Tag Archive for: Environment

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They reject our request for intervention as third parties interested in the case of Potrerillo de Larreta

Together with the social group Todos por Nuestro Arroyos (TxNA) we express our disagreement with the decision of the Civil, Commercial and Family Court of 2nd Nomination of Alta Gracia. Said resolution, notified hours before the start of the judicial fair, denied participation as interested third parties that we requested together with neighbors of the city, in the trial that Potrerillo de Larreta S.A. It started against the province of Córdoba for the removal of the wires, which illegally prevented the passage in the Los Paredones stream.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

“It is regrettable that our participation has been considered irrelevant, and among the arguments the idea has been taken that we have no reason to feel legitimated to participate in the trial. This case mobilized all of Alta Gracia, who understood that there cannot be more wires in the spaces that belong to all of us, “said Fabiana Marbián, a member of TxNA and a resident of the city.

“It gets worse when the Judiciary took more than two years to respond to neighbors who, with no interest other than protecting the resources that belong to all Altagracians, ask for participation in a trial that involves all of us,” he emphasized. Marbián, while adding: “It is not to believe, but the years continue to pass and from the private neighborhood they continue to achieve their objective, which is to wire a public watercourse.”

From Fundeps we will appeal to the judicial decision, because the rejection seriously affects fundamental rights of citizenship. One of the most affected rights is the denial of the participation of neighbors in a controversy in which access to a stream (subject to the public domain) and the enjoyment of its environmental services are at stake, which goes against the guarantee of access to justice, the right to enjoy effective judicial protection, as well as the enjoyment of the right to the environment.

This rejection not only affects the participation of the institution in this specific case, but also sets a regressive judicial precedent for the entire province in terms of access to justice by civil society. The participation of civil society in this type of process is key to improving judicial activity in matters of public interest and to democratizing judicial debate.

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What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals?

We present a document analyzing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015 by the UN Member States, with the purpose of ending poverty, protecting the planet and guaranteeing peace and prosperity for all people by the year 2030. The SDGs There are 17 integrated objectives in which the actions or impacts on one will affect another / s.

The situation generated by the pandemic is not at all encouraging, since pre-existing unfavorable issues such as increasing poverty and hunger, increasing inequalities, rising unemployment, the health and sanitation crisis, the economic recession, restricted access to education, the setback regarding gender equality, among other aspects.

Thus, the document “Impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals“, prepared in a collaborative way, analyzes and reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on the SDGs, the positive and negative consequences of the global pandemic on each of the 17 objectives.

The current context has posed challenges for States and international organizations in decision-making, and in the establishment of truly effective actions to prevent this type of situation from recurring. In this way, the current context made us have to rethink whether the current system is effective or whether we should build another model for the future, one that is more equitable, inclusive, fair and sustainable. Therefore, the situation that the world is going through may mean an opportunity to rethink what future we want to build from now on.

More information

Contact

Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org

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Impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals

(ONLY SPANISH) The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented global impact in the modern era. Many countries are in a health, economic and social emergency due to the negative consequences of the fight against the new coronavirus.

Undoubtedly, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established for the United Nations 2030 Agenda will be affected. In this paper we analyze some of the positive and negative impacts on the SDGs, although we anticipate that in general the outlook is negative, especially if we focus on the effects it will have on community health and the increase in inequalities due to the economic slowdown. world.

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We request intervention of the Ombudsmen of the People and of children and adolescents of the Province

Due to the fires that occurred throughout the territory of the Province of Córdoba during this year, we asked the Provincial Ombudsman’s Office and the Ombudsman’s Office for Girls, Boys and Adolescents to intervene in order to urge compliance with the duties that weigh at the head of the provincial authorities.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The catastrophic fires that occurred in Córdoba during this year involved serious damage to local forest ecosystems, affecting an area of ​​350,000 hectares. These consequences not only had a full impact on the meager area of ​​remaining native forest in the provincial territory, but also seriously affected fundamental rights. In particular, of those people or groups who are in a marked situation of vulnerability or who maintain a close relationship with native forests for one reason or another. In addition, they affected a serious mitigation component to the climate change phenomenon, the native forest.

