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Presentamos resultados de una investigación sobre la regulación de la consulta previa en el Ecuador

By Daniel Barragan (Posted: November 8, 2012)

El día de ayer 7 de noviembre de 2012 realizamos un conversatorio sobre el estado de la consulta previa en el Ecuador, un derecho recogido por la Constitución y la legislación internacional que se encuentra entre los temas de política pública más controversiales de la actualidad. La reunión se realizó sobre la base de la presentación de los hallazgos de una investigación realizada por Patricia Carrión, abogada especializada en temas ambientales, de CEDA con el apoyo de The Access Initiative, el World Resources Institute, Libra Foundation y Corporación Participa de Chile. Al final, los asistentes participaron en un intercambio de reflexiones.

Luego de hacer una explicación del marco conceptual de la consulta previa, la investigadora realizó un análisis comparativo de dos propuestas de ley de consulta previa presentadas a la Asamblea Nacional, una por el asambleísta Marco Murillo y otra por el asambleísta Gerónimo Yantalema con representantes de las organizaciones populares. Además, realizó un análisis crítico de las normativas que han entrado en vigencia en el país en los últimos meses, para la consulta prelegislativa y para las actividades hidrocarburíferas, en las cuales no se habría respetado la obligatoriedad de que la consulta previa en ambos casos se regule a través de leyes.

La consulta previa está ligada al derecho de participación de las personas, las comunidades, los pueblos y las nacionalidades en las decisiones de políticas públicas que les afecten. Es un derecho que forma parte de los derechos colectivos de los pueblos indígenas y responde al derecho de autodeterminación de los pueblos. Para ser válida, debe reunir las características que le son consustanciales: ser previa, libre e informada.

Se debe regular el derecho de consulta previa, libre e informada de manera adecuada, tomando en consideración las disposiciones constitucionales, sentencias de la Corte Constitucional, de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), el Convenio 169 de la Organización Internacional del Trabajo y la Declaración de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas, manifestó Patricia.

Otras recomendaciones realizadas fueron que la Corte Constitucional ecuatoriana debería analizar la constitucionalidad del Instructivo del Consejo de Administración Legislativo que regula la consulta prelegislativa y del Decreto que regula la consulta previa para actividades hidrocarburíferas, tomando en consideración el alcance, características y límites del derecho contenido en la normativa nacional e internacional.

Entre otras recomendaciones que recoge la investigación que sera publicada próximamente constan estas: el Estado ecuatoriano debe incorporar el pronunciamiento de la CIDH referente al caso Sarayacu, previo a tomar cualquier medida legal o administrativa que afecte a los derechos o territorios de los pueblos y nacionalidades; el derecho de consulta previa, libre e informada debe ser interpretado de manera integral y sistémica, para evitar restringir el alcance del derecho y hacer efectivo su cumplimiento.

Nota realizada por María Eugenia Hidalgo, coordinadora de comunicación CEDA.

Selous Game Reserve Altered for Uranium Mining Project

By Carrie McKee (Posted: August 20, 2012)

In one the strangest stories hidden behind US elections and Russian dissent in the international media, the Tanzanian government has allowed an international uranium conglomerate to begin exploration in what used to be part of the 54,600 sq km Selous Game Reserve in southern Tanzania. This piece of East African habitat is not only home to the world’s largest elephant population, but is, in fact, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Tanzanian government diligently lobbied the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to change the boundaries of the iconic game reserve, allowing the Mkuju River Uranium Project (owned by Russian ARMZ and Canadian Uranium One) access to their desired location – a wildlife corridor between Tanzania and Mozambique. What’s been described by the WHC as a “minor boundary change”, the o.8% border alteration of the reserve will exclude 200 sq km of previously protected land. The decision by the WHC stands in contradiction to their 2011 statement that “mining activities would be incompatible with the status of Selous Game Reserve as a World Heritage site.”

The government claims the mine will provide much needed funds to support development programs and drive the economy. Environmentalists decry the decision, insisting that no safe method exists to avoid contamination of surface and ground waters during uranium mining. In its 10 years of planned operation time, the mine is expected to produce up to 60 million tons of highly poisonous waste – more if a projected extension of the mine is approved. The government of Tanzania, which previously declared that it would “win its battle” with the WHC on this issue, has not specified how it will ensure that the waste is “limited”. NGOs report that the WHC has heavily influenced by intense corporate lobbying. Additionally, activists worry that this decision will set a precedent for the future adjustment of World Heritage sites under pressure from financial interests.

