Since the Escazú Agreement entered into force in 2021, many have looked forward to the realization of its goal of further entrenching environmental democratic rights and enabling sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. The severe environmental and related human rights challenges in the region have caught global attention, and the Agreement is most timely in its pursuit of contributing to addressing the situation. This article assesses the quality of, and the extent to which, the right of the public to participate in environmental decision-making processes under the Escazú Agreement can enable the regime to achieve its goal, and how best this right might be strengthened where necessary. This assessment is executed within the context of local peculiarities of the LAC region and good practice in the field, as reflected in the Aarhus Convention and the UNEP Bali Guidelines. The study finds that while aspects of the participatory right regime in the Escazú Agreement are sound – and align with or go beyond existing good practice – some key provisions require improvement in order to increase the effectiveness of the Agreement.

自《埃斯卡苏协定》于 2021 年生效以来，许多人期待实现其进一步巩固环境民主权利和促进拉丁美洲和加勒比 (LAC) 地区可持续发展的目标。该地区严峻的环境和相关人权挑战已引起全球关注，该协议在寻求为解决这一局势做出贡献方面最为及时。本文评估了公众参与埃斯卡苏协定下的环境决策过程的权利的质量和程度可以使该制度实现其目标，以及如何在必要时最好地加强这项权利。该评估是在 LAC 地区的当地特点和该领域的良好实践的背景下执行的，正如《奥胡斯公约》和《环境署巴厘岛准则》所反映的那样。研究发现，虽然 Escazú 协议中参与权制度的某些方面是健全的——并且符合或超越现有的良好做法——但一些关键条款需要改进以提高协议的有效性。