Starting next Monday 31 July, representatives of Latin American and Caribbean countries will meet at the Palacio San Martín with a view to negotiating a regional agreement on access to information and public participation in environmental matters. Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Sergio Bergman, and the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Germán Garavano, will open the round that will last until 4 August and will be attended by authorities, government officials, representatives of civil society and experts from international bodies.
The "Seventh Meeting of the Negotiating Committee of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean" is jointly organized by the Argentine Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
The aim of the negotiation is to reach an agreement that will enable the implementation of rights such as access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters in the countries of the region. The agreement aims at establishing these rights as a vehicle to achieve true sustainable development, which requires the active involvement of civil society.
Twenty-four countries are already actively participating in the negotiation of this regional agreement. The agreement is of major importance for Argentina, as it involves the exercise of transparency, open government and the strengthening of democracy.
