As part of its participation in the United Nations General Assembly, the Dominican Republic on 27 September 2018 signed the Escazú Agreement. Other regional nations that have signed are Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia and Uruguay.
This treaty enacts binding provisions for States to equip their citizens with information, judicial corrections and spaces for public participation in environmental matters concerning them. The Escazú Agreement’s official name is the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters.
The Latin America and Caribbean region is home to numerous multifaceted conflicts involving communities opposing business and government interest that threaten their environment, livelihoods and ancestral lands. Global Witness reports that Latin America and the Caribbean consistently has the highest number of murders of environmental defenders in the world.
The Escazú Agreement’s objective is to address these problems following Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration: rights of access to environmental information, public participation in the environmental decision-making process and access to justice in environmental matters.
The Regional Agreement was adopted on 4 March 2018 in Escazú by 24 nations and almost two thirds of them have already signed the treaty.
Read more:
UN Environment
3 October 2018
