Project
Photo: Alejandro Balaguer / Fundación Albatros MediaVictory: Panama Bay is Legally Protected
Panama Bay, one of the world’s most important nesting and roosting sites for migratory birds, is now permanently protected, thanks in part to AIDA’s expertise in international law.
The bay supports endangered species, including jaguars and loggerhead turtles, as well as the vast majority of the country’s fishing industry. Its coastal mangroves capture 50 times more carbon pollution than a tropical forest of similar size. Mangroves also protect coastal communities from storm surges that grow in severity as the climate warms. Panama has already lost 75 percent of its mangroves.
In 2012 tourism developers had secured a Supreme Court decision overturning the National Environmental Authority’s decision to protect the bay as a wildlife refuge.
AIDA worked with the Environmental Advocacy Center (CIAM), a Panamanian environmental law organization, to defend Panama Bay’s protected status. We submitted a brief containing arguments based on international law. We made analogies between Panama Bay and Las Baulas National Marine Park in Costa Rica. In a legal case about Las Baulas, a balancing test found that the public right to a healthy environment outweighed the interests of tourism developers.
Then, on February 2, 2015—World Wetlands Day—Panama passed a law creating Panama Bay Wetland Wildlife Refuge. The law emphasizes the importance of an ecosystem approach to management and the rational use of wetlands, as described in the Ramsar Convention.
AIDA and CIAM will continue working to see that the law is implemented properly and to ensure the protection of Panama Bay wetlands.
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The undersigned group of civil society organizations greet you as you begin your term as President of the Inter-American Development Bank. We extend to you our best wishes as you assume this task of great responsibility for the people of Latin America and the Caribbean.We take this opportunity to introduce ourselves and express our willingness to continue contributing to the Bank's actions pursuing the region's development. Since 2017, our organizations have been monitoring and making recommendations on the IDB policies and projects, in partnership with local communities and populations. In particular, we promote the Bank’s establishment of better social and environmental policies and practices, as well as adequate and transparent spaces for participation that allow improving the IDB's link and interaction with civil society. To mention just a few examples, we highlight our contributions to the Environmental and Social Policy Framework (ESPF), to the updates of the MICI policy and in the accompaniment of specific cases, and in the revision process of the Access to Information Policy and in the dialogues on the IDB-Amazon Initiative.In conjunction, we are permanently monitoring the Bank's policies and investments throughout the region, including in projects involved in the response to and recovery from the Covid pandemic and many others.We consider it essential that the Bank strengthen its practices and operations, facilitating the promotion and respect for human rights, with special attention paid to the needs of communities and indigenous peoples who are at the forefront in the defense of nature, as well as the protection of key ecosystems in the fight against climate change.Given the relevance of public participation in promoting full development, we reiterate our request to the Bank to generate constructive and lasting participation mechanisms. In particular, we request that the space for dialogue with civil society be reopened in the framework of the next IDB Annual Meetings. This space was a traditional practice that was interrupted in 2014 and has not been resumed to date.We understand that a space for IDB articulation with civil society (social organizations and movements, Indigenous groups, and others who are affected) is not only a good practice that other multilateral agencies are already implementing, but would also contribute to advance the objectives of your administration. As stated in your inaugural speech last January, you stressed your desire to "seize all opportunities for dialogue" and collaborate with different actors to address the most pressing problems of our region.Thus, your administration has an historic opportunity to generate greater openness towards civil society organizations and communities potentially affected by Bank-financed operations. We believe that this demand can no longer be postponed, and that this long-standing claim must be addressed in order to strengthen the work together with the peoples of the region.We remain at your disposal to discuss the points raised in this letter and other matters of common interest at your convenience. Kind regards, Accountability CounselAMATE El SalvadorArticulación Salvadoreña de Sociedad Salvadoreña de Sociedad Civil para la Incidencia en las Instituciones Financieras Internacionales (ASIFI)Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad (Environment and Society Association)Interamerican Association for the Defense of the Environment (AIDA)International Accountability ProjectBank Information CenterCenter for International Environmental Law (CIEL)Coalition for Human Rights In DevelopmentCohesión Comunitaria e Innovación Social A.C. (Mexico)Conectas Direitos HumanosDerecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (DAR, Perú)Ecoa - Ecology and ActionFoundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies (Fundeps)CAUCE Foundation: Environmental Culture - Causa Ecologista (Argentina)Gender ActionInternational RiversMesa de Discapacidad y Derechos (Perú)International Platform against ImpunityProtection International MesoamericaSociedad y Discapacidad - SODIS (Perú)Sustentarse (Chile)Wetlands International / Fundacion Humedales (Argentina) Read and download the letter
