Countries Will Celebrate the Escazú Agreement’s Entry into Force on International Mother Earth Day

The States Parties to the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean – known as the Escazú Agreement  – will celebrate the treaty’s entry into force next Thursday, April 22, 2021, a date which also commemorates International Mother Earth Day.

Having reached the required number of ratifications on January 22 of this year, the Agreement will go into effect as of April 22 for all the countries that have ratified it. It thereby becomes the first environmental treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the only one of its kind worldwide that enshrines the protection of human rights defenders in environmental matters.

The Day of Celebrations will take place virtually due to the restrictions on movement prompted by the coronavirus pandemic and will include the participation of representatives of the 12 States Parties.

The event will be inaugurated on Thursday, April 22 at 12 p.m. local time in Chile (GMT -4) by Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), which is the United Nations regional commission in charge of the Agreement’s secretariat; and by Epsy Campbell, Vice President of Costa Rica. Subsequently, a High-level Dialogue will take place among such figures as Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana; senior authorities from other countries in the region; Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE); Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); and elected representatives of the public that has participated in the process. It will also feature the special participation of artist and composer Carlos Vives, founder of Iniciativa Tras la Perla.

The event, which will take place throughout the afternoon, will also include a session reviewing the history of the negotiations of the Escazú Agreement, along with panels on the role of young people and environmental defenders in the Agreement.

Journalists interested in this event are invited to follow its live transmission at https://live.cepal.org/escazu.

The Day of Celebrations on the Escazú Agreement’s entry into force will also be transmitted live online via ECLAC’s website www.cepal.org, and on its social media accounts on Twitter (@cepal_onu) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/cepal.onu).

More information, including the programme of the event, is available at this link.

What: Day of Celebrations on the entry into force of the Escazú Agreement.

Who:

• Representatives of the countries that have signed and ratified the treaty, United Nations authorities, members of the public participating in the process, representatives of civil society and environmental defenders.

Inauguration and High-level Dialogue (Thursday, April 22, 12 p.m. local time in Chile, GMT -4):

• Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary.
• Epsy Campbell, Vice President of Costa Rica.
• Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana.
• Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
• Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
• Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• Carlos Vives, artist and composer, founder of Iniciativa Tras la Perla.
• Elected representatives of the public.
• Foreign Ministers, Environment Ministers and other senior authorities from the States Parties to the Escazú Agreement.

When: Thursday, April 22, 2021.

Where: Live transmission at https://live.cepal.org/escazu.

Also via ECLAC’s website and on Twitter and Facebook.

For queries, contact ECLAC’s Public Information Unit in Santiago, Chile.

Email: prensa@cepal.org; Telephone: (56) 22210 2040.