Treaties serve as the foundation of any area of international law. Major international human rights and environmental law treaties are referenced on the International Human Rights and International Environmental Law tabs of the International Legal Research Guide. Please also see the International Legal Research Guide, Treaties tab, for general background information about treaties. The following regional treaties are especially relevant to the specific topic of environmental justice in the Americas.
- African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, June 27,1981, 1520 U.N.T.S. 217. This treaty is the first to recognize the collective right to a healthy environment.
- Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Nov. 17, 1988, 28 I.L.M. 156 (San Salvador Protocol). This treaty amends the American Convention on Human Rights and is the first to recognize the individual right to a healthy environment.
- Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus), June 25, 1998, 2161 U.N.T.S. 447. The UN Economic Commission of Europe (UNECE) sponsored the creation of this treaty, which is the precursor for the Escazú Agreement (see below).
- Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú), March 4, 2018, C.N.195.2018.TREATIES-XXVII.18.
More international environmental law treaties are available via ECOLEX.
