THE UNION OF SOUTH AMERICAN NATIONS (UNASUR) AND THE ENVIRONMENT

ISABELA BATTISTELLO ESPÍNDOLA

FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF SÃO CARLOS (UFSCAR)

INTRODUCTION▪ In the last decades the humankind impact in the environment has been

increasingly significant;

▪ Its transcends borders and reaches several populations around the world;

▪ The United Nations recognized the environment as a fundamental human right;

▪ In others words, the preservation and conservation of the environment is intrinsic for the very safety of mankind and other species;

▪ A healthy environment not just for some, but for everyone;

▪ States and other international actors have been pressured to adopt measures to include environmental issues in their agendas and discussions;

INTRODUCTION▪ But this growing concern for the environment is recent;

▪ Many of the first international agreements did not have this environmental variable included;

▪ One example is that the first regional integration processes often gave greater weight to economic issues;

▪ Now the recent regional integration processes includes some perspectives related to the environmental issues;

▪ UNASUR and its Constitutive Treaty;

▪ How the environment is considered in this latest regional integration process? It is described? It is protected? What says the Constitutive Treaty?

INTRODUCTION▪ Campos (2015) and Karg (2015) considers that the UNASUR is one of the

most important regional integration initiative, specially because it goes beyond the traditional integration assumptions;

▪ UNASUR is worried not just with economics, but also with defense, health, energy, science, technology and other things;

▪ So, for Costa (2009) UNASUR has a multilateral nature;

▪ It also seeks to strengthen development between its members;

▪ Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela;

▪ UNASUR started only in 2008 (its Constitutive Treaty was sign);

INTRODUCTION▪ South America is strategically placed in international politics because of its

environmental resources (Senhoras et al., 2009; Campos, 2015);

▪ It has huge mineral reserves, is one of the regions with the biggest water reserve and has a high biodiversity rate;

▪ The region "has significant hydrocarbon reserves, 30% of freshwater resources in the world and 8 million km2 of forests" (UNASUR, 2015);

▪ But according to CEPAL (2014) the UNASUR member countries have lost more than 8.7% of its forests since 1990 and increased carbon dioxide emissions by 7% from the Union's emergence in 2008;

▪ Environmental resources: indispensable tool for the region development as well as a mean to ensure all fundamental rights to the region population;

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION▪ The concern for the environment and its problems are supranational,

transcending national boundaries or governments (RIBEIRO, 2010; LORENZETTI; CARRION, 2012);

▪ It is a growing demand but also a hard challenge (DOMINGUES, 2006; ALTOMONTE; SÁNCHEZ, 2016), specially with the climate change (CAMPOS, 2015);

▪ South America has suffer since the colonial period with the exploration of its natural resources and today some of this primary and extractive products are very important to the their economy;

▪ That is the reason why Culpi (2014) believes that there is a common interest and concern for the environmental protection in this region;

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION▪ To Rodrigues (2013) it is also possible to see that the environmental issue

begins to gain importance and space in the UNASURs agenda, mostly because some of its councils already presented some actions plains related to the environment;

Council of Heads and Heads of State and

Government (CCCEG)

South America Council of Energy

(CES)

South American Council of

Infrastructure and Planning (COSIPLAN)

South American Council of Economy and Finance (CSEF)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONUNASUR and its Constitutive Treaty

▪ The Constitutive Treaty is a guideline for all the Union’s State members;

▪ Preamble: first reference;

“Affirming their determination to build a South American identity and citizenship and to develop an integrated regional space in the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, energy and infrastructure dimensions, for the strengthening of Latin America and Caribbean unity” (UNASUL, 2008, p.7).

“Convinced that the South American integration and South American unity are necessary to promote the sustainable development and wellbeing of our peoples” (UNASUL, 2008, p.7).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION▪ The next mention is on the second objective, which clarifies that UNASUR

looks forward to building a space of integration that prioritizes the environment:

“Article 2 Objective - The objective of the South American Union of Nations is to build, in a participatory and consensual manner, an integration and union among its peoples in the cultural, social, economic and political fields, prioritizing political dialogue, social policies, education, energy, infrastructure, financing and the environment, among others, with a view to eliminating socioeconomic inequality, in order to achieve social inclusion and participation of civil society, to strengthen democracy and reduce asymmetries within the framework of strengthening the sovereignty and independence of the States”. (UNASUL, 2008, p.7).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION▪ Another reference is exposed in the specific objectives (UNASUL, 2008,

p.10).

