Boric signs Chile's accession to the “Escazú Agreement” in defense of the environment

Santiago, Chile, 18 Mar Chilean President Gabriel Boric today signed the Escazú Agreement, an international treaty ratified by 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that seeks to guarantee access to environmental rights and protect environmental activists and biodiversity in times of emergency climatic. Chile's adherence to this letter, promoted after the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in 2012, was raised by the first government of conservative Sebastián Piñera (2010-2014) but was not scrapped during his second term at the Palacio de la Moneda (2018-2012) due to pressure from industry and mining. Sources close to the current Government, which began its mandate last Friday, March 11, assured Efe that it was inexplicable that Chile was not part of this great pact signed by the great nations of the continent and that it fits the new economic reality, in which the defense of the environment is crucial. And they said that it coincides with the strategic vision of the new Executive led by Boric, a politician concerned and aware of the need to act urgently in the face of the climate emergency. During the signing, which is one of the first major decisions of the new Administration, the president was accompanied by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Antonia Urrejola, and Environment, Maisa Rojas. “This is an agreement that recognizes the explicit and necessary relationship between environment and human rights, generating a virtuous link where access to information, participation and environmental justice are understood as interdependent,” Rojas said before the signing. Urrejola, for his part, said that “the future of Chile is inevitably connected with the protection of the environment and ecosystems. Accession to the Escazú agreement represents a return to the best of our diplomatic tradition. We want to regain Chile's international prestige and make Chileans proud and proud of the country's contribution to the world.” The agreement is the first initiative that the new Chilean Government sends to the legislature for ratification. “From Latin America and the Caribbean we are talking to the world. You, fighters for the environment, fighters for life, have taught us to persevere,” said President Boric, who stressed that signing is one of the commitments already fulfilled in his election campaign. CRITICISM OF THE RIGHT The firm was applauded on Thursday by progressive forces in Chile and criticized by some groups on the right. The deputy for Democratic Revolution, Catalina Pérez, told the local press on Thursday that the firm is on the right track and said that it will be very beneficial and will contribute to the protection of ecosystems. In response, his colleague from National Renewal, José Miguel Castro, assured that adherence to this treaty, which is the first to protect environmental rights defenders, could generate conflicts with other countries. AVOID MORE CRIMES The Escazú agreement is considered one of the most important environmental instruments in the region, also aimed at preventing the repetition of threats and murders of environmental rights defenders such as Honduran indigenous Lenca leader Berta Cáceres, or Brazil's Chico Mendes. Among its main objectives, it seeks to fully and effectively implement the rights of access to environmental information, to public participation in decision-making processes in the environmental environment and to access to justice in the environmental field. It also seeks to guarantee the protection of the right of every person, present and future generations, to have sustainable development and to live in a healthy environment. Its provisions include a gender perspective, open government and priority criteria in its application for people in situations of vulnerability, in addition to being one of the first in the world to be binding in the framework of the defense and respect for human rights in matters related to nature. CHIEF jm/cpy (photo) (video)