The third meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 3) to the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean – known as the Escazú Agreement – began today at ECLAC’s headquarters in Santiago, Chile, on the precise day that International Mother Earth Day is celebrated worldwide.
This event – which will run through April 24 – has brought together authorities and official representatives of countries that are already part of the region’s first environmental treaty as well as observer countries, experts from regional and international organizations, and members of civil society, with the aim of making further progress on building more sustainable development, forged on the basis of dialogue, the result of regional cooperation and a shared vision in which prosperity for all, democracy, human rights guarantees and care for Mother Earth would go hand in hand.
The meeting was officially inaugurated at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) by the President of the Republic of Chile, Gabriel Boric; the Director of Legal Affairs at Uruguay’s Environment Ministry and Chair of the Presiding Officers of the Agreement, Marcelo Cousillas; elected representative of the public Nicole Leotaud, from Trinidad and Tobago; and Javier Medina Vásquez, Deputy Executive Secretary of ECLAC, which is the United Nations regional organization serving as Secretariat of the Agreement.
In his welcome remarks, the President of Chile stressed that the greatest challenge of our time is to confront the crisis that we ourselves have caused: the climate crisis. “At this meeting, we hope we can move forward with concrete actions on the Escazú Agreement and on a regional plan to protect the people, groups and organizations that promote and fight for environmental protection on our earth,” he stated.
“Today those who suffer most acutely the impacts of the triple planetary crisis – climate change, environmental pollution and biodiversity loss – are also those furthest from decision-making. That is why we have the conviction that Escazú (the Agreement) is an opportunity to make progress on access to information, to have greater public participation and greater coordination between the State and civil society,” Gabriel Boric emphasized.
In his opening speech – delivered on behalf of ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs – the institution’s Deputy Executive Secretary, Javier Medina Vásquez, thanked the authorities and delegates present for their participation and explained that over the course of the three-day meeting, reports from the Secretariat, Presiding Officers and the Committee to Support Implementation and Compliance will be presented, along with national implementation road maps. In addition, the Action Plan on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters will be proposed for consideration and approval – a plan prepared in a participatory process under the leadership of the ad hoc Working Group coordinated by Chile, Ecuador and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Participants will also address distinct topics such as producing environmental information, public participation in environmental impact assessment, access to justice, and mainstreaming the gender perspective. And the fourth meeting of the Committee to Support Implementation and Compliance will be held, along with around 30 virtual side events.
“The first challenge is to get all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to be Parties. So far, the Escazú Agreement has been signed by 24 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and has 15 States Parties. Today we proudly celebrate that the Commonwealth of Dominica has joined the Agreement, and although they are not able to be here with us, we celebrate that their ratification has been deposited,” he announced.
Javier Medina added that the second major challenge is to make progress on the implementation of what is contained in the Agreement. To achieve more social justice, and protect the environment at the same time, it is necessary for citizens, and especially people and groups in situations of vulnerability, to have procedures that would facilitate the exercise of their rights to information, participation and justice in environmental matters, he explained.
“The third challenge points to the fact that we live in the most dangerous region of the world for people who defend the environment. Taking care of those who care for our environment means taking care of ourselves and ensuring our capacity to thrive. We trust that by the end of these three days, we will celebrate the decision to approve the action plan on the protection of environmental defenders,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Marcelo Cousillas, in his capacity as chair of the meeting, indicated that, in reality, the Escazú Agreement has four fundamental pillars: three pertain to the rights of access (to information, participation and justice in environmental matters), and the fourth is the protection of environmental defenders. “That is why at this COP 3 we hope to approve an action plan on human rights defenders in environmental matters. We have an ambitious, but realistic, proposed plan to be implemented in the region within a six-year time frame, taking us to 2030,” he explained.
“Unfortunately, in the last decade nearly 2,000 people who defend the environment were murdered in the world… And in the region we have the terrible dishonor of knowing that 3 out of every 4 of those murders occur in one of our countries. I hope we can conclude this meeting with other expectations for environmental defenders, for our societies and, ultimately, for us all,” the Chair of the Agreement’s Presiding Officers affirmed.
Meanwhile, elected representative of the public Nicole Leotaud indicated that we need to ensure implementation of the Escazú Agreement and its principles in key processes related to climate change and the ecological crisis, strengthen environmental democracy and deliver justice and equity for people in Latin America and the Caribbean, recognizing and embracing our differences in terms of race, gender, sexuality, ableness, religion, class and more.
“We need to work collectively to advocate for the universal recognition of the right to a healthy, safe and sustainable environment across the region and globally as a universal human right, which is reflected in national constitutions and implemented by national laws and global treaties and agreements,” she added.
Following the inauguration, a special session on International Mother Earth Day was held, with remarks by Maureen Hyman-Payne, Parliamentary Secretary for Legal Affairs of Antigua and Barbuda; Joel Hernández, Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights of Mexico; Mercedes Monzón, Deputy in the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala; Judith Nunta, a Shipibo-Konibo indigenous leader in charge of the Indigenous Women Program of ORAU, Peru; Paulo Pacheco, Brazil’s Ambassador in Chile; and Anita Montoute, Permanent Secretary of the Department of Sustainable Development of Saint Lucia.
The speakers stressed the importance of this global commemoration – which is celebrated on April 22 of each year – and agreed that this date represents a call to action to shift to a more sustainable economy that would not only sustain people, but also the planet and future generations. Full implementation of the Escazú Agreement can contribute to protecting Mother Earth, especially if the voice of all those interested in environmental matters is taken into account to guide public policies and actions related to administering natural resources, they indicated.
The COP 3 of the Escazú Agreement will continue on Tuesday, April 23 with the presentation of reports by the Presiding Officers, the Secretariat and representatives of the public as well as the national implementation plans of Ecuador, Argentina, Saint Lucia, Belize, Mexico, Uruguay and Chile. In addition, the Action Plan on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters will be unveiled, and a special session on access to environmental information will take place.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, April 24, special sessions will be held on access to justice in environmental matters and on public participation in environmental impact assessment; reports by the Committee to Support Implementation and Compliance of the Escazú Agreement will be presented; and the decisions approved at the COP 3 will be discussed.
