Guyana will tomorrow sign on to the First Regional Agreement on Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean which will open for signature and ratification during the UN General Assembly. Representing Guyana will be Minister of Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge.
The Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (the Escazú Agreement) will open for the signature of all the countries in the region. This notable event at the United Nations headquarters in New York will fall under the framework of the general debate of the 73rd session of the global organization’s General Assembly.
Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge
Joining Guyana in this endeavour will be Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Uruguay. Reports suggest that other countries of the region are presently processing their confirmation.
The Escazú Agreement – so named because it was adopted last March 4 in the municipality of Escazú in Costa Rica – is the region’s first environmental agreement and is the only one of its kind in the world, since it includes specific provisions regarding defenders of human rights in environmental matters. It is the first legal instrument to have emerged thus far from the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Río+20). The official opening for signature ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. in the Treaty Event Area (“Kuwaiti Boat Area”) in the building of the UN General Assembly.
