CANARI and Environment Tobago recently held a CSO mobilisation meeting with Tobago-based civil society to discuss key environmental rights and governance issues. The meeting also aimed to align environmental concerns previously identified by Trinidad-based civil society with those of Tobago, guiding the direction of the project’s future advocacy training.
The Tobago meeting focused on the right to a healthy environment, access to information, justice, and public participation in environmental matters, as well as the realities of accessing these rights in Trinidad and Tobago. Concerns were raised about sustainable development and current activities, developments and management issues hampering it in Tobago. The need for capacity building, strategic advocacy and legal assistance was highlighted.
CANARI and Environment Tobago explained how the EnviroRightsTT project aims to address these concerns, including training on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the process of accessing information, as well as advocacy training for CSOs and virtual exchanges with CSOs from T&T and the wider Caribbean on environmental justice experiences and advocacy.
The EnviroRightsTT project will also manage a small grant facility to support CSOs or coalitions of CSOs to execute actions with support of their legal and scientific team and partners.