Aarhus Convention and its Protocol on PRTRs: tools to promote environmental democracy Maryna Yanush Secretariat of the Aarhus Convention and PRTR Protocol United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Geneva, 17 April 2013

Aarhus Convention – a modern response to the present challenges Promoting sustainable and environmentally sound development Powerful twin protection for the environment and human rights Establishes standards of interactions between the public and public authorities at all levels in a democratic context Empowering the society to respond when it is mostly needed (water and air pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity) Sending a strong and global signal of commitment to good governance Improving the quality and acceptance of decision-making in environmental matters through active and effective public participation Wide support from a well-informed public for promoting green policies, green economy and sustainable development

Facilitating cooperation and dialogue Taking its origin from the Rio Conference on Environment and Development 1992 (principle 10 of the Rio Declaration) and having transformed principles into the real actions The Aarhus Convention is closely linked to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Effective Compliance Mechanism The rights granted to all natural or legal persons, including non-governmental organisations, irrespective of citizenship, ethnicity or domicile Open globally for accession

Transforming principles into actions Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision- making and Access to Justice in Environmental matters (Aarhus Convention): 46 Parties Access to environmental information – Environmental information has a broad definition – The public is entitled to have access, upon request, to environmental information – Public authorities must actively collect and disseminate certain types of environmental information to the public, including by electronic tools Public Participation in decision-making in environmental matters : – Parties must provide for early and effective public participation, when all options are still open, on decisions to permit certain activities and during the preparation of plans, programmes and policies relating to the environment – Parties shall strive to promote effective public participation during the preparation of executive regulations and/or generally applicable legally binding normative instruments Access to justice in environmental matters

Transforming principles into actions Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers to the Convention (Protocol on PRTRs): 32 Parties – Parties shall establish and maintain national pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs) – The information is to be supplied through mandatory periodic reporting by the owners or operators of certain types of facilities, and from diffuse sources – The Protocol helps to track the release and transfer of at least 86 pollutants or groups of pollutants and pollution trends over time and to examine progress in reducing emissions – The register should be open and publicly accessible via the Internet – The register provides access to information on local, regional or national pollution

Implementation and enforcement of the Convention and the Protocol at the local level: lessons learned Establishing the same standards of access to environmental information and public participation in decision-making by both State bodies and non-State actors performing public administrative functions Supporting the development of open administrative culture Assisting in balancing the public and the legitimate economic interests to achieve sustainable development Increasing use of electronic information tools for access to environmental information and public participation Evaluating and improving environmental performance on the basis of information provided by PRTRs

Sharing of information and good practices Implementation Guide (second edition to be released soon) Synthesis report and national implementation reports Analytical studies and jurisprudence database Draft recommendations on public participation in environmental decision-making ( policy/treaties/public-participation/aarhus-convention/envpptfwg/envppppdm/ppdm-recs.html ) Platforms for exchange of information Aarhus Clearinghouse Resource directory - information portal for environmental democracy PRTR.net Case studies of public participation in environmental decision-making ( )

The Aarhus Convention and its Protocol protect the environment for many decades to come… Website: me.html me.html Aarhus Clearinghouse: PRTR.net: