Aarhus Convention celebrates 10 years

[Riga, 9 June, 2008] – Today in Riga, about 100 NGOs from 33 countries met under the umbrella of the European ECO Forum to raise their concerns about the future of environmental democracy prior to the third Meeting of Parties to the Aarhus Convention. [1]

Parties to the pan-European region’s flagship environmental democracy treaty will mark the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Aarhus Convention at the third Meeting of the Parties to the Convention in Riga, Latvia from 11 to 13 June 2008. The Aarhus Convention is the most important legal instrument providing for citizens’ rights on access to environmental information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters.

“Adoption of the Aarhus Convention was a great step forward in guaranteeing citizens rights to be active in environmental matters,” said Mara Silina, Coordinator of the European ECO Forum’s Public Participation campaign. [2] “Political compromises have given the Convention some weaknesses that need to be addressed during the coming years.”

Drawing on the experiences of the first decade of the Convention, the Meeting is attracting over 400 participants from more than 40 countries, including representatives from all Convention Parties’ environment ministries, representatives from environmental citizens’ organisations and other stakeholders. The meeting is expected to include adoption of a political statement called the “Riga Declaration” and a long-term strategic plan to chart the future of the Convention in the coming years, as well as consideration of appropriate actions related to non-compliance.

A two day European ECO Forum strategy meeting is being held prior to the start of the Meeting of Parties to come up with the best way forward to present a coordinated NGO position and ensure citizens’ groups demands are met. For environmental organisations it will be important to secure the support of the Parties in establishing a strong and forward-looking Long Term Strategy Plan for the Convention. In particular, the resistance of the European Commission and some EU Member States to the possible further improvement of the Convention needs to be overcome.

Other issues environmental citizens groups will pursue at the meeting of Parties include establishing a Working Group to improve implementation and enforcement of the second pillar of the Convention on Public Participation and expanding the mandate of the Task Force on Access to Justice focussing on practical arrangements amongst Parties.

The meeting will close with a high-level segment on Friday, 13 June featuring three panel discussions during which Ministers, distinguished speakers from international organisations and leading representatives of civil society will exchange views in a lively debate on topics of key relevance to the Convention.

For further information please contact:-

Vanessa Bulkacz, European Environmental Bureau (EEB) Press & Publications Officer, vanessa.bulkacz@eeb.org

Iulia Trombitcaia, European ECO Forum Communication Unit /Eco-Accord, iulia@neostrada.pl
Mara Silina, Public Participation Campaign Coordinator and Chair of the Coordination Board of the European ECO Forum, mara.silina@eeb.org; tel: +32.472.50 50 31

Editor’s Notes:-
[1] The Aarhus Convention is the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. The Aarhus Convention has 41 parties, including the European Community.

[2] The European ECO Forum (www.eco-forum.org) is an ad hoc coalition of more than 200 NGOs working together on the Environment for Europe (EfE) process. EfE brings together environment ministers, international organisations and NGOs working on environmental policy issues in the UNECE region. The most recent EfE conference took place in Belgrade in October 2007.

The ECO Forum’s Public Participation Campaign (PPC) unites environmental citizens’ organisations working on access to information, public participation in the decision-making process and access to justice in environmental matters (www.participate.org). The PPC works to achieve full implementation of the Aarhus Convention and expand its coverage in the UNECE region and globally.