Guinea-Bissau has signed the UN agreement on the responsibility of governments regarding human rights and the environment.
The executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Olga Algayerova, said that Guinea-Bissau becomes the first non-European country to adhere to this international agreement and its 47th signatory.
On April 4, the country signed the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters.
This Convention protects the right of every person to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being.
Guinea-Bissau’s Environment Minister, Viriato Luis Soares Cassama, stated that his country hopes to take advantage of the Convention’s instruments to combat climate change, by involving the public in the decision-making process.