video
(4 November 2013) In Lima, Peru, the 17 Latin American and Caribbean signatory countries to a declaration promoting access to information, participation and justice in environmental matters agreed on a shared vision of the values that should inspire a future regional agreement or instrument on the subject. The seven basic principles agreed were equality, inclusion, transparency, proactivity, collaboration, progressivity and non-regression.
The Third Meeting of the focal points designated by the governments of signatory countries of the Declaration on the application of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean took place on 30 and 31 October in the Peruvian capital.
The event was organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in its role as technical secretariat, with the support of the Government of Peru (through the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the Environment).
At the Second Meeting of focal points, which was held in April of this year in Guadalajara, Mexico, countries approved a Plan of Action to 2014 to advance towards the signing of a regional agreement or other instrument to enable the full implementation of the rights to access information, participation and justice in environmental matters for the region's sustainable development.
The Meeting also created two working groups: one on capacity building and cooperation, and another on access rights and the regional instrument.
According to the position of countries as stated in document containing the shared vision of the regional instrument, as discussed in Lima, the exercise of access rights contributes to improved environmental protection and, as a result, improved protection for human rights.
The document also states that the function of the public should be reinforced at all levels through freedom of access to environmental information, major involvement in environmental decision-making and access to justice in relation to environmental issues.
To date, the following 17 Latin American and Caribbean countries have signed the Declaration on the application of Principle 10: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay.
Two of these countries - Guatemala and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - signed the Declaration at the meeting in Lima. The Presiding Officers were chaired by Chile and the Dominican Republic and Mexico. The working group on capacity building was made up representatives from Colombia and Jamaica, while the working group on access rights and the regional instrument was composed of representatives from Brazil and Costa Rica.
Participating countries consider that the adoption of a regional instrument will: facilitate actions and strategies to tackle common challenges; promote dialogue, cooperation, technical assistance and capacity building; strengthen the national application of access rights; and encourage the formulation of a regional agenda on access rights based on sustainability and equality.
Prior to the meeting, on 28 and 29 October, a Training Workshop on the implementation of Principle 10 in Latin America and the Caribbean was jointly organized by ECLAC, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA) and The Access Initiative-World Resources Institute (WRI-TAI).
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Any queries should be sent to the ECLAC Public Information and Web Services Section.
E-mail: prensa@cepal.org; Telephone: (56 2) 2210 2040.
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