Globalizing Environmental Democracy: A Call for International Action

Published: 2012

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development is returning to Rio de Janeiro in 2012, with institutional framework for sustainable development and green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication as the main themes. As part of the preparations for Rio+20, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) called for submissions by 1 November 2011 through a web portal they established.

An analysis of the submissions carried out by The Access Initiative (TAI) showed that there were over 140 submissions (including submissions by several states, intergovernmental organizations and civil society organizations) calling for better implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration and greater transparency, participation, and accountability in matters affecting sustainable development. Clearly, there is a growing sense of urgency and a chorus of national governments, intergovernmental bodies and civil society groups calling for the strengthening of Principle 10 worldwide.

These calls for a convention or legally binding framework on Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration provide the context for this paper. In it we seek to (a) provide reasons why a convention offers a good option for making future progress in implementing Principle 10, (b) suggest what the contents of such a convention might be and (c) conclude with what Rio+20 can do to further such a convention. For those who would like more information on Principle 10 and the details of the various calls for a convention, we have provided an annex.

The June 19th Side Event of Rio+20 Conference

By Carrie McKee (Posted: July 2, 2012)

On June 19th, 2012, at Fundacao Getulio Vargas Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the event called ‘Choosing Our Future: Open and Participatory Sustainable Development Governance’ was one of the side events of Rio+20 Conference. There were several working sessions held for governments, civil society groups, and intergovernmental organizations for meeting up and discussing about assess progress and advance proposals to move Principle 10 into its next generation of reforms. TAI partners from Southeast Asia have undertaken a session namely ‘Launch of the TAI Asia Regional Report discussing’ mainly about TAI Asia publication done by a numbers of contributors from Asian countries ( Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Viet Nam, Yunnan province of China).

Well It’s All Over…Or Maybe Just Beginning

By Carole Excell (Posted: June 25, 2012)

Today is my last day in Rio. I am at the airport getting ready to fly back to Washington DC. I have not written a blog in the last two days as things have been too frantic. We at the TAI Secretariat with partners:

•Organized a governance event on advancing Principle 10 that saw almost 300 people prepare an agenda for action

•Successfully held a global gathering of 30 non-governmental organisations from all regions of the world to analyze the Rio +20 text and decide on joint programs to work on for the next two years to advance principle 10.

•Met with our network governance Core team representative organisations in each region of the world to discuss their leadership of the network in the next two years going forward.

After all our hard work we have made some progress on advancing principle 10 in the text, however the news from the main stream media about Rio+20 is all depressing and negative. I have met and ask many people both from government and civil society about their views. Almost all the persons I spoke to said that there was not enough ambition or proposed changes to turn the tide and prevent further destruction of our environment and natural resources. Many lamented the bargaining block of the G77 as it lumps progressive countries in with those who refuse to take action and ensures that we have the lowest common denominator and minimum progress. This needs to be changed. But this aspect has not dominated my Rio +20 experience.

For the Access Initiative we had some things to celebrate.

Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration which calls for transparency, public participation and access to justice was more than re-affirmed at this conference. The conference provided an opportunity for like-minded countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region to agree that they will move forward with discussing the feasibility of creation of a convention on principle 10. This was announced and declared by Jose Luis Balmaceda, Chilean ambassador to the United Nations and it is great reason to celebrate achievements at Rio +20.

Many of the achievements from this Summit were made outside of the formal process. TAI will continue to work arduously to make this convention a reality to improve environmental decision-making in this region. I have a number of takeaways:-

•Brazil is an amazing country, its beauty, culture and people. I feel that this nation and its natural riches should be cherished and protected for people all over the world to enjoy.It has several challenges ahead to move people out of poverty and appropriately manage its abundant resources including oil.

•People power matters, but it needs to be enabled carefully to drive ambition and change.

•Inspirational people are trying to protect the environment. We have to grow our numbers, embrace young people and work together to make more progress outside of the international process until it is significantly reformed to embrace fundamental principles of environmental democracy.

