Last Tuesday the plenary session of the Colombian Senate ratified the Escazu Agreement, which, according to the Universidad de la Salle, seeks to regulate citizen participation in environmental matters and is getting closer to being approved in Colombia. Given the decision, it is expected that the House of Representatives will vote on it and that President Gustavo Petro will sign it.
(Senate of the Republic approves the Escazú Agreement).
In the middle of the debate, 74 votes were obtained in favor and 22 against. The author and speaker of the environmental initiative was Senator Iván Cepeda, who indicated, “The ratification of the Escazú Agreement has been approved in the second debate in the Senate by 73 favorable votes against 23 negative. Progress in the protection of the environment and water in Colombia.”
The debate was the first of the new legislative period, which started on July 20. Despite the public support that President Iván Duque gave him months ago, he was postponed on different occasions in the previous legislature, reaching the end of his term without ratifying the agreement.
The approval of the Agreement leaves different opinions regarding the economic implications that this may have in the country. For the former secretary of the Representatives of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, “There are those who fear the Escazú Agreement because it will impede investments. This agreement can make the investments sustainable, with the participation of the communities. If they are part of the approval of a process, there are more possibilities that they will be environmentally sustainable and sustained over time”.
(The Union Council asks Congress not to ratify the Escazú Agreement).
However, for Francisco Lloreda, president of the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP), he assures that Colombia has institutions and regulations for robust participation in environmental matters, “For this reason, it does not need the Escazú Agreement and, on the contrary, it leads to serious risks such as the paralysis of public and private strategic projects by handing over to multilateral organizations the solutions to differences between States.”
Despite the different opinions that the decision made by the Senate may generate, for the professor of economics at the Universidad del Rosario, Alejandro Useche, “The approval of the Escazú Agreement in Colombia could generate a better business climate in the country and a greater attractiveness for foreign investment, given that the review of legal norms would give an additional vote of confidence to the business sector”.
For his part, Germán Machado, professor of economics at the Universidad de los Andes, assures that the agreement establishes general rules where environmental policy must move in the country, protecting communities and social and environmental leaders, for which Colombia “it could have stronger investments in the private sector” since it is this “that bears most of the transition costs”.
Likewise, for Professor Machado, “This type of agreement necessarily implies redefining the Colombian production model to transition to a sustainable economy less based on fossil fuels, and trying to create a cleaner energy generation matrix.”
In this regard, for the former environment minister, Manuel Rodríguez Becerra, currently, the processes are aimed at making the best decisions regarding the environment.
Given this, “There are no reasons to think that the weight of these decisions have negative consequences in the economic sphere, but on the contrary, they have positive consequences to the extent that if the environment is protected, economic activity is also protected”assured the former minister.
ENVIRONMENTAL MATTER
The implications of the Escazú Agreement in environmental matters could turn out to be favorable for the sector.
According to María Eugenia Rinaudo, coordinator of the Territorial Sustainability Laboratory of the EAN University, this “It is a significant step to promote environmental and climate justice, in a territory where socio-ecological conflicts prevail.”
He further added: “The country must ensure the protection of life above all else, and this agreement is a powerful tool for social and environmental leaders from all regions to opt for safeguard mechanisms and protect not only their lives, but the life of the territory in Yes”.
For her part, the lawyer the firm M&M (Mining and Environment, Law Firm), Marcela Bayona assures that the Agreement enters the Colombian legal system with precisions that already exist in the current legal system, and others that seek to strengthen the rights of publicity, information and environmental participation.
“The important thing is that national independence continues to be maintained, and that international principles on the independence of Colombia are respected, for making these environmental decisions, which apply to and are of interest to all Colombians, who without distinction have every right to know about them, become part of them and controvert them” the lawyer assured.
WHAT DOES THE AGREEMENT MEAN?
For Beatriz Ortiz, director of the Circular Economy Observatory of Universidad de la Salle, the Escazú agreement, “It is an international tool that seeks to improve citizen participation in environmental issues and in the protection of the rights of those who are leaders on the subject.”
Likewise, within the objectives of this agreement, according to the director “Access to environmental information is sought in a transparent manner, as well as its form of generation and disclosure. It also contemplates access to justice in environmental matters and the guarantee of the rights of the people who support said issues”.
DIANA K. RODRIGUEZ T.
