Ba­hamas Prime Min­is­ter Philip Davis, an­nounced on Thurs­day the ac­ces­sion of the Com­mon­wealth of the Ba­hamas to the Re­gion­al Agree­ment on Ac­cess to In­for­ma­tion, Pub­lic Par­tic­i­pa­tion and Jus­tice in En­vi­ron­men­tal Mat­ters in Latin Amer­i­ca and the Caribbean (“Es­cazú Agree­ment”).

The Ba­hamas is the ninth CARI­COM Mem­ber State to be­come a par­ty to the treaty and the 18th in the re­gion.

“Every Ba­hami­an has the right to a safe and clean en­vi­ron­ment. Our ac­ces­sion to the Es­cazú Agree­ment, pre­cise­ly on World En­vi­ron­ment Day, is a de­ci­sive step to­wards mak­ing it a re­al­i­ty. It places our peo­ple and one of our great­est trea­sures, our en­vi­ron­ment, first”, Prime Min­is­ter said to­day in a pub­lic cer­e­mo­ny held at The Re­treat Na­tion­al Park (New Prov­i­dence), al­so mark­ing the Unit­ed Na­tions In­ter­na­tion­al Day for the en­vi­ron­ment.