Improve productivity and sustainability, Colombia’s challenge for exporting in times of the European Green Pact

To improve productivity and sustainability is key for Colombian export products to have a place in the European Union. At least this is how the Colombian export market is expected to react with the entry into force of the European Green Pact, a measure designed to strengthen sustainable practices in companies.

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The Green Pact is a European Union plan to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. This plan aims to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and promote the transition to a more sustainable and circular economy.

The world faces the paradox that, while the rich countries emit the most greenhouse gases, the poor countries suffer the most from the consequences of climate change.

The proportion in which different countries should contribute to environmental care is not clear, and the measures adopted in the quest for sustainability represent a major challenge for lower-income countries.

This is the case of the European Green Pact. In order to comply with the objectives of this Pact, the European Union is expected to impose stricter measures on the importation of products with high carbon emissions.

Therefore, Colombian companies wishing to continue exporting to that economic community will have to adapt to these new regulations and environmental requirements.

This could imply important changes in the way products are produced and transported, as well as in the management of waste and natural resources.

For Mauricio López González, Executive Director of the Colombian Global Compact Network, the European Green Pact undoubtedly requires national producers to accelerate all their sustainability programs in order to be able to offer their products in the European Union.

“Instead of seeing it as a problem without a solution, it should be seen as a great opportunity to strengthen increasingly sustainable practices and thus gain in competitiveness, differentiate themselves from potential competitors and also generate options for additional quality premiums”, says López González.

The premise is to improve productivity and sustainability

As mentioned, the Green Pact implies further adapting production in the Colombian agricultural sector with continuous and permanent sustainability practices.

These include soil management, the non-expansion of the agricultural frontier to encourage reforestation, the control of inputs and their responsible use, and the application of good social and labor practices in the interest of decent and more formal work.

Thus, in a more hyperconnected world and with more demanding consumers, companies that more quickly appropriate the components of sustainability (harmonious integration between the economic, social and environmental dimensions in a framework respectful of human rights) will have a greater space in the market and will improve the chance of consolidating quickly and have greater profits.

“If they do not do so, they will be at the back of the pack, and if they do not adapt to these requirements, they will simply not be able to compete satisfactorily, with the undeniable result of a decrease in their business expectations”, points out Mauricio López, from the Global Compact Colombia, which groups more than 600 companies from all productive sectors, organizations and academia.

European Green Pact, a challenge for Colombia

The European Union is currently Colombia’s second largest trading partner for agricultural exports. Therefore, in order to improve productivity, a government program called Al-invest verde is being promoted, with the purpose of finding mechanisms to ensure the process that agricultural products exported from Colombia must undergo.

According to ProColombia, “through this collaboration, Colombian companies will be able to learn about European regulations affecting exports and receive support to adapt to their compliance. Priority products will be coffee, cocoa, cane sugar, palm oil, flowers and fresh fruit, and natural ingredients”.

Beyond institutional support, Colombian producers face a major challenge in complying with the new requirements and, if they fail to do so, their foreign sales will be affected.

This is corroborated by Manuela Bravo, coordinator of the Export Consultancy of the Politécnico Grancolombiano and professor of this educational institution, when referring to the subject.

“In the event that Colombia does not adopt the conditions given by the European Green Pact, exports will be affected in the medium and long term for the country, since agricultural products will not be received in the member countries of the European Union”, says Bravo.

Likewise, he advocates that products exported from Colombia be accepted in European territory. “Therefore, it is imperative that Colombia implements the mandatory process of the Green Pact, in order to respond to the needs that the current dynamics require and thus improve productivity”, says the professor of the Polytechnic.

Deforestation, the great challenge

Since the UN Conference on Biodiversity (COP15), it was established that countries that deforest will not be able to send their agricultural products to the European Union. The question then arises as to how this would affect Colombia.

For Manuela Bravo, “within the industries that have dealt with this aspect of deforestation in agricultural products in Colombia, cocoa is the industry that has signed a pact against deforestation five years ago. This guarantees legality in production and better traceability in the process, avoiding possible retentions of the products upon arrival in the European Union”.

The professor also affirms that “palm oil, in particular, continues to be one of the most affected agroindustrial products”. Such is the case of the Colombian government’s statement to the European Union in a joint communiqué issued with Ecuador and Peru:

“Our countries have been harmed by the improper information of sustainable labeling tending to identify palm oil as harmful to human health and destructive to the environment (deforestation).

It has become evident that there is an increasing number of product labels with ‘palm oil free’ claims. This type of practice generates discrimination against products containing palm oil, regardless of whether or not they actually come from practices related to deforestation in their regions of origin”.

With this reality, Colombia is already facing a process of affectation in the agricultural production chain, which faces a certain loss of prestige due to extensive cattle raising, unproductive crops, accelerated deforestation, unhealthy diets and increased imports.

For this reason, it is necessary to implement a coordinated effort with the European Union to advance joint strategies to improve the supply chain of agricultural products, in this case for export.

However, Mauricio López, from Pacto Global Colombia, was categorical in stating that “the formal Colombian agricultural sector, in order to improve productivity, is actively working on sustainability programs, especially in sectors with high export options such as coffee, palm oil, cocoa, timber, meat, rubber, soybeans, avocado, exotic fruits and flowers”.

In summary, the European Green Pact will have a significant impact on Colombia’s exports to the European Union, as it is expected to impose stricter measures regarding the importation of products with high carbon emissions.

Colombian companies will have to adapt to these new regulations and environmental requirements of the European market, while striving to improve productivity.

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