Colombia became South America’s first country to submit its contribution to a UN global warming pact, setting out how it will slash greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to extreme weather.

The pledge outlined a 20% cut to greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from a business as usual projection. That could rise to 30%, conditional on international cash to aid the mitigation effort.

But it warned the end of decades-long conflict, while welcome, could bring increased pressure to clear forests, jeopardising climate goals.

In its communication to the UN, the government said it had considered the “potential impacts” of “post conflict scenarios in different regions”.

“In the past, peace processes elsewhere in the world have been associated to negative impacts on the environment, due to, among other things, migration patterns that increase pressure on natural resources in the most vulnerable areas, often resulting in increased deforestation.”

But its climate strategy, such as better use of water resources, had “the potential to facilitate the consolidation of peace territories,” it said.

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