Colombia president signs Escazu Agreement before leaving for COP27
Bogota, Nov 5 (EFE).- Colombian President Gustavo Petro signed the Escazu Agreement, an international treaty that seeks to protect environmental defenders and guarantee environmental rights, before traveling to Egypt on Saturday to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP17.
“We have signed the international treaty which becomes the law of the Republic (…) It establishes criteria for protecting activists, environmental defenders in Colombia,” said the president, who was accompanied by the ministers of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, Environment and Mines and Energy.
This treaty “fundamentally guarantees any citizen of Colombia today access to information about state of private projects and initiatives that have to do with contributions to the environment,” Petro added.
In addition to environmental information, which is “a fundamental right”, it establishes “possibilities of participation of society” in decisions where the environment is affected.
“It empowers citizens regarding nature, the defense of the planet, the defense of life,” the president concluded.
Escazu, the first agreement of its kind in Latin America, was ratified by the Colombian Congress in October after three years of stagnation in both houses despite priority given by the government.
Although it was originally signed by 24 countries, only 13 had ratified the pact, which, in addition to protecting environmentalists, seeks to ensure the best implementation of ecological policies, guarantee environmental rights, and safeguard biodiversity in times of climate crisis.
Colombia now becomes the 14th country to ratify the agreement.
This is the first agreement signed at a global level to protect environmental defenders.
The Escazu Agreement has been ratified by Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Uruguay, Chile and Colombia. EFE
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