Ecologists criticize Lagos' environmental agenda
April 2, 2002
Marcel Claude, Executive
Director of the environmental NGO - Terram Foundation - and Greenpeace
Director Gonzalo Villarino said Monday that President Ricardo Lagos' new
environmental agenda is insufficient.
Both men said the proposed agenda marks a step
backward, rather than an advance for the Lagos administration's environmental
policy. According to Claude and Villarino, the plan not only omitted a
number of pressing ecological issues, but also demonstrates poor economic
planning.
"It's a partial agenda because it doesn't
cover aspects related to sustainable development in an integral way. Conama
(the national environmental commission) has analyzed some environmental
problems, but it hasn't really integrated the issues into the plan. The
government cannot possibly fulfill its promise of sustainable development
with this agenda," Villarino said.
Claude said the most worrying part of the new environmental
agenda is that it prioritizes issues related to the Federation of Chilean
Industry (Sofofa's) pro-growth agenda. Earlier this year, Sofofa asked
Conama to speed up the review process of Environmental Impact Assessments
(EIA.) EIAs are carried out for all proposed investment projects and aim
to establish the environmental costs of the project. The business group
said slow processing time has choked foreign investment in Chile.
Environmentalists argue, however, that the detailed
review process is needed to ensure that investments do not jeopardize the
ecosystem. Nonetheless, Lagos' new environmental agenda requires that Conama
reduce the EIA processing time by 20 percent before 2006.
"This seriously compromises the standards
and seriousness with which Conama will evaluate new EIAs. There are already
problems with the current system and the time decrease will worsen the
process by limiting control, seriousness and citizen participation,"
Claude said.
Claude said the plan is not economically sustainable
because there is no prevision for national resource preservation. The economist
said over-exploitation of resources could create an economic crisis in
the long-run.
"The plan demonstrates a number of good intentions,
which in the long run are not going to be upheld because there is no financial
commitment. There is no program about how the projects will materialize,"
Claude said.
Conama Director Gianni Lopez said the president's
new agenda looks to promote citizen action and interest in environmental
issues. To this end Conama will provide public access to information contained
in the department's Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) via internet.
Lopez said this will allow for increased transparency in environmental
decision making. He said Conama will also publish follow up information
about the EIAs on the Internet.
Still, Claude and Villarino said the plan was formulated
without citizen participation. "The agenda was made in a rather secret
way. We believe that the government carries out policies in a way that
marginalize civil society groups. All citizens have the right and duty
to participate. These policies affect all of us," Villarino said.
Lopez said the new agenda is an attempt to combine
responsible environmental practices with economic growth.
"We've constructed an agenda that will allow
Chile to move into its second decade of environmental growth. It provides
for environmental protection and more economic growth and development.
The two issues are not in conflict," Lopez said.
The Conama agenda is divided into sections. The
first portion analyzes urban environmental problems. It focuses on improving
water treatment plants and air quality. The second section is related to
preservation and protection of natural patrimony and sets a policy for
conserving Chile's bio- diversity.
The plan establishes 18 projects that should be
carried out before the year's end. Lopez said Conama will work to ensure
that 50 percent of household waste is deposited in state-approved landfills
before 2003. The organization will also re-organize the Santiago air pollution
program, set norms for the quality of water and reduce EIA processing time.
Claude said the entire plan caters to the country's
business community. This he said is unfair. "Environmental policy
must be formed in a democratic way, not only in agreement with business
interests," he said.
Source: SantiagoTimes
Sources: EL AREA; EL MOSTRADOR
Defensores del Bosque Chileno
Diagonal Oriente 1413
Nuñoa- Santiago
Chile
Tel. 56.2.2041914
Fax 56.2.2092527
http://www.elbosquechileno.cl
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