The scope and magnitude of the fire undoubtedly revealed certain deficiencies in the fire management system by the authorities. The ordinance foresees specific duties in matters of prevention, budgeting, mitigation and restoration, which seek to avoid or at least mitigate these types of phenomena in the magnitude and manner in which they occurred, even more so if it is considered that the territory presented a high risk of fires due to severe drought and weather conditions.

Although the arrival of the summer rains alleviated the fire, the truth is that the future situation is still critical. The province currently has a tiny percentage of native forest, with a high risk of fire due to factors such as drought and other phenomena (intentional fires). For this reason, unfulfilled duties must be taken “seriously” and completed in order to avoid catastrophes such as those experienced. On the other hand, it is essential to comply with the duty to investigate, punish and restore the affected areas in a responsible way, guaranteeing citizen participation in plans and access to information for proper management.

Likewise, it is a priority that the citizenship and the State carry out inspection and control tasks of the affected areas, to avoid authorizations in the changes of land use or of protected categories, as ordered by Laws 26,815 of Management of Fire and 26,331 of Native Forests.

To guarantee compliance with these duties, we ask the Córdoba Ombudsman’s Office and the Office of the Ombudsman for Girls, Boys and Adolescents, to intervene within the scope of their respective competencies. We believe that both institutions play a fundamental role in guaranteeing and demanding respect for the fundamental rights of those who inhabit the soil of Cordoba.

Contact

Juan Bautista López, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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La Pampa passed a new legislation on agrochemicals

On November 30, the Legislature of the Province of La Pampa approved by majority the so-called “Comprehensive Pesticide Management Law” No. 3288, at the proposal of the Provincial Executive Power. This initiative is part of the attention through public policies of situations of social conflict, such as the application of agrochemicals so present in our province.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The regulations, applicable to the entire provincial territory, establishes protection zones, setting distances for agrochemical applications (pesticides according to the law) of 500 meters for land applications (environmental protection zone) and 3,000 meters for applications areas. Likewise, it provides for the prohibition of application on any establishment located in rural areas.

It should be noted that the new regulation establishes one of the greatest protective distances for aerial application, doubling that in force in the province of Córdoba. These are consistent with jurisprudential trends based mainly on the application of the so-called precautionary principle.

It should be noted that the new regulation establishes one of the greatest protective distances for aerial application, doubling that in force in the province of Córdoba. The rules of the Pampean law are consistent with jurisprudential trends based mainly on the application of the so-called precautionary principle.

Likewise, the Law provides for a complete comprehensive management regime for agrochemicals, since it implements a unique traceability system. This allows the “tracing” of the product in the production, marketing, use and application phases, including the differentiated management of the resulting empty containers.

The objectives that guide the system are based mainly on the preservation of human health, on guaranteeing food quality, preventing environmental impacts, as well as contributing to the responsible and sustainable development of agricultural activity.

A relevant point of the law consists in the creation of an interdisciplinary Council, made up of the portfolio of environment, health, university and research institutions, as well as specific technical institutions and councils.

The application of agrochemicals constitutes one of the main causes of social conflict, which calls for adequate regulation that guarantees the fundamental rights of those who, for one reason or another, are affected on a daily basis. We celebrate that the provinces advance, through their regulatory systems and public management, in the fulfillment of the constitutional mandate to guarantee fundamental rights such as the environment and health of the population.

Contacto

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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Protection for delay in access to environmental information

On December 1, we filed an amparo action for delay of the Secretary of Environment of the Province of Córdoba in providing environmental public information. Through this action we ask the courts to require the Province to fulfill its duty to provide the requested information.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

During the months of October and November, we asked the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change of the Province for public information related to the policies and actions implemented by the Provincial State regarding prevention, mitigation and adaptation measures to the phenomenon. In the absence of a response within the term provided by current provincial regulations, we again request the prompt dispatch of the administration.

