Blowing the whistle in a toxic environment: conversation with Andrés Olarte Peña

Colombia is one of the most dangerous places in the world to defend the environment; every year several activists are killed. Andrés Olarte Peña used to work for Ecopetrol, an oil and gas company that is majority state-owned and is Colombia’s biggest company.
After some time, Andrés realized that Ecopetrol had been hiding severe environmental pollution, including the contamination of water and wetlands with toxic substances, and was conducting targeted surveillance of socio-environmental leaders. He began collecting evidence. The company became aware of this, and shortly after Andrés had discussions with the Human Resources department he and his family started receiving anonymous death threats.
He left the company and his country, and shared the documents with the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). In March 2025 the EIA published a report along with a database (the Iguana Papers) and the BBC released the documentary Colombia: Petroleum, Pollution and Paramilitaries. Andrés has received the 2026 Ellsberg Whistleblower Award.
Michael Sontheimer will discuss what motivated Andrés, whether he would do it again, how the collaboration with journalists worked, what went well, what could have been done better, how Andrés protected himself and his family, and what support might have helped him.
Organised in association with the taz Panther Foundation.