6 November 2014: Representatives from 19 Latin America and Caribbean countries have approved the launching of international negotiations to create a regional agreement on Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, which recognizes the importance of access to information, participation and justice in environmental matters. They agreed to begin talks on the regional instrument by December 2016 at the latest.

The Fourth Meeting on the Focal Points Appointed by the Governments of the 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 from 4-6 November 2014, at UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) headquarters in Santiago, Chile.

Participants created a negotiation committee to coordinate negotiations, comprised of representatives from signatory countries, the public and an Executive Board, and chaired by Chile and Costa Rica.

Participants agreed to base the nature and content of the regional instrument on the ‘San José Content,’ a document drafted at working group meetings in Costa Rica, in September 2014. According to the document, the instrument’s objective is “the full implementation of access rights in environmental matters, under a capacity-building and coordination approach.” It recommends that the instrument incorporate, inter alia: the creation of synergies at all levels; support for the post-2015 development agenda; a rights-based approach, including on the rights of access to information, participate and justice in environmental matters and to a healthy environment; recognition of the region’s diversity; and links between human rights and the environment.

ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, said the process enables “the construction of a path for the comprehensive implementation of the rights of access contained in Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration.” She stressed that the future instrument must be ambitious, while establishing “clear and concrete legal responsibilities that effectively guarantee the three pillars of the rights of access in environmental matters: information, participation and justice.”

The process is open to all Latin American and Caribbean countries. Bolivia and El Salvador joined Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay as signatories. Antigua and Barbuda, Nicaragua and Saint Lucia participated in the meeting as observers. [ECLAC Press Release] [San José Content for the Regional Instrument] [Meeting Website] [IISD RS Story on Costa Rica Meetings]