Latin American environmentalists and land conservationists call for protection ahead of COP16

The document also mentions the need to recognize the damage to mental health caused by the diminishing work of environmental leaders, as well as the call for the creation of mechanisms to guarantee the participation of women and strengthen their role in decision-making processes on environmental issues.
In addition, the environmentalists stressed the importance of cooperation between states, civil society and communities to set up a regional monitoring system to track and verify conflicts, crimes and human rights violations against leaders. They also called for the assassination of environmental leaders to be declared a crime against humanity; drew attention to financial mechanisms that can provide resources for the self-protection of environmental leaders at risk; and urged the creation of a caucus of environmental defenders to generate clear strategies and actions for the protection of their rights, territories and biodiversity.
The participation of human rights and environmental advocates continues to reinforce the dimension of a more open COP, with diverse sectors contributing their views at over 90 events leading up to COP16.

An event and demands ahead of COP16 in Cali

The meeting was led by the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, the European Union, the European Union's Euroclima program (co-financed by the German Federal Government through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development BMZ) and its implementing agencies Expertise France (AFD Group) and GIZ Colombia, the FAST program, the DRET program of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Unité de mise en oeuvre de l'accord de paix, Redprodepaz, Cinep, the Centre d'information sur les entreprises et les droits de l'homme.
The meeting was part of the events leading up to COP16, to be held in Cali from October 21, and was part of an overall strategy to present to this conference the challenges faced by environmental defenders in Colombia and Latin America in the course of their work. Its aim was to promote the implementation of the Escazu Agreement in Colombia and Latin America, with particular emphasis on the protection of the human rights of environmental defenders.
Colombia recently joined the 17 countries that have ratified the Escazú Agreement. This space was therefore essential to promote its implementation, with an emphasis on protecting the human rights of environmental defenders.

"We know that conditions for those who defend life and territories are increasingly difficult. We recognize that their struggle is sometimes lonely, stigmatized and confronted by powerful corporatist and organized criminal interests. We cannot allow isolation and fear to be the only answers for those who work for the common good", said Tatiana Roa, Colombia's Vice-Minister for Land Management and the Environment.

The event encouraged regional, institutional and community capacity-building around the safeguards that enable environmental managers to exercise their role within a protective framework. One of the expected outcomes of COP16 is that signatory countries will draw up voluntary annual reports on the human rights situation of environmental defenders in their respective countries.

"It is essential to raise the issue of the safety and protection of environmental defenders before and during the COP16 biodiversity negotiations. In a planet that is reaching many points of no return, the voices of the men and women who fight every day for the future of their communities, their territories and, ultimately, our planet, must be heard and valued, not silenced. The European Union will continue to support their work and defend their lives and rights", said Gilles Bertrand, European Union Ambassador to Colombia.

According to Carlos Torres, Deputy Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the participation of environmental defenders at COP16 is highly innovative in terms of the theme of protection and their work, as they find themselves in a high-risk situation in Colombia and Latin America. We hope that COP16 will reach agreement on actions to protect them and guarantee their work.

About Expertise France

Expertise France is an interministerial agency for international technical cooperation, and a subsidiary of the Agence française de développement (AFD) group. The second largest agency in Europe, Expertise France designs and implements projects that sustainably strengthen public policies in developing and emerging countries. Governance, security, climate, health, education... It operates in key areas of development and contributes alongside its partners to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For a world in common. Find out more: www.expertisefrance.fr

Contacts

Curtis Piel - Press communication's officer - curtis.piel@expertisefrance.fr

Zalena Zapata Cure - Head of Communication, visibility and knowledge management for EUROCLIMA and Amazonia+ programs - zalena.zapata@expertisefrance.fr