The ECLAC Secretariat of Escazú organized together with the Ministry of the Environment, the Environmental Assessment Service and the Superintendence of the Environment of Chile the Awareness Day “Strategies for the implementation of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, the Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean in Chile” held online on Thursday, January 5, 2023.
The objective of the day was to share with the staff of the three institutions the progress and tasks that each one of them has assumed for the implementation of the Agreement, in addition to reporting on the steps of the Roadmap supported by ECLAC. The conference was attended by 250 officials from the central level and from the various regions of the country.
The Minister of the Environment of Chile, Mrs. Maisa Rojas, who opened the event, stressed that at a global level we are experiencing a crisis that includes climate change, the loss of biodiversity and pollution. She added that the way to take charge of it and manage to move towards another development model is through the effective implementation of access rights, that is, access to information, participation and justice. These procedural rights, also known as environmental democracy, are enshrined in the Escazú Agreement.
Next, the head of the Office of International Affairs of the Ministry, Ms. Constance Nalegach, presented the strategic bases that have been developed for the implementation of the Escazú Agreement in Chile. She highlighted that one of the main activities to be carried out during 2023 will be to carry out a participatory process that allows the various actors to know the areas for improvement identified for the implementation of the Agreement, delivering their vision in this regard and proposing priority actions. In addition, she indicated that there will be a special focus on the protection of human rights defenders in environmental matters.
For her part, the executive director of the Environmental Assessment Service (SEA), Ms. Valentina Durán, commented that “as part of the new guidelines of the executive management of the SEA for the period 2022-2026, we have begun the progressive incorporation of the Agreement of Escazú in our management. In this sense, we have already defined collective performance indicators and senior public management tending to improve the standards of citizen participation and promoted the development of guides and criteria that place the Escazú Agreement at the heart of our actions.”
Next, the Superintendent of the Environment, Ms. Marie Claude Plumer, explained that in 2022 the Agreement was systematized with respect to the institutional reality. From this analysis is derived the importance of strengthening their information systems with the aim of facilitating people’s access to the information that interests them. Specifically, the institution is making efforts so that the information is in a clear and understandable language for citizens.
Lastly, a presentation was made by the head of ECLAC’s Sustainable Development Policies Unit, Mr. Carlos de Miguel, representing the Agreement Secretariat. In the first place, the results obtained at the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Agreement, held in April 2022, were shared, highlighting the approval of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference and the Rules of Composition and Operation of the Enforcement and Compliance Support Committee, among other things. Secondly, it was reported that the next COP meeting will be held in April 2023 in Buenos Aires and that it will be a great opportunity for the States Parties to report on their progress in the implementation of the Agreement. Along these lines, it was highlighted that a roadmap has been proposed that aims to support actions at the national level within a regional cooperation framework.
Below are the benefits of implementing the Escazú Agreement within a regional cooperation framework, among them, giving visibility to implementation actions and making it easier for them to be carried out in a transparent, participatory and collaborative manner. Secondly, provide examples for those States Parties that will later start this process, showing their technical feasibility and governance frameworks. Finally, it highlights that working regionally facilitates a common language in implementation, cooperation between the States Parties and the receipt of cooperation from third parties (ECLAC, UNEP, World Bank and others), reinforcing cooperation opportunities for the implementation of the Agreement.
Subsequently, the participating authorities and officials had the opportunity to hold a dialogue.
This day is part of the support that ECLAC is giving to a group of States Parties for the implementation of the Escazú Agreement. For these purposes, a Roadmap has been defined that includes from carrying out a set of steps such as the preparation of a baseline of the regulatory framework and practices to the definition of a system that establishes coordination within the State and with private and social actors. ECLAC is supporting Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico,
Saint Lucia and Uruguay.
