Latin America's first environmental treaty protects defenders of the planet

Defenders of the environment will be protected by the Escazu agreement.

Here, Greenpeace activists demonstrate against Total's exploitation of oil on the Amazon reef, here in Rio on September 28, 2017. (Photo illustration) Mauro PIMENTEL / AFP

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An environmental treaty entered into force Thursday, April 22 in 12 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, on the occasion of World Earth Day.

A first in the region.

The Escazu agreement guarantees the protection of the environment, but also of the health of people, in particular the indigenous peoples in these regions.

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The agreement is named after the city of Costa Rica, Escazu, which hosted the last phase of negotiations between these Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Twenty-four adopted this text in 2018, but only twelve have ratified it to date.

Among them, Mexico, Panama and Bolivia where the treaty entered into force Thursday, April 22.

Concretely, this regional agreement recognizes the right of everyone to live in a healthy environment.

But the most innovative element lies in Article 9. This is a first in the world: it introduces specific provisions to protect environmental defenders, in a region where they are particularly threatened.

Highly targeted activists

According to the United Nations regional agency, two thirds of the 210 militants murdered around the world in 2019 were in the Latin America-Caribbean zone.

Those who oppose the interests of mining, agro-industrial or gas companies are targeted in particular.

These are sectors which have also subjected the parliaments of these countries to an intense lobbying campaign, which has had the effect of delaying the ratification of the treaty.

There is still no ratification, for example in Colombia, the country which recorded in 2019 the highest number of

assassinations

of environmental defenders.

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  • Costa Rica

  • Colombia

  • Mexico

  • Panama

  • Bolivia

  • Environment

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