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The Minister of Environment (MinAmbiente) Luis Gilberto Murillo explained that green taxes, like a levy on carbon emissions, are important for Colombia’ sustainable development and for meeting the country’s environmental goals.

Hocol’s permit to develop the Toldado field was suspended by Cortolima due to environmental requirements and Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) had to take action on alleged leaks detected in Santander. These and other environmental stories in our periodic summary.

A spill registered at the Rubiales field forced Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) to activate its contingency plan and caught the attention of national environmental authorities.

The National Agency of Environmental Licenses (ANLA) heralded its role in its annual 2016 account rendering session, and promised greater measures for citizens to participate early on in the formation of projects.

Ecopetrol’s (NYSE:EC) project manager for the CPO-9 exploration project, Edward Rivero, insisted to the Meta Departmental assembly that the NOC has all of its permits and papers in order, and that despite a campaign to misinform the population, it will not harm the environment exploring the block.

Bogota´s District Administration has levied a CoP$4.474B (US$1.42M) fine on Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) for a fuel leak detected at one of its fueling stations in 2010. This and other environmental stories in our periodic summary.

A public hearing in the Pesca Municipality of Boyacá for a seismic campaign by Maurel & Prom has again received strong community resistance after local leaders and environmentalists allege it would lead to a drought.

The Minister of Environment Luis Gilberto Murillo said his ministry and other authorities are preparing a report on hydrocarbons exploration in La Macarena which could affect some of the blocks in the region, although those with an environmental license should be able to still explore.

It has been over a year and four months since a Farc attack on the Transandino Pipeline spilled more than 410,000 gallons of oil into the bay of Tumaco in Nariño, and now residents accuse the government of doing little to remedy their situation. This and other environmental stories in our periodic summary.

The national government and Gran Tierra Energy (TSX:GTE) have signed a voluntary agreement to recovery bodies of water affected by oil production in the Villamarquesa village, in Putumayo. This and other environmental stories in our periodic summary.