The Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters was adopted in 1998 in the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. It entered into force on 30 October 2001 and has 47 States Parties. The Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers has been in force since 8 October 2009 and has 33 States Parties.
At the invitation of the Government of the Netherlands and the Secretariat of the Aarhus Convention, ECLAC and the participating governments of the region presented recent progress in implementing Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on the Environment and Development, which promotes access to information, participation and justice in environmental matters.
In Maastricht, ECLAC highlighted the importance of learning from the European process to fully and effectively enforce access rights, particularly now that Latin American and Caribbean countries are deciding on the nature and content of the future regional instrument on Principle 10. The Commission called for an enhancement of the rights to access information, participation and justice, so as to strengthen democracy and overcome symmetries in the region. ECLAC also underlined the link between the implementation of Principle 10 and the post-2015 development agenda.
The Fifth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention celebrated the progress made in Latin America and the Caribbean to develop the regional instrument, and offered its support in this regard. At the same time, ECLAC took part in the event on Building bridges between regions, which was an exchange of experiences on the negotiation, ratification and implementation of the Aarhus Convention that might be useful to the Latin American process.
Any queries should be sent to the ECLAC Public Information Section.
E-mail: prensa
cepal.org; Telephone: (56 2) 2210 2040.
