Escazú Agreement: A milestone for environmental justice amidst tensions

This international agreement, adopted in Escazú, Costa Rica, in 2018, aims to guarantee access to information, public participation and justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In Colombia, its approval through Law 2273 of 2022 and its ratification by the Constitutional Court mark a significant advance towards the protection of environmental rights and defenders of nature.
The paper that led to the Court’s approval was led by Justice Jorge Enrique Ibáñez Ibáñez, who emphasized that the legislative process that culminated in the ratification of the agreement complied with all constitutional requirements.
The Court also affirmed that for the legislative process of the law approving the Agreement, it was not necessary to carry out a prior consultation with the ethnic communities, since the treaty does not directly affect their specific rights.
This detail is crucial, as it shows how the Court considers that the Escazú Agreement has a broader approach, aimed at benefiting all Colombian citizens as a whole, by establishing a secure framework for the defense of the environment.
The approval of the agreement has been celebrated by political figures and environmental organizations. President Gustavo Petro highlighted the importance of the treaty, stating that it puts Colombia on the path to becoming a “World Power of Life”.
Felicitaciones.a la Corte Constitucional. El tratado de Escazú es hoy ley en Colombia.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) August 29, 2024
Colombia marcha a ser Potencia Mundial de la Vida.
The Minister of Environment, Susana Muhamad, said that the agreement will strengthen citizen participation and environmental governance in the country, and announced the creation of an Interinstitutional Commission and the launching of the social control program “Alert for my environment” designed to promote citizen participation in environmental decisions.
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The Escazú Agreement awakens tensions in the implementation: Voices from the Mining Sector
However, the implementation of the Escazú Agreement has generated debate and revealed tensions between different sectors of the country. One of the most important critics has been Ivonne González, president of Asomineros, who expressed her discontent during the National Mining Congress 2024 in Cartagena.
González accused Minister Muhamad of not meeting the expectations of miners and ancestral communities. According to González, although Muhamad has been an active supporter of the Escazú Agreement, her management has been selective and exclusionary, privileging certain activist groups to the detriment of the mining communities that have operated in the region for generations.
González argued that these communities, who have worked in compliance with the law and in cooperation with institutions, now feel that their rights are not being respected under the new implementation of the agreement.
Government inconsistencies in the implementation of the Escazú Agreement: The case of Gorgona Island
This feeling of exclusion and inequality has also been shared by other sectors that view the treaty’s implementation with skepticism. Andrés Pachón, coordinator of the environmental movement Magma, harshly criticized the consistency of Gustavo Petro’s government in the implementation of the Escazú Agreement.
Pachón pointed out that, although the government has celebrated the approval of the agreement, in practice it has ignored some of its fundamental principles, such as the right to prior consultation. An example of this contradiction is the government’s controversial decision to allow the construction of a military base on Gorgona Island, a protected natural park, ignoring the opinion of the affected ethnic communities.
Pachón stresses that the project in Gorgona, financed by the U.S. government, was initially promoted by previous administrations, but that the current Petro administration has continued without fully respecting the rights established in the Escazú Agreement.
The controversy over Gorgona Island highlights a larger concern about the government’s consistency in its commitment to the principles of the Escazú Agreement. Although the treaty has been applauded as a breakthrough in the protection of environmental and human rights, its implementation so far has been seen as uneven and, in some cases, contradictory.
Pachón and other critics argue that, although the government promotes the agreement in its discourse, in practice it continues to maintain dynamics that contradict it, which jeopardizes the effectiveness of the Treaty and confidence in its implementation.

The Challenge of Making the Escazú Agreement a Reality
In contrast, organizations such as the Alliance for the Escazú Agreement have enthusiastically welcomed the Constitutional Court’s decision, stressing that the agreement represents a crucial tool for improving environmental justice in a country that, according to the 2023 Global Witness report, has the highest murder rate of environmental defenders in the world.
The Alliance has called on society to get involved in monitoring the implementation of the agreement, stressing that only with rigorous and equitable application of its principles will it be possible to advance the effective protection of environmental rights and defenders of nature in Colombia.
The approval of the Escazú Agreement in Colombia is undoubtedly a milestone in the country’s history, but it also highlights the challenges and tensions inherent in its implementation.
Criticisms of the government’s lack of consistency reflect genuine concerns about how this treaty will be applied in practice and whether it will actually deliver on its promise to protect the rights of all parties involved.
As the country moves towards implementation of the agreement, it will be crucial for the government to listen to and balance the diverse voices and needs to ensure that the Escazú Agreement is not only a legal framework, but an effective reality in the defense of the environment and human rights in Colombia.
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