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Environmental Defenders, Mrs. Danielle Andrade-Goffe,

Elected Representative of the Public for Principle 10
(Jamaica), disagrees. She said “In the Caribbean,
environmental defenders have alleged physical attacks, death

threats, harassment and intimidatory actions against them
and their organizations for speaking out against projects. In

2016 the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights
(IACHR) responding to a petition brought by a Bahamian

environmental group requested the Government of Bahamas
to protect members of the group and their families. In support

of their petition, the group provided evidence of death threats
and a failed assassination attempt against the lives of one of
their members.”

So what will a positive outcome look like from the public’s

perspective? According to Andrea Sanhueza, Elected
Representative of the Public for Principle10 (Chile), “The

public wants to accomplish a legally binding agreement with
robust standards that will allow citizens to get involved in
decisions regarding the environment that will affect them. The

LAC region urgently needs this because national laws are
restrictive on this matter and there is an increase in socio-

environmental conflicts in all countries.” Ms. Sanhueza called
on the millions of people in the region to show their support by

disseminating messages in support of this agreement on
social media using #Principle10 and supporting our outreach

actions.
The public waits with bated breath to see if the 24 signatory
countries will make the bold move to support a historic and

ground-breaking legally binding agreement for the region or
whether they will allow it to result, after 6 years of intense

meetings, in a voluntary agreement with little expectation of