Even in Colombia, environmental activists will be protected by the Escazú Agreement

After the Constitutional Court's yes, the Escazú agreement for the protection of environmental activists can also come into force in Colombia.

• The Constitutional Court of Colombia gives its green light to the Escazú agreement.
• The treaty protects environmental defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Colombia's membership is particularly important given the alarming number of crimes against activists.

THE'Escazú agreement, for the protection of environmental activists in Latin America and the Caribbean, respects the Constitution from the Colombia.This was approved unanimously Constitutional Court of Bogota, thus giving the green light for its entry into force in the country.In doing so, comments the lawyer Luisa Gómez Betancur del Center for international environmental law, the Court “sends a clear message:violence against environmental defenders must end, to pave the way for their work in the most dangerous place in the world for environmental protection."A victory, reiterates Gómez Betancur, for which Colombian civil society and indigenous peoples must be thanked.

What is the Escazú agreement for?

The Escazú agreement – or, to use its official name, Regional agreement on access to information, public participation and justice in environmental issues – recognizes, protects and promotes the rights of all environmental defenders in the area ofLatin America and gods Caribbean.It therefore protects both non-governmental and civil society organizations and individual activists, with particular attention to women, indigenous people and Afro-descendants.More specifically, there are three i rights that this treaty seeks to fully implement:the right to access information on the environment, to public participation in decision-making processes concerning the environment and the right to justice, always regarding environmental issues.

The Escazú agreement is the result of long negotiations was approved in the homonymous district of Costa Rica on March 4, 2018, to then come into force on April 22, 2021, Earth Day.Open to the participation of 33 states, it currently has 24 signatures and 16 ratifications.

The urgency of protecting environmentalists in Colombia

There Colombia, was not initially on this list.He signed the Escazú agreement only in 2019 and now, after the green light from the Constitutional Court, it can ratify it.It was immediately clear that, without his accession, the treaty would only be half effective.

According to the most recent data provided by the NGO Global Witness, in fact, also in 2022 Colombia confirmed itself as the most dangerous country for environmental defenders, with 60 confirmed murders out of a global total of 177.Double compared to the previous year.AND among them there was also a 14 year old boy, hit by gunfire while patrolling a rural area of ​​the Cauca department together with the Guardía Indígena.

While recalling these alarming data, the report looked with optimism at the election of Gustavo Petro:the first left-wing president in the country's recent history and the first to promise to do more to protect environmental defenders.