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THE AARHUS CONVENTION

THE AARHUS CONVENTION. UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. GLOBAL RELEVANCE OF THE CONVENTION.

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THE AARHUS CONVENTION

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  1. THE AARHUS CONVENTION UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters

  2. GLOBAL RELEVANCE OF THE CONVENTION "… The adoption of the Aarhus Convention was a giant step forward in the development of international law in this field. ... Although regional in scope, the significance of the Aarhus Convention is global. It is by far the most impressive elaboration of principle 10 of the Rio Declaration... As such it is the most ambitious venture in the area of ‘environmental democracy’ so far undertaken under the auspices of the United Nations...." Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations

  3. ORIGIN OF THE CONVENTION June 1992 Rio Declaration principle 10 October 1995 UNECE Guidelines on Access to Environmental Information and Public Participation in Decision-making (Sofia Guidelines) January 1996 Special session to establish ad hoc WG for thepreparation of a draft convention June ‘96 – March ‘98 Negotiation of the draft Convention 25 June 1998Adoption of the Convention at the 4th Ministerial “Environment for Europe” Conference, Aarhus Denmark. 30 October 2001 Entry into force

  4. CONTENT OF THE CONVENTION • Objective, definitions, general features (art. 1-3) Pillar 3: Access to Justice (art. 9) Pillar 1: Access to information(art. 4-5) Pillar 2: Public participation in decision-making (art. 6-8) • Final clauses (art. 10-22)

  5. GENERAL FEATURES • Recognition of citizens' rights • Convention is 'floor' not 'ceiling’ • Broad definition of 'the public' • Broad definition of public authorities • European Union institutions to be covered • Non-discrimination provisions • Compliance review arrangements • Open to non-ECE countries

  6. STATUS OF RATIFICATION Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lithuania Malta Moldova Norway Poland Romania Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Albania Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Denmark Estonia FYR of Macedonia France Georgia Hungary Italy TOTAL: 24 PARTIES

  7. 1st MEETING OF THE PARTIESLucca, 21-23 October 2002 • Broad participation (ECE states, non-ECE states, IGOs, RECs, NGOs) • Adoption of the Lucca Declaration • Establishment of the compliance mechanism • Adoption of guidelines on genetically-modified organisms

  8. 1st MEETING OF THE PARTIES (2)Lucca, 21-23 October 2002 • Confirmation of commitment to develop protocol on pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs) … PRTR Protocol adopted and signed by 36 states at the Kiev conference, 21-23 May 2003 • New task forces on access to justice and electronic information tools • New procedural and institutional framework for the Convention

  9. ELECTRONIC INFORMATION TOOLSArticle 5, paragraph 3 of the Convention • Decision I/6 on the use of electronic tools adopted by the first meeting of the Parties to the Convention • Task force meets on 23-24 June 2003 in Sofia, Bulgaria • Main topics on the agenda: • Development of an information clearing-house for the Convention; • Advancing the use of information and communication technology to facilitate implementation of the Convention

  10. ELECTRONIC INFORMATION TOOLS (2) IGO AARHUS CONVENTION CLEARING-HOUSE: CENTRAL NODE ACADEMIC NATIONAL WEB SITE NATIONAL NODE NATIONAL WEB SITE NATIONAL NODE NGO

  11. MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE ÅRHUS CONVENTION WEBSITE: http://www.unece.org/env/pp

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