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Victory: Court ends the “lawful” killing of endangered green sea turtles
In February of 1999, the Constitutional Court in Costa Rica declared an end to the "lawful" killing of endangered green sea turtles. The ruling is an important victory for the green sea turtle and potentially other species left vulnerable by their host countries.
Costa Rica has the privilege and responsibility of being a haven for one of the largest remaining populations of this endangered species of marine turtle in the Atlantic Ocean. Every two or three years, female green sea turtles, many of which are decades old, slowly plod from their ocean homes to nest on a 35 kilometer long beach between the Tortuguero and Parismina River.
Costa Rica, rather than fully protecting these ancient guests, previously had a law allowing for the capture and slaughter of almost two thousand green sea turtles annually. Unfortunately, poachers exploited the law to kill many more than the legal limit, with the survival of the sea turtles jeopardized.
In response to inaction by the Costa Rican government, and to safeguard the survival of the green sea turtle, AIDA worked through its partner organization CEDARENA to file suit and challenge the law.
In the law suit, AIDA and CEDARENA argued that the law violated the Costa Rican constitutional guarantee of an environment that is healthy and “in ecological equilibrium.” We presented hard evidence of the hidden impact of the law on the sea turtles. The Court ruled in our favor, and annulled the law.
The ruling itself does not end the threat to green sea turtles. It may however, provide some breathing room for conservationists to concentrate on stopping illegal poaching. Hopefully, they will succeed.
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The United Nations’ Critical Energy Transition Minerals Panel issued a series of recommendations and voluntary principles aimed at ensuring equitable, fair and sustainable management of these minerals. The guidelines are aimed at governments, industry and other stakeholders in energy transition processes.This comes at a time when the global renewable energy movement, which seeks to reduce emissions that exacerbate the climate crisis, has highlighted how the environmental and social costs of transition minerals extraction fall disproportionately on local communities and ecosystems.Claudia Velarde, co-director of the Ecosystems Program of the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), said: “For Latin America, the recommendations and principles are very important, since a large part of the reserves of resources essential for the energy transition are in the region, in complex territories rich in biological and cultural diversity.Significantly, the panel places human rights and justice at the center, recognizing the complexity of the energy transition and the inequality between countries in the global South that host the minerals and those in the North that need them for their own transition.To move forward with justice, the energy transition must break with the development status quo, include perspectives from the global South, respect the human rights of local communities, and recognize ecosystem boundaries.While there is still a long way to go to achieve a truly just and popular energy transition for Latin America, we hope that this contribution will be a step in that direction.” The recommendations and principles are contained in a report in which the Panel explains how the transition t to renewable energy can be based on justice and equity, promoting sustainable development, respect for people, and protection of the environment in developing countries.The Panel proposes seven voluntary guiding principles, based on standards, commitments and legal obligations established in United Nations texts:Human rights must be at the core of all mineral value chains.The integrity of the planet, its environment and biodiversity must be safeguarded.Justice and equity must underpin mineral value chains.Development must be fostered through benefit sharing, value addition and economic diversification.Investments, finance and trade must be responsible and fair.Transparency, accountability and anti-corruption measures are necessary to ensure good governance.Multilateral and international cooperation must underpin global action and promote peace and security. Read the panel report: https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/report_sg_panel_on_critical_energy_transition_minerals_11_sept_2024.pdfLearn more about panel: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/critical-mineralsPress contact:Víctor Quintanilla (Mexico), [email protected], +5215570522107
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The global push for renewable energy to reduce climate-aggravating emissions has revealed how the environmental and social costs of mineral extraction fall disproportionately on local communities and ecosystems. The rush for so-called “critical” minerals exacerbates the very crises it seeks to help solve, worsening ecological degradation and perpetuating socio-economic injustice in the Global South. The circular economy allows the development of new economic and governance models to overcome the linearity of the international trade system. From a Latin American perspective, the circular economy must incorporate ecological parameters to ensure the maintenance of ecosystem services and the value of raw materials, while respecting the human rights of those who depend on the ecosystems from which these raw materials are extracted. AIDA is a pioneering regional organization that uses the law and science to protect the right to a healthy environment in Latin America. Focused on strengthening the just energy transition, AIDA's work includes an emphasis on value chains and circular economy models from a Latin American perspective. The race for lithium from the perspective of place Andean wetlands are a series of highly biodiverse ecosystems that provide multiple ecosystem services. However, these ecosystems are highly fragile and are currently threatened by the climate crisis, water crisis, and mining pressures, particularly regarding lithium. The Gran Atacama, located in the high Andean wetlands of Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, is estimated to contain approximately 68 percent of global lithium reserves, in the form of brine. As such, the mining industry has renamed this region to focus on one mineral, calling it the “lithium triangle.” The reality is that the area is much more complex than just its minerals. In the Gran Atacama, local communities and indigenous peoples depend on the stability of the ecosystem for their cultural, social and economic well-being. Economic activities there are linked to agriculture, industrial employment, bureaucratic services, and tourism. Sixty percent of lithium deposits are in areas of medium, high and extremely high-water risk. At least 30 ongoing lithium mining projects in various stages of development have been identified throughout the Gran Atacama. Public opinion in these three countries has demonstrated significant concerns about the lithium mining industry and the sustainability of these activities, particularly in relation to a history of mismanagement of environmental liabilities