Energy Transition and the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation in Colombia: Initial Ideas

Abstract

This article examines the Just Energy Transition (JET) policy promoted by the government of Gustavo Petro (2022-2026) in Colombia, critically analyzing its structural limitations in relation to the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation (SNCTI). Drawing on a co-production approach between science and society, it argues that the Colombian energy transition reproduces historically rooted patterns of technological and epistemic dependency in the Latin American region. The text identifies fundamental tensions between the rhetoric of energy justice and the predominant technocratic governance, scarce investment in R&D, the subordination of research agendas to external demands, and the marginalization of local knowledge and effective citizen participation. It concludes that without a democratic reconfiguration of the SNCTI that articulates science, policy, and territory, the JET risks consolidating as a limited illusion that perpetuates structural asymmetries under imperialist capitalism.