Environmental Protection, a Collective Right
Energy attorney José Vicente Zapata was mentioned in a Portafolio article about the significance of community involvement in environmental matters and how this can lead to tensions, including the potential for halting projects. Mr. Zapata emphasized the importance of establishing communication protocols and strategies for managing requests and legal actions to mitigate the legal risks arising from community participation in environmental issues. This highlights the challenging balance between economic development and environmental protection that companies in Colombia must navigate.
"Having relationship protocols, draft responses to petitions, draft replies to constitutional actions and/or records of socialization meetings, among others, are some of the measures that can help mitigate legal risks associated with involvement in environmental matters," he said.