“Article 3 Specific Objectives - The South American Union of Nations has the following objectives: (…) (d) Energy integration for the integral and sustainable use of the resources of the region, in a spirit of solidarity; (g) The protection of biodiversity, water resources and ecosystems, as well as cooperation in the prevention of catastrophes and in combating the causes and effects of climate change”

▪ With this mentions we can infer that the UNASUR States considers that the environment is fundamental to accelerate and expand the integration process in the region as well as achieving the dreamed regional development;

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION▪ However the Constitutive Treaty does not specific mention the

environmental protection;

▪ It does not establish which are the basic and needed steps to preserve the environment, and it does not present any legal environmental standards to ensure the protection of nature and any penalty for violations and infringements;

▪ To Ventura e Baraldi (2008 apud COSTA, 2010) the Union commits a mistake for not clarifying how its institutions will work according to what is planned, as well as for not explaining how all of the objective listed in the Constitutive Treaty will be achieved.

▪ But it is really this?

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION▪ The Constitutive Treaty consider the environmental preservation as

central to the integration process;

▪ Therefore, the environment is presented as a concern connected to its preservation and related to a more efficient use of the natural resources found in the region;

▪ It is really hard to know for sure the reasons behind the inclusion of the environmental as something essential to achieve the integration and development objectives of the EU member states;

▪ Regardless of the reasons, UNASUR was responsible for changes regarding the environmental in its members, specially with the increase of projects related to cross-border resources.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe legal protection of the environment in the member States of UNASUR

▪ According to Oliveira (2010) the first standards have emerged to regulate the use of natural resources in the region and thus not aimed at environmental protection;

▪ After RIO-92 we started to see to changes in their environmental legislation, as they turn specifically to the protection and conservation of the environment;

▪ All the UNASUR members counts with specific laws and regulations related to environmental protection and in the last 25 years, almost all the UNASUR members enacted new constitutions containing specific chapters that includes the environment.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONTable 1 – Environmental laws in UNASURs State Members. Source: adapted from HERNÁNDEZ (2015)

Country LawArgentin

a Ley General del Ambiente Ley Nº 25.675

Bolivia Ley 1333 General del Medio Ambiente promulgada el 27 de abril de 1992 y publicada en la Gaceta Oficial de Bolivia el 15 de Junio 1992 y su Reglamentación

Brazil Lei nº 6.938, de 31 de Agosto de 1981: Política Nacional do Meio Ambiente, seus fins e mecanismos de formulação e aplicação, e dá outras providências

Chile Ley sobre Bases Generales del Medio Ambiente Ley Nº 19.300 publicada en el Diario Oficial del 9 de marzo de 1994

ColombiaLey General Ambiental de Colombia Ley 99 de 1993. Diario Oficial Nº 41.146, del 22 de diciembre de 1993

Código Nacional de Recursos Naturales Renovables y de Protección al MedioAmbiente. Decreto 28 11 del 18 de diciembre de 1974

Ecuador Texto Unificado de la Legislación Ambiental SecundariaDecreto Presidencial Nº 3516, 31 de marzo de 2003, Edición Especial Nº 2 del Registro Oficial

Guyana The Environment Protection Act, 1996

ParaguayLey Nº 816, que adopta medidas de defensa de los recursos naturales

Ley 1095 que amplía la Ley Nº 816, que adopta medidas de defensa de los recursos naturalesLey Nº 1561/00 que crea el sistema nacional del ambiente, el consejo nacional del ambiente y la secretaria

del ambientePeru Ley General del Ambiente, Septiembre 2005

Suriname Nature Conservation Act (1954)

Uruguay Ley General de Protección Ambiental Nº 17.283. Publicada D.O. 12 dic/000 - Nº 25663Venezuel

a Ley Orgánica del Ambiente (2006)

CONCLUSION▪ UNASUR recognizes that the environmental preservations is critical to the

very maintenance of life and the development of its member States;

▪ The region still lacks a multidisciplinary, inclusive and adaptive environmental program focused on the development of a true environmental governance among countries.

▪ However, UNASUR turns to be a legal space to develop relevant issues on the international environmental agenda, fundamental to the evolution of the integration process at the regional level.

▪ That is the reason why it is so important and urgent to build a legal structure inside UNASUR, one that in addition to seeking to protect the environment, is also able to ensure the equal participation of the member States in decisions, development of policies, laws and environmental regulations.

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THANK YOU!▪ Funding:

- To São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for the financial support to the research project nº 2015/16633-8.

▪ Support:

-To Prof. Dr. Celso Maran de Oliveira for the guidelines and advices;

-To the Environmental Sciences Department (DCam) from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCAR) for development space of this research.