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Civil society in the Americas has issued an urgent call to accelerate the implementation of the Plan of Action on Human Rights Defenders of the Escazú Agreement, which was adopted five months ago.
Five months after the commitment established by the States Parties to the Escazú Agreement with the agenda of environmental defenders and with the need to stop the murders of people and groups that defend the environment, water and land in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is recognised as the region with the highest number of deaths worldwide; we, the individuals and organisations that make up the Public Working Group on Environmental Defenders, make an urgent call to decision makers to accelerate the establishment and implementation of the Action Plan on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters, approved at the Third Conference of the Parties (COP3) of the Escazú Agreement held in Chile in April 2024.
We remind the Parties that the development of the National Implementation Plans must be carried out in a participatory manner and safeguarding the standards and principles established in the Agreement in order to faithfully comply with the provisions set forth in Article 9 of the Agreement regarding protection and the guarantee of a safe and enabling environment. In this context, it is essential that the Open-ended Working Group, composed of Chile, Ecuador and St. Kitts and Nevis, continues its work and can promote effective actions together with the countries that are already Parties to the Agreement.
With a view to COP16, we urge countries to establish clear and evident connections between the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) that must be updated to comply with the commitments and achieve the targets established in the Global Biodiversity Framework and the implementation of the Escazú Agreement, and in particular with the agenda of environmental defenders. This, recognising the interdependence between the preservation of biodiversity and the safeguarding of the rights of Indigenous peoples, who for millennia have proven to be the most capable of safeguarding life.
The organisations of the Public recognise the important work of the countries that led the process of constructing the Plan of Action, together with the strong support of the Bureau and the Secretariat, which led to the approval by consensus of the Parties. To ensure full and effective implementation of the Plan of Action, it is important that the Open-ended Working Group continue its work, ideally led by the members that initiated the process, and that other countries be invited to join as soon as possible, in order to promote joint leadership on the issue.
It is now time to define the guidelines with which the States Parties will formulate their National Implementation Plans, in order to strengthen the commitment that will allow them to give strong responses with a sense of urgency, in the face of the complex and alarming situation faced by the people and groups that conserve, protect and care for the natural and cultural heritage of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Finally, we call on the countries of the region to recognise the crucial role played by individuals and groups of human rights defenders in environmental issues, considering their significant contribution to the preservation of the natural commons, and invite them to seek sustained synergies between the different agreements, and treaties of the global environmental agenda, taking into account the Climate Change Conference to be held in Belém Do Para at the end of 2025 in Brazil, which represents an important opportunity to honor the fulfillment of commitments to protect nature and those who defend it.
Life on Earth as we know it is in danger, preserving its integrity depends largely on raising the level of political commitment and ethical will to defend the environment and the rights of present and future generations.
Signatories: Working Group on Human Rights Defenders and Environmental Matters of the Escazú Agreement:
On 21st May 2024, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission) examined the combined periodic reports of the Republic of Mozambique during its public ordinary session held from 14 May to 3rd June in hybrid mode. The report presents the progress made by Mozambique to effectively implement the African Charter between 2015 and 2021.
In a series of groundbreaking rulings in early 2024, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of Colombia set new precedents that significantly enhance protections for human rights defenders across Latin America.
In the face of multiple human rights crisis in the region, as well as significant political changes, defenders spoke at the Human Rights Council’s 55th session about the realities they have faced, calling for greater action and new mechanisms, and noting that political expediency shouldn't trump the objective assessment of the need for Council action on country situations.
