The Arhus Convention on access to information, public participation and
access to justice in environmental decision-making enters into force today!
Sadly (for UK citizens) the UK has yet to ratify the convention (although we
are assured that this will happen soon.....). The convention also stands as
a model for how NGO involvement can help shape and strengthen government
processes.

Now it's time to look at our core environmental rights - the right to clean
air, the right to water and so on.....
UNECE press release is below.

Press Release ECE/ENV/01/15 Geneva, 29 October 2001


ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS NOT A LUXURY

Aarhus Convention enters into force

A new international law, described by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi
Annan as 'the most ambitious venture in environmental democracy undertaken
under the auspices of the United Nations', will enter into force tomorrow,
30 October 2001.

The UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in
Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters - known as
the Aarhus Convention after the Danish city where it was adopted in June
1998 - seeks to strengthen the role of members of the public and
environmental organizations in protecting and improving the environment for
the benefit of future generations. Through its recognition of citizens'
environmental rights to information, participation and justice, it aims to
promote greater accountability and transparency in environmental matters.

While the Convention is an instrument to protect the environment, it may
also be seen as an instrument promoting democracy. Specifically, it aims to:

* Allow members of the public greater access to environmental information
held by public authorities, thereby increasing the transparency and
accountability of government;
* Provide an opportunity for people to express their opinions and concerns
on environmental matters and ensure that decision makers take due account of
these;
* Provide the public with access to review procedures when their rights to
information and participation have been breached, and in some cases to
challenge more general violations of environmental law.

In practical terms, this means, for instance, that local residents must be
given a say in new road schemes or in the siting of household-waste
incinerators. Members of the public also have a right to know what state
their environment is in and, in some circumstances, to sue governments or
polluters that attempt to cover up environmental disasters.

To date, the Convention has been ratified by seventeen countries: Albania,
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan, the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan and Ukraine. Welcoming
the high level of support shown for the Convention by the eastern European
and Central Asian countries, the Director of the UNECE Environment Division,
Kaj Bdrlund, expressed the conviction that several western countries would
ratify the Convention before the first meeting of the Parties, provisionally
scheduled for autumn 2002: "Despite the fact that western countries have
generally been slower to ratify the Convention than their eastern
counterparts, it is clear from their warm messages of support that they are
working hard on their national legislation to be able to ratify the
Convention. The delay is, however, an indication that the Convention is
sufficiently progressive to prompt important improvements even in some of
the most well-established western democracies. The eastern countries may
have a different legal tradition, but the early ratification by many of
these countries is a sign of change. It shows that they have opened the door
to a new culture of democracy and transparency."

Just as pollution ignores national boundaries, so, to a large extent, does
the Aarhus Convention. The rights conferred on the public are to be applied
without discrimination as to citizenship, nationality or domicile. And
although the Convention is regional in scope, it is in fact open to
accession by countries from throughout the world.

The entry into force will be marked by a launching ceremony at UNECE
headquarters in the Palais des Nations, Geneva, hosted by ECE Executive
Secretary Danuta H|bner. The Environment Ministers from Croatia and Ukraine
will be present and many other Ministers have sent supportive messages, as
have some NGOs. A selection of extracts from these is included in the annex
'What People are Saying about the Aarhus Convention'.


For more information, please contact:

Jeremy WATES
Secretary to the Aarhus Convention
UNECE Environment and Human Settlements Division
Palais des Nations, office 332
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland