The Parties to the Aarhus Convention have agreed on terms of reference for a yet-to-be established task force on public participation in decision-making, at the eleventh meeting of the Working Group of the Parties (Geneva, 8-10 July 2009).
The decision to set up an expert group on public participation had been taken by the Meeting of the Parties in June last year, following a proposal by Ireland to establish a task force to address challenges with implementation of the "second pillar" of the Convention. Rules of procedure, however, barred establishing the task force without giving it at the same time instructions, known as "terms of reference", on its scope of work. Instead, the Parties agreed to set up an expert group charged with making a proposal on the scope of work for a future task force, which would be created no later than the fourth meeting of the Parties.
The fourth meeting of the Parties is scheduled to be held in 2011.
The Expert Group on Public Participation's first and only meeting was held on the eve of the Working Group meeting. It delivered its recommendation on what issues the proposed task force should address on Wednesday, 8 July.
The Working Group then debated over three days whether the task force would examine new forms of public participation, in addition to exchanging experience on implementation of the Convention's existing public participation provisions. It reached a compromise on the proposed terms of reference which phases in the new body's scope of work over a four year period.
An extra-ordinary meeting of the Parties is expected to be called in April 2010 to adopt the proposed decision establishing the task force on public participation in decision-making.
The newly established task force will begin by addressing how Parties are addressing their second pillar obligations. It will deliver its first report to to the Meeting of the Parties in mid-2011.
