Ideas, Challenges, and Hope in Action
This article gathers my reflections on Change Now 2025 and sustainability, following an intense experience at this global gathering in Paris. A month after returning to Bogotá, Change Now continues to echo in my steps and in my conscience. It’s not just an event. It doesn’t stand still. It keeps moving forward.
For those new to this platform: Change Now is the world’s largest event dedicated to solutions for the planet, where projects, companies, leaders, and communities come together to build a more sustainable future. This year, it was held from April 24 to 26 at the Grand Palais in Paris.
It’s time to change — and to do it sustainably.
One of the key lessons I took home —as a writer and creative— is linguistic: in French, sustainability is written durabilité.
Yes, the change is now. But it also happens step by step.
Even though the urgency is real, this is not a race. It’s about moving forward with intention.
Just as the Paris Agreement planted the seed that made Change Now possible —as Santiago Lefebvre, Rose-May Lucotte, and others reminded us— ten years later, that seed has blossomed.
For me, Change Now —which I discovered last year and lived again this year— is not a destination. Quite the opposite: it’s a beginning. There will be many more stories, interviews, articles, and reflections to share through Clean Energy.
A Starting Point from Paris
Let’s start here: Clean Energy, now a global platform, was officially introduced at Change Now 2025. Let that be a sign.
For years, we were Clean Energy for Colombia. Today, we are simply Energía Limpia (www.energialimpia.co); Clean Energy . The name is shorter, the scope is broader. While we are just beginning to publish content, our purpose is clear: to grow and consolidate as a platform for communication, outreach, opinion, and connection.
Everyone reading us is welcome to participate, build, and contribute. This microphone —as we present it today— is open to all.
These pages collect impressions. Because capturing everything we experienced in words is impossible —you have to be there to truly understand it. These are ideas that arose in me, thoughts I feel compelled to share, to “think out loud.”
They are not absolute truths —but they are thoughts that continue to shape my days, and those of Clean Energy, after this experience in Paris. Welcome to the discussion, which I accompany with some of the snapshots I took:
A Story of Sustainability that Started with USAID
Clean Energy for Colombia —now Clean Energy— began over a decade ago as part of a program funded by USAID, where I served as Communications Director. That was the seed. The program ended, yes —but the platform www.energialimpia.co is still alive. Today it is renewed, relevant, and aligned with global conversations.
It’s a clear example of meaningful international cooperation. In Colombia —and beyond. Personally, and through the agency I lead, USAID was key. One of our main allies across many efforts. I shared the following on LinkedIn some months ago:
“Not everything was perfect. But it was real. It was useful. It was transformative.”
That’s why it is so troubling that, just as the world calls for action —as Change Now itself proclaims— those in power are trying to abruptly dismantle an agency like USAID.
Let me be clear: change is necessary. Even within USAID, there are things that should be improved, updated, questioned. Like any institution with decades of existence, it must renew itself.
But change is one thing —destruction is another.
What we are seeing today is not transformation. It is ideological demolition.
And from where I stand, that’s profoundly unjust —not only for the legacy of international cooperation, but for the millions of lives that have benefitted from it.
This brings me to one of my first reflections on Change Now 2025 and sustainability:
The change we need must not be impulsive or fanatical.
As I learned in Paris, under the French notion of durabilité, sustainability is built through balance, patience, and long-term vision. In my view —and I’d love to hear yours— fanaticism is one of the greatest enemies of sustainability. And in this case, the ones dismantling USAID —without nuance or care— are fanatics. The ones in power.
Trump and the Paradoxes of Change
One of the uncomfortable figures that hovered over this edition of Change Now was —undoubtedly— the “unmentionable”: Donald Trump.
His return to the White House came up in multiple sessions, even mentioned by speakers discussing “Trump-style solutions” or “fighting fire with fire.”
Some even suggested —with dramatic flair— the need for a kind of “climate revolution,” even possibly armed.
Interesting. But not the path forward.
What we need is not more Trumps —from any side.
What we need is science, data, ideas —not ideological postures or blind positions.
That’s why it was refreshing to see many attendees wearing hats with the slogan:
“Make Science Great Again” —a parody of Trump’s infamous “Make America Great Again.”
I’m in. This platform is in.
