3. Advocating at the regional level

Introduction

Note: UNECE stands for United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

Adopted in 1998 and in force since 2001, the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (herein after ‘the Aarhus Convention’) is a groundbreaking treaty linking environmental governance to human rights. Unlike voluntary guidelines, it creates legally binding obligations for the States that have ratified it (mainly in Central Asia and Europe, though any UN Member State can do so) and the European Union (EU). There are 48 Parties to the Convention at the time of writing.

Let’s start with an introduction and what you can do as an EHRD with Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention.

The three pillars of the Aarhus Convention

Let's check the Convention’s pillars to have a better understanding of each of them and their importance:

_{Source: UNECE}

1. Access to environmental information (articles 4 and 5):

   Under the Convention, individuals and organisations can request environmental information without needing to demonstrate a particular interest. Public authorities must respond to those requests within the specified timeframe. In addition, public authorities must actively collect and disseminate certain types of environmental information to the public.

   Environmental information includes information on, among other things, the state of elements of the environment (such as air, water, soil, biodiversity, ecosystems); factors, such as substances, energy, noise and radiation, and activities or measures, including legislation, plans and policies, affecting or likely to affect the environment, cost-benefit and other economic analyses used in environmental decision-making; and information on environmental impacts on human health and safety, to name a few.

   The Convention also limits States' exceptions for refusing to disclose such information and places the burden on public authorities to justify their decisions to refuse access.

2. Public participation in environmental decision-making (articles 6, 7 and 8):

   This pillar recognises that environmental decisions often have long-term impacts on ecosystems, communities, and public health, and that those affected should have the opportunity to participate in these decisions.

   Under the Convention, Parties must ensure that the public has the opportunity to participate in decisions relating to activities that may have significant environmental impacts. These situations may include, for example, licensing infrastructure projects or defining permits for extractive initiatives.

   Parties must provide for early public participation, when all options are open and effective participation can take place. This feature is particularly important as environmental effects can be long-lasting or even irreversible. The public must have access to all information relevant to the decision-making and have reasonable timeframes to participate effectively. The decision must take due account of the outcome of the public participation.

   Another distinctive attribute is that participation under the Aarhus Convention applies not only to individual projects but also to plans, programmes, and policies relating to the environment and legislation that may have a significant effect on the environment. This feature enables civil society to influence broader environmental strategies, regulatory frameworks, and development planning processes that shape long-term environmental governance.

3. Access to justice in environmental matters (article 9):

   This pillar enables individuals, communities, and civil society organisations to challenge decisions, actions, or omissions by public authorities that breach environmental law or fail to uphold procedural environmental rights. In practice, this means that members of the public must be able to bring cases before judicial or administrative bodies when there is a breach of the first or second pillar, or when regulations are violated or ignored by either state or non-state actors.

   The Convention requires States to ensure that these review procedures provide adequate and effective remedies and are fair, equitable, timely and not prohibitively expensive.

Focus

Aarhus, a pioneer environmental framework with global impact

Although it was adopted under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the scope of the Aarhus Convention is not limited to Europe. It is open for accession to any UN Member State. For instance, Central Asian countries and Guinea Bissau are Parties to the Convention.

Here are some other reasons why the Aarhus Convention has become globally relevant:

• The Convention is widely recognised as a pioneering instrument for environmental democracy. By establishing legally binding obligations on access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters, the Aarhus Convention has created a comprehensive framework that connects environmental governance with human rights principles.
• This model has influenced the development of other regional frameworks. For example, the Escazú Agreement in Latin America and the Caribbean builds on the Aarhus Convention approach by embedding access rights and environmental governance obligations in a regional treaty that also explicitly protects environmental defenders (see Section 3.8 for more information).
• The rights under the Aarhus Convention are granted to members of the public, without discrimination as to citizenship, nationality or domicile. The Convention has therefore helped highlight that environmental governance must take into account transboundary and extraterritorial impacts. Environmental decisions often affect ecosystems and communities across borders, and the Aarhus Convention promotes transparency, participation, and accountability in decisions with international implications. The extraterritorial scope of the Aarhus Convention also enables the Special Rapporteur ( see video above and the following section) to receive complaints from environmental defenders harassed outside the territory of an Aarhus Party, by a State entity or a State-owned company of an Aarhus Party, including State-owned financial institutions (e.g. the European Investment Bank), or by a private company that is headquartered in an Aarhus Party.

By incorporating extraterritoriality principles and procedural rights into international environmental governance, the Convention has helped shape broader discussions on environmental democracy, corporate accountability, and the responsibilities of States and institutions when environmental harm extends beyond their own territories.

Defender Story

Guatemala - Criminal charges dropped against journalist

Guatemalan journalist Ernesto Choc Chub covered protests linked to a Swiss-based company operating in Guatemala which led to criminal charges against him. The action of the Special Rapporteur contributed to stop this.

_{Source: Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders}

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Now, let’s focus on two important mechanisms that can be useful for environmental human rights defenders: The Compliance Committee and the Special Rapporteur.