WCC 2020 Res 051 - Activity Report

Preparation of an implementation agreement for the design of a monitoring tool for the rights to access to information, participation and environmental justice in Mesoamerica, as part of the implementation of the EU-funded Tejiendo Redes project. The IA will be implemented by Reforestamos Mexico.

Eight side events were organised at COP16 on Biodiversity, positioning critical issues for the promotion and protection of the rights of environmental defenders. These events were a platform for discussion on the importance of the Escazú Agreement as a driver for the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework; the integration of the human rights and environmental agendas, strengthening the promotion of environmental human rights; the visibility and empowerment of women environmental and territorial defenders, highlighting their leadership in biodiversity conservation.

Virtual consultation on the Regional Plan of Action for Human Rights Defenders on environmental issues for Latin America and the Caribbean.

At the request of the Secretariat of the Escazu Agreement of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters of Chile, Ecuador and Saint Kitts and Nevis, IUCN conducted a consultation process among its members and commissions to provide input into the drafting of the "Regional Action Plan on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean".

Six virtual consultation sessions were held between 23 November and 18 December 2023, with the participation of 89 people from 16 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, representatives of Member organisations of the Mesoamerican, South American and Caribbean Regional Committees, as well as IUCN Commissions. The contributions were systematised in a document that was submitted to ECLAC on 12 January 2024.

In preparation, research for the identification of good practices and emblematic cases in the field of the Escazú Agreement, based on the analysis of relevant judgments and resolutions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, high jurisdictional instances, including the Constitutional Courts or others with competence in the matter in Latin America, in the period 2013-2023. The research is conducted in coordination with the World Commission on Environmental Law.