Documents and publications
Newsletter Nº 29
Julio 14, 2005

CONTENT:

1. NEW REQUEST MADE TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABLE
   DEVELOPMENT SECRETARIAT OF THE NATION REGARDING THE
   "REPORT OF THE STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN ARGENTINA"
   
   
2. ENVIRONMENTAL MINIMUM STANDARDS

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NEW REQUEST MADE TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT SECRETARIAT OF THE NATION REGARDING THE
"REPORT OF THE STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN ARGENTINA"
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Environment and Natural Resources Foundation (FARN) reiterated its request so that the Environmental and Sustainable Development Secretariat of the Nation provides information on the elaboration and presentation to the Congress of the Nation regarding the "Report on the State of the Environment", according to what it was predicted by the General Law of the Environment Nº 25,675.

It is opportune to recall that Art. 18 of the said regulation, which is in force since 11/18/2002, says that "the Executive Power, through the competent agencies, will elaborate an annual report on the environmental situation of the country that will present to the Congress of the Nation" and that report "will contain an analysis and evaluation on the state of the environmental sustainability regarding ecological, economic, social and cultural matters, of the whole National territory".

However, the report is pending since the moment the norm was sanctioned, not having been presented yet the report of 2003 neither the corresponding one of 2004. It turns out to be extremely worrying that at more than two years of the force of the said norm, there are not concrete signs that allow knowing the reasons that impeded the execution and the knowledge of the Report on the State of the Environment in Argentina, beyond some projects or documents as the "GEO Argentina Report 2004".

The environmental information constitutes one of the main pillars to carry out an adequate environmental management and to evaluate the result of the implementation policies and the planned ones for the medium and long term.

On the other hand, it is important to outline that this presentation is based on the dispositions that arise of the recently sanctioned Law Nº 25,831, which guarantees the free access of the citizens to the environmental public information in hands of the State, particularly the related one to the state of the environment or some of its natural or cultural components. The order was carried out on July 8th 2005 and now the Environmental and Sustainable Development Secretariat of the Nation counts on a time limit of 30 work days to answer it.

We hope that the present request contribute so that the State assume its obligations regarding the environmental preservation and to consolidate the participation of the citizens in the defense of their fundamental rights.

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ENVIRONMENTAL MINIMUM STANDARDS
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On June 22nd and 23rd it was carried out the workshop on "Problems for the implementation of the Environmental Minimum Standards Laws" and the workshop on "Legislative priorities to be developed in the National Congress regarding Environmental Minimum Standards matters" organized by FARN, with the cooperation of the Environmental Law Center from the IUCN, in the framework of its Environmental Law Program.

The workshops, carried out with the contribution of the Committee of Environmental Studies of the CARI and the sponsorship of the Environmental and Sustainable Development Secretariat of the Nation, included the participation of representatives from the private, academic, and public sector, all of them involved in the environmental matters.

The provincial and national authorities, and from the City of Buenos Aires, must challenge to dictate the regulatory norm of the laws of environmental minimum standards, to adapt the existing legislation, to sanction complementary regulation, and to coordinate their implementation.

In this sense, civil society cannot be away from this main process for the Argentinean environmental policy. It is because of it that FARN in cooperation with the Environmental Law Center from the IUCN has organized from the end of 2002 a series of workshops involving the main related sectors, for the elaboration of proposals regarding the regulation of the environmental minimum standards.

The conclusions will be part of a publication that will be presented before the end of the year and that will be available in FARN's website.