In the absence of a specific response, and when the deadlines have expired, we filed an action for protection for default. This consists in informing the Provincial Courts of the delay in complying with the deadlines ordered by law to answer the request, so that later the judicial body requires the authority in question to fulfill its duty.

It should be remembered that the right of access to information is guaranteed in the Argentine regulatory system and is recognized in Principle 10 of the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro of 1994, the Escazú Agreement ratified by National Law No. 27,566, in art . 41 of the National Constitution, as well as Laws 25,831 on Access to Public Environmental Information and 25,675 General on the Environment. This right is a fundamental presupposition proper to democratic coexistence and is necessary for proper environmental management.

In fulfilling their obligations, the authorities must provide such information, without it being necessary to prove interest or any reason, free of charge and within the prescribed deadlines. In the event of non-compliance, the action for protection by default is outlined as the way to guarantee the enjoyment of such a fundamental right.

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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We asked the Senate to incorporate new principles into the General Environmental Law

In conjunction with other NGOs, we asked the Chamber of Senators to treat the bill that seeks to incorporate the principles in dubio pro aqua and in dubio pro natura Law No. 25,675.

The bill, which has already obtained the corresponding half-sanction in the Chamber of Deputies, modifies art. 4 of Law No. 25,675 “General Environment”, and incorporates the legal principles “in dubio pro aqua” and “in dubio pro natura”. Let us remember that these principles, although they have been recognized jurisprudentially by the Supreme Court of the Nation, are not regulated in the current regulatory system.

These principles are important because they play a decisive role in decision-making by the authorities. In such a way: The “in dubio pro natura” principle establishes, in the terms of the bill, that: in case of doubt, disputes must be resolved in a way that favors the protection and conservation of the environment, giving preference to the least harmful alternatives. No actions will be taken when their potential adverse effects are disproportionate or excessive in relation to the benefits derived from them.

For its part, the “in dubio pro aqua” principle provides that: in case of doubt, environmental and water disputes must be resolved in the way that is most favorable to the protection and preservation of water resources and related ecosystems.

Considering the importance of its incorporation into the legal system, we request, together with other members of civil society, the treatment of the bill. In the current context of environmental tragedies, it is vital that each organ of the State adopt, within the framework of its powers, the actions necessary to protect the environment.

More information

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, <juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org>

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We participate in a discussion on climate change

On September 25 of this year, we participated in a discussion together with other NGOs from Latin America and the Caribbean, in which we discussed the collaborative work carried out this year: «Climate Change and the Rights of Women, Indigenous Peoples and Communities Rural of the Americas ».

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

Together with members of La Ruta del Clima, Yale University, environmental activists, and members of the Rapporteurship for Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, we participated in a virtual conversation. Each person in charge of the exhibition gave an account of the challenges faced by their own States and societies in Latin America and the Caribbean around the phenomenon of Climate Change.

The discussion was organized by members of the Heinrich Böll Colombia organization, and had as its axis the report on Climate Change and the rights of Women, Indigenous Peoples, and Rural Communities of the Americas, prepared by various civil society organizations. In particular, various topics related to human rights affected by the phenomenon, obligations of States and Intergovernmental Organizations at the regional level and challenges in the region were discussed.

From the presentation of each member, it is possible to see that the challenges at the regional level are not different between the various States, which are faced with similar contexts around the weak economic situation, social crisis impregnated with profound inequality and extractivist policies. From Fundeps we appreciate the invitation to the event, and we applaud these meeting spaces, which are a fundamental part in the construction of an environmental citizenship.