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The undersigned group of civil society organizations greet you as you begin your term as President of the Inter-American Development Bank. We extend to you our best wishes as you assume this task of great responsibility for the people of Latin America and the Caribbean.We take this opportunity to introduce ourselves and express our willingness to continue contributing to the Bank's actions pursuing the region's development. Since 2017, our organizations have been monitoring and making recommendations on the IDB policies and projects, in partnership with local communities and populations. In particular, we promote the Bank’s establishment of better social and environmental policies and practices, as well as adequate and transparent spaces for participation that allow improving the IDB's link and interaction with civil society. To mention just a few examples, we highlight our contributions to the Environmental and Social Policy Framework (ESPF), to the updates of the MICI policy and in the accompaniment of specific cases, and in the revision process of the Access to Information Policy and in the dialogues on the IDB-Amazon Initiative.In conjunction, we are permanently monitoring the Bank's policies and investments throughout the region, including in projects involved in the response to and recovery from the Covid pandemic and many others.We consider it essential that the Bank strengthen its practices and operations, facilitating the promotion and respect for human rights, with special attention paid to the needs of communities and indigenous peoples who are at the forefront in the defense of nature, as well as the protection of key ecosystems in the fight against climate change.Given the relevance of public participation in promoting full development, we reiterate our request to the Bank to generate constructive and lasting participation mechanisms. In particular, we request that the space for dialogue with civil society be reopened in the framework of the next IDB Annual Meetings. This space was a traditional practice that was interrupted in 2014 and has not been resumed to date.We understand that a space for IDB articulation with civil society (social organizations and movements, Indigenous groups, and others who are affected) is not only a good practice that other multilateral agencies are already implementing, but would also contribute to advance the objectives of your administration. As stated in your inaugural speech last January, you stressed your desire to "seize all opportunities for dialogue" and collaborate with different actors to address the most pressing problems of our region.Thus, your administration has an historic opportunity to generate greater openness towards civil society organizations and communities potentially affected by Bank-financed operations. We believe that this demand can no longer be postponed, and that this long-standing claim must be addressed in order to strengthen the work together with the peoples of the region.We remain at your disposal to discuss the points raised in this letter and other matters of common interest at your convenience. Kind regards, Accountability CounselAMATE El SalvadorArticulación Salvadoreña de Sociedad Salvadoreña de Sociedad Civil para la Incidencia en las Instituciones Financieras Internacionales (ASIFI)Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad (Environment and Society Association)Interamerican Association for the Defense of the Environment (AIDA)International Accountability ProjectBank Information CenterCenter for International Environmental Law (CIEL)Coalition for Human Rights In DevelopmentCohesión Comunitaria e Innovación Social A.C. (Mexico)Conectas Direitos HumanosDerecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (DAR, Perú)Ecoa - Ecology and ActionFoundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies (Fundeps)CAUCE Foundation: Environmental Culture - Causa Ecologista (Argentina)Gender ActionInternational RiversMesa de Discapacidad y Derechos (Perú)International Platform against ImpunityProtection International MesoamericaSociedad y Discapacidad - SODIS (Perú)Sustentarse (Chile)Wetlands International / Fundacion Humedales (Argentina) Read and download the letter
