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The Government settled the issue: it will not sign the Escazú Agreement. This Tuesday he even delivered a series of arguments to the Foreign Relations Committee of the Chamber of Deputies to justify the non-signing of the treaty, said by Foreign Minister Andrés Allamand and the Minister of the Environment, Carolina Schmidt. But far from closing the flank, it opened another of criticism, mainly from environmental groups and opposition parliamentarians.
At the head of these is Greenpeace, whose national director Matías Asún assured that with this decision, “it is confirmed that the government of President Piñera has deceived the country into believing that environmental issues are at the center of its agenda. It is not like that. and today it has been ratified with the intervention of the Chancellor “.
“The government promoted and led the Escazú agreement that today it decides not to sign, the government exposed the Escazú agreement as an argument to get the headquarters of the COP25. Well, it turns out it was all a hoax. A misleading publicity that is finally sincere today. We feel the disappointment of those who have been deceived for a long time, “he added.
Similar opinion was shared by Sebastián Benfeld, Champion of Escazú for ECLAC and leader of the Escazú Now Chile campaign: “We are deeply outraged by the decision of the Government of Sebastián Piñera not to sign the most important agreement on human rights and the environment in the last 20 years The answers formulated by the Chancellor show his inability to come up with real arguments that justify his decision not to sign the treaty that his own portfolio wrote for more than 6 years. “
“It is unacceptable that while at the United Nations the President speaks of advancing towards sustainable development and protecting human rights, in his own home he continues to postpone the delivery of concrete solutions to those who suffer firsthand the consequences of a deficient environmental institutionality,” he added.
“This is a bang in the face for the more than 60 young people who are promoting the ‘Escazú Now Chile’ campaign, the more than 20 thousand people who today demand that we not be left out of this important agreement and, ultimately, all of us are convinced that it is urgent to take concrete measures to stop the advance of the climate and environmental crisis in our country.
Piñera, Allamand and Schmidt will go down in history as those responsible for turning the whole of Chile into a great sacrifice zone tomorrow, “he explained.
“We are saddened that finally our authorities have preferred to listen to polluters and not to people,” he concluded, stressing that “it is clear to us that the policy of this government is to give certainty to the industries that destroy our planet and uncertainty to the people who we inhabit this territory. This is just disappointing. “
Criticisms of the opposition
The opposition also reacted to this decision of the Government of Sebastián Piñera. Through social networks -mainly Twitter- the hashtag # EscazúAhora became a trend, where politicians have turned to question this situation.
The environmental deputy, Félix González has been one of the most active, since in addition to sharing the Government’s arguments, he said that “the real reason they do not say is: it gives guarantees to the communities over business interests and this is a government of entrepreneurs “.
“The arguments that the government gives for not signing the #Escazú Agreement are repetitive and poor, when the real reason is that this treaty gives more guarantees to communities over polluting companies, and this is a government of businessmen,” he reiterated . Therefore, he said that they will not rest until the agreement is signed.
The Commons deputy, Camila Rojas, tweeted: “It is confirmed that @sebastianpinera went to the UN just to lie. A shame.”
His PL peer, Vlado Mirosevic added: “A government that boasted, until the end, with # Cop25, but is not interested in signing the #Escazú Agreement, speaks more of short-term gains than of a real commitment to the environment and the people”.
The deputy and president of the DR, Catalina Pérez, indicated, through the same social network, that “it is unacceptable that the same government that actively participated in the promotion and drafting of this historic agreement in Latin America refuses to sign it. Today the minister @allamand in RREE committee will communicate the decision. Let’s raise our voice. “
“The @G GobiernodeChile gives reasons – which at this point seem to be excuses – not to sign the Escazú Agreement. Prioritizing the private sector over environmental protection is a serious mistake, and will deepen the deterioration of our environmental diplomacy,” criticized FA deputy Claudia Mix.
“The government cannot make pompous speeches on environmental protection and at the same time invent petty pretexts for not ratifying the Escazú Agreement. There are no excuses,” Gael Yeomans said.
PS Jaime Naranjo added that this decision is a “great setback and that it harms environmental sustainability and the development of democracy and the economy. And for worse, the international image is on the ground and very weakened.”
“Chile was the promoter of Escazú and presided over COP25. Today it decides not to sign an agreement that contemplates justice, transparency, information and participation. International role, given the arrogance and laziness of those who make the decision,” Carolina Marzán tweeted.
Government rules out contradiction
Foreign Minister Andrés Allamand assured that there is no contradiction between the government’s environmental policy and the refusal to sign the Escazú Agreement.
“There is no contradiction, Chile maintains a strong and resolute environmental policy that remains affirmative,” said this conference.
“We have a commitment with the Chamber’s Foreign Relations and Environment Commission to present the document that has already been published and there all the arguments by virtue of which the Government has finally decided not to sign this are exposed in great detail. agreement, “he stressed.
“Until now, not even the 11 countries that are necessary for the treaty to come into force have been completed. In different countries, such as Mexico, Peru or Colombia and Argentina itself, a very in-depth analysis of the treaty is being carried out,” he concluded. .
Later the Minister of the Environment, Carolina Schmidt, spoke, who assured that the government supports and is “in full agreement” with all the environmental fundamentals that are the basis of the treaty, but that “the problem is the way it was written.”
As specified, this agreement that has already been ratified by nine countries in the region “does not admit any type of reservation” and that Chile already has a “pioneering environmental legislation.”
“The problem of Escazú is not in the issues it addresses, the problem is not in access to information, it is not in citizen participation or in justice. The problem is in the way the final text was written, the ambiguity and the breadth in which it was left ”, he added.
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