Boric signs Chile’s adherence to the “Escazú Agreement” in defense of the environment

The President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, signed this Friday the Escazú Agreement, an international treaty ratified by 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that aims to guarantee access to environmental rights and protect environmental activists and biodiversity in times of climate emergency.

Chile’s adherence to this letter, promoted after the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in 2012, was proposed by the first government of conservative Sebastián Piñera (2010-2014) but was not rejected during his second term in 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 that it was inexplicable that Chile was not part of this great pact signed by the great nations of the continent and that it 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. .

Urrejola, for his part, assured that “the future of Chile is inevitably connected to the protection of the environment and ecosystems. Adhesion to the Escazú agreement represents a 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.

“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 President Boric, who stressed that the firm is one of the commitments already fulfilled in his election campaign.

criticism from the right

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 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.

prevent more crimes

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 decision-making processes in the environmental setting, 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.