Conference of the Parties to the Escazú Agreement Meets for the First Time in the Caribbean

The fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 4) to the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean - known as the Escazú Agreement - will take place on April 21-24 in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.

This is the first time that this body - for which the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) serves as Secretariat - is holding its most important biennial gathering in a Caribbean country. That subregion has the largest number of nations adhering to the region's first environmental treaty, since 10 of its 19 States Parties are from the Caribbean.

The main aim of this COP will be to follow up on the decisions of the third meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 3) - held in Santiago, Chile in 2024 - and to make progress on other matters of the Agreement, namely:

1. Pollutant release and transfer registers (decision III/1).

2. Participation of the public in decision-making processes regarding projects and activities that may have a significant impact on the environment (decision III/1).

3. Action Plan on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (decision III/2).

4. Mainstreaming the gender perspective in the implementation of the Escazú Agreement (decision III/4).

5. Access to justice in environmental matters.

6. Regional cooperation for implementation.

In addition, on April 20-21 the tenth meeting of the Committee to Support Implementation and Compliance will take place along with various preparatory activities. From April 20 to April 24, 36 official side events will be held virtually.

The meeting - which has support and collaboration from CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean - will take place in person at the British Colonial Nassau hotel, located at One Bay Street. It will also be streamed in full via the website https://live.cepal.org/escazu .

The COP 4 will be inaugurated on Tuesday, April 21 at 2:30 p.m. local time in the Bahamas (GMT -4) by Zane Lightbourne, Minister of State for the Environment of the Bahamas; José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of ECLAC; Oscar Caputi, Undersecretary of Environment of Uruguay, the country that is chairing the Presiding Officers of the Agreement; and elected representative of the public Nicole Leotaud, who is from Trinidad and Tobago. Subsequently, the new States Parties to the Agreement will be celebrated and a high-level session will be held with authorities.

In addition, on April 22-24, 2026, other special sessions and related meetings will be held to celebrate International Mother Earth Day and to address various aspects regarding national implementation of the Agreement, the production of environmental information, public participation in environmental assessment processes, access to justice in environmental matters, and the mainstreaming of the gender perspective in the Escazú Agreement's implementation, among other matters.

The Escazú Agreement has been signed by 24 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and has 19 States Parties to date: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Dominica, Ecuador, Grenada, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.

The Agreement was adopted in Escazú, Costa Rica on March 4, 2018 and entered into force on April 22, 2021. It is open to ratification, acceptance, approval or accession by the 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The full programme of the COP 4 to the Escazú Agreement is available on the meeting's special website: https://acuerdodeescazu.cepal.org/cop4/en/programme

Journalists and other members of the press who want to cover this event in person are asked to register using this form: https://eventos.cepal.org/event/256/

Registration for participants (authorities, official delegations, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, civil society representatives, etc.) is separate from the press registration and ended on March 27, 2026.

The event's official activities can be followed live online via the meeting's website, ECLAC's official Internet portal www.cepal.org , the web page https://live.cepal.org/escazu and the Commission's accounts on X (formerly Twitter https://x.com/cepal_onu ) and Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/cepal.onu ).

What: Fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Escazú Agreement (COP 4) .

When: Tuesday, April 21 to Friday, April 24, 2026.

Where: Nassau, Bahamas (British Colonial Nassau hotel).

Who:

Inauguration (Tuesday, April 21, 2:30 p.m. local time in the Bahamas):

• Zane Lightbourne, Minister of State for the Environment of the Bahamas.

• José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of ECLAC.

• Carlos de Miguel, Director of ECLAC's Sustainable Development and Human Settlements Division.

• Oscar Caputi, Undersecretary of Environment of Uruguay and Chair of the Agreement's Presiding Officers.

• Nicole Leotaud, elected representative of the public from Trinidad and Tobago.

Via virtual connection on various platforms:

For queries related to journalistic coverage of this event, contact ECLAC's Public Information Unit in Santiago, Chile. Email: [email protected] ; Telephone: +562 2210 2040.