Campaign coordinator Escazú Ahora Chile: “We are happy that the demand for greater protection of our environment has been heard today”

President Gabriel Boric signed on Friday the bill – which will enter Congress – that seeks Chile’s accession to the Escazú Agreement, the first environmental treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean. The coordinator of the Escazú Ahora Chile campaign, Sebastián Benfeld, valued the president’s support.
The agreement, whose signature was rejected by the second government of former President Sebastián Piñera, seeks to guarantee the implementation of the rights of access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-making processes and access to justice in environmental matters.
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“We are happy that the demand for greater protection of our environment today has been heard by President Gabriel Boric and we begin as a country the official process to be part of the Escazú Agreement,” Benfeld said.
“While this is a great milestone, it is also very important to keep in mind that for this agreement to become a reality for our country, it must be ratified by the National Congress, passing through both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate,” he added.
“In this sense, as an organization we are confident that once the project arrives at the Congress, it will generate a broad consensus and will advance very quickly. The protection of human rights and the environment is an issue that transcends political colors and we hope that this is understood by the different political forces present in the congress,” he concluded.
Escazú Ahora Chile is a citizen campaign that has been promoting this demand in the country for more than two years, mainly from the regions, and that today has the support and support of more than 200 civil society organizations, in addition to more than a dozen political youth of the left, center and right.

Original source in Spanish