Human Rights, Biodiversity, and Environmental Democracy in EU–LAC Relations

In this episode of the EULAS Weaving Paths Podcast, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Claudia Ituarte-Lima, Leader of the Human Rights and the Environment thematic area and senior researcher at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. Drawing on over two decades of experience at the intersection of international law, biodiversity, and climate governance, Claudia shares insights from her work across Latin America, Europe, and international institutions.
Recorded in English, this conversation explores what environmental democracy means in practice, and how different regional experiences — particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean — can inform EU–LAC cooperation on sustainability, human rights, and just green transitions.
A central focus of the discussion is the Escazú Agreement, the landmark regional treaty that guarantees access to environmental information, public participation, and access to justice, and is the first in the world to include legally binding protections for environmental human rights defenders. We discuss its political and social implications, the challenges of implementation, and what lessons it offers beyond the LAC region.
In this episode, we cover:
- What environmental democracy means and how it is experienced differently in Latin America and Europe.
- Why the Escazú Agreement is a milestone for environmental rights and the protection of environmental human rights defenders.
- The role of civil society, NGOs, and rights-holders in advancing environmental democracy on the ground.
- Key obstacles to implementing environmental-democracy provisions in Latin America, including fragmentation and power imbalances.
- The role European actors can play in supporting more inclusive and effective implementation.
- How current dynamics — including Brazil’s role as host of COP30 — may shape future momentum around Escazú.
- What a more meaningful and equitable EU–LAC partnership on environmental democracy could look like in practice.
This episode offers a rich and timely discussion on how human rights, biodiversity protection, and democratic participation are deeply intertwined — and why bridging silos is essential for building fairer and more sustainable EU–Latin America relations.
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Resources:
- Environmental democracy: Examining the interplay between the Escazú Agreement’s innovations and EU economic law. Claudia Ituarte-Lima, Radu Mares
Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2024.100208
- Environmental human rights defenders: New developments and their implications for the European Union and the European Parliament. Claudia Ituarte-Lima, Maria Andrea Nardi, Björn Sjöstedt. European Parliament, Directorate-General for External Policies, Policy Department, 2025. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2025/754480/EXPO_STU(2025)754480_EN.pdf
- Just Pathways to Sustainability: From Environmental Human Rights Defenders to Biosphere Defenders. Claudia Ituarte-Lima, Maria Andrea Nardi, Liisa Varumo. Environmental Policy and Law, Volume 53, Issues 5–6, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3233/EPL-2390

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