The twentieth meeting of the Working Group of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention was held on 15-17 June 2016 in Geneva (Palais des Nations). The Working Group reviewed the implementation of the current work programme and discussed a number of items, including, progress achieved in promoting access to information, public participation and access to justice, and in ratification of the Convention's amendment on genetically modified organisms; financial matters; and promotion of the Convention and relevant developments and interlinkages. The Working Group also considered the draft elements of the future work programme for 2018–2021 and draft elements of the future financial arrangements. The Working Group deliberated on preparations for the sixth session of the Meeting of the Parties.

Furthermore, the meeting featured a thematic session on promoting the application of the principles of the Convention in international forums. The session focused on recent developments related to international financial institutions, feedback from the promotion of public participation in the lead up to and at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Paris, 30 November–11 December 2015) and an update on stakeholder engagement in the United Nations Environment Assembly and High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development processes.

The Working Group of the Parties was held back-to-back with the meeting of the Task Force on Access to Justice which took place from 14 to 15 June 2016. More information regarding the meeting of the Task Force is available on the following webpage: http://www.unece.org/env/pp/aarhus/tfaj9#/