 Hello and welcome to interview a production of the Government Information Service. I am your host for today, Jacques Kingston Compton. I'm here with Communications and Advocacy Officer of the St. Lucia National Trust, Coretta Crooks-Charles. Now she is here to talk about the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, also known as the Eskazu Agreement, that was a mouthful. Hello, Miss Crooks-Charles. Welcome to the show. Thank you, Mr. Compton. A pleasure to be here. Now, first off, let's start by what exactly is the Eskazu Agreement? Okay, the Eskazu Agreement is simply put, as you mentioned, it's a regional agreement for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that promotes the rights of access to information, environmental information, public participation in the decision-making process and access to justice in environmental matters. And it originated from the Principle 10 Declaration coming out of the Rio Plus 20 meeting that was held in 2012. And I just want to briefly state what that is. The Principle 10 Declaration states environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens at the relevant level. So essentially, it is giving citizens an opportunity to have a say in decision-making that affects them regarding the environment. Now, you mentioned access to public information. Can you tell us what sort of information the public would have access to? Okay, so for example, if there is a development happening in a particular place, they could try to find out what exactly it entails, would it affect any livelihood already happening there? Are there any homes in the area? Will they have to relocate? So basically, anything pertaining to the specific project, that is of concern to a people, a community of that area. And who were the architects of this agreement? And how long did the entire process take? I know it was open to ratification, I believe, from September of last year of 2018. So it was open for signature and ratification from September 27, 2018 at this United Nations Journal Assembly. And the National Trust is indeed happy and proud that the government of St. Lucia signed on at that point in time. It will be open for signatures and ratification up until September 2020. And they need approximately 11 countries to ratify for it to enter into force. And we're hoping that St. Lucia will be the first to do so, either overall or from the Caribbean. Because there are 16 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean that already signed on. And the Caribbean countries that signed on already include Antigone, Barbuda, Haiti, Guyana, and St. Lucia. And if you count Dominican Republic as Caribbean, they too signed on. So the Caribbean is indeed up there with Latin America. We tend to find that many Latin American countries take the lead where these things are concerned. But of the 16, that's quite a good representation of the Caribbean. You know, showing an interest and political will in such an important agreement. Now, as the disagreement is the first of its kind, can you speak on the significance of just that? Yes, it's the first of its kind. It's kind and it's the only binding agreement coming out of the Sustainable Development Rio Plus 20 meeting held in 2012. So that's very significant. Not only for Latin America and the Caribbean, but the world. It has provisions that speak to the protection of the rights of environmental defenders. In the Caribbean, thankfully, we don't have that many issues per se with environmental defenders or human rights defenders being attacked. But in Latin America, it's a serious issue where hundreds, even thousands of them are killed annually because of their decision to stand for the environment or stand for land rights and indigenous people. So this is really remarkable for our colleagues in Latin America. But for the Caribbean, we have issues as it pertains to getting information in a timely manner. Many times or too often, we see things happening and then the public, they are consulted thereafter when it's too late. And this really is raising the standards to ensure that you get a high level of input and participation because you would appreciate that the people in the community would have the information, the knowledge needed to probably enhance the project. So they are not to be thought of as an afterthought. And how will the agreement facilitate cooperation on environmental matters among the various countries? Okay, so each country has to implement the agreement on its own level. But the good thing about it is the regional agreement. So they would have to have meetings like you have, for example, the climate change agreement, where you meet every year to see how you're progressing, if you're meeting the targets, et cetera. So these are some of the things that will have to be in place to see how countries are complying. And if not, what can be done? Because the technical secretary for this is the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, UN ECLAC. And they'll be providing capacity, building opportunities and support to guide countries through the implementation because you would appreciate that some countries are further ahead than others in Jamaica. For example, they have an access to information unit. Mind you, Jamaica has not yet signed on. They have not yet signed on, but it doesn't mean that they won't, but they have certain things in place and they're already ahead of us. So it's really good that St. Lucia and other countries, especially those in Eastern Caribbean, sign on early and state what the issues are, where support is needed, where the gaps are so that they can get the requisite support from the Economic Commission, that's ECLAC, who's the technical secretariat. And another important thing too is that persons from the Arhos Convention, Arhos Convention is basically a similar agreement, but for European countries, they have been following this process since the