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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The province on fire, again

Native forest ecosystems, no less than a month after the last fires, are again affected by this phenomenon, causing immeasurable environmental damage. Even though drought conditions constitute a variable that increases the risk of fire, these, for the most part, come from a premeditated and intentional human action.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

During the month of August, the province suffered serious fires that spread over over 40 thousand hectares, causing serious socio-environmental damage, that is, destruction and disappearance of forest ecosystems, damage to homes and evacuations of those who live in the vicinity. Even though its effects persist in the burned areas, new sources of fires are seriously affecting other geographical sectors of Cordoba.

This serious situation makes it possible to question the actions of the authorities regarding the efficiency or even existence of a system to prevent these phenomena. The reality is that less than a month after the last fires, prevention failed again and today it is necessary to observe and regret – again – the loss of biodiversity and the damage to mountain communities due to intentional fires in the province.

The objectives and values ​​that arise from the environmental protection regulatory system, and in particular, from the fire management system (National Fire Management Law No. 26,815) and that should guide the implementation of public policies around the phenomenon, they were and are clearly unfulfilled. The early warning and action systems envisaged in the regulations seem to be part of an ideal far from their effective implementation.

Notwithstanding this, even when the preventive stage has largely failed, it is important to emphasize the duty of recomposition that weighs on those who are responsible for the fires as well as on the authorities, and on the important role played by citizens and civil society in demanding compliance. Contrary to what seems to have happened on the preventive side, the recomposition cannot and should not constitute an illusion. Real measures must be put in place to guarantee, from a technical point of view, adequate restoration of ecosystems, ensuring real (not fictitious) citizen participation that allows communities to monitor and be part of this process.

At this point, it is necessary to clarify that, according to current regulations, the areas that were protected by the categories of forest land management do not lose this categorization due to fires, and there is an obligation to recompose them. This circumstance should not be ignored because any undertaking or action that intends to use these territories must be subject to the restrictions that are in force for the corresponding protection category, even when as a result of the fire there is no native forest there.

On the other hand, it is important to note that even when the figure of “ecocide” serves as a conceptual category to frame the events, the truth is that from the legal point of view, it is not incorporated into the Argentine criminal law. The reality is that the use of category can divert attention, blurring the true criminal responsibility attributable from Arts. 186,187, 188 and 189 of the Penal Code, that is, the crime of arson in its various forms and according to its various qualifiers. For this reason, it is important to note that this type of responsibility exists, is punishable by the Penal Code, can and should be reported, investigated and tried, without prejudice to the corresponding responsibilities regarding environmental recomposition.

From Fundeps, we believe that the authorities should, among other possible measures, carry out effective prevention actions immediately; comply with an adequate investigation in order to determine and attribute the corresponding responsibilities for the damages or crimes committed; launch an environmental recomposition plan closely linked to citizen participation; and to tend to the protection of all the native forest ecosystems existing in the province not only in relation to fires but also around any activity that threatens their integrity.

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

Source

Images of fires in Falda del Carmen and Bosque Alegre (Pedro Castillo / La Voz)

Argentina ratified the Escazú Agreement

In a special session held yesterday, the Chamber of Deputies approved the bill to ratify the Escazú Agreement. With this act, only the ratification of a Latin American and Caribbean State would remain for its subsequent entry into force.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

During the month of August, the Chamber of Senators had already approved the bill to ratify the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean ( Escazú Agreement). Yesterday, following the procedure established by our Constitution, the Chamber of Deputies gave the remaining half sanction necessary for the effective ratification of the Agreement.

Thus, Argentina became the tenth country to carry out this act. This is important because we remember that the text of the Agreement itself provides, in its art. 22, the entry into force after the 90th day from the deposit of the eleventh instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Secretary General of the United Nations (depositary of the agreement). This means that only one more State ratification would remain before the 90-day period prior to the effective entry into force begins.

Let us remember that this treaty is not only innovative in its content because it was consolidated from an arduous process of debate and citizen participation, but because it constitutes the first international normative instrument that guarantees and establishes a protection system for those who are defenders of the human rights in environmental matters. It should be noted that the Latin American and Caribbean region registers the highest number of murders of those who carry out this task.

