The UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters was adopted on 25 June 1998 in Aarhus, Denmark, at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the “Environment for Europe” process, under the aegis of UNECE. It entered into force on 30 October 2001 and currently has 44 parties including the European Union.

The Aarhus Convention has the objective of guaranteeing the rights of access to information (first pillar), public participation in decision-making (second pillar), and access to justice (third pillar) in environmental matters in order to contribute to the protection of the right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being (Article 1). Under the Convention, parties are required, inter alia, to promote the application of the Aarhus principles in international environmental decision-making processes and within international organizations in matters related to the environment (Article 3(7)). The MOP is tasked to keep under continuous review the implementation of the Convention on the basis of regular reporting by the Parties, including by reviewing the policies for, and legal and methodological approaches to, access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters (Article 10). Membership to the Convention is open to any member of UNECE (Article 19(2) and any member of the United Nations upon approval by the MOP (Article 19(3)).

MOP 1: The first session of the MOP took place in Lucca, Italy, from 21-23 October 2002. The MOP adopted: the Lucca Declaration; Guidelines on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice with respect to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs); the Rules of Procedure; and a decision mandating the preparation of a legally binding instrument in the form of a protocol on pollutant release and transfer registers. MOP 1 also set up: a Working Group of the Parties to oversee the implementation of the Convention work programme, prepare the sessions of the MOP, and oversee the activities of subsidiary bodies established by the MOP; the Task Force on Access to Justice; the Task Force on Electronic Information Tools; and the Task Force on Financial Arrangements. MOP 1 further established the Compliance Committee in accordance with Aarhus Convention Article 15, determining its structure, functions and procedures.

Ex MOP: An extraordinary session of the MOP was held on 21 May 2003 in Kiev, Ukraine, in the framework of the fifth “Environment for Europe” Ministerial Conference. The ExMOP adopted the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers.

MOP 2: The second session of the MOP took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from 25-27 May 2005. The Meeting adopted an amendment to the Convention setting out more precise provisions on public participation in decision-making on the deliberate release of GMOs, which will enter into force once ratified by at least three-quarters of the Parties that were parties at the time of the adoption of the amendment. The Meeting also adopted the Almaty Guidelines on Promoting the Application of the Principles of the Aarhus Convention in International Forums, several decisions on compliance, and the Almaty Declaration. MOP 2 established a Task Force on Public Participation in International Forums.

MOP 3: The third session of the Meeting of the Parties was held in Riga, Latvia, from 11-13 June 2008. The Meeting adopted the Riga Declaration and a strategic plan for the Convention, decided on how to calculate the number of parties required for an amendment to enter into force, and renewed the mandates of Task Forces dealing with access to justice, electronic information tools and public participation in international forums.

Ex MOP2: An extraordinary session of the MOP was held from 19-22 April 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland. The MOP established a Task Force on Public Participation in Decision-making and agreed to mandate the Working Group of the Parties to consider the procedure for decision-making regarding accession to the Convention by non-ECE States. The Meeting further agreed to: provide a clear mandate to produce the reports and findings of the Compliance Committee as official documents so that they would be available in the three official languages; and mandate the Working Group to consider the option of discontinuing the practice of producing the national implementation reports in the three official languages.