Need for A Global Escazu Agreement.

Byline: Hassan Ahmed

The protection and preservation of climate is an urgent matter that needs to be addressed by the world community. There have been several efforts to curtail harmful practices throughout the globe. Yet, these are not enough, as deeper realities such as threats to environmental activists, lack of public participation in environmental decision-making, and lack of access to environmental information continue to hinder progress in this area. Luckily, a binding agreement that addresses these issues and attempts to counter them exists regionally in Latin America and the Caribbean region. In March 2022, the newly-elected Chilean government, led by President Gabriel Boric, signed the Escazu Agreement. It is an environmental agreement in whose promotion Chile played a leading role. But as it was opened for signatures in 2018, the then Chilean government backtracked and decided against signing the treaty. It argued that the agreement contains ambiguities that will make it hard to implement, will threaten scrutiny in international courts and generate local and regional conflicts. The experts largely rejected the argument, but there might be some truth to it.

Environment and International law are sensitive and complex issues. Chilean President, Gabriel Boric, signed the Escazu Agreement on 18 March 2022 Presently, enough countries have ratified the Escazu agreement to make it legally binding. The signing of the agreement by the new Chilean government proves that even with real challenges, international progress on environmental matters is possible. The Escazu agreement is an important milestone for the Americas. However, it is time for the world to follow suit.

What is the Escazu Agreement? Officially called "the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean," is commonly known as the Escazu Agreement. It is a treaty meant to ensure the right to access to environment-related information, public participation in environmental decision-making, access to environmental justice, and to protect the right of every person of present and future generations to live in a healthy and sustainable environment. The parties adopted the agreement in Escazu, Costa Rica, in 2018. Originating from the 2012 United Nations United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, it took more than five years of talks and negotiations to prepare the...