{"id":14316,"date":"2021-09-13T14:10:36","date_gmt":"2021-09-13T12:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/?p=14316"},"modified":"2025-03-27T16:26:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T15:26:28","slug":"fifth-aarhus-workshop-on-human-rights-and-climate-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/fifth-aarhus-workshop-on-human-rights-and-climate-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifth Aarhus Workshop on human rights and climate laws"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243;][vc_single_image media=&#8221;12728&#8243; caption=&#8221;yes&#8221; media_width_percent=&#8221;70&#8243;][vc_column_text el_class=&#8221;ufu-projekt&#8221;]13. September 2021[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]On 7. September 2021, Slovenian and German NGOs co-organised the Fifth Aarhus Workshop.<\/p>\n<p>The NGOs invited governmental officials, legal scholars and experts as well as researchers to discuss the intertwining between <strong>human rights, climate laws and the Aarhus Convention in the European Union<\/strong>. The central question was, how civil society (organisations) are involved in environmental and climate policy processes at EU and Member State level.<\/p>\n<p>The Aarhus Convention adopted in 1998 by the European Union and its Member States lays the foundations for the right to be informed, be able to effectively contribute own ideas of a climate-neutral Europe and also have the opportunity to take legal action.\u00a0Due to this treaty civil society and NGOs have the right to go to court and challenge EU-decisions, when environmental and climate laws are presumed to be violated. Examples for those administrative decisions are approvals of new fossil fuel projects, fishing quotas, approvals of state aid for nuclear power plants and so on. Since the European Union is criticised for not allowing citizens and NGOs to review their decisions, there will be a new regulation implementing the Aarhus Convention. Therefore, it has been carefully discussed at the Workshop, whether the new regulation and other EU laws will finally fully comply with the Aarhus Convention.<\/p>\n<p>For this reason, the Aarhus Workshop played a key role in bringing together a variety of stakeholders and raising awareness on how to improve citizen\u2019s and NGOs (legal) involvement in climate and environmental protection. Around 50 participants from environmental associations, foundations, universities, governmental organisations as well as legal professionals mainly from Slovenia, Germany and Brussels region joint the Aarhus Workshop to tackle the implementation deficits within the European Union and also at Member State level. Moreover, this joint Workshop, taking place merely a few weeks before the <a href=\"https:\/\/unece.org\/environmental-policy\/events\/Aarhus_Convention_MoP7\">seventh session of the Meeting of the Parties of the Aarhus Convention<\/a> (so-called &#8220;MoP 7&#8221;; from 18. to 21. October 2021 in Geneva) served as a crucial, decisive occasion, a springboard into a cleaner, greener future, where citizens are actively participating.<\/p>\n<h4><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Speaker:<\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Dr. Vasilka Sancin<\/span><\/b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">, Associate Professor at University of Ljubljana &amp; Director of Centre for International and Business Law<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Dr. Roda Verheyen, LL.M.<\/b>, Environmental Lawyer of Rechtsanw\u00e4lte G\u00fcnther Partnerschaftsgesellschaft<\/li>\n<li><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Mag. Senka \u0160ifkovi\u010d Vrbica<\/span><\/b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">, Environmental Lawyer at the Institute for Spatial Policies (IPoP)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Sebastian Bechtel, LL.M.<\/span><\/b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">, Environmental Democracy Lawyer at ClientEarth Brussels<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Mag. Tanja Pucelj Vidovi\u010d<\/span><\/b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">, Focal Point for Aarhus Convention at the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Matthias Sauer<\/span><\/b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">, Head of Unit of Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Alistair McGlone<\/span><\/b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">, Director at Alistair McGlone and Associates Ltd &amp; former member of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Dr. Ma\u0161a Kovi\u010d Dine<\/span><\/b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">, Assistant Professor at University of Ljubljana<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Dr. Maria Alexandra de Sousa Arag\u00e3o<\/span><\/b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">, Professor at the University of Coimbra<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">Aljo\u0161a Petek<\/span><\/b><span lang=\"EN-GB\">, Environmental lawyer at PIC &#8211; Legal centre for the protection of human rights and the environment<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In our first vivid panel discussion on the upcoming Meeting of the Parties of the Aarhus Convention (MoP-7) the panellists Mag Tanja Pucelj Vidovic\u030c; Matthias Sauer and Alistair McGlone discussed whether or not the European Union is granting its EU citizens and NGOs sufficient access to justice. Dr. Michael Zschiesche, Managing Director and Chairman of the UfU board, emphasised that:<strong> \u201cThe double standard by the European Union needs to stop. EU citizens and NGOs must be able to hold the European Union accountable, when their decisions harm the environment and the climate, as civil society can hold Member States accountable in environmental matters.