Civil society organizations and indigenous peoples speak out against the series of proposals by the Executive, Congress and other private sector actors, which under the discourse of promoting investments and ending «environmental paperwork» seek to dismantle the rights of indigenous peoples, their territory, affecting their life and integrity; as well as environmental institutions and neglecting to protect our natural heritage, the life and health of people and our constitutional right to a healthy and adequate environment.
We would like to express our concern over the approval of the law creating the National Infrastructure Authority (ANIN), Law No. 31841, and its subsequent proposed regulation, which should be published in the next few days. Our main concern about this regulation lies in the reduction of the time frame from 120 to 90 days for the environmental assessment process of investment projects, which implies creating an exceptional environmental certification procedure without knowing the details of its phases and deadlines. This change has no technical basis, but would only have the need to speed up environmental certification, without considering the urgent need to improve the quality of environmental impact studies and the social and environmental sustainability of investments. Likewise, this could affect citizen participation processes, given that, by shortening the deadlines, these processes are impacted and would violate the right to participation, consultation and free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples, recognized in international instruments and standards that are mandatory for the Peruvian State, which could bring with it international responsibility and social conflicts. among other violations.
It should be noted that this is not an isolated process, but is in addition to Legislative Decree No. 1553, which allows for the preparation of environmental impact studies with basic engineering, as well as the promotion of fractions of environmental certification. We also emphasize that negative administrative silence must be maintained (disapproving the claims in the absence of a pronouncement by the administrative authority, within the period established for this purpose) in the evaluation procedures of environmental management instruments, in accordance with the provisions of Article 38 of the Single Harmonized Text of the General Administrative Procedure Law. which establishes negative silence for procedures that may significantly affect the public interest, for matters such as health, the environment, natural resources, among others.
In addition, the National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy proposed an initiative to merge the National Environmental Certification Service for Sustainable Investments (SENACE) with the authorities of the environmental sector such as the National Water Authority (ANA) and the National Forestry and Wildlife Service (SERFOR), which was roundly rejected by civil society. Along the same lines, we can also count Perupetro’s initiative to open Natural Protected Areas for indirect use to explore and exploit hydrocarbons, a proposal that was also rejected by the environmental sector. However, it would continue to be promoted by congressmen, who have been generating spaces for debate in order to try to weaken the current legal framework, the regression of rights and the Constitutional mandate to protect Natural Protected Areas.
In the same vein, it is not surprising that on September 27, Ministerial Resolution No. 297-2023-MINAM pre-published the project »Supreme Decree that Establishes Provisions to Optimize the Environmental Impact Assessment Process», a proposal that would form a technical team made up of the various opinion authorities that will be in charge of SENACE, including in its own facilities to evaluate the environmental study and prepare a report that would integrate the diverse opinions. This would be detrimental in practice, as the authorities could lose independence and autonomy, which would generate environmental studies of lower quality, which do not adequately protect the rights of indigenous peoples, the right to health, the environment, among other rights, from the serious negative impacts generated by the imposition of extractive and infrastructure activities.
We also express our concern over the pre-publication of another Supreme Decree that establishes the creation of the Grau Tropical Sea National Reserve, through Ministerial Resolution No. 295-2023. This could be excellent news; however, it is overshadowed by the fact that in its explanatory memorandum industrial fishing would be allowed in the Banco de Máncora sector. The consequences could be disastrous for the biodiversity of the marine ecosystem, artisanal fishing and for the entire population, especially for those who live in surrounding areas. And they again go against the constitutional mandate to protect NPAs and are even more discordant with the existing categories of NPAs in our country.
Finally, there is great concern about the recent attempt by the Congress of the Republic to reopen, for the fifth time, the Comprehensive Registry of Mining Formalization – REINFO, through Bills Nos. 2172, 2519, 3621 and 5171, which proposes to establish new conditions for access to REINFO and a new registration period, which would facilitate illegal mining. This would aggravate, for example, the social, spiritual, cultural and environmental impacts with the consequent destruction of the territories of indigenous peoples, as well as the impact on their life, integrity and health.
As is evident, we are currently in a context where new investments are promoted through ANIN, 31 hydrocarbon areas are promoted at the national level and processes are sought to be accelerated regardless of the quality of the environmental impact assessment or the prior, free and informed consultation and consent of indigenous peoples. For this reason, it is necessary to have standards and technical instruments that ensure that the rights to health, a healthy environment and life of all are respected, as well as the rights to citizen participation and free, prior and informed consultation of indigenous peoples.
In view of this, we urge the authorities to commit to:
- Respect the rights of indigenous peoples with the participation, consultation and consent of indigenous peoples and their representative organizations.
- Strengthen environmental institutions and dispense with approving this type of regulatory instruments that violate rights and weaken the capacity for management and decision-making in administrative procedures in environmental matters.
- Respect and strengthen the autonomy and independence of entities in the environmental sector.
- Take a position against the reduction of the deadlines of environmental impact assessment processes, a fact that makes it difficult to optimize them and improve their quality, as well as to respect and promote citizen participation and consultation and free, prior and informed consent.
- Adopt the recommendations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – OECD to continue the process of strengthening and implementing the National Environmental Certification Service for Sustainable Investments for efficient and independent environmental management.
- Guarantee the democracy of the rule of law, giving effect to the rights and mechanisms of citizen participation, and consultation and free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples and their representative organizations; to respect the rights of indigenous peoples, as well as to strengthen environmental institutions.
From civil society, we call on the Peruvian State and the private sector to respect our regulatory and institutional framework, and to comply with international commitments on human rights, the protection of indigenous peoples and the environment in order to strengthen environmental governance and indigenous peoples over their territory in Peru.
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Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Jungle (AIDESEP)
National Association of Centers – ANC
Association for the Conservation of the Amazon Basin – ACCA
Peruvian Association for the Conservation of Nature – APECO
Center for Conservation, Research and Management of Natural Areas – CIMA
Center for the Development of the Amazonian Indigenous – CEDIA
Bartolomé de las Casas Center – CBC
CooperAcción
National Agrarian Confederation – CNA
Machiguenga Council of the Urubamba River – COMARU
Amazon Conservation – ACCA
Regional Coordinator of the Indigenous Peoples of San Lorenzo – CORPI SL
Watersheds – Amazon Issues Network
Law, Environment and Natural Resources – DAR
Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development – FCDS
Socio-Environmental Fund of Peru
CNDDHH Working Group on Impacts of Hydrocarbons
Interfaith Initiative for Tropical Forests – IRI Peru
Institute for the Legal Defense of the Environment and Sustainable Development -IDLADS
Natura Institute
Citizen’s Movement against Climate Change – MOCICC
Natural Resource Governance Institute – NRGI
Ocean
Oxfam
Pachamama Alliance Peru
PUDU
RedGE – Network for a Globalization with Equity
Frankfurt Zoological Society – SZF
Fridays for the Future Peru
Yunkawasi
César Felipe Ascorra Guanira, DNI 07283894
César A. Ipenza, DNI 40287902
Silvia Roslaba Sánchez Huamán, DNI 08762291