As Colombia moves to close a legal loophole in its energy embargo on Israel, BDS calls on supporters to urgently escalate pressure on Drummond to stop its coal exports that fuel Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
On 22 August 2024, Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro issued Decree 1047 prohibiting the export of coal to Israel due to its genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in the illegally occupied Gaza Strip. This reduced Colombia’s coal exports to Israel to 51%. However, Drummond has exploited loopholes in the policy to continue exporting Colombian coal to fuel Israel’s genocide. Drummond appears to have shipped at least another seven vessels full of coal to Israel, carrying 795,387 tons of coal, after the Colombia policy was announced.
As of August 2024, 41% of all coal supplies to Israel came from Colombia, with Glencore (Anglo-Swiss company) and Drummond (US based) being the key providers. Israel’s power grids depend on coal for 22% of their fuel. They provide electricity to Israel’s illegal colonial settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, as well as to the industry that fuels Israel’s genocide, apartheid and illegal occupation against the Palestinian people.
Almost a year after, on July 24, 2025, the vessel FORTUNE sailed under the flag of Malta from the port of Ciénaga, Colombia, bound for Israel, carrying a cargo of 93,297 tons of coal, reportedly from the mines of the US company Drummond.
This was only the latest in a series of ongoing coal shipments exported by Drummond, despite the Colombian government's multiple efforts to halt coal exports to Israel.
Colombia’s president is determined to reform Decree 1047 to close the loopholes that allow Drummond to challenge Colombia’s sovereignty and impose a total energy embargo on genocidal Israel.
The BDS movement calls on supporters worldwide to escalate pressure on Drummond to uphold its obligations under international law and stop its genocidal coal exports to Israel.
Take action now:
Write to Drummond now and file a grievance - https://drummond.boreal-is.com/portal/drummond
Tag Drummond in social media posts - @drummondltdco
Flood Drummond’s social media with comments exposing its role in fueling Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.
Colombian civil society has united in the campaign No more Coal for Genocide and insists “Our basic duty as Colombian society is to end the export of coal to the genocidal state of Israel”.
Colombia's mine workers union Sintracarbon further underlined that “that coal, those metals, minerals and fuels that are sent to Israel are linked to the role of this country in the training of military-paramilitaries and mercenaries”. They “call on the world trade union movement, especially the unions in the mining and energy sector, to stop the production of metals, minerals and fuels that are used in these wars, because the planet is on the verge of a new world war.