Effective environmental information and participation: Efforts for promoting the Aarhus Convention in the Mediterranean

March 23, 2023
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Numerous Multilateral Environmental Conventions and National Legislation are important for the protection of the Environment and their successful implementation greatly rely on evidence-based easily accessible information, effective public participation and access of all interested stakeholders to justice. These three essential components are furthered by the Aarhus Convention.

 

The 8th and 9th of March 2023 marked a major milestone in the long-standing joint efforts to promote the Aarhus Convention in the whole of the Mediterranean. Together with the UNECE Aarhus Convention Secretariat, the Secretariat of the UNEP/MAP Barcelona Convention, the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean, the Energy, Environment and Water Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM), the Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Development (COMPSUD) and the Mediterranean Programme for International Environmental Law and Negotiation (MEPIELAN Centre), the EU funded Water and Environment Support (WES) in the ENI Neighbourhood South Region” project, during a 2-day on-line meeting, launched a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) exchange that will last for at least one year, in order to support Mediterranean States that are interested in acceding to the Aarhus Convention, to be able to do so in a smooth and effective manner.

 

Currently, 12 Mediterranean countries and the European Union are already Parties to the Aarhus Convention. By securing effective access to information and to justice, as well as engagement of the public, accession to the Convention, will facilitate the design and implementation of green economy programmes, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with its Sustainable Development Goals, the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD) of the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system, the Mediterranean Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development, the Union for the Mediterranean’s 2030 GreenerMed Agenda, the compliance with, and enforcement of, the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols and a series of national strategies and policies. Being a Party to the Convention significantly contributes to countries’ efforts to promote citizen-centric environmental governance and environmentally sound policies.

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Countries covered:

  • Algeria
  • Egypt
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Lebanon
  • Libya
  • Morocco
  • Palestine *
  • Syria *
  • Tunisia