The President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, signed the Escazú Agreement, an international treaty ratified by 24 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean which aims to guarantee access to environmental rights and protect activists and biodiversity in times of climate emergency.
(Read: Boric calls for regional integration for causes such as the Venezuelan crisis)
Chile’s adherence to this letter, promoted after the UN Conference on Sustainable Development held in 2012, was proposed by the first government of the conservative Sebastián Piñera (2010-2014) but was not dismissed during his second term at the Palacio de la Moneda (2018-2012) due to pressure from industry and mining.
(He is interested in: Gabriel Boric assumes the presidency of Chile, with a promise of profound change)
The future of Chile is inevitably connected to the protection of the environment and ecosystems.
Sources close to the current government, which began its mandate last Friday, March 11, assured Eph what rIt was inexplicable that Chile was not part of this great pact signed by the great nations of the continent and that adjusts to the new economic reality, in which the defense of the environment is crucial.
And they affirmed 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 represents one of the first far-reaching 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 the environment and human rights, generating a virtuous link where access to information, participation and environmental justice are understood as interdependent,” Rojas said before signing. .
We have taken longer than necessary to sign this agreement (…) but today we amend the course
Urrejola, for his part, assured that “Adhesion to the Escazú agreement represents the return to the best of our diplomatic tradition. We want to recover Chile’s international prestige and for Chilean men and women to feel proud of the country’s contribution to the world.”
The agreement is the first initiative that the new Chilean government has sent to the legislature for ratification. For his part, President Boric stressed that the signing is one of the commitments already fulfilled in his electoral campaign.
“From Latin America and the Caribbean we are speaking to the world, you, fighters for the environment, fighters for life, have taught us to persevere,” said the president after signing the agreement.
The signing was applauded on Thursday by progressive forces in Chile and criticized by some groups on the right. The deputy of the Democratic Revolution, Catalina Pérez, explained to the local press on Thursday that the firm is on the right path and believed that it will be very beneficial and will contribute to the protection of ecosystems.
In response, his colleague from Renovación Nacional, José Miguel Castro, assured that adherence to this treaty, which is the first to protect defenders of environmental rights, could generate conflicts with other countries.
The Escazú agreement is considered one of the most important environmental instruments in the region, also aimed at preventing a repetition of threats and assassinations of environmental rights defenders such as the Honduran Lenca indigenous leader Berta Cáceres, or the Brazilian Chico Mendes .
Among its main objectives, it seeks to fully and effectively implement the rights of access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-making processes, and access to justice in the environmental field.
Likewise, it aims to guarantee the protection of the right of each person, of present and future generations, to have sustainable development and to live in a healthy environment.
And among its provisions it includes 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 binding in the framework of the defense and respect for human rights in matters related to nature.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP
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