The “Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean”, better known as the Escazú Agreement, was adopted in Escazú, Costa Rica, on March 4 of 2018. It is an international legal instrument that aims not only to protect the environment, but also human rights.

The objective of this international treaty is to guarantee the rights of access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-making processes and access to justice in environmental matters, as well as to contribute to the protection of the right to live in an environment with healthy and sustainable development.

Currently, the agreement has been ratified by 15 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and another 10 signatory countries are pending ratification.

The establishment of ecocide as an international crime, as well as its adoption by national legislation, will contribute to protecting both the environment and human rights, in particular the right to live in an environment free of pollution, as well as the rights of indigenous peoples, who inhabit their territories in harmony with nature. These are, precisely, objectives shared by the Escazú Agreement, so both instruments, although different, are, at the same time, complementary.

The participation of Stop Ecocide International in this regional summit of Latin America and the Caribbean, through this official parallel event, aims to share different legal strategies for the protection of nature, the territory and its defenders, including our proposal to convert ecocide into an international crime.

22nd April

24th April