THE ARHUACO PEOPLE AND GREENWOOD ENERGY PRESENT TERRɅ INITIɅTIVE AT YALE UNIVERSITY

New Haven, Connecticut | February 27, 2026

From February 5 to 7, Greenwood Energy (GWE) and the Arhuaco People participated in the Tropical Forest Leadership Summit, organized by the Yale School of the Environment in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. The Summit, held at Kroon Hall, convened leaders from the environmental, academic, and public policy sectors to address contemporary challenges in conservation, climate finance, and governance in tropical ecosystems. Participating organizations included The Nature Conservancy, Bezos Earth Fund, Verra, and Conservation International, among others. Discussions underscored the critical role of tropical forests as foundational systems for planetary stability—regulating the global climate, safeguarding the majority of terrestrial biodiversity, and sustaining resources essential to human life.

The delegation included Guido Patrignani, Chairman of the Board of GWE, and Ati Viviam Villafaña, Youth Defender of the Cabildo Arhuaco Magdalena-Guajira and environmental leader. At the Burke Auditorium, they presented the origins, guiding principles, and structural components of TERRɅ INITIɅTIVE as a model for energy development grounded in territorial governance and in the cultural relationship between communities and their environment.

Within this framework, they emphasized that a just energy transition extends beyond infrastructure deployment or renewable technologies; it also depends on how projects are embedded within preexisting social, cultural, and ecological systems. Their contribution enriched the Summit’s academic and technical dialogue by integrating a territorial perspective. From the Arhuaco worldview, ancestral territory constitutes a living system in which ecological, cultural, and spiritual dimensions are inseparable. Accordingly, any intervention must be grounded in dialogue, trust-building, and collective decision-making.

During the presentation, Guido Patrignani stated: “Ultimately, humanity will need to reimagine what development truly means. There is no single solution; responsibility is shared, and the energy sector must step forward with concrete alternatives. TERRɅ represents an energy transition that directly finances environmental conservation and the Indigenous culture that protects it. It is neither charity nor assistance—it is a systemic development model aligned with the scale and urgency of the global climate challenge.”

For her part, Ati Viviam Villafaña remarked: “Today we have the opportunity to lead initiatives that integrate our ancestral knowledge with the contributions of science to address the environmental crisis. For the Arhuaco People, caring for the territory has always been a collective responsibility. Sharing this vision in international spaces confirms that these knowledge systems remain relevant and essential to building a sustainable future for all.”

During the visit, Yale faculty and university officials met with the delegation to further examine the model presented through TERRɅ INITIɅTIVE and to explore areas of collaboration between the university, GWE, and the Arhuaco People. Together with Dr. Michel Gelobter, Executive Director of the Yale Center for Environmental Justice, and Professor Gerald Torres of the Yale School of the Environment and Yale Law School, potential lines of collaboration were discussed, including technical environmental training programs for Indigenous communities, guest lectures presenting TERRɅ as a case study, and academic exchange initiatives between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Yale.

The agenda also included cultural visits on campus. The delegation participated in a private tour of the Peabody Museum alongside other Summit speakers, exploring a collection of more than 14 million specimens and objects documenting the history of the Earth, its biodiversity, and its cultures. They also visited the Yale University Art Gallery, designed by architect Louis Kahn, which houses more than 200,000 works of art, including masterpieces by Van Gogh, Picasso, Pollock, Kandinsky, Monet, and Mondrian.

Participation in the Tropical Forest Leadership Summit provided an opportunity to further articulate the scope of VISION 2030, Greenwood Energy’s five-year strategic plan defining a proprietary approach to conceiving and scaling a just energy transition in Latin America. Under this framework, the energy transition not only contributes to emissions reduction and clean energy generation, but is also positioned as a vehicle for community development and cultural strengthening. Academic institutions such as Yale provide international visibility for this model and expand dialogue with global stakeholders committed to a collaborative energy transition built from the territories of Latin America.

 

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