On April 25, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “A few days ago, PBI observed the Forum ‘Escazú: Now more than ever!’, of the Honduras Network for Escazú. We highlight the defense work of all the people in Honduras who advocate for the importance of protecting the environment, the land, and the territory.”

The video of the forum can be watched here.

The Escazú Agreement entered into force on Earth Day, April 22, 2021.

To date, 24 countries have signed the Escazú Agreement, 12 of which have also ratified it: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Uruguay.

In September 2018, Peace Brigades International endorsed the Escazú Agreement as “a means to guarantee a safe environment in which individuals, groups and organizations that promote and defend human rights related to the environment can act without facing threats, restrictions, attacks or danger.”

Significantly, the Escazú Agreement is the first legally binding treaty to include specific provisions to protect environmental defenders.

Article 9 includes the obligation for States to: “guarantee a safe and enabling environment for persons, groups, and organizations that promote and defend human rights in environmental matters so that they are able to act free from threat, restriction, and insecurity.”

Article 9 also mandates States to: “prevent, investigate and punish attacks, threats or intimidations that human rights defenders in environmental matters may suffer while exercising the rights set out in the present Agreement.”

We continue to follow the situation in Honduras.

 
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