The Minamata Convention, in force since August 2017, was adopted at the 2013 Plenipotentiary Conference in Kumamoto, Japan. The aim of this global treaty is to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic and other releases of mercury and mercury compounds.
The 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21), held in Paris in 2015, concluded with the adoption of the Decision and the Paris Agreement. The agreement entered into force in November 2016 and will apply as of 2020.
The Nagoya Protocol, in force since October 2014, is a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Its objective is to achieve fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources.
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources was adopted in 2001 during the Thirty-first Session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants came into force in 2004. It aims to protect human health and the environment from Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
The Cartagena Protocol, in force since September 2003, was adopted as a complementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification entered into force in 1996 and has been ratified by the 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is the only binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable soil management.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in force since March 1994, has been ratified by all 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was adopted at the Earth Summit in 1992 and has been ratified by all 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction was adopted on 19 June 2023 in New York.
