The ratification of the Escazu agreement comes two months after Gustavo Petro, the country’s first left-wing president, came to power.
Article written by
Published
Update
Reading time : 1 min.
The WWF branch in Bogota greets a “victory for the protection of environmental leaders, for nature and for the territories”. The Parliament of Colombia, one of the most dangerous countries for environmental defenders, ratified on Monday, October 10 the Escazu Agreement, the first environmental treaty in Latin America.
Former President Ivan Duque initialed the agreement in 2019 but the legislature waited three years to ratify it. This ratification comes two months after the election of Gustavo Petro, the country’s first left-wing president. The Colombian head of state has also welcomed this progress on Twitter.
Ha sido aprobado como ley el tratado internacional de Escazú, que busca proteger el medio ambiente y las y los ambientalistas.
Felicitaciones al Congreso y a la sociedad colombiana.
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 11, 2022
Adopted by 24 countries in the region, including Brazil, the Escazu Agreement was promulgated in April 2021 after being ratified by 12 of them: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico , Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Uruguay.
This text is the first in the world to introduce provisions to protect the rights of environmental defenders, targets of numerous assassinations in Latin America. It also enables people and communities to be informed and heard in decision-making processes that affect their lives and territories.