This oil-producing country is moving away from oil. Here's how it's going

toggle caption Julia Simon/NPR

TAGANGA, Colombia – On Colombia's Caribbean coast, a fishing village lies in a cove where green hills meet the turquoise sea.

A few years ago , oil companies found natural gas off the coast and now plan to drill Colombia's deepest gas wells there.

It's been more than a century since Colombia began drilling for petroleum. But the country's president, Gustavo Petro, wants these wells off the coast to be among Colombia's last.

Petro is one of the world's most outspoken leaders on the need for urgent climate action. Key to his administration's climate agenda is transitioning the country away from fossil fuels, the single-biggest driver of global warming.

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In 2023, Petro pledged to stop approving new exploration contracts for oil, gas, and coal. On the world stage, this was a big deal. Colombia is the biggest coal producer in South America and one of the region's largest oil producers. Scientists say that to reach global climate targets, some fossil fuel producers will have to leave oil, gas and coal in the ground. Stopping new fossil fuel exploration is a pivotal step.

Now the question is: how is Colombia's energy transition going?

When it comes to growing its renewable energy sector, the country has made progress, says Margarita Nieves Zárate, director of the Colombia