NASSAU, Bahamas, Jun 5, CMC – The Bahamas government Thursday signed the Escazú Agreement saying that it represents a rise to the height of the country’s noblest environmental ambitions.
“Every Bahamian has the right to a safe and clean environment. Our accession to the Escazú Agreement, which is quite fittingly happening on World Environment Day, is a decisive step towards realising that right. It places our people and one of our greatest treasures, our environment, first,” Prime Minister Phillip Davis told the signing ceremony.
The Escazú Agreement, officially titled the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, is a legally binding treaty that ensures environmental rights and promotes sustainable development in the region.
Adopted in Escazú, Costa Rica in 2018, it entered into force in 2021. It guarantees the right to a healthy environment, access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decisions, and access to justice in environmental matters. The agreement also includes specific provisions to protect environmental defenders.
Davis told the ceremony that this regional treaty champions access to information, public participation, and environmental justice as well as upholding the pillars of transparency, equity, human rights and sustainability.
“It reinforces our regional and international ties, by prompting us to consider and act in accordance with our collective duty to a shared planet. And it reflects a philosophy we, as an archipelagic people, can appreciate.
“It is a philosophy of harmonious development, growth, not for its own sake, but in concert with social and environmental flourishing. As Bahamians, we have already experienced climate extremes. We know the cost of inaction.
“And that is why we are committed to doing more. We are raising the bar for ourselves, and for others. We are breaking the status quo, because the status quo is what produced Hurricane Dorian, and the countless other storms, floods, bushfires, droughts, and climate-driven extreme weather events in our region,” Prime Minister Davis said.
He said small island nations can make a big difference and “we have shown, time and time again, that our voice, when raised with clarity and conscience, can shape global discourse and trigger crucial change.
“Though we are small in size, our impact is tremendous. We are tasked with protecting rich marine ecosystems that serve as vital carbon sinks for the entire planet. We cannot take that remit lightly.
“We must always act with consideration for the landscapes and seascapes that have sustained our people for generations, “ Prime Minister Davis said, adding that cooperating with like-minded partners from across Latin America and the Caribbean will certainly support us in this effort.
”After all, the threats we face pay no mind to borders. Greed continues to destabilise the planet, and only a collective awakening of conscience can return us to a steady state.
”So today, with the signing of this agreement, we sustain our common humanity, and our common planet. We recommit to stewardship, to cooperation within and between states, and to development in the most harmonious sense,” Prime Minister Davis said, adding the Escazú Agreement is a very important step in that journey.
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