And we will do it with arguments, evidence, and conviction. Not with fanaticism, but with rigor and honesty. Because science —especially now— needs to be defended and shared.Change Now reminds us of something vital: we are not alone.
And no matter how much power a few may hold, there is still a humanity out there, committed and alive.
Sustainability Is Not Black or White
Sustainability must not become a battleground.
It is not black vs. white. Not good vs. evil.
It is —and must be— balance: between the social, economic, and environmental spheres.
I don’t believe fossil fuels should disappear overnight (besides, that’s impossible).
What we need is to use them less, more efficiently, and to promote clean energy —with intent.
Efficiency is key.
Just as important as generating renewable energy is using what we already have —better.
The same goes for plastics.
In a country like Colombia —a biodiversity powerhouse— it is heartbreaking to see rivers, creeks, and entire oceans polluted by plastic.
We must recover, recycle, and transform.
Give new life to what already exists —especially single-use plastics— and turn them into useful, durable objects (durable, as sustainability is written in French).
Of course, we must also push for timely and effective reduction in production. With clear deadlines and targets. This is critical for a true circular economy.
And yes, I have good news:We still have time.
We must act now, but not in panic. We must act with purpose.
Compensation Matters
Every event leaves a footprint. Change Now knows this —and compensates with rigor and care.
That’s how it should be.
From travel emissions to energy use and materials, everything adds up. But responsibility must follow. It must be real, technical, and supportive of meaningful environmental solutions.
We do this too.
Through The Community Forests, we compensate for the impact of cultural and sustainability events by supporting conservation efforts deep in the Amazon —the lungs of the planet.
I wrote more about this in a piece for Clean Energy on the Estéreo Picnic Festival, Colombia’s most important private cultural event.
You can read it here.
There, I reflect on how large-scale events should not seek perfection, but an active balance between what they generate and what they give back. We’re not talking about a perfect world.
We’re talking about a better world.
And yes, I’m proud of that.
The Grand Palais and the Power of Solutions
Change is here. And how wonderful that more and more of us are joining.
Clean Energy is walking this long road, step by step —with clarity, conviction, and vision.
Change Now has been a great catalyst for this momentum.
This year’s edition, held in the legendary Grand Palais, was a vivid reminder that we are human —and that what unites us are not certainties, but shared challenges.
That building, constructed for the 1900 Universal Exposition, is a testament to what humans can create when inspired.
Now fully renovated, this glass temple is more alive and functional than ever —and was entirely devoted to sustainability for three days. And beyond those days, I learned that both the Palais and the city of Paris are adopting sustainable practices year-round. That’s powerful.
A Movement That Keeps Expanding
One of the most exciting announcements this year was the launch of Change Now’s first three international hubs:
- Tunis, Tunisia – September 2025
- São Paulo, Brazil – October 2025
- Bangalore, India – November 2025
Hopefully, it will soon reach Colombia as well.
Because what’s unfolding here is extraordinary.
It’s a movement that grows, connects, shares.
One that goes far beyond those “unmatchable” three days in Paris.
The idea remains simple —and powerful: Bring the world’s brightest minds together to share real, actionable solutions.idad.
Jump Into the Water: The Future Is Built in Motion
We cannot leave the future to others. Not to governments. Not to politicians.
And we can’t afford to wait for perfect conditions either.
Sustainability requires action. Change. Courage.
Not recklessness. Not fanaticism. But deliberate momentum.
Santiago Lefebvre, founder of Change Now, left us with this quote:
“Don’t ask for permission. Just go. Keep moving.”
Those words took me straight back to one of the chapters in my book La Fábrica de Ideas:
“El que piensa, pierde.” / “He who overthinks, loses.”
Not because thinking is wrong —but because sometimes we get stuck in it.
And what we really need is to jump into the water, as we say in Colombia.
👉 You can learn more about the book here: La Fábrica de Ideas (Creatividad en Acción)
To build a truly sustainable world, it’s not enough to imagine it.
We must move. Start. Even without all the answers.
Because real change comes not from control, but from courage.
🌍 Forward with change.
⚡ Forward with clean energy.
🌱 Forward with sustainability.
💡 And yes —forward with ideas, put into action. Because the future is not delegated.
It is built —step by step, in motion, with purpose.