in the past. A circular economy perspective is essential for sustainability The current climate crisis is linked to the linear nature of our current economic system and its assumption of infinite natural resources. The history of large-scale mining activities in the Global South exemplifies this perspective. The circular economy could offer a solution to create a more sustainable value chain for raw minerals and enable a just energy transition that benefits all regions of the world. However, the following points must be considered: The drivers and barriers for creating a circular economy within mining processes may vary from region to region. Building a global circular economy for lithium needs to encompass the material extraction stage more comprehensively, not only through industrial circularity activities, but also from an ecosystem and human rights perspective. The loss of natural capital in lithium-exporting countries is a major concern, not only because of material extraction, but also because of its impact on ecosystems. In Latin America, non-renewable natural capital represents 3.2 percent of total wealth, while natural capital represents 10.9 percent. Intensive extraction without recognizing environmental and human rights concerns depletes natural wealth, some of which is already used by local populations. A circular economy for raw materials must balance the extraction of minerals with the preservation of ecosystems. Economic mechanisms must be found to prevent the replacement of natural capital with technological capital, to create a truly circular economy. Tariff inequality for critical minerals, including lithium, is widespread and results in an uneven distribution of economic benefits along the value chain of raw minerals. Market rules impose low tariffs on critical raw materials, while high tariffs are applied to technology and specialized labor, neglecting the added value of natural resources. This results in lost potential to generate further profits in subsequent stages of the value chain. Economic mechanisms are needed to support ecosystem conservation, proper management and economic valuation of nature, and to address the inherent inequality and linearity of the current economic system. A circular economy proposal from territories of extraction The lithium value chain is transnational, and each region involved has different actions to take to achieve a global circular economy. Circularity in mining areas depends on the conservation of ecosystems that contain lithium and other minerals. Since raw materials are extracted from these ecosystems, our mission is to preserve them and plan the use of non-renewable resources from an ecological perspective, respecting biophysical limits and human rights. In this regard, from the perspective of the extractive regions, the proposal can be related to: Strengthening the circular economy perspective in and from extractive regions and increasing knowledge sharing with other regions, both in the global North and South. Expanding the concept of a global circular economy for lithium to include an ecosystem perspective in extraction planning, rather than focusing solely on a supply and demand perspective. Appropriate valuation of both non-renewable resources and the ecosystems in which they are located, through the exploration of environmental taxation mechanisms that could be integrated into the mining sector to: Create clear market signals about the value of natural and non-renewable resources and reduce the demand for intensive extraction of raw materials. Generate revenues to ensure a fair share of directly affected communities through benefit-sharing mechanisms and to facilitate increased investment in technologies to advance the circular economy faster and more efficiently. Ensuring timely and adequate compensation for contamination. Developing proposals for economic models that incorporate the ecosystem services and materials used or affected during lithium production. For example, implementing specific carbon pricing for mining activities and strengthening legal mechanisms based on the “producer responsibility” and “the polluter pays” principles.
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Organisations dedicated to the protection of human rights defenders, and national and international organisations working on the promotion and protection of human rights and indigenous peoples rights, express our concern over the criminalization process against Rigoberto Juárez, ancestral authority, environmental and human rights defender, and general coordinator of the Plurinational Ancestral Government of the Original Nations Mayas Akateka, Chuj, Q’anjob’al y Popti’.The judicial process against Rigoberto began in 2015 due to his role as a mediator and ancestral authority in a land conflict within the Q'anjob'al territory, specifically in the Ixquisis micro-region. This conflict arose from the indigenous Maya community's resistance to the poorly implemented and unconsulted hydroelectric projects by Energía y Renovación S.A., financed by BID Invest.The judicial process lacked an intercultural and differentiated approach. Additionally, the decisions made in the second instance and by the cassation court have ignored the factual and legal arguments presented by the defense regarding Rigoberto Juárez's role as an ancestral authority, which involved, at the community's request, assuming a mediator role in the high-conflict situation.From the perspective of the signing organizations, this judicial process has been used as a reprisal mechanism against the human rights defender’s legitimate human rights work. In particular, due to his crucial role in bringing visibility to, and reporting on, the Ixquisis case through a complaint submitted to the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI) of the Inter-American Development Bank. Evidence of this can be found in the temporal overlaps of this process with crucial moments of the complaint filed with the MICI.In view of this concerning situation, we request judicial authorities to consider the arguments submitted by the legal defense of Rigoberto Juárez in the amparo action filed on 22 August and to make a decision that takes into account the specific guarantees of Rigoberto Juárez as an ancestral authority and as an environmental and human rights defender. Likewise, we call on international human rights institutions to urge the State of Guatemala to resolve the case of Rigoberto in accordance with their international obligations, and to prevent and address the serious trend of criminalization of indigenous authorities exercising their rights and responsibilities. Signed by:International Platform against ImpunityProtection International MesoaméricaInteramerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA)Franciscans InternationalRed Nacional por la Defensa de la Soberanía Alimentaria en Guatemala (REDSAG)Bank Information CenterInternational Service for Human RightsFront Line DefendersNISGUA (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala)ASERJUSP. Marco Tulio Recinos Torres. CPPS.Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)María Eugenia Solís GarcíaAlba Cecilia del Rosario Mérida PiedrasantaPress contact:Víctor Quintanilla (Mexico), AIDA, [email protected], +521 5570522107
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