After stating that the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development as the focal point of the Ramsar Convention does not have the authority to impose preventive measures not provided for in the law for the suspension of activities within the urban wetland complex of the district of Bogotá, because they are ecosystems administered by the District Environment Secretariat, the Attorney General’s Office asked him revoke the resolution that orders measures on the Juan Amarillo, Córdoba and Jaboque ecosystems.
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The control entity explains that, although it is essential to ensure environmental management and the protection of these very important ecosystems, They are the urban environmental authorities within the scope of their jurisdiction, which must develop the instruments and actions necessary to promote the defense of strategic ecosystems in their territories, so the person who must evaluate these impacts as an environmental authority is the District Environment Secretariat.
The document states that the competence of the ministry, as articulator of the SINA, is framed in demanding before said environmental authority the imposition of the protection and conservation measures that are necessary and the advancement of the sanctioning processes that may arise, as well as requesting that demand the presentation of an environmental impact evaluation study to the executor of the project, that is, to the Bogotá Aqueduct and Sewer Company.
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Environment
Meta Governorate
Faced with this, the Attorney General’s Office drew attention to the need to guarantee the principle of legality, of respect for the autonomy and competence of the regional and urban environmental authorities, which is why the Ministry of the Environment would be exceeding its functions by demanding a series of studies and requirements that are not contemplated in the standards that regulate the matter.
Additionally, he stated that the Special Administrative Unit of the National System of Natural Parks, the regional autonomous corporations, the sustainable development corporations, the large urban centers and the district environmental authorities, those competent to prepare and execute the environmental management plans for the wetlands priority areas of their jurisdiction, which must be based on a delimitation, characterization and zoning for the definition of management measures.
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Environment
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Finally, regarding the application of the precautionary principle to order the suspension of works, projects or activities in environmental matters, the Delegate Attorney for Environmental, Mining, Energy and Agrarian Affairs recalled that it has been reiterative in warning in different scenarios of the improper application by of the Sustainable Ministry, where unknown in the jurisprudential precedents regarding the requirements to apply it.
PAULA GALEANO BALAGUERA
Portfolio Journalist
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