Before his trip to Egypt, where he will participate in the COP27 environmental summit, President Gustavo Petro sanctioned this Saturday the project by which the Escazú agreement is ratified, signed in 2019 by the government of Iván Duque, but which had not been ratified by the last Congress.
(Approval of the Escazú Agreement generates discord).
With the presidential sanction, This agreement acquires full force in Colombia and as such will be mandatory.
“The International Treaty of Escazú has been approved as law, which seeks to protect the environment and environmentalists. Congratulations to Congress and Colombian society”, President Gustavo Petro said after the approval.
“Today this law guarantees any citizen access to information on projects and initiatives of the State or private, if they are related to damages to the environment”: President @petrogustavo. pic.twitter.com/sOOBd2hR1R
– Colombia Presidency ?? (@infopresidencia) November 5, 2022
“Escazú is a treaty developed by 24 Latin American and Caribbean countries that seeks to improve “access to information, public participation and access to Justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean”, according to the text of the agreement. in the Congress of the Republic of this international agreement.
This agreement establishes the implementation of rights for public participation in environmental decision-making processes. And it is key, moreover, for the protection of environmental leaders.
(Senate of the Republic approves the Escazú Agreement).
After the signing and approval of the agreement, Petro said that it guarantees any citizen access to information on state or private projects and initiatives that have to do with damage to the environment.
He added that some protection criteria are established for activists and defenders of the environment in the country and some possibilities for society’s participation in decisions that affect the environment are determined.
Petro said that this is a law that “it basically gives you power” to citizenship based on the defense of nature, the planet and life.
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