In July, the co-founder of the Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA), Romina Picolotti, was sworn in as the new Environmental Secretary of Argentina. Romina, age 35, is an environmental lawyer and human rights activist who was recently awarded the 2006 Sophie Prize for her groundbreaking work linking problems of environmental destruction to the fight for basic human rights.
Recently, Romina has been active in representing the Argentine communities that would be affected by the construction of two controversial paper mills on the Uruguay side of the Uruguay River. Her appointment, and the concurrent elevation of the Environmental Secretariat to cabinet-level agency, highlight Argentine President Kirchner’s “serious concerns over the systematic exportation of contaminating industries from industrialized countries to the developing world.” (For more on this, see CEDHA’s website.)
CEDHA Executive Director Daniel Taillant, who is also Romina’s husband, recently joined Greengrants’ International Financial Institutions Advisory Board.