On 16 October, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights participated in the pre-sessional working group meeting of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) reviewing the State of Colombia’s progress in the implementation of its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Our intervention was based on the joint written submission made with the InterAmerican Association of Environmental Defence on the just transition towards renewable energy and the public financing of the shift towards sustainability through progressive tax policies.

In this context, GI-ESCR highlighted that the Colombian government has launched an ambitious process to decarbonise its economy and phase out fossil fuels while advancing a cooperation platform to coordinate tax policy at the regional level. Both measures are critical to advance the rights contained in the Covenant and mobilise enough resources to ensure a just transition towards a more sustainable and equal society. GI-ESCR underscored the relevance of including these questions in the List of Issues Prior Reporting (LOIPR) for the country review as a means to ensure Covenant’s human rights norms and standards help guide the implementation of these important national initiatives with regional and global implications.

Considering that States have a duty to prevent foreseeable human rights harms caused by the climate emergency, and a failure to do so or to mobilise to the maximum of available resources to prevent climate-related human rights harms could constitute a breach of the Covenant, we encouraged the CESCR to ensure Colombia adopts effective measures accelerate the shift to renewable energy, such as wind or solar. Measures such as taxes on carbon, on personal and corporate wealth, and extractive industries were also proposed to price adverse environmental impacts of fossil fuels and other extractive industries and mobilise resources to finance mitigation and adaptation efforts, such as investments in green energy systems and other essential public services that aim to benefit the most marginalised, and that are critical for the realisation of economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights.

This opportunity thus allowed GI-ESCR and partner organisations to advocate for the inclusion of key questions on the LOIPR on these issues that are essential for the progressive implementation of Covenant rights, as well as to set important precedents for other countries to pay attention to in the implementation of their duties under the ICESCR.

You may read the full written submission with the context, analysis and proposed question here.