Representatives of the 24 signatory countries of the Escazu Agreement, the only environmental treaty in Latin America, met for the first time on Wednesday April 20 in Santiago to try to find solutions to the consequences of global warming.
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“Today the region has the opportunity to draw, from its own specific context, the solutions that will allow us to face the climate crisis, which paradoxically hits hardest those who have least contributed to its extension.Chilean President Gabriel Boric said during the inaugural session. Representatives of social and environmental associations from the 24 signatory countries of the agreement, a pioneer in Latin America in the field of the protection of environmental defenders, are meeting until Friday at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for America Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), a technical agency of the United Nations.
“When a part of the Amazon burns or the glaciers melt in Chile and Argentina accelerates, it is not the president in place who suffers the consequences, but all humanity“, added the young Chilean president who has made environmental protection a priority of his mandate. The treaty has been officially signed by 24 Latin American and Caribbean countries, but only twelve have ratified it. Chile launched its membership process, a week after the left-wing government of 36-year-old Gabriel Boric took office. The text must now be ratified by the Chilean Parliament. For Costa Rican Vice President Epsy Campbell Barr, who made a video statement, the Escazu Agreement “is one of the most ambitious companies in environmental democracy“.
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The treaty, officially known as the “Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbeanwas adopted in Escazu, Costa Rica, in 2018 after several years of negotiation. It entered into force in April 2021 after the signature of eleven countries. In addition to the protection of environmental defenders, the text also provides for the implementation of sustainable environmental policies and the safeguarding of biodiversity.