Why Costa Rica stepped out of the Escazú climate agreement

Costa Rican lawmakers voted last month to remove the first regional environmental treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean from the country’s legislative agenda, effectively killing off any chance that the agreement will be ratified by the nation that hosted its adoption.

The Escazú Climate Agreement was adopted in 2018 in a Costa Rican community of the same name, at a regional summit of representatives from 24 Latin American and Caribbean countries. Ultimately signed by 25 of a possible 33 countries, and since ratified by 14, the treaty came into effect in 2021 and is now in the implementation phase. 

One of the treaty’s primary goals is to boost public access to environmental information on development plans, the aim being to ensure that decision-making on such projects is more transparent and reflects greater social consensus. Another is to promote enhanced legal protection for environmental activists, who have become frequent targets of violence in the region.

Costa Rica seemed poised to ratify the Escazú agreement after hosting its adoption and signing it in 2018 under then-President Carlos Alvarado. But Mr. Alvarado couldn’t muster sufficient support...