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At their second meeting, held in Almaty, Kazakhstan (May 2005), the Parties to the Aarhus Convention adopted a set of guidelines on promoting the principles of access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in international forums dealing with matters relating to the environment. The primary purpose of the Almaty Guidelines is to provide general guidance to Aarhus Parties. They may also be of wider interest to those involved in forums that deal with environmental matters. The Parties also established a Task Force to consult with international forums regarding the Almaty Guidelines. The Task Force is currently engaged in this consultation process. The initial focus of the consultation process is a written questionnaire organised around five broad, open-ended questions designed to allow representatives of forums to provide comments on the Guidelines and to share relevant experiences.The deadline for responses to the questionnaire has recently been extended to 27 October 2006. Responses may be viewed on the website of the Aarhus Convention - http://www.unece.org/env/pp/ppif-response.htm The Almaty Guidelines on Promoting the Application of the Principles of the Aarhus Convention in International Forums are contained in the annex to decision II/4 and may be downloaded from the Convention website - http://www.unece.org/env/documents/2005/pp/ece/ece.mp.pp.2005.2.add.5.e.pdfThey are also available in French and Russian language versions - http://www.unece.org/env/pp/mop2/mop2.decisions.htm
