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French ambassador presents draft pact on environment to President

Every state, international institution or person, natural or legal, public or private, has the duty to take care of the environment. Everyone is, therefore, expected to contribute to the conservation, protection and restoration of the integrity of the earth’s ecosystem.

This is because every person has the right to live in an ecologically sound environment adequate for their health, well-being, dignity, culture and fulfilment, a report of the draft Global Pact for the environment has stated.

The report said inter-generational equity shall guide decisions that may have an impact on the environment.

Further, it said the necessary measures shall be taken to prevent environmental harm, while parties have the duty to ensure that activities under their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environments of other parties or in areas beyond the limits of their national jurisdiction.

“They shall take the necessary measures to ensure that an environmental impact assessment is conducted prior to any decision made to authorise or engage in a project, activity, plan or a programme that is likely to have a significant adverse impact on the environment,” the report noted.

It pointed out that, “In particular, states shall keep under surveillance, the effect of an above-mentioned project, activity, plan or programme which they authorise or engage in, in view of their obligation of due diligence.

French ambassador

The Ambassador of France to Ghana, Mr Francois Pujolas, at the weekend presented a copy of the draft Global Pact for the Environment to the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,at the Flagstaff House in Accra.

He explained to the Daily Graphic in an exclusive interview that the parties to the pact, with a draft report of 26 Articles, acknowledged the growing threats to the environment and the need to act in an ambitious and concerted manner at the global level to better ensure its protection.

Ambassador Pujolas said the draft Pact shall be open for signature at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and shall be open for accession from the day following the date on which it shall cease to be open for signature.

Instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall be deposited with the Depositary.The Pact shall enter into force three months after the date of deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the instrument of ratification, approval, acceptance or accession.

“One year after the entry into force of the present pact, the depositary shall convene a meeting of the parties which will establish the modalities and procedures by which the committee shall exercise its functions.”

Two years after the Committee takes office, and at a frequency to be determined by the meeting of the Parties, not exceeding four years, he stressed that each Party shall report to the Committee on its progress in implementing the provisions of the pact.

The ambassador said the secretariat of the present pact shall be provided by the Secretary-General of the UN or the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme.

On the basis of this preliminary draft, France will start working with its partners, under the auspices of the UN, as early as next September, during the United Nations (UN) General assembly. A high-level event which will have the French President participating has already been scheduled for New York in September.

A high-level event which will have the French President participating has already been scheduled for New York in September. Mr Pujolas said they also reaffirmed the Declaration of the UN Conference
on the Human Environment adopted in Stockholm on June 16, 1972, the World Charter for Nature adopted on October 28, 1982 and the Declaration of the UN Conference on Environment and Development adopted in Rio on June 14, 1992.

The Parties had also taken into consideration, the vital role of women in sustainable development matters and the need to promote gender equality  and the empowerment of women, as well as the need to respect,promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights,the right to health and the rights and knowledge of indigenous peoples.

They have, thus, agreed to integrate the requirements of environmental protection into the planning and implementation of their policies and national and international activities, especially in order to promote the fight against climate change, the protection of the oceans and the maintenance of biodiversity.

Environmental degradation
The ambassador referred to Article 6 of the report which says that, “Where there is a risk of serious or irreversible damage, lack of scientific certainty shall not be used as reason for postponing the adoption of effective and proportionate measures to prevent environmental degradation.

He recalled that the parties were conscious of the need to respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights and knowledge of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations under their jurisdiction.

Ambassador Pujolas noted that the parties had also taken into account the vital role of women in sustainable development matters and the need to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women.
He added that the parties shall ensure the right of effective and affordable access to administrative and judicial procedures, including redress and remedies to challenge acts or omission of public authorities or private persons who contravene the environmental law, taking into consideration the provisions of the present pact.

Background
It is recalled that the French government has just released its “National Climate Plan” aimed at making the Paris Agreement a reality. The Paris Agreement is the first universal international agreement seeking to limit global warming well below 2 °C, which was adopted during COP21 in December 2015 in Paris. It has been ratified by 147 parties out of the 197 parties to the convention. Ghana ratified it in August 2016.

This draft legally binding pact, is defining the fundamental principles of international environmental law on the basis of existing agreements and declarations The draft project was presented in Paris on June 24, 2017 by the French President Emmanuel Macron in the presence of high-level international judges, experts and politicians, who expressed appreciation to France for its climate leadership and welcomed the Paris Agreement.


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