\u201d\u00a0 Alistair McGlone further strongly underlined, that \u201cThe EU should champion accountability and the international rule of law to avoid damaging its reputation as a global leader in environmental forums<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A second panel discussion covered the interplay between public participation in environmental decision-making and environmental and climate litigation. Dr. Ma\u0161a Kovic\u030c Dine, Dr. Maria Alexandra de Sousa Arag\u00e3o\u00a0and Aljo\u0161a Petek, &#8211; put it this way: <strong>\u201cProper planning and approval procedures with early, inclusive and effective public participation on Member State and EU level can prevent lengthy and expensive legal disputes in courts. Active citizenship prevents long-term financial costs by environmental degradation.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>All panellists agreed, that the current participation formats do not meet the needs of the younger generation, which is heavily engaged in climate protection and sustainable development.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4>Presentations:<br \/>\n&#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/EU-AarKo_5AarhusWorkshop-1.pdf\">Human Rights, European &amp; National Climate Laws and the Importance of the Aarhus Convention (PDF)<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SSV_Environmental-NGO-perspective-on-Slovenian-presidency-1.pdf\">&#8211; Slovenian environmental NGO\u2019s perspective on Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union regarding environmental matters<\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>Press Release:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/210901_PR-EU-Aarko.pdf\">How the European Union violates international environmental law since two decades<\/a><\/h4>\n<h4>NGOs that organised the workshop:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\">UfU \u2013 the Independent Institute for Environmental Issues<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li>PIC \u2013 the legal centre for the protection of human rights and the environment,<\/li>\n<li>IPoP &#8211; The Institute for Spatial Policies<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.umanotera.org\/\">Umanotera<\/a> \u2013 the Slovenian Foundation for Sustainable Development<\/li>\n<li>Centre for International and Business Law (CIEL)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>About the workshops:<\/h4>\n<p>A total of five online Aarhus Workshops were organised by UfU in 2020 and 2021. On 11 May 2020, 30. June 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/aarhus-workshop-on-access-to-justice-at-eu-level\/\">17 November 2020<\/a> and on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/fourth-aarhus-workshop\/\">24 March 2021<\/a> interested participants from Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Slovenia took part in the digital Workshops. A joint position paper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Aarhus_Trio_Declaration_A2J_EU.pdf\">\u201cGerman Portuguese Slovenian Civil Society Declaration on Access to Justice for Citizens &amp; NGOs at European Union Level<\/a>\u201c was published. UfU thanks all who contributed to the five Aarhus Workshops. All persons involved made this series of events a success.<\/p>\n<p>All Aarhus Workshops are part of the project <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/projekt\/eu-aarko\/\">\u201cEuropean Implementation of the Aarhus Convention in the Digital Age (EU-AarKo)\u201d<\/a> of the Independent Institute for Environmental Issues \u00ad UfU e.V. This project is financially supported by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umweltbundesamt.de\/en\">German Environment Agency (UBA)<\/a> and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety within the framework of the sponsorship of environmental associations.<\/p>\n<p>For any questions around the Fifth Aarhus Workshop, please contact Kathleen Pauleweit (UfU) <a href=\"mailto:kathleen.pauleweit@ufu.de\">kathleen.pauleweit@ufu.de<\/a> or Aljo\u0161a Petek (PIC) <a href=\"mailto:aljosa.petek@pic.si\">aljosa.petek@pic.si<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>More information on environmental democracy on European Union level can be found here (German): <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aarhus-konvention.de\/\">http:\/\/www.aarhus-konvention.de\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For more information about the EU-AarKo project and its background, click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/projekt\/eu-aarko\/\">here<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fifth Aarhus Workshop &#8211; discussing human rights, climate laws and the role of the European Union<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":12728,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-unkategorisiert"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufu.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}