Costa Rica's conservative president-elect Rodrigo Chaves said on Tuesday that his government would not ratify the Escazu Agreement, the first environmental treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean adopted in 2018 following negotiations in this Costa Rican city.
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"
The private sector must be reassured that the Escazu agreement is not on the government's agenda
," Rodrigo Chaves said during a press conference during which he also announced the names of several future ministers.
“
I don't think it would benefit the country, everything that is included in the Escazu agreement is already provided for in our legislation
,” assured the president-elect, whose inauguration is scheduled for May 8.
Rodrigo Chaves, a former World Bank executive for nearly 30 years, said it was "
worrying
" that at a time when the country's economy needed to be revived, the deal could "
unjustifiably and perhaps arbitrarily delay
" investment projects.
Protection of environmental defenders
The Escazu Agreement, signed in 2018 in this city located southwest of San José, was promoted by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the regional agency of the United Nations.
This agreement was the first in the world to introduce specific provisions to protect the rights of environmental defenders, targets of numerous assassinations in Latin America.
It guarantees the protection of the environment and the health of people, mainly indigenous peoples, promotes public participation, access to information and justice in environmental matters.
It also enables people and communities to be informed and heard in decision-making processes that affect their lives and territories.
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Adopted by 24 countries in the region, including Brazil, it was promulgated in April 2021 after being ratified by 12 of them (Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint -Christophe and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Uruguay).