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New York: Today governments resume negotiations at the United Nations in New York to finalize a new High Seas Treaty to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. The two-week Intergovernmental conference is taking place from 20 February to 3 March 2023 and is a resumption of negotiations from August 2022, when governments ran out of time. Covering half of the planet, the High Seas support vibrant marine ecosystems, life that is vital to the global food supply, and the planet’s climate system. However, it has been plagued by poor or patchy governance, and with only 1.2% protected, vast High Seas areas are open to unsustainable exploitation. This new treaty aims to address these shortcomings and offers a historic opportunity to put in place game-changing new measures for the ocean, including establishing highly and fully protected areas and strengthening assessment and management of human activities. The recent global commitment to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 (the “30x30” goal) offers an ambitious backdrop for ensuring this new treaty provides the legal tools to turn the target into a reality. The pressure is now on governments to ensure the treaty that is finally agreed upon will be ambitious enough to result in a healthy ocean rather than a degraded one. Key issues that still need to be addressed at the meeting include: measures to ensure that the new treaty can deliver effective new marine protected areas rather than “paper parks”; safeguards to avoid harm arising from human activities affecting the high seas and the deep seabed; a strong institutional framework to ensure effective implementation and compliance; decision-making rules to avoid enabling one or two countries to block progress; and critical finance and equity issues related to capacity building and the sharing of benefits from marine genetic resources. "We came frustratingly close to getting this treaty over the line in August at what was supposed to be the final round of negotiations. With the accelerating climate and biodiversity crises, time is not a luxury we have to put ocean health back on track," said Sarah Bevis from the High Seas Alliance. "This time round we need to seize the moment and get an ambitious treaty over the finish line, so we can roll up our sleeves and work on the crucial tasks of getting the treaty ratified and implemented." Additional Quotes from High Seas Alliance member organizations: Dr Laura Meller, Oceans Campaigner and Polar Advisor, Greenpeace Nordic said: "The oceans support all life on Earth. Their fate will be decided at these negotiations. The science is clear. Protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030 is the absolute minimum necessary to avert catastrophe. It was encouraging to see all governments adopt the 30x30 target last year, but lofty targets mean nothing without action." "This special session taking place so soon after the last round of negotiations collapsed gives us hope. If a strong Treaty is agreed on the 3rd of March, it keeps 30x30 alive. Governments must return to negotiations ready to find compromises and deliver an effective Treaty. We’re already in extra time. These talks are one final chance to deliver. Governments must not fail." Trevor Jones, Campaign Manager, Only One said: "Without protections for the high seas, we cannot hope to have a healthy ocean, and without a healthy ocean we put marine life, coastal livelihoods, and global food stability at grave risk. Millions of people from around the world have spoken out: They want a strong High Seas Treaty, and they’re counting on their leaders to finally get the job done." Liz Karan, Director of Pew’s Ocean Governance Project said: "The high seas support diverse marine life and unique ecosystems critical to the health of our ocean and planet. Countries must seize this opportunity to finalize a robust high seas treaty to establish highly protected, cross sectoral high seas MPAs for the benefit of current and future generations." Jennifer Morris, CEO of The Nature Conservancy said: "Ensuring legal protection for the vast areas of open ocean beyond national jurisdiction, and actively acknowledging the importance of addressing this situation, is a pivotal step in moving toward our ambitious ‘30x30’ target in the new UN Global Biodiversity Framework. Ensuring a successful outcome from the New York negotiations, in the form of a formally agreed and legally binding High Seas Treaty, is imperative to meet the collective commitment to conserve 30% of the Earth’s ocean this side of 2030." Gladys Martínez, Executive Director of the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) said: "The high seas urgently needs a governance framework. We look forward to states concluding a strong and ambitious treaty during these two weeks." Fabienne McLellan, Managing Director OceanCare said: "We have high hopes that governments will find a way to finalize the High Seas Treaty during the resumed session of IGC 5. Countries must understand that it would be grossly negligent to once again fail to conclude an agreement to conserve marine diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. The climate and biodiversity crises are in full swing, and the ocean is our ally, not an infinite resource to be exploited. It is not only important that the Agreement is finalized, but what is agreed needs to make a tangible difference in protecting biodiversity. Against this backdrop, it is difficult to imagine that no agreement will be reached - the agreement is vital for marine biodiversity, a healthy ocean and thus also for us humans". PRESS CONTACTS Patricia Roy, + 34 696 905 907 - CET Mirella von Lindenfels, +44 7717 844 352 - EST
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