Latin America is the deadliest region in the world for environmental and human rights defenders, where they face growing risks of arrest, legal action, surveillance, physical attacks, and even death for protecting their rights and environment.
Since 2012, countries across Latin America and the Caribbean have been working toward the Escazú Agreement, the first legally binding regional treaty that upholds environmental democracy — the right to information, participation, and justice. CIEL has been supporting the development, adoption, and implementation of this agreement for years. It is the first and only such agreement that contains specific provisions to protect environmental defenders.
This year, Parties to the Escazú Agreement convened in Santiago, Chile to discuss implementation of the agreement. There, they adopted a Regional Action Plan on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters — a historic first and huge win for frontline defenders.
The Action Plan is the product of a two-year public consultation process in which CIEL participated with regional and international partners. Together, we emphasized the urgent need to protect defenders in the region, arguing that those who defend human rights and the planet are grounded in a close relationship with the land and deep knowledge of the territories and the livelihoods linked to them.
The Action Plan is a critical step to making the principles of the Escazú Agreement a reality, with the goal of preventing deaths and attacks against defenders.
CIEL was instrumental in leveraging progress around the Escazú Agreement during hearings at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as it considered an advisory opinion on the climate emergency and human rights. CIEL and partners launched a Declaration (#EscazuEnLaCorteIDH) emphasizing the historic opportunity before the Inter-American Court, garnering support from hundreds of organizations and individuals who urged the Court to adopt the standards of the Escazú Agreement to guarantee access rights and protect the work of human rights defenders in the context of the climate emergency.
Just weeks later, at the second round of Inter-American Court hearings, we personally delivered the Declaration to the judges, ensuring they heard directly from the people who would be most affected by their opinion.
Weeks later, we celebrated a unanimous decision by Colombia’s Constitutional Court declaring the constitutionality of the Escazú Agreement, affirming its entry into force in the most dangerous country for environmental human rights defenders.