COMMUNITY-BASED campaign groups have called on the Government to ratify a United Nations convention on public access to information, participation and justice in environmental decision-making.
Ireland is one of the few countries in Europe that has not yet ratified the Aarhus convention, which was adopted in 1998. Former minister for the environment John Gormley pledged to do so, but left office before he could fulfil the promise.
At the first All-Ireland Community Campaigns Gathering in Dublin at the weekend, it was claimed that communities from Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, to Rossport, Co Mayo, would have been “spared a decade of distress” if Aarhus had been transposed into Irish law.
Mamie Bowen, of the Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (Chase), said: “Instead of signing international conventions such as Aarhus, the Irish Government is busy signing licences to allow private corporations impose dangerous projects on communities.”
She cited the decision by Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan last Friday to approve a foreshore licence application by Shell EP Ireland for the Corrib gas pipeline in northwest Mayo – despite concerns locally about safety and other issues.
“When Chase first took a legal action [against plans by Indaver Ireland for a hazardous waste incinerator in Ringaskiddy] 11 residents risked losing their homes in order to fund the legal challenge. The Aarhus convention would have protected them from this risk.”
The weekend gathering was attended by activists involved in campaigns from Cork, Derry, Donegal, Dublin, Kerry, Limerick, Mayo and Tyrone. Its aim was to learn from each other’s experiences, find common cause “and plan how to work together to win”.
One of the organisers, Jerrieann Sullivan, said: “It was inspiring to see campaigners from all over Ireland finding common experience in their struggle against corrupt, profit-oriented projects that threaten the health, safety and environment of affected communities.”
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label aarhus convention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aarhus convention. Show all posts
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Monday, 24 January 2011
Environment and human rights code to be ratified soon, says Gormley
THE GOVERNMENT is due to ratify a key international convention linking environmental and human rights which had been promised by the Green Party over three years ago.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley expects to secure ratification of the Aarhus Convention “very shortly” which would allow for the public right to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice on environmental matters.
Ireland signed the convention on June 25th, 1998, but is the only EU state still to ratify it.
The convention, named after the Danish city of Aarhus, has been described by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan as “the most ambitious venture in the area of environmental democracy so far undertaken under the auspices of the UN”.
Failure to ratify its provisions has hindered Government attempts to handle the Corrib gas project in a democratic manner, according to Sister Majella McCarron of the Table human rights group.
In a recent Table report she said if the convention was fully implemented, people would not have to protest and risk arrest to highlight a lack of information on authorisations for various works.
Friends of Irish Environment (FIE) spokesman Tony Lowes said he had no doubt that the convention had been a major priority of the Green Party since entering the Government with Fianna Fáil in 2007.
He said the fact that it had taken over three years to ratify “shows the degree to which civil servants will frustrate the green message”.
Mr Gormley’s department was obliged to consult in detail with every other department, and Mr Lowes believes there was an attempt to stall the ratification procedure at every stage.
“It is unfair to blame John Gormley for this one, though I also personally believe it will not be ratified before the next government is formed.”
Mr Gormley has said “ratification of the convention is a matter of the highest priority, and my department is working closely with the Office of the Attorney General in order to finalise this process”.
His department has said that progress was “closely aligned with work at EU level” on adopting two directives related to public access to environmental information and public participation in “certain environmental decision-making procedures”.
It said that several new pieces of legislation were also necessary to transpose the Public Participation Directive and these “have been completed over a number of years”.
“The judgment of the European Court of Justice against Ireland in case C427/07, concerning non-notification of the Public Participation Directive, also necessitated additional legislative amendments which have now been finalised and signed into law,” the department said.
These included section 33 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010, and a number of other regulations.
The department said the planning Act provision aimed to ensure that access to justice must not be “prohibitively expensive”.
Relevant public bodies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, will be obliged to ensure under statute that practical information is made available to the public in relation to certain consents, such as integrated pollution prevention control licences.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Minister for the Environment John Gormley expects to secure ratification of the Aarhus Convention “very shortly” which would allow for the public right to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice on environmental matters.
Ireland signed the convention on June 25th, 1998, but is the only EU state still to ratify it.
The convention, named after the Danish city of Aarhus, has been described by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan as “the most ambitious venture in the area of environmental democracy so far undertaken under the auspices of the UN”.
Failure to ratify its provisions has hindered Government attempts to handle the Corrib gas project in a democratic manner, according to Sister Majella McCarron of the Table human rights group.
In a recent Table report she said if the convention was fully implemented, people would not have to protest and risk arrest to highlight a lack of information on authorisations for various works.
Friends of Irish Environment (FIE) spokesman Tony Lowes said he had no doubt that the convention had been a major priority of the Green Party since entering the Government with Fianna Fáil in 2007.
He said the fact that it had taken over three years to ratify “shows the degree to which civil servants will frustrate the green message”.
Mr Gormley’s department was obliged to consult in detail with every other department, and Mr Lowes believes there was an attempt to stall the ratification procedure at every stage.
“It is unfair to blame John Gormley for this one, though I also personally believe it will not be ratified before the next government is formed.”
Mr Gormley has said “ratification of the convention is a matter of the highest priority, and my department is working closely with the Office of the Attorney General in order to finalise this process”.
His department has said that progress was “closely aligned with work at EU level” on adopting two directives related to public access to environmental information and public participation in “certain environmental decision-making procedures”.
It said that several new pieces of legislation were also necessary to transpose the Public Participation Directive and these “have been completed over a number of years”.
“The judgment of the European Court of Justice against Ireland in case C427/07, concerning non-notification of the Public Participation Directive, also necessitated additional legislative amendments which have now been finalised and signed into law,” the department said.
These included section 33 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010, and a number of other regulations.
The department said the planning Act provision aimed to ensure that access to justice must not be “prohibitively expensive”.
Relevant public bodies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, will be obliged to ensure under statute that practical information is made available to the public in relation to certain consents, such as integrated pollution prevention control licences.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 22 January 2007
IRELAND LAST EU STATE NOT TO RATIFY AARHUS CONVENTION
As of 15 January, Ireland has become the only EU state not to ratify the Aarhus Convention.
The Aarhus convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters is the world's most far-reaching treaty on environmental rights.
It seeks to promote greater transparency and accountability among government bodies by
a. guaranteeing public rights of access to environmental information
b. providing for public involvement in environmental decision-making
c. requiring the establishment of procedures enabling the public to challenge environmental decisions.
It creates a means by which citizens from across the entire region can enforce their rights to protect and enhance the environment.
The Convention was adopted in Aarhus, Denmark, in June 1998 and signