The foreign ministers of Chile and Colombia, Antonia Urrejola and Álvaro Leyva, respectively, have signed an application to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) on Monday to clarify the involvement of Latin American states in climate emergency matters.
During the visit of the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, to Chile, the foreign ministers of both countries have submitted a petition to the IACHR to clarify the scope of state obligations on climate change, «setting a precedent that will help guide the actions of States committed to environmental human rights,» according to a statement from the Chilean diplomacy.
«Through this request for an opinion to the Court, the aim is to specify the state obligations in prevention and human rights guarantees linked to the climate crisis, the judicial procedures in the face of it, as well as to obtain legal certainty on the establishment of shared responsibilities between countries in the matter, among other issues,» reads the letter.
According to Urrejola, this consultation to the IACHR, although presented by Chile and Colombia, will affect the entire Inter-American system, the region and the most vulnerable people.
The head of the Colombian diplomacy, for his part, added that «this is the first time that the Escazú agreement, whose central framework is to know how to inform, to be able to inform, has been put into motion».
«In this way, initiatives will continue to be strengthened at the multilateral level to address the environmental crisis from a human rights perspective and thus accelerate climate change mitigation measures in a fair, equitable and sustainable manner,» the statement continues.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
