President Duque insisted on the importance of ratifying the Escazú Agreement

Less than five months after the end of his term, President Iván Duque reminded the Congress of the Republic of the importance of ratifying the Escazú Agreement, which establishes guarantees on access to information and justice in environmental matters in Latin America.

He assures that he has had meetings with people related to the project so that doubts about the pact are clarified so that it can be approved.

It should be noted that the president assures that he is in a hurry to ratify the Escazú Agreement because this last stage of his Government will be framed in issues of climate action and social development. In addition to the aforementioned pact, it intends to promote a Biodiversity Law that will allow the protection of the country's fauna and flora.

The Escazú Agreement generates controversy in the country and that is why, despite the fact that the bill to ratify has been filed several times, the process has not materialized. In fact, opposition congressmen submitted the proposal again on February 22 to try to get it approved in the last legislature of this administration.

The document was presented to the second committee of the Senate, which was told that it is imperative to process the regulations in a short time, since the country cannot continue to delay it. The conference is led by Senators Iván Cepeda (Democratic Pole), Feliciano Valencia (Mais) and Antonio Sanguino (Green Party).

On the contrary, senators from the ruling party have spoken out against the agreement. In the middle of last year, Senator María Fernanda Cabal launched a social media campaign to reject Colombia's signing to the pact arguing that it is dangerous, because it means “the session of sovereignty to international organizations such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice.”

These allegations, according to the Alliance for the Escazú Agreement, are false. Just in October 2020, the group presented a series of myths that had been formed about this agreement, mainly on the subject that Cabal exposed.

It was stated that the Escazú Agreement seeks to establish guarantees on access to information and justice in environmental matters such as the protection of environmental leaders. The importance of this last point is highlighted, since according to the international organization Global Witness, Colombia ranks first among countries with the most murders of environmental defenders.

In addition, they emphasize that Colombia is going through a scenario of increasing socio-environmental conflicts that is seriously affecting territories and environmental defenders. According to the Atlas of Environmental Justice, Colombia reports 134 environmental conflicts, whether due to deforestation, extractivist models, delimitation of moors, among others.

Thus, the congressmen point out that there must be a determined commitment to address environmental challenges and establish strategies to protect the environment, the territory and environmental defenders. Senator Cepeda also points out that President Iván Duque has committed himself to the international community to protect the environment and has consistently failed to comply.

The three speakers of the project argue that Colombia “cannot stand any further delays on the part of the sectors that are enemies of the Escazú Agreement.” Likewise, they point out that the commitment of indigenous communities to the Escazú Agreement is absolute and all they expect is that Congress and the president will help them push the regulations forward.

KEEP READING: