With challenges that it still has to resolve, Colombia participated, for the first time as a state party to the Escazu Agreement, in the Fourth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP4), which took place in Nassau, capital of the Bahamas. Although it showed progress in the implementation of that agreement, it still has to address, like other countries in the region, the serious issue of the protection of the lives of environmental defenders.
The task is even more urgent if it is taken into account that the Escazu Agreement is the only one in the world designed to protect them.
Only in the first quarter of this year, the Ombudsman’s Office reported the murder of at least 34 social leaders and human rights defenders in the country. Of the total, 30 victims were men and four women, evidencing the constant risk for those who exercise leadership in their territories. Antioquia concentrates the highest figure with eight homicides.
Colombia has not consolidated the protection of environmental defenders
The entity warns that each case directly impacts community processes and the defense of rights in different regions. In the last 10 years, Colombia has accumulated 1,699 murders of social leaders, a panorama that maintains concern about security and protection in the country.
Even so, Colombia presented its National Route for the Implementation of the Escazu Agreement, which contemplates priority actions in the most vulnerable territories, aimed at strengthening environmental governance and guaranteeing safe conditions for those who defend the environment.
Despite the figures of violence against environmental defenders revealed by the Ombudsman’s Office, the deputy director of Education and Participation of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Hollman Bonilla Garcia, said in Nassau: “Colombia reiterates its commitment to the generation of safe and favorable conditions for the work of defenders. This implies not only strengthening protection mechanisms, but also advancing in risk prevention, recognition of their work, and the fight against impunity.”
But Colombia’s track record regarding the protection of environmental defenders says otherwise, since violence against them does not stop, even during the government of Gustavo Petro, which is progressive and claims to prioritize the protection of defenders.
Even so, Bonilla highlighted Colombia’s commitment to an environmental democracy that places life, participation, and territories at the center, and acknowledged the challenges that persist, especially in the protection of environmental defenders.
“Colombia reiterates its commitment to the generation of safe and favorable conditions for the work of defenders. This implies not only strengthening protection mechanisms, but also advancing in risk prevention, recognition of their work, and the fight against impunity,” he added. But critical voices point out that, for example, no fundamental changes have been achieved, such as the restructuring of the National Protection Unit (UNP), responsible for defining prevention and protection routes for these leaders.
National Implementation Route with a territorial approach
In Nassau, Colombia’s representation stated that the Escazu Agreement in the country has moved from legislative approval to effective implementation, consolidating itself as a key tool for environmental democracy, after receiving the final approval of the Constitutional Court in August 2024. In that sense, it reported that the National Government designed a National Implementation Route with a territorial approach, which includes:
• Institutional articulation: Progress in the creation of an intersectoral Government commission to coordinate transparency and participation policies.
• Territorial dialogue: Holding workshops with around 700 social leaders to identify needs in terms of security and protection.
• Recognition of rights: Strengthening the state’s duty to protect environmental defenders, integrating this approach into institutional capacities.
During COP4, Colombia focused its participation on strengthening the effective implementation of the agreement in Latin America and the Caribbean, promoting the protection of human rights defenders in environmental matters, one of the main challenges of the region, and contributing to the construction of ambitious and results-oriented decisions.
The country also supported the strengthening of the working group on defenders as a key mechanism to advance in the implementation of Article 9 of the Agreement, and will promote the exchange of good practices and the development of capacities among the States Parties.