This case study is available for download in English and Spanish. Este estudio de caso se encuentra disponible para descargar en español y en inglés.
After Colombia’s historic 2016 peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla group, people in rural areas heavily affected by the conflict began dreaming about a different future. However, decades of violence had left hundreds of landmines, thousands of deaths, and millions of people displaced, in addition to high levels of poverty and a weakened social fabric.
To tackle some of the challenges from decades of conflict, Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB)—a leading energy and natural gas multinational company—launched Energía para la Paz. This shared value initiative revolves around landmine clearance and trust-building to increase the safety and prosperity of communities in post-conflict areas. Developing Energía para la Paz required a mindset shift to how GEB embedded social impact at the heart of its business’s success.
Top Takeaways
- Energía para la Paz, GEB’s flagship shared value initiative, has prevented millions of dollars’ worth of cost overruns by contributing to landmine clearing efforts in 11 municipalities across Colombia.
- Companies can play an important role in supporting efforts to build peace and prosperity in particularly challenging contexts, in a way that creates value for society and for their businesses.
- By integrating shared value with other social investment tools like CSR and philanthropy, GEB was able to address social problems that perpetuated inequities in rural communities that had long been neglected.
Astrid Álvarez, former CEO (January 2016–June 2020), GEB
