Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Ecopetrol actively engaged on climate policies in 2023-25 with a mix of positive and negative positions on science-aligned policy. Although the company supported some specific Colombian climate regulations, it strongly and consistently advocated for new fossil fuel exploration and production in Colombia.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Ecopetrol appears to take broadly positive top-line positions on climate policy in its topline messaging. In a December 2023 a press release, Ecopetrol supported reducing methane emissions globally by 30% by 2030. In its 2024 CDP Climate Change Disclosure it stated support for government regulation to respond to climate change in Colombia such as the National Development Plan 2022-26 and the Long-Term Climate Strategy 2050. In a December 2023 press release, Ecopetrol supported reaching the goals of the UN Paris Agreement.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policies: Ecopetrol appears to support some specific climate policies in Colombia, but with several exceptions. In its 2023 CDP Climate Change Disclosure, the company supported revising the percentage of emissions relating to fuel use which can be offset in the Colombian carbon tax from 100% to 50%. In a November 2023 comment to Colombian policymakers, Ecopetrol seemed to support expanding sustainable aviation fuel policy to include storage, transport and supply, as well as quality requirements, while adopting international standards. In July 2025 the CEO Ricardo Roa was reported in the news outlet Bioeconomia as supporting Colombian Sustainable Aviation Fuel policy. In its 2024 CDP Climate Change Disclosure Ecopetrol supported Colombia’s methane regulation which targets reducing fugitive emissions by 2030 with minor exceptions with an unclear impact on the climate ambition of the policy, disclosing that it has been actively engaging on the file with regulators. The company also seemed to support Colombia’s 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution GHG emission reduction target of 51% in its 2024 CDP response.
In May 2024 in a comment to Colombian policymakers, Ecopetrol broadly supported legislation to reduce the production and consumption of single use plastics, however, its subsidiary Esenttia appeared to advocate in another comment that some targets within the legislation should be voluntary or should be deleted. In its 2024 CDP Climate Change Disclosure Ecopetrol appeared to support the National Development Plan 2022-26 in Colombia to curb deforestation. A comment to regulators on the Agenda Regulatoria 2025 in November 2024 seemed to support the use of ICAO-approved sustainability certification schemes in Colombian SAF policy.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Despite making broad statements supporting the energy transition, Ecopetrol supports a continued role for oil and gas in the future energy mix and consistently advocated for new fossil fuel exploration and production in Latin America in direct engagement with regulators in 2023-25. The CEO Ricardo Roa supported a balanced and just energy transition to clean and decarbonized energy sources on X in July 2025. In its 2024 CDP Climate Change Disclosure, Ecopetrol broadly supported the energy transition and decarbonization of the economy. However, in comments to regulators on Colombia’s fossil gas storage plan and on the Agenda Regulatoria 2025 in November 2024, Ecopetrol supported new exploration and production of fossil gas. In August 2024 comments to regulators on the Colombian Low-Carbon Hydrogen Law, Ecopetrol advocated for the policy to cover all hydrogen, rather than just low-carbon hydrogen. In November 2024 comments to regulators on the Agenda Regulatoria 2025, the company supported the increased use of sustainable aviation fuels, biomethane and biogas and incentives for the development of carbon capture and storage but did not clearly align its support with IPCC recommendations. In the same comments in November 2024, it supported legislation to scale up geothermal energy. The CEO has consistently stated support for a role for fossil fuels in the energy mix, for example on X in March 2025 and in a May 2025 press release.
Industry Association Governance: Ecopetrol disclosed its membership to some industry associations in its 2024 Annual Report, but with no further information provided on the associations’ positions on climate change, nor how the company is attempting to influence these positions. The company has not published a review of its alignment with industry associations on climate change policy. Ecopetrol did not disclose its membership of the International Gas Union and Hydrogen Council.
In addition, Ecopetrol is a listed company with more than 50% of its shares owned by the government of Colombia. State-owned enterprises likely retain channels of direct and private engagement with government officials that InfluenceMap is unable to assess, and therefore are not represented in Ecopetrol's engagement intensity metric.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q3 2025.