The first meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 1) 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 take place on April 20-22 at ECLAC’s central headquarters in Santiago, Chile.

At this event, which for the first time will bring authorities and official representatives of the countries that are already part of the region’s first environmental treaty together with others in the process of joining, attendees will review progress on the Agreement’s implementation and will move forward on making it operational.

The participating countries will also address the COP’s rules of procedure, including the modalities for significant participation by the public (article 15.4a of the Agreement); the financial provisions that are necessary for the functioning and implementation of the treaty (article 15.4b); and the rules relating to the structure and functions of the Committee to Support Implementation and Compliance (article 18.1). They will also discuss strategies for the effective implementation of the Agreement and for greater cooperation in the region.

The meeting will be inaugurated on Wednesday, April 20 at 9 a.m. local time in Chile (GMT -4) by authorities from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the organization that serves as Secretariat of the Agreement; officials from the Government of Chile; and representatives of the treaty’s Presiding Officers and of the public.

The first day (April 20) will feature a Special Session entitled Towards the effective implementation of the Escazú Agreement and greater cooperation. Meanwhile, on April 22, a high-level segment will be held on the celebration of the first anniversary since the entry into force and International Mother Earth Day, which are both commemorated on that same date.

In addition, from April 19 to April 22, numerous official side events will take place virtually in the framework of the conference.

To date, the Escazú Agreement has been signed by 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and it has been ratified by 12 of them. This latter group is composed of Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Uruguay.

The Agreement was adopted in Escazú, Costa Rica on March 4, 2018 and entered into force on April 22, 2021. The 24 countries that have signed it can proceed to deposit their instruments of ratification at any time at the United Nations central headquarters in New York. The countries that did not sign it within the first stipulated time frame (between September 27, 2018 and September 26, 2020) can become Parties through accession (a one-step procedure that necessitates no signature). The instruments of accession have the same legal requirements and effects as ratification.

The full programme of COP 1 of the Escazú Agreement is available on the event’s special website: https://acuerdodeescazu.cepal.org/cop1/en

Journalists and other members of the press who want to cover the event virtually should register via this form: https://eventos.cepal.org/event/69/registrations/160/. They will receive an automated reply by email once their registration has been accepted.

The registration process for participants (authorities, official delegations, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, representatives of civil society, etc.) is separate from the press registration process and is also available on the event’s website.

Those interested will be able to follow the event’s official activities live online via the meeting’s website, ECLAC’s official website www.cepal.org, the webpage https://live.cepal.org/escazu and the Commission’s social media accounts on Twitter (https://twitter.com/cepal_onu) y Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/cepal.onu).

What: First meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Escazú Agreement (COP 1).

When: Wednesday, April 20 through Friday, April 22, 2022.

Where: ECLAC’s headquarters in Santiago, Chile.

And via virtual connection on various platforms:

• Meeting website: https://acuerdodeescazu.cepal.org/cop1/en
• ECLAC’s website: www.cepal.org
• Live transmission: https://live.cepal.org/escazu
• Official account on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cepal_onu
• Official account on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cepal.onu  

For queries related to press coverage of this event, contact ECLAC’s Public Information Unit in Santiago, Chile. Email: prensa@cepal.org; Telephone: (56) 22210 2040.