Representatives of 24 Latin American and Caribbean countries who were gathered in San Jose, Costa Rica adopted the first binding regional agreement to protect the rights of access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters (Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development), an unprecedented legal instrument for the region.

At the conclusion of the Ninth Meeting of the Negotiating Committee of the Regional Agreement on Principle 10, the government delegates, along with representatives of the public and experts from international bodies, agreed to the final text of the accord, which had been under negotiation since 2014 and which also enshrines the protection of human rights defenders in environmental matters. “A legally binding instrument is the most useful agreement to ensure human rights,” said Constance Nalegach, Chile’s lead negotiator at the UN’s Economic commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) meeting, “Even though it is not the whole solution, it is an important step for stopping and reducing socio-environmental conflicts in the region, including the attacks on environmental defenders.”

Further details on the agreement and more information on QUNO's prior work on this area can be found below.