Protecting the Right to Participate: Aarhus & Escazú

What does it take to give people a meaningful voice in environmental decision-making? In this episode of People, Places, Planet, host Natalie Triana, joined by ELI Senior Attorney Kristine Perry, explore two landmark regional instruments: the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) and the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement.)  

They’re joined by Jonas Ebbesson (Stockholm Environmental Law and Policy Centre) and Patricia Madrigal Cordero (Chair of the Committee to Support Implementation and Compliance of the Escazú Agreement).  

The conversation begins with the origins of the Aarhus Convention and the Escazú Agreement. Both instruments are based on three main pillars: access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice. The guests unpack what those rights look like in practice and how the two instruments have influenced one another over time. 

The discussion then turns to implementation and compliance, drawing on Jonas and Patricia’s experience serving on the Aarhus and Escazú compliance committees. They discuss how these bodies work, the challenge of building trust with governments while holding them accountable, and some of the successes and challenges of putting environmental rights into practice. The episode also explores the recognition of environmental defenders, including the Escazú Agreement's explicit protections for defenders and the protections that have evolved under the Aarhus Convention. 

This episode is part of a series of episodes related to ELI's work on environmental and land defenders. To watch the other episodes, see below: 

• Land Rights, Impunity, and the Fight to Protect Brazil's Environmental and Land Defenders 
• Defensores ambientales: hacia la rendición de cuentas en Colombia 
• Environmental Defenders: On the Frontlines of Conservation 

Timestamps:

• The Origins of Aarhus and Escazú (4:50) 
• What Rights Do Aarhus and Escazú Protect? (9:36) 
• From Rights to Reality: Aarhus and Escazú in Practice (14:18) 
• Aarhus and Escazú: Similarities and Differences (18:40) 
• Compliance, Implementation, and Accountability (28:08) 
• Protecting Environmental Defenders (37:27) 
• The Path Forward (45:28)