The Government confirmed that this Friday it will sign the Escazu Agreementan instance that was rejected by the President Sebastian Pinera despite being one of its promoters.
He was the Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, George Jacksonwho reported the news in Radio Future after leaks predicted the option of the current administration to join the pact.
“Friday will be the signing of the project that ratifies Escazú, a treaty that in principle Chile was a party to but then it was inexplicably decided not to sign it by President Piñerasaid the Secretary of State.
Security Minister @GiorgioJackson confirm in #FuturePQN that the Escazú Agreement will be signed on Friday.
Its ratification will be the first initiative sent from the government to Congress (apart from the state of emergency in the north). @24HorasTVN pic.twitter.com/ZfMv1Z9o9k
— Kevin Felgueras (@KevinFelgueras) March 17, 2022
Complemented the agreement is part of the demands of communities that alert about the environmental reality.
“For us the environmental issue is super important, to be able to generate justice and awareness that problems of this type can be resolved in the first instance was relevant”he added.
Jackson stressed that the agreement “has a gigantic transversality, especially in the youth”where “from the UDI to the Broad Front they agree with this”.
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“So we think it’s a powerful signal for future generations to be able to move forward on this,” he said.
Likewise, the signature will correspond to the first initiative that the Government will send to the National Congress to be ratified after the extension of the State of Exception in the north.
WHAT IS THE ESCAZU AGREEMENT
It corresponds to an agreement promoted by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) whose adoption was promoted Chile and Costa Rica.
Adopted in the Costa Rican city of Escazú, the general objective is facilitate access to public information and promote citizen participation in environmental policies in Latin America and the Caribbean.
For its part, ECLAC pointed out that the agreement makes it possible to guarantee “rights of access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-making processes and access to justice in environmental matters, as well as the creation and strengthening of capacities and cooperation, contributing to the protection of the right of each person, of present and future generations, to live in a healthy environment and to sustainable development”.
The Regional Agreement is open to the 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The signing period took place between September 27, 2018 and September 26, 2020 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. After meeting the requirements established in its article 22, the Escazú Agreement entered into force on April 22, 2021.
WHY DID PIÑERA CHOOSE NOT TO JOIN?
In September 2020, the President Sebastian Pinera announced the rejection of the agreement, generating controversy due to the driving role that La Moneda had played in the initiative.
Both the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of the Environment at the time chose to lower their thumbs to the measure, accusing “ambiguities” in some rules would prevail over domestic law“, causing legal confusion and exposing them to possible international lawsuits.
Likewise, the fear arose that, as a result of hypothetical litigation, national sovereignty could be at stake.
Piñera’s decision also generated reaction from the President Ricardo Lagoscalling it “inexplicable”.
“For years, Chile led this pioneering agreement on environmental matters and, with this decision, it departs from active multilateralism on this issue, of which it has been an important actor,” he said at that instance.