Advocacy on Escazú Agreement in Colombia – ‘A duty to the common house’

In alliance with other environmental organizations, IRI Colombia has initiated a common front to call for the ratification of the Escazú Agreement in the country, a proposition that is currently being debated in Congress. To counter a rejection of the ratification that is being led by the country’s business associations, IRI Colombia is spreading messages through social networks and opinion columns in the national media signed by members of our Advisory Council to raise awareness about benefits of the agreement.  An editorial was placed by IRI Colombia in Semana magazine, Colombia’s most important publication, titled “Un deber con la casa común” written by Monsignor Élkin Álvarez, which calls on Congress to ratify the agreement (here).  On September 5, IRI Colombia participated in the Public Hearing of the Congress of the Republic to argue for ratification of the agreement.  Blanca Echeverry made the intervention, “The religious leaders and faith communities of IRI Colombia know, as the UN warned, that not stopping deforestation of the Amazon is a real suicide. That is why we have made a commitment to join with citizens and authorities to help protect human health and restore the balance between people and nature by redefining, in part, the relationship of humans with the tropical forests.”