For 30th anniversary of “Green Dossier”
Reliable information about the state of the environment, the right of citizens to access environmental information, educational information campaigns and cooperation with the best Ukrainian and foreign experts in protecting citizens’ environmental rights – the implementation of the Aarhus Convention is a priority for us.
The UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters was signed in the Danish city of Aarhus on June 25, 1998. Ukrainian parliament ratified it quite in a short time, year after (we also made efforts for that to happen). The Convention entered into force on the 30th of October 2001, and today 47 countries are parties to the Convention, while the process of its expansion to other continents is underway.
We have participated in several EU programmes on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention, delivered numerous trainings, information and advocacy campaigns, engaged journalists and helped them cover the topic.
Over the years, a strong international network of advocates of the Convention has been shaped, and we are honoured to be a part of it. At numerous meetings of various levels, we raise acute and painful issues related to protecting environmental rights in different countries and protection from persecution of the protectors themselves. Over the years, Ukraine has been under sanctions for violating the Convention, Ukrainian government, together with NGOs, has corrected the shortcomings and moved on, and Ukraine has been applauded when we have achieved the successes.
The next Aarhus meeting (of the Working Group of the Parties to the Convention) will start on 2 July this year with the issue of the war in Ukraine and the implementation of the Aarhus Convention during the war. We will also share the experience of public participation in the process of Ukraine’s preparation for EU accession. By the way, Russia has not yet dared to join the Aarhus Convention.