Saint Lucia Observes two Year Anniversary of Historic Escazú Agreement Endorsement!
Media release of the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development of the Government of Saint Lucia
Wednesday, March 4, 2020 — March 4, 2020 marked the second anniversary of the endorsement in San Jose, Costa Rica, of the historic Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement).
The Escazu Agreement which was adopted on March 4, 2018, in Escazu, San Jose Costa Rica, offers our Region a new platform for advancing towards full access to information, participation that embraces full consultation and environmental justice.
Negotiated by and for the Region with significant active participation from the public and civil society, this Agreement seeks to touch the most vulnerable, marginalized and excluded sectors through measures that are affirmative and intends to remove barriers that impede the full exercise of access rights. Essentially, it puts into effect, the final goal of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Agenda to“leave no one behind”.
Saint Lucia along with other Caribbean and Latin American countries, including Antigua and Barbuda’s, Guyana, Brazil, Costa Rica, Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Uruguay signed the Escazu Agreement on September 27, 2018, at the United Nations General Assembly Building in New York.
With the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) as its Technical Secretariat and with the determined support of all signatories, the Escazu Agreement which is open for signature until September 26, 2020, is poised to be the new environmental instrument synonymous with non-discrimination, transparency and greater democracy for all.