beginning and meeting with governments and civil society to really say what worked for them. Yes, our context might differ, but you will find a lot of similarities. You know, what were the issues and what worked. So we have a lot to learn as well from our colleagues in Europe who have been following the process. We'll be right back after this. The regional agreement on access to information, public participation and justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, also known as the Eskizu Agreement, has been signed by St. Lucia and needs ratification. Join the conversation as we discuss what ratification means and our obligations should this agreement come into force. We want you, students, academia, the public sector, the private sector, the St. Lucia National Trust, civil society, all stakeholders. Join me, Kate Wilson of the Department of Sustainable Development as we discuss those issues. Welcome back to interview production of the Government Information Service. I am Jacques Kingston Compton. I'm here with Communications and Advocacy Officer at the St. Lucia National Trust, Coretta Crooks Charles, and we're talking about the Eskizu Agreement. Now, can you speak on the standards that are set by the agreement with regards to environmental matters and how that agreement can foster capacity building? And, okay, in terms of, I mentioned earlier that this provides an opportunity for standards to be raised. It doesn't mean that there aren't standards already. So, for example, if a developer is interested in having a specific project, say at Pigeon Island, for example, or at Maria Islands or any of our sites that are rich in natural heritage, we know that we're going to consult with the National Trust, consult with the Department of Sustainable Development. You know, it's not just between, say, the government and the developer, but you are going to bring into the conversation the various stakeholders to ensure that nothing is overlooked and that everybody benefits from the project, not just the developers or the government, but everybody who already relies, so to speak, on the specific area. So, these are some of the standards it will raise. We were talking earlier, and I mentioned to you that sometimes you have announcement for meetings, and the announcement is made today on a Friday, and the meeting is scheduled for Sunday. That does not give people ample time. So, these are some of the things the agreement speaks to, you know, making sure that vulnerable groups in St. Lucia or wherever in the region, if they're Indigenous people in Jamaica, you have the maroons in Guyana, you have quite, you know, many different tribes, so to speak, or Indigenous groups. So, you're going to ensure that the material is presented to them in a manner that they understand. You're not going to go to a Creole speaking community, so to speak, or address elderly folks who speak predominantly Creole and have a meeting in English without translation. So, this is what this agreement does, and it's amazing. And it would be something else if some of it were to be copied or mirrored to deal with other issues in our society, whether it be education, health, etc. It would be really good to replicate this method. So, in addition to meetings, are there other methods you use to sort of educate, let's say Indigenous persons within the community or underrepresented persons? So, you have to find out what works for them. If you are dealing with fishers, the best place may not be to invite them to a conference room, but maybe you're going to have the developer or the government rep go to the fishing dock where they are. Yes, farmers, again, not in a conference room, maybe, you go to the field. You meet where the people gather, if possible, to make it easier, you know, instead of providing or putting hindrances, so to speak, in their way. If you're talking to youth, you're probably not going to write something in a newspaper, the best way to get to them, maybe through SMS, text message, social media, etc. So, it's looking at the various groups, what works best, and getting the information to them so that they can participate meaningfully. And can you speak very briefly on how the agreement aligns with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and multilateral agreements like COP 21 from Paris in 2015? So, essentially, the agreement supports these multilateral agreements because it is people-centered. And for the sustainable development, for example, you're talking about improving lives and various aspects of our lives, whether it's through ending poverty, ending hunger, equality, etc., and at the center of the SDGs, the people. So, like principle 10, which is people-centered, getting their information, getting them involved in the decisions, they go hand in hand. So, for example, there's a meeting coming up in Chile in April, and that meeting has to do with, it's a third meeting for the forum of countries in Latin America on a sustainable development. And alongside that, what the UN ECLAC, that's the technical secretary is doing, they are having a meeting to see how countries are progressing as it relates to the Escazo agreement, and lessons learned, good practices, and you will have partners from Latin America and the Caribbean as well as those from the European Union to see what progress is being made and how they can actually fast-track the implementation and get countries to ratify ahead of the 2020 deadline. Because as soon as you ratify, then you can start with implementation and then we can actually see the fruits of this regional agreement there. That was all very interesting. I hope to have you again on the show so you can speak on the development of the Escazo agreement as far as the region is concerned. So, my name is Jacques Henson Compton. You've been watching Interview, a production of the Government Information Service. Please stay tuned to the station for more programming.