Environmental Law

PhD

Environmental Law

PhD

Public Participation in Environmental Law: Does the Aarhus convention alongside the way it has been implemented ensure environmental justice for all?

Public Participation in Environmental Law: Does the Aarhus convention alongside the way it has been implemented ensure environmental justice for all?

Introduction

Environmental justice can mean two things. In a broad sense it means ensuring that everyone has an equal right to a clean and healthy environment regardless of his or her means, where they live or their background. Environmental justice also means being able to secure access to the law in resolving environmental concerns.

The Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) was set up by the UNECE in 1998 and was established to resolve some of the conflict which had arisen as a result of the nature of environmental law. The convention was crucial to the development of environmental law, which seeks to provide global environmental and ecological justice but which does not 'respect political boundaries'. This fact has led to some contentiousness in terms of individual countries' sovereignty and right with regards to their environment, and subsequently the Aarhus convention was established with the purpose of combating this tension. With a firmly established understanding of environmental law and of its resulting contentious issues, it will then be possible to decipher, in relation to this background, whether or not the Aarhus convention is able to provide environmental justice for all.

Having completed a thorough literature review and analysis of the content of the Aarhus Convention, it will then be necessary to tackle the second key point which is addressed in the question; that is, whether it ensures justice for all. The term 'justice' is one which is used frequently in modern society and subsequently, its meaning seems to be already well established in the public's mind. However, it is necessary when writing an academic essay like this, to define any abstract terms, particularly when its semantic meaning is so integral to the review and analysis of the convention's effectiveness. Once a clear meaning is classified, it will then be possible to ascertain whether or not the Aarhus convention introduces what fits in with this mould of justice. However, the act of deciphering whether an agreement has been successful or not in ensuring justice cannot be effectively carried out through academic or theoretical study alone. These elements are, indeed necessary in order to establish a crucial firm understanding of the abstract context which surrounds the issues, however, it is essential to examine primary case study as well. By casting a critical eye over particular case studies which apply to the Aarhus convention, one is provided with a solid and practical insight into the consequences of the international agreement. This is tangible evidence of whether or not justice has been carried out and brought to members of the public in a particular situation. By comparing a number of contrast cases, it will be possible to note the effectiveness and justness ...