The Escazú Agreement as a tool for combating environmental racism and promoting education for environmental democracy in Brazilian Quilombola communities

Abstract

This article examines the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement). The study is based on the assumption that the Agreement serves as an instrument in the democratization of environmental governance and in combating environmental racism in Quilombola communities. The research seeks to examine how this treaty can be employed to address the environmental racism faced by Quilombola communities in the context of socio-environmental impacts. The methodology is based on qualitative data drawn from bibliographical and documentary research. The study demonstrates that the Escazú Agreement is of fundamental importance to the process of critical emancipation by enabling the articulation of the access-rights pillars – access to information and public participation – grounded in education for environmental democracy.