On 26 September, PGA convened the hybrid Parliamentary Caucus: Protecting Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters, jointly with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in its capacity as Secretariat of the Escazú Agreement. Held within the sidelines of the Second Annual Forum on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean in Panama City, Panama from 26 to 28 September, parliamentarians from the region exchanged experiences, identified pathways forward, and developed a set of Key Recommendations on the Role of Parliamentarians for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters, in line with the implementation of the Escazú Agreement.

The Key Recommendations, drafted during the Parliamentary Caucus with insights from the Elected Representatives of the Public for the Escazú Agreement, Ms. Nicole Leotaud (Executive Director of Caribbean Natural Resources Institute, or CANARI) and Mr. Bishnu Tulsie (Chair of the Coalition ofCivil Society Organizations of Saint Lucia), as well as Dr. Marcelo Cousillas (Director of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Environment of Uruguay; Chair of the Conference of the Parties to the Escazú Agreement, Co-chair of the UNEP Montevideo Program of Environmental Law) and Mr. David Barrio Lamarche (Environmental Affairs Officer,Escazú Agreement Secretariat, ECLAC), were presented by Sen. Janelle Chanona (Belize) during the plenary of the ECLAC Forum on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters.

Opening the Parliamentary Caucus, Mr. Carlos de Miguel, Head of Policies for Sustainable Development at ECLAC, Sen. Emilio Álvarez Icaza (Mexico), PGA Board Member, and Ms. Mónica Adame, PGA Secretary-General, emphasized the importance of the human rights-based approach in the recognition, protection, and promotion of the rights of access to information, participation, and justice for all human rights defenders in environmental matters through the effective implementation of the Escazú Agreement. Participants further benefitted from a presentation by Ms. Leotaud on the challenges and opportunities for parliamentarians in the protection of human rights defenders in environmental matters. Dip. Graciela Camaño (Argentina), Member of Committee on Natural Resources and Conservation of the Human Environment, and Sen. Sophia Frazer-Binns (Jamaica), Shadow Minister of Land, Environment and Climate Change, served as moderators during the hybrid interactive small-group discussions, enabling substantive engagement from both in-person and virtual participants.  

Throughout the Forum, the PGA delegation of parliamentarians on the ground – Dip. Camaño (Argentina), Sen. Chanona (Belize), Sen. Álvarez Icaza (Mexico), Sen. Janice Allen (Jamaica), Dip. Ramón Barrios (Honduras), and Hon. Patrick C. Kensenhuis (Suriname) – engaged with civil society and in breakout group discussions to protect human rights through the effective implementation of the Escazú Agreement. Sen. Chanona represented PGA on the Panel, “Lessons and challenges in the implementation of initiatives and mechanisms for the promotion, prevention and protection of the rights of individuals, groups and organizations that promote and defend human rights in environmental matters” where she spoke to “Initiatives of the legislative and judicial powers and institutions for the protection of human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

PGA invites parliamentarians to learn more about the Escazú Agreement and actions you can take to promote it by reviewing our Factsheet for Parliamentarians: The Escazú Agreement, an Environmental and Human Rights Treaty and the Key Recommendations on the Role of Parliamentarians for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters.