The collective civil society organizations and individuals who undersigned express our deep rejection of PERUPETRO’s draft law proposal which is supported by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) and seeks to modify articles 3, 4, 5, 7, 19, 20, 21, 23 and 27 of Law No. 26834, Law on Protected Natural Areas (ANP), with the aim of prioritizing, at the national level, the use of hydrocarbon resources in areas of high biodiversity such as ANPs , and thus weaken the institutional framework and the existing creation and management mechanisms in the regulations.
MINEM’s proposal has been indicated as unfeasible by the Ministry of the Environment. We also consider that it would be unconstitutional by prioritizing extractive activities over fundamental rights and the conservation of biological diversity in the ANP, contrary to the mandate established in the Political Constitution of Peru, which states «the The State is obliged to promote the conservation of biological diversity and protected natural areas» (article 68) and violating the fundamental right of every person «(…) to enjoy a balanced and adequate environment for the development of their lives ”(article 2, numeral 22).
Biodiversity is an economic asset of Peru. Our country enjoys a high biological diversity in ANPs such as National Parks, National Sanctuaries and other categories, many of them highly fragile and vulnerable to illegal activities, which are reserves of life for all Peruvians, mainly for peasant communities,native, and indigenous peoples who benefit from the invaluable natural resources that the ANPs provide us, such as water, clean air, biological diversity, and provision, cultural, and support ecosystem services such as water regulation, sequestration, and carbon storage , maintenance of biological diversity, among other services.
This MINEM proposal weakens the protection of ANPs and intends to modify them physically and legally, by allowing the extraction of renewable and nonrenewable resources in areas of indirect use (where current legislation prohibits it) and in areas of direct use without exception. This shows that there are interests to explore and exploit the subsoil of highly protected natural areas such as the Bahuaja Sonene National Park and its heart, the Candamo; the Manu National Park and the Megantoni National Sanctuary, among others, and avoid the creation of new protected areas in areas such as the Grau Tropical Sea. Periodically, the promotion of the extraction of hydrocarbons at the cost of sacrificing the ANPs returns to the spotlight; of transgressing various national regulations and commitments assumed by the Peruvian State in international instruments such as the Peru-United States Trade Promotion Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Paris Agreement, ILO Convention 169, among others; and regardless of the fact that several of these areas have worldwide recognition as Biosphere Reserves and Natural Heritage sites recognized by UNESCO
The socio-environmental impact generated by hydrocarbon spills is still an unresolved issue. Between 2000 and 2019, the Amazon has faced 474 oil spills, which have affected the territories of indigenous communities, who, far from receiving comprehensive solutions to the consequences of the environmental and social impact of the spills, only received insufficient temporary attention. Today, indigenous peoples do not have access to healthy water, food is contaminated, and communities are exposed to health consequences, all because of a policy of environmental and social contamination.
Making the use of natural resources more flexible in areas of the national territory that are especially environmentally and socially sensitive would only aggravate the aforementioned problem. In addition, the State’s response to the last environmental disaster caused by Repsol in our Peruvian sea in January 2022, not only evidenced the need to strengthen the control of hydrocarbon activities, but has also left negative environmental, social and economic impacts that, even more than a year after the event, continue to affect the environment, our marine fauna and multiple families of artisanal fishermen.
This legislative initiative is contradictory to the international environmental commitments assumed by the Peruvian State, even more so in a context of climate crisis and biodiversity crisis, and in which there is a global trend to progressively reduce the use of fossil fuels. In particular, it breaches the international obligation of the Peruvian State assumed within the framework of the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity, especially the recently adopted «Kunming-Montreal World Framework for Biological Diversity», whose emblematic Goal 3 establishes the commitment of all signatory countries to conserve at least 30% of terrestrial and marine areas by 2030, especially those areas of particular importance for biodiversity, such as ANPs.
In addition, this type of initiative would weaken everything achieved in terms of conservation and protection of natural resources. We urge the Executive and Legislative powers to reconsider the regulatory package that they are promoting, which would mainly affect the rights of indigenous peoples -especially those who are in a situation of isolation and initial contact-, environmental management and evaluation systems, the forestry and mining sector regulations and now the system of Protected Natural Areas. Likewise, it is deeply worrying that the actions of public officials and servants and congressmen are aimed at weakening environmental governance, when Peru is sought to be part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
In commemoration of June 5, World Environment Day, it is necessary to renew the commitment of the Peruvian State to work on the protection and health of the environment, since they are a priority for the country and the planet, and to meet energy needs and consumption through cleaner sources for the planet, such as renewable energy. Likewise, let us remember the unfortunate events of the Bagua conflict that remind us, once again, that the promotion of norms without participation or prior consultation generate gaps of mistrust, weaken the climate of social peace and promote socio-environmental conflicts.
We urge the Peruvian State and the private sector to strengthen good governance and dialogue through respect for our regulatory framework, and compliance with international commitments to respect rights and protect the environment.
