have resulted in many adults with strokes, heart and lung disease, chronic respiratory diseases, heart attacks, asthma, and more symptoms. This can not only affect adults, but also children. It is found that exposure to air pollution can widely affect a child’s growth and development especially around 2 years of age. Even exposure to a low amount of pollution can stunt a child’s growth causing long lasting damage to their brains, lungs, reproductive organs, and immune systems, leaving them at risk for developmental disabilities.
Climate change is also detrimental to the environment. In 2021, air pollution was responsible for more than 15,000 deaths in Colombia. Of these deaths, 40% of fossil fuel burning is the largest contributor of air pollution. Burning firewood for heating and cooking (contributing to deforestation), diesel for transportation, agricultural burning residue after harvest and brick production are all other major contributors to environmental exploitation. These pollute nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and other particulates, and in some cases also emit greenhouse gases in particular, carbon dioxide. When suspended in the atmosphere, black carbon (soot) contributes to global warming by converting radiation to heat and also influences cloud formation impacting the weather as well as precipitation patterns which are major components of agriculture and ecosystems. Alternatives for Colombians who want to prevent these actions of environmental exploitation could be to install solar panels used to heat water when cooking or for other residential uses, using electric vehicles for transportation as a sustainable practice or cycling, using no-burn alternatives, these include using several methods to manage plant waste instead of burning crop residues, and composting or mulching organic crop waste and applying it back to the fields restoring nutrients back to the soil. Recently, The Colombian National Planning Department (DNP) approved the Colombia Solar Program in 2025 to provide 1.3 million low-income homes with installing photovoltaic solar panels promoting sustainable energy practices instead of relying on electricity. This $2.1 billion initiative is currently distributing $83.5 billion pesos from 2026 to 2030.
With our Nation’s new reforms, we can better help to reduce these threats of climate change to the air quality first by supporting Bogotá’s “Plan Aire 2030”, developed by Breath Cities Initiative and partnering with the Nation’s capital, Bogotá. This plan supports city leaders in their efforts to reduce emissions from transportation and construction as well as help to prevent wildfires, management and monitoring, and assess how different communities are affected. These initiatives are crucial in taking the next step towards reducing the impacts of climate change on air quality as this helps Colombia accomplish this goal by 2030. Lastly, Colombia is actively implementing environmental protection to its Amazon rainforest specifically because of environmental crime and endangerment of rich biodiversity. In 2020 Colombia secured $28.2 million to implement the Colombia REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) project, also known as Vision Amazonia. Led by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the project protects biomes through monitoring forests and management practices, benefiting farm owners. According to the UN, the goal of Vision Amazonia is to “promote conservation and sustainable land management in rapid deforestation areas like Mapiripán.” and runs until the end of 2026 next year. This project helps to not only protect Colombia’s Amazon rainforest, but prevent further harm from the act of deforestation, allowing the air quality to benefit because of more carbon sequestration from trees.
Colombia is prepared to work with fellow nations that prioritize regulations on excess greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and black carbon emitted from energy, industry, transport, household, agricultural, and waste management sectors that affect the environment and population health and wellbeing. By prioritizing the impact of climate change on air quality, we can protect both our people and environment from a detrimental or even fatal crisis.
Works Cited
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“Bogotá.” Breathe Cities, https://breathecities.org/cities/bogota/.
“Colombia.” Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, https://www.climatecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/RCCC-Country-profiles-Colombia_2024_final.pdf. Accessed 27 November 2025.
“Colombia: Information sheet on climate change, air pollution, and health.” UNDP, 23 July 2025, https://lancetcountdown.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Colombia_Info-Sheet-V1.0_23Jul2025.pdf.
“Colombian conflict survivors turn forest heroes in search of climate change solutions.” United Nations, United Nations, 16 November 2024, https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/11/1157066#:~:text=Marco%20recounts%20a%20gradual%20awakening,different%20future%20for%20the%20Amazon.
“Colombia’s $2.1B Solar Program for Low-Income Households.” Youth Power, Youth Power, 13 November 2025, https://www.youth-power.net/news/colombias-2-1b-solar-program-for-low-income-households/#:~:text=Economic%20and%20Environmental%20Benefits,practical%20choice%20for%20everyday%20households.
“Pollution and child development.” Van Leer Foundation, 7 February 2024, https://vanleerfoundation.org/ecm-article/pollution-and-child-development/. Accessed 27 November 2025.
UNEP. “Colombia.” Climate & Clean Air Coalition, CCAC Secretariat, https://www.ccacoalition.org/partners/colombia.
UNEP. “Colombia’s NDC increases its 2030 climate change ambition and integrates new targets that simultaneously improve air quality and health.” Climate & Clean Air Coalition, CCAC secretariat, 24 February 2021, https://www.ccacoalition.org/news/colombias-ndc-increases-its-2030-climate-change-ambition-and-integrates-new-targets-simultaneously-improve-air-quality-and-health#:~:text=Breadcrumb,SLCPs%29%20directly%20contribute%20to%20both.
