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As leaders gather for the COP29 UN Climate Change Conference taking place on 11-22 November in Baku, Azerbaijan, Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean will lead a UNECE delegation that will be fully engaged to support urgently-needed climate action, leveraging cooperation and its practical resources
Faced with increasing impacts of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, which together constitute the “triple planetary crisis”, no country can act alone. Like nature itself, these challenges know no borders, which makes international cooperation a crucial part of action to address them.
On 28 February 2024, the UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention, Michel Forst, released a position paper on state repression of environmental protest and civil disobedience: a major threat to human rights and democracy.
The position paper provides an overview
Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) will be at the forefront of discussions at the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) on how to tackle the triple planetary crisis.
Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean will lead a UNECE delegation to UNEA-6, the world’s
Critical Raw Materials (CRM) like lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, graphite and rare earth elements are crucial for renewable energy technologies like solar panels, wind turbines and for battery production, driving the global shift to electrification. Yet with surging demand,
Public involvement in decision-making underpins the universal right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. 25 years since the adoption of a ground-breaking global treaty known as the Aarhus Convention – unparalleled in its success in putting environmental democracy into action – this
UNECE welcomes the approval by the Cabinet of the Ministers of Ukraine of the procedure for maintaining a National Pollutant Release and Transfer Register. The Register, to be operational from 8 October 2023, is expected to facilitate the free provision of information on pollution, such as
Guinea-Bissau has acceded to the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention), bringing the total number of Parties to 47.
By promoting public engagement in environmental decision-
Global biodiversity is now declining faster than at any time in human history. As leaders gather for the 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-15, 7-19 December), UNECE calls for the region to urgently step up with the leadership needed to stop biodiversity loss
“Environmental defenders continue to be exposed to significant risks of penalisation, persecution, harassment and even killings. And these risks do not spare the geographical area of the Aarhus Convention, where environmental defenders are facing reprisals, a shrinking civic space, restrictive
New assessment reveals progress on air quality and protected areas, but calls for urgent action to tackle emissions, waste, pollution and biodiversity loss
A circular economy and sustainable infrastructure offer solutions
Despite progress in certain areas, governments in
The Meeting of the Parties to the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) has elected, by consensus, Mr. Michel Forst as the world’s first Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders.
A decision establishing a rapid response mechanism for the protection of environmental defenders was adopted by the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) at its
This week nearly 450 participants from close to 50 countries attended the seventh and fourth sessions of the Meetings of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention (Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters)
On 23 November 2020, Italy became the thirty-eighth Party to the UNECE Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs) to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention).
The objective
On 3 September 2020, Albania accepted the amendment on genetically modified organisms (GMO amendment) to the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention), raising the total number of the
On 2 September 2020, the Compliance Committee to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) adopted a statement on the application of the Aarhus Convention both during the COVID-19 pandemic,
On 27 January 2020, Kazakhstan acceded to the UNECE Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs) to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention), becoming the thirty-seventh
Since its adoption in 1998, the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) has been a model for application of the concept of environmental democracy as enshrined in Principle 10 of the Rio
Twenty years after its adoption in 1998, the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) remains a model example of the application of the concept of “environmental democracy” as enshrined
UNECE congratulates the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Governments and civil society in Latin America and the Caribbean on the adoption of a regional legally binding instrument to promote Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.
On 11 October 2017, Montenegro ratified the UNECE Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers, becoming the thirty-sixth Party to join this Protocol to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus
More than 400 participants from 58 countries gathered in Budva, Montenegro, this week to attend the sixth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention)
A five-day event in Budva, Montenegro, will provide a platform for some 400 representatives of Governments, international organizations, civil society and other stakeholders to discuss achievements and challenges in promoting transparency, public participation in decision-making and access to
On 11 July 2016, France approved the amendment on genetically modified organisms (GMO amendment) to the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention), raising the total number of the Parties