The Access Initiative: Rio+20 Call to Action

By Lalanath de Silva (Posted: June 21, 2012)

(French and Spanish translations in attachments)

  1. The Access Initiative is the largest global network promoting the right and ability of citizens to influence decisions about natural resources that sustain their communities – over 250 civil society organizations in over 50 countries. We work to implement Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) by reforming laws, institutions and practices to enhance transparency, citizen engagement and accountability. Our strategy has been (a) to benchmark the performance of governments on Principle 10, (b) to assess and document the gaps in laws and practices and (c) to advocate for reforms through evidence-based advocacy. Through this process we have successfully worked with governments to improve decision-making on sustainable development and to obtain improvements in international institutions.

  2. Our Network has worked for national level governance reforms in the Rio +20 process through a global “3 Demands Campaign”, and by active participation in the formal negotiation process of the conference. We seek specific international and regional governance outcomes from the Rio +20 conference and commitments for national environmental governance reform.

  3. Our Call to world leaders, international institutions and civil society is to place governance at the center of sustainable development. In order to achieve that goal we call for:

a. World leaders to issue a clear mandate to negotiate a global convention on access to information, public participation and access to justice in sustainable development decision-making; b. The leaders of Latin American and Caribbean nations to commit to the negotiation of a regional convention on access to information, public participation and access to justice in decision-making on sustainable development giving effect to Principle 10; c. The leaders of UNECE nations to commit to expanding the geographical coverage of the Aarhus Convention by actively promoting signature and ratification by non-UNECE countries, and by removing barriers to such signature and ratification (e.g. Article 19(3)); d. UNEP to develop a robust program, together with other partners, to implement the 2010 Bali Guidelines on Principle 10; e. The outcome documents from the Rio+20 conference to recognize unequivocally the importance of good governance for sustainable development and to ensure that transparency, engagement of civil society and accountability mechanisms are part of the reforms of international environmental institutions.

  1. We, partners of The Access Initiative across the world, commit ourselves at Rio+20 to work towards achieving the above outcomes by 2018. We call upon all government, civil society organizations, international agencies, business and industry and individuals to join us in our commitments and efforts and to support us and our partners.

Extractive Industries Policy and Legal Handbook

Published: 2011

The book outlines key developments in the mining sector with particular focus on transparency and accountability in revenue management, mining taxation, mining contract negotiation, state and community participation in mining, the Kimberley Process and Marange diamonds, corporate social responsibility and generally the environmental, economic, social and cultural rights of communities living near mining areas. The book also contains information on two case study communities affected by mining operations in Zimbabwe namely; Marange and Mutoko where diamond mining and black granite mining is taking place respectively.

TAI and Its Partners Are Working to Get Funding for Civil Society Participation in the Process for the LAC P10 Instrument

By Daniel Barragan (Posted: February 20, 2013)

In the context of Rio+20, a number of civil society organizations, most of which form part of The Access Initiative (TAI), came together to advocate countries in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region to advance on access rights. As a result, at Rio+20 eleven governments issued a formal declaration and publicly signaled their support for development of a regional instrument to strengthen access to information, public participation, and access to justice in sustainable development decision‐making. The Governments include Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

The signatory governments also committed to drafting and implementing a Plan of Action 2012-14, to work towards an international instrument. The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is serving as the technical secretariat for the process.

The participation of civil society in the elaboration of an LAC Principle 10 instrument is essential to the process of elaboration. Civil society’s participation would ensure that the instrument is capable of actually strengthening public institutions in the region, with a view to ensuring the realization of access rights. The participation of civil society is also important to ensuring the legitimacy of the instrument and thus its viability as a tool to strengthen environmental governance for sustainable development.

The process of elaboration of the LAC Principle 10 Instrument is just beginning, and that means that there is ample opportunity for civil society to help shape every aspect of the instrument, including the form of the instrument, e.g., a legally binding convention.

Governments have committed to a participatory process, but this commitment will not materialize if civil society lacks the actual capacity to participate in the relevant meetings of the process. The project thus contemplates several strategic objectives and components to enable meaningful civil society participation.

In this context The Access Initiative, through its Core Team member, Centro Ecuatoriano de Derecho Ambiental (Ecuadorian Center for Environmental Law) and the support of the Center for International Environmental Law submitted a proposal to the Norwegian Agency of Cooperation, NORAD on January 31st, 2013.

The project’s goal is to enable civil society’s participation in the process of elaboration of the LAC Principle 10 instrument, and the expected result is a strong instrument that can ensure meaningful participation of local communities and other stakeholders in decision-making process regarding natural resources.

Attached is the Declaration of P10.