Likewise, the text regulates the rights of access to information, citizen participation and environmental justice. Although in the Republic there are norms that guarantee the respect of these rights, the truth is that the approval of the treaty affects its effective fulfillment and enjoyment, since it places the State in the obligation to comply with its international commitments under penalty in responsibility for its breach.

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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Agrochemicals, an environmental and public health problem

This document aims to examine, from a comprehensive environmental and public health perspective, the impacts caused by the application of agrochemicals. One of the many consequences of the existing agricultural production model in Argentina is linked to the excessive application of agrochemicals and their consequent negative externalities for the environment, public health and the general population.

Descargar Documento / Download File
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A bill that seeks to regulate the distances of application of agrochemicals

In June, Deputy Leonardo Grosso (Frente de Todos) presented before the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation, a bill of minimum environmental protection budgets for the handling and application of agrochemical products. Specifically, it seeks to prohibit “all aerial applications of agrochemicals and terrestrial, manual or mechanical, of agrochemicals within one thousand five hundred (1,500) meters of urban areas, permanent housing, rural schools, human settlements, beekeeping plants, production and industrialization of animal products; rivers, streams, lagoons, courses, mirrors, reservoirs, dikes and water wells ”.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The importance of said bill, among other assumptions, starts from the basis of establishing a standard of minimum budgets which grants a uniform or common environmental protection for the entire national territory, and aims to impose necessary conditions to ensure environmental protection . The normative text is part of the State’s duty to preserve the human environment to the extent that it houses the health of citizens and safeguards their quality of life, which should configure its main objective (41 of the CN) and that in turn, it has been accepted by the General Environmental Law within the framework of the principles of environmental public policy.

Among the most notable aspects of the project the following can be mentioned:

Establishes minimum distances for the application of agrochemicals: art. 2 of the project prohibits the application, handling and storage of agrochemicals in urban areas and the obligation to establish a minimum distance of 1500 meters from urban areas, permanent homes, etc. It also establishes that in the event of a reasonable doubt about the delimitation of the environmental protection area, it will be the obligation of the person who is going to apply the agrochemical to request the delimitation of the prohibited area.

Regarding environmental damage, in art. 5 of the project, has an important forecast around responsibility. Thus, it presumes, unless proven otherwise, that whoever applies the agrochemical within the area of ​​environmental protection is responsible for the collective environmental damage caused. Likewise, it provides for a system of joint and several liability (jointly) of all the people who intervened in the application of the product, including the producers, usufructuaries, tenants, and any other person responsible for the property on which the product is applied. Said responsibility is extended in turn to the competent authorities that have not acted in a diligent manner when applying the law. Furthermore, the law obliges the latter to apply any ex officio measure tending to comply with the regulations.

From the content of the normative text arises, even if not expressly, the orientation of the rules arranged from the precautionary principle, cardinal in the environmental law microsystem. This establishes that the absence of scientific information will not be a reason to postpone the adoption of effective measures to prevent the degradation of the environment in the face of a danger of serious or irreversible damage, in this situation and in the event of a hypothetical negative impact on the environment and the health of The population due to the exposure of agrochemicals should apply this principle, and restrict or regulate its use in such a way as to prevent any harmful impact.

The initiative is important because it makes visible the problems posed by the use and application of these products indiscriminately and allows us to discuss this aspect of the problem, which until now has been casuistically resolved by numerous local courts, guaranteeing safe application distances. Argentina leads the world ranking in terms of the amount of glyphosate used in its agricultural production and there are no doubts about the toxic, acute and chronic effect that agrochemicals have on the health of the population in particular and the environmental impact at a general level. It is therefore essential that the State, within the framework of its powers, issue public policies aimed at defending the environment, thus guaranteeing respect for a fundamental human right such as health.

Link to the bill

Author
Maria Canedo

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org