On 4 March 2018 representatives of Latin American and Caribbean countries concluded the negotiations for a new legally binding agreement on Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration – Regional agreement on access to information, participation and justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (the Escazú Agreement) in Escazú, Costa Rica. This agreement will be open for signature by Latin American and Caribbean countries in September 2018 and it requires ratifications or other forms of approval by 11 countries of the region in order to enter into force.
There are only two regional agreements for the implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration: the Aarhus Convention (1998) and the Escazu Agreement (2018).
In order to support the ratification of this Agreement, ECI Secretariat has produced an article that gives an opportunity for people from different sectors to learn about the relevance of this legal instrument for environmental justice.
You can download this article in this link.
This article provides an analysis of the linkages between Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration with the Earth Charter and the two regional treaties on access rights that evolved out of that: the Aarhus Convention (Europe) and the Escazú Agreement (Latin America and the Caribbean). The article claims that regional treaties on access rights not only contribute to the implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, but also are complementary to the broader approach of governance expressed in the Earth Charter.
