Event Summary
On 2 August 2025, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development opened a 15-day public consultation (until 15 August) to gather comments and proposals on the draft decree that will create the Intersectoral Commission for the implementation of the Escazú Regional Agreement in Colombia. Once established, this commission will have as its main functions to coordinate, formulate and monitor the “Roadmap for the Implementation of the Escazú Agreement,” as well as to design mechanisms for monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement in environmental matters. The Escazú Agreement, ratified by Colombia through Law 2273 of 2022 and declared enforceable by the Constitutional Court in September 2024, seeks to guarantee access to information, public participation and justice in environmental matters, and to protect those who defend the environment and the territory. The consultation is presented as a key step towards incorporating a human rights, gender, ethnic, territorial and generational perspective and institutionally legitimising the design of implementation.
The consultation is taking place within the context of growing demands for the participatory and legitimate institutionalisation of international instruments for environmental democracy. Colombia has made legal progress with the ratification and implementation of the Escazú Agreement, but now needs to translate this progress into effective action. The draft decree seeks to consolidate an intersectoral mechanism with a differential approach, but its coordination with existing entities still needs to be clearly defined. The implementation of the agreement is part of a series of initiatives that, in addition to deepening open government in Colombia, can contribute to the protection of environmental leaders.