PROJECT NOTE

Territorial ABC System

The information system for the ABC Agenda

Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Republic of Colombia

21-08-2026

Project summary

Project objectiveMake the ABC Agenda operational through the Territorial ABC System, an information system that will connect community priorities with a coordinated State response and track environmental and economic results.

The ABC Agenda advances three fundamental changes

Colombia's new Government has defined the environment as a cross-cutting priority for all its action and the ABC Agenda as the “road map” for its environmental policy. Its name stands for three words: Water, Biodiversity and Communities. It proposes three changes: moving from sustainability to regeneration; bringing environment and development together by making the environment a central criterion for public decisions; and bringing environmental policy into the territories through priorities defined with the communities and authorities of each territory. This vision is set out in two official documents: the National ABC Agenda and the Programa Nacional Promotores ABC de la Regeneración.

The Territorial ABC System will put this vision into practice

It will connect each Local ABC Agenda with State support, enterprises able to implement projects and the necessary authorisations. The system will be designed so that AI agents can help find applicable rules and support, prepare applications, follow responses and facilitate decisions by the competent authorities.

Information from the territories to the Presidency

ABC Promoters, citizens trained in each territory to work with their communities and authorities, will collect and report information on needs, progress and results using a phone, including while offline. The same information will feed monitoring dashboards adapted to each participant; a presidential dashboard will show the national picture and allow users to drill down to each territory and individual case.

Three years of support, with results from year one

The Ministry is seeking an indicative total of USD 3.6 million. The results of the first year can be verified before funding the second.

Context

A new vision of development

Regenerate, not only conserve

Development must restore and strengthen ecosystems, rather than merely conserve them and reduce damage.

Environment and development as one policy

Regenerating the environment creates value, enterprises, jobs and income. State investment and support must serve both priorities.

Decisions built in the territories

Communities define the priorities; local political endorsement and technical validation help direct resources and support.

Three obstacles to applying the vision

Fragmentation and bureaucracy

Colombia has environmental rules, institutions and programmes, but requirements accumulate, responsibilities are dispersed and support does not always reach its intended destination. Some instruments remain on paper, are administered in isolation or do not respond to conditions in the territory.

No permanent local capacity

Most municipalities do not have stable, trained and remunerated local capacity that understands the instruments, works with communities and authorities, and supports implementation continuously.

No regular direct information

The country produces institutional and satellite information, but does not regularly receive data collected and validated in each territory about its needs. Without this knowledge, it is difficult to target the response, confirm alerts and measure results.

The Territorial ABC System

Territory

Create and sustain the Network

The system will show where ABC Promoters work, their training and certification, and will help organise their continued support.

Build the Agenda

Using a phone, Promoters will prepare the Local ABC Agenda with their community. The territorial decision-making body will adopt it and the environmental authority will validate its technical aspects.

Planned scale: 10,000 Promoters, 1,000 Local ABC Agendas, 2,000 community enterprises and 500 municipalities contracting environmental services.

State Support

A coordinated response

The system will connect each priority with protection and public security, financing, knowledge and technical advice.

A single entry point

The National Catalogue will bring together the rules and available support. One application will be routed to the competent entities and their response will remain visible.

Over time, the Catalogue may incorporate cooperation and private investment, both national and international.

Enterprises

Capacity to implement

The system will identify enterprises able to implement projects; many may be community enterprises.

Contract monitoring

It will record progress, deliverables, payments scheduled in the contract and the final result.

Authorisations

Clear rules

For each authorisation, the system will publish in a form that is clear and readable by both people and AI agents who may apply, which conditions must be met, which documents are required, who decides and within what time.

Assisted submission

An AI agent will retrieve the rules, reuse authorised data and request only what is missing, facilitating the authority's decision.

Information and monitoring dashboards

A dashboard for each participant

Each community, Promoter, authority, national entity and funding partner will see the information needed to act and monitor results.

The presidential dashboard

It will show the national picture and allow users to move from an indicator to the relevant territory and individual case.

Implementation

The project will be implemented over three years, with usable and verifiable results from the first year.

The Ministry will lead implementation and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will be the principal technical partner for system design, the application of new technologies and the transfer of capabilities to the national team.

Year 1

Territory and State response

Year 2

Enterprises and authorisations

Year 3

Consolidation and expansion

Indicative budget

Year 1

Approximately USD 1.2 million

Year 2

Approximately USD 1.2 million

Year 3

Approximately USD 1.2 million

Indicative totalUSD 3.6 million