ECLAC Supports Guatemala's Energy Transition Process

Between September 9 and 11, 2024, ECLAC officials participated in working groups with authorities and officials from Guatemala’s Ministry of Energy and Mines. The meetings addressed the main challenges in the mining sector and Guatemala's energy transition, defining the support mechanisms and tools with which ECLAC will contribute to strengthening the institutional capacities of the Ministry.

Minister Victor Hugo Ventura highlighted the importance of ECLAC's collaboration in achieving the strategic objectives of Guatemala's mining and energy policy. These include the environmental and social sustainability of mining and the energy transition, universal access to energy services, the need to expand rural electrification coverage, and reduce energy poverty, modernizing mining legislation and policy, and strengthening institutional capacities.

Among the topics prioritized by the Ministry of Energy and Mines in the energy sector for ECLAC’s technical assistance were the updating of energy policy, future tenders for the expansion of electric transmission system infrastructure, and generally strengthening institutional capacities.

In addition, part of ECLAC's working agenda focused on preparing for the upcoming Regional Energy Transition Dialogues for Latin America and the Caribbean, to be held in coordination with Guatemala's Ministry of Energy and Mines from November 26 to 29, 2024, in Guatemala City. ECLAC will also support Guatemala in developing policies and plans to address its national energy challenges, while promoting dialogue and regional cooperation on this issue within the country.

Furthermore, the technical assistance sought to gather information from key actors to diagnose the current state of metallic mining in Guatemala and develop a proposal for modernizing the regulatory and policy framework, with special attention to governance, concessions and licenses, extraction and exploitation, production scales, and the tax and royalty system.

For this purpose, work meetings were held with various actors from the mining industry and technical teams from the Ministry responsible for mining policy. Participants included representatives and officials from the Vice Ministry of Energy and Mines; the Vice Ministry of Sustainable Development; the General Directorate of Mining and its Departments (Mining Rights, Mining Control, Legal Management, and Mining Development); the Directorate of Environmental Management and Natural Resources of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN); the Directorates of Environmental Management and Geospatial Analysis of the National Council of Protected Areas; the Center for Higher Studies in Energy and Mines (CESEM); the Faculty of Engineering of the University of San Carlos of Guatemala; the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD/UNESCO); the Extractive Industries Observatory (OIE-OXFAM); and the Chamber of Natural Resources, Mines, and Quarries (GRENAT).

ECLAC committed to continuing its support for the government of Guatemala, in line with its ongoing technical assistance to countries in the region, with the aim of strengthening governance, policies, management, and the sustainable and inclusive use of natural resources.