Aarhus Convention – Aarhus Convention
“Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Recourse to Judiciary on Environmental Issues”, or more commonly known as the Aarhus Convention1, which was opened for signature by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on June 25, 1998 in Aarhus, Denmark, and signed by 26 states. It is one of the most fundamental international law texts on public access to environmental information. As of July 2016, there are 47 countries (46 countries + European Union) party to this convention, which entered into force in 2001.
The Aarhus Convention makes a significant contribution to increasing the environmental awareness of citizens, making public administrations more accountable and transparent in their environmental decisions, making the public more willing to participate in environmental decisions, as well as reducing the impact of environmental decisions on the environment. In addition, thanks to information, the contract also guarantees the establishment of public rights when making public decisions on local, national and transboundary environmental issues. The three cornerstones of the Aarhus Convention are: access to information on environmental issues and issues (Articles 4 and 5), public participation in decision-making (Articles 6 – 8) and the right to justice (Articles 9). Although Turkey participated in the negotiations of the Aarhus Convention, it did not become a party to the agreement and did not sign it. The Aarhus Convention information/documentation center also functions as a database on the global, regional and national implementation of Article 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration. In this sense, the instruments of the Convention are an important resource in terms of access to environmental information for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
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