REDD Market Insight: Colombia elections

Colombia held the first round of its 2026 presidential elections on 31 May. While outsider candidate Abelardo De La Espriella and left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda are heading to the runoff, De La Espriella outperformed expectations by a wide margin. The outsider candidate had almost 44% of the vote compared to Cepeda’s 41%. Conservative Senator Paloma Valencia, who had been polling at an average of 18%, had a worse-than-expected performance with just under 7% of the vote.

Candidates did not meet for presidential debates during the first-round campaign, making it harder for the population to learn about their proposals. Cepeda, who is backed by current President Gustavo Petro, has promised continuity of social reforms. De La Espriella, a successful businessman and attorney, is an anti-establishment candidate running a populist campaign promising an iron first approach to security and economic austerity. The final round of voting will be held on 21 June, and the winner will take office on 7 August.

In our recent REDD Market Insight featuring Sovereign Reporter Carla Dager and Deputy Managing Editor for LATAM Steven E Bodzin. They provided a post-mortem on the first round and the outlook for the second round.

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