Gaps in Colombian environmental regulationsColombian environmental regulations: The case of theEl Quimbo hydroelectric

Environmental issues have become of significant interest worldwide due to the negative phenomena experienced. Thus, studies have emerged that analyse various anthropogenic factors that affect the environment, including research that warns of weak regulations on environmental issues. This study evaluates the environmental regulations based on the requirements of the environmental licences that hydroelectric projects require as a mandatory condition for their implementation, addressing the case of the El Quimbo hydroelectric plant. The research was carried out from the perspective of environmental impacts and their identification in previous (ex-ante) and subsequent (ex-post) studies in order to compare the reliability of environmental licences. As a result, it was found that the ex-ante environmental impact studies, carried out in the framework of the environmental licence application, are unreliable due to their accuracy because they underestimate, overestimate or omit environmental impacts.