GenevaAt their meeting last week (29 June–1 July 2011) in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, the Parties to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) adopted by consensus a number of decisions concerning compliance, thus confirming the effectiveness of the compliance mechanism.
During the period 2008–2011 the Convention’s Compliance Committee received an unprecedented number of communications from members of the public, three times more than in the previous intersessional periods: 35 communications during 2008–2011, compared to 12 communications from 2005-2008 and 11 from 2002–2005. This is a strong sign of the mechanism’s popularity and success.
The Parties concerned and the issues of non-compliance may be summarized as follows: Armenia (adoption of decrees modifying land use designation and zoning —several provisions of the Convention; and mining activities — public participation); Belarus (construction of a hydropower plant — public participation); Kazakhstan (nuclear waste — access to information; construction of a high-voltage power line and construction of a cement factory — public participation; and failure to enforce domestic environmental law — access to justice); Republic of Moldova (contracts for rent of forest lands — access to information); Slovakia (update of permits for the construction of a nuclear power plant — public participation); Spain (urban planning and modification of a protected area to residential — several provisions of the Convention; operation of wine distillery and construction of an oil refinery — public participation and access to justice/legal aid for non-governmental organizations; Turkmenistan (law on public associations — general provisions of recognition and support of public associations promoting environmental protection); Ukraine (protected wetland area — public participation), and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (access to justice with respect to costs and remedies).
The Committee will work with the Parties that were found to be in a state of non-compliance to bring their legislation and practice in compliance with the Convention. Parties are called to report regularly to the Committee on their follow-up with the Meeting’s decisions. During the next three years, the Committee will assess the steps undertaken by individual Parties and will report on their progress to the next session of the Meeting of the Parties.
This collaborative approach between the Committee and Parties has proven to bear fruit. Indeed, Albania and Lithuania, which were requested by the decisions of the Meeting of the Parties in 2008 to follow the Committee’s recommendations, had taken action and worked with the Committee in a constructive manner to bring their legislation and practice in compliance with the Convention by 2011. Also, while the Meeting adopted decisions concerning Armenia, Turkmenistan and Ukraine, all three have demonstrated significant progress in following the Meeting’s decisions of 2008.
The Meeting also bid farewell to three members of the Compliance Committee, Mr Veit Koester, Mr. Merab Barbakadze and Mr Vadim Nee, whose term of office expired at the fourth session of the Meeting of the Parties, and elected three new members. The Chair of the Committee, Veit Koester, has served for nine years. The end of his membership meant the end of a very long journey; a journey that started in Rio in 1992 with the adoption of principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, the origin of the Aarhus Convention. In 1998 he was a member of the Danish delegation when the Convention was adopted and signed in June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus and later he was in charge of the negotiations of the intergovernmental meetings that paved the way for the entry into force of the Convention in 2001, including the hard negotiations on the compliance mechanism.
Note to editors:
The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee was established in October 2002 by decision I/7 of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention. It is composed of nine individuals who serve in their personal capacity. The compliance mechanism may be triggered in four ways: Party self-submission; Party-to-Party submission; referral by the secretariat; and communications from members of the public. In addition, the Committee may examine compliance issues on its own initiative and make recommendations; prepare reports on compliance with or implementation of the provisions of the Convention at the request of the Meeting of the Parties; and monitor, assess and facilitate the implementation of and compliance with the Convention’s reporting requirements. Findings of the Committee are endorsed by the Meeting of the Parties.
For further information, please visit http://www.unece.org/env/pp/welcome.html or contact:
Secretariat of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and
Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention)
UNECE, Environment Division
Palais des Nations, 8-14 avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 (0)22 9172376
Fax: + 41 (0)22 9170107
E-mail: [email protected]
Ref: ECE/ENV/11/P33