Lima, June 2023
Organizations:
- Agencia de Investigación Ambiental / Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
- Amazónicos por la Amazonía (AMPA)
- Asociación Amigos de los Parques Nacionales (AAPN) de Argentina
- Asociación Arariwa
- Asociación de Servicio Integral de Cooperación Rural Anccara (SICRA)
- Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos (ECOAN)
- Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP)
- Asociación Nacional de Centros (ANC)
- Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA)
- Asociación Peruana para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (APECO)
- Asociación ProPurus
- Asociación Servicios Educativos Rurales (SER)
- Centro Amazónico de Antropología y Aplicación Práctica (CAAAP)
- Central Ashaninka del Río Ene (CARE)
- Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Participación (CEDEP)
- Centro de Estudios y Promoción del Desarrollo del Sur (DESCOSUR)
- Centro de Investigación y Promoción del Campesinado (CIPCA)
- Centro para el Desarrollo del Indígena Amazónico (CEDIA)
- Centro Bartolomé de las Casas (CBC)
- Centro de Conservación, Investigación y Manejo de Áreas Naturales – Cordillera Azul (CIMA – Cordillera Azul)
- Centro Peruano de Estudios Sociales (CEPES)
- CHIRAPAQ, Centro de Culturas Indígenas del Perú
- CIVICUS
- Comisión Episcopal de Acción Social (CEAS)
- Confederación General de Trabajadores del Perú (CGTP)
- Confederación Nacional Agraria
- Consejo Machiguenga del Río Urubamba (COMARU)
- Conservacion Internacional Perú
- Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF)
- CooperAcción
- Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDDHH)
- Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (DAR)
- Derechos Humanos y Medio Ambiente (DHUMA)
- DESCO – Centro de Estudios y Promoción del Desarrollo
- DESCO SUR – Centro de Estudios y Promoción del Desarrollo del Sur
- EarthRights International (ERI)
- Enlace Continental de Mujeres Indígenas de las Américas (ECMIA)
- Fondo de Agua para Lima y Callao (AQUAFONDO)
- Foro Câmbio Climático y Justicia Socioambiental de Brasil
- Foro Ecológico
- Fundación para la Conservación y el Desarrollo Sostenible (FCDS)
- GRUFIDES
- Grupo Impulsor Mujeres y Cambio Climático Perú (GIMCC PERÚ)
- Grupo Propuesta Ciudadana (GPC)
- Iglesia Matriz de Iquitos San Juan Bautista (Catedral de San Juan Bautista, Iquitos)
- Instituto de Defensa Legal del Ambiente y el Desarrollo Sostenible (IDLADS)
- Instituto de Montaña (ITM)
- Instituto del Bien Común (IBC)
- Instituto NATURA
- International Rivers
- Kené Instituto de Estudios Forestales y Ambientales
- Movimiento Ciudadano frente al Cambio Climático (MOCICC)
- Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI).
- Nodo Perú de la Red Latinoamericana Iglesias y Minería
- OCEANA
- Organización Regional AIDESEP Ucayali (ORAU)
- Oxfam en Perú
- Pachamama Alliance Perú
- Paz y Esperanza
- Proética
- Programa Laboral de Desarrollo (PLADES)
- PUDÚ
- Red de Agricultura Ecológica del Perú (RAE-PERÚ)
- Red Muqui
- Red Nacional de Conservación Voluntaria y Comunal “Amazonía Que Late”
- Red Pastoral Pueblos Indígenas y Ecología Integral
- Rede de Soluções para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável da Amazônia (SDSN Amazônia)
- Servicios Ecosistémicos Perú (SEPERU)
- Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental (SPDA)
- Sociedad Peruana de Ecodesarrollo
- Sociedad Zoológica de Fráncfort (FZS)
- The Shared Wood Company (sWc-Perú)
- TierrActiva Perú
- Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF Perú)
- Cesar F. Florez, DNI 08732424
- César A. Ipenza, DNI 40287902
- Claudia Grados Bueno, DNI 44686664
- Dafne Grados Tello, DNI 47158792
- Elizabeth Peña Izquierdo, DNI 27748507
- Flor de María Vega Zapata, DNI 07200287
- Indira Alva Alvarado, DNI 70440568
- Javier Rodolfo Jahncke Benavente, DNI 07261449
- Lucía Ruiz Ostoic, DNI 08767259
- Luis Román, DNI 07825044
- Margarita Medina Müller, DNI 40139714
- Mariano Castro Sánchez-Moreno, DNI 07212391
- Oscar Francisco Rada Santivañez, DNI 19993395
- Ramón Rivero Mejía, DNI 40684427
- Roxana Patricia Arauco Aliaga, DNI 10352911
- Samar El sous Bautista, DNI 75259182
- Tatiana Jarama Arévalo, DNI 05409729
- Vivian Chumbiauca Carbajal, DNI 21877422
- Patricia Fernandez-Davila Messum, DNI 08220816