Strategy for Civil Society Engagement in the Escazú Agreement
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Strategy for Civil Society Engagement in the Escazú Agreement 2018 Authored by: Andrea Sanhueza, Gabriela Burdiles Perucci, Karetta Crooks Charles, Danielle Andrade-Goffe, Magdolna Toth Nagy 1 This strategy has been prepared with the financial support of the project “Building Bridges between Regions - Interregional cooperation on the implementation of Principle 10 of Rio Declaration and Article 6 of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in the Caribbean region (UN ECLAC – UN ECE)” funded by the Ministry of Land and SEA (IMELS) of Italy and implemented by the Regional Environntal Center (REC) in the period July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2018. Cover photograph: The Escazú Protected Zone, Costa Rica © Bernal Saborio 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................................................................. 4 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 Overview of Civil Society engagement in the Escazú Agreement ...................................................................... 5 Methodology ...................................................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................................................................. 8 OUTREACH, COMMUNICATIONS AND ADVOCACY STRATEGY ................................................................................ 8 I. The Elected Representatives of the Publics’ Engagement of Civil Society ................................................. 9 II. Regional and National Activities to Raise Awareness of the Escazú Agreement ..................................... 10 III. Collate and Disseminate Partners’ Actions to Promote the Escazú Agreement ...................................... 12 IV. Online Campaign to Support Early Signature and Ratification ................................................................ 13 V. Maintenance of the LAC P10 Webpage.................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................................................................... 18 NEGOTIATION STRATEGY FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ........................................................................................ 18 I. Public Participation in the Institutional Structure and Activities of the Agreement .................................... 19 II. Public Participation in the Implementation and Compliance Committee ................................................... 23 Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................................................................... 26 GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ENGAGEMENT ............................................................................ 26 I. Description of Existing and Future Governance Structures ..................................................................... 27 II. Comparison of Existing and Future Governance Structures .................................................................... 30 III. Requirements for Creation of Civil Society Organisation ......................................................................... 34 CHILE ......................................................................................................................................................... 34 JAMAICA ................................................................................................................................................... 39 IV. The Aarhus Experience ............................................................................................................................. 43 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................. 46 b. Public Participation in the Implementation and Compliance Committee. .................................................. 48 ACTION PLANS ....................................................................................................................................................... 51 Annex I: Outreach and Communications: Action Plan 2018 - 2020 ................................................................. 51 Annex II: Advocacy and Negotiation: Action Plan 2018 - 2020 ........................................................................ 52 Annex III: Governance structure: Action Plan 2018 – 2019 ............................................................................. 55 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................................... 56 3 ACRONYMS AI Amnesty International CARICOM Caribbean Community COP Conference of the Parties CSO Civil Society Organisation ECLAC Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean EEB European Environmental Bureau EfE Environment for Europe GCT General Consumption Tax LAC Latin America and the Caribbean MoS Meeting of the Signatories NGO Non-governmental organsation OECS Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States P10 Principle 10 REC Regional Environmental Centre RPG Regional Public Mechanism SCT Special Consumption Tax SDG Sustianable Development Goals TAI The Access Initiative UN United Nations UNEA United Nations Environment Assembly WRI World Resources Institute 4 INTRODUCTION In a historic event on March 4, 2018, 24 Latin American and Caribbean countries adopted the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean in Escazú, Costa Rica. State parties to the Escazú Agreement will be required to provide the public with rights to obtain environmental informaiton, participate in decisions affecting the environment and to access justice in environmental matters. The Agreement is also the first treaty to require States to specifically protect environmental human rights defenders from harm and to ensure they have an enabling environment for their work. This is a proposed strategy for civil society engagement in the Escazú Agreement process to: • Increase public awareness of the Escazú Agreement • Promote early signature and ratification of the Escazú Agreement • Negotiate the rules of procedure and modalities for public participation in the implementation phase of the Escazú Agreement • Review and develop a governance structure used by civil society organisation (CSOs) to engage and coordinate with CSO partners and the Public engaged in the process Overview of Civil Society engagement in the Escazú Agreement The unique and unprecedented modalities for public participation in the negotiation process for the Escazú Agreement included an integral role for the public to coordinate input into the process through Elected Representatives of the Public1 and their continuous engagement of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)2 from across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The Modalities for Public Participation in the negotiation of the Escazu Agreement was established following the rules of the preparatory phase agreed with the Public in 2013. The modalities recognized a broad definition of the term "Public". Accordingly, any natural or legal person or community organisation could participate in open meetings unless the plenary decided to have a closed session. Also, the modalities were intended to ensure the provision of due information and 1 There are two main and four alternate Elected Representatives of the Public. The primary function of the representatives is to serve as liaison and maintain continuous dialogue with the Presiding Officers for the Regional Agreement on Principle 10. Being a representative of the public also involves educating and communicating with the public and fundraising to support the involvement of the public in this regional process; communicating with the public to inform them about the regional process and to channel the public comments, proposals and observations to the Steering Committee and the Negotiating Committee. Brief biographies of the Elected Representatives available at: https://www.lacp10.org/regional-public-mechanism 2 An incomplete complete? list of CSO LAC representatives: https://www.lacp10.org/civil-society 5 specific levels and opportunities for the Public to get involved in the process. Consequently, the Public was able to attend, report and make statements during negotiation meetings: the Public had the right to request the floor and the Chair organized interventions in the order in which they were requested, regardless of whether the speaker was a representative of the government, international agency or the Public. In the case of written proposals, these were compiled in a separate document and not in the negotiating text unless they were sponsored by a participating country. The Modalities for Public Participation also guaranteed that the Public would receive all information in a timely manner by registering in the Regional Public Mechanism (RPM) managed by the Secretariat for the Agreement – the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); a tool that has also