Civil Society, Environment, Headlines, Latin America & the Caribbean

ENVIRONMENT DAY-ARGENTINA: ‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’ Say Activists

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Jun 5 2006 (IPS) - A broad coalition of environmental organisations in Argentina urged the government Monday to live up to its promise to put environmental questions on the policy agenda, and drew up a list of suggested sustainable development measures that should be immediately implemented.

A month after a rally held by President Néstor Kirchner and a number of provincial governors to announce a commitment to work together and make sustainable development a state policy, the government has failed to take a single concrete step in that direction.

The one and only gesture by the left-leaning Kirchner administration was to offer the post of Secretary of the Environment to Socialist Party lawmaker Héctor Polino, who has close ties to civil society organisations. However, his party recommended Friday that he turn down the offer, and the post remains in the hands of Atilio Savino.

Given the lack of progress towards making the environment a government priority, 13 organisations took advantage of World Environment Day Monday to present to the government a list of possible concrete actions. “The recommendations are merely aimed at emphasising several of the most urgent and high-profile environmental issues in need of an immediate response,” said the groups.

The organisations proposed upgrading the Secretariat of the Environment to the status of a ministry; putting higher priority on a land use and zoning plan, with a special emphasis on urgent measures to curb the clearing of native forests; and passage of a national law that would make environmental impact studies mandatory before any project is undertaken.

They also underlined the need for a law that would force the paper and pulp mill industry to adopt cleaner technology, and for the creation of an inter-jurisdictional body that would be ultimately responsible for the clean-up of the Matanza-Riachuelo river that runs through the city of Buenos Aires. The groups described the river, which is the most heavily polluted in Argentina, as “a national monument to pollution.”

The signatories of the proposal, titled “The Environment: a State Question”, included the Cuña Pirú Ecological Association from the northeastern province of Misiones, the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation (FARN) of Buenos Aires, the Foundation for the Defence of the Environment from the central province of Córdoba, Greenpeace Argentina, the Argentine Wildlife Foundation (FVSA), the Proteger Foundation of the province of Santa Fe, the Proyungas Foundation from northwestern Argentina, the Natural Patagonia Foundation from southern Argentina, and the Finisterrae Foundation from the southern region of Tierra del Fuego. In an interview with IPS, FVSA activist Jonás Béccar explained that the proposal responded to the challenge posed by the president and the governors in the May 5 rally held in the northeastern town of Gualeguaychú.

The residents of that town have spearheaded the fight against the construction by two foreign companies of two large paper pulp factories on the Uruguayan side of a border river, arguing that they will pollute the river as well as the air.

In the highly publicised event, Kirchner promised growth with equity “that will incorporate an environmental perspective in all government actions, and raise the current environmental standards.”

“The conditions are ripe for the government to take this question into account, which is why we have suggested a series of urgent issues, in order for concern for the environment to move from words to action,” said Béccar.

FARN activist Andrés Nápoli said the conflict with Uruguay over the two pulp mills that could pollute the Uruguay River have created the conditions to demand that the government make a broader commitment to the environment in its policy-making. “That is why we thought this year’s World Environment Day would be a good time to propose urgent measures,” he said.

For over a year, environmentalists and residents of Gualeguaychú held protests and blocked traffic over bridges connecting Argentina and Uruguay to protest the pulp factories. In the end, the government decided to take the case to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which will hear the arguments of both sides this week.

In the meantime, little attention has been focused on the roughly 30 factories that produce paper and pulp in Argentina, several of which use highly polluting obsolete technology.

The environmental groups also argued that the Secretariat of the Environment, which today falls under the Health Ministry, should be raised to the status of a ministry and furnished with “effective competence over and a leading role in all issues with environmental implications.” In addition, the new ministry should be given responsibilities that have been delegated to the provinces, the organisations said.

Furthermore, they maintained, the central government should recuperate its influence over conservation, protected areas and the management of water resources, and should also have a say in the design, approval and oversight of infrastructure works and development plans in the fishing, forestry, mining and agriculture industries.

With respect to land zoning, Nápoli explained that there is a law on the books, but that it is not enforced due to a lack of consensus among the concerned sectors and jurisdictions. “Without effective application of the legislation, it is impossible to know what direction we are heading in, with regard to the environment,” he warned.

The organisations also called for a national law that would set a minimum budget for environmental impact studies. “The provinces have these kinds of laws, but there is no federal legislation, which means the Ministry of Infrastructure goes ahead with public works projects without any prior socio-environmental impact assessment,” said Nápoli.