ConventiononAccesstoInformation,Public-unece.PDFVIP

CONVENTION ON ACCESS TO INFORMATION, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN DECISION-MAKING AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS done at Aarhus, Denmark, on 25 June 1998 The Parties to this Convention, Recalling principle l of the Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment, Recalling also principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Recalling further General Assembly resolutions 37/7 of 28 October 1982 on the World Charter for Nature and 45/94 of 14 December 1990 on the need to ensure a healthy environment for the well-being of individuals, Recalling the European Charter on Environment and Health adopted at the First European Conference on Environment and Health of the World Health Organization in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, on 8 December 1989, Affirming the need to protect, preserve and improve the state of the environment and to ensure sustainable and environmentally sound development, Recognizing that adequate protection of the environment is essential to human well-being and the enjoyment of basic human rights, including the right to life itself, Recognizing also that every person has the right to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being, and the duty, both individually and in association with others, to protect and improve the environment for the benefit of present and future generations, Considering that, to be able to assert this right and observe this duty, citizens must have access to information, be entitled to participate in decision-making and have access to justice in environmental matters, and acknowledging in this regard that citizens may need assistance in order to exercise their rights, Recognizing that, in the field of the environment, improved access to information and public participation in decision-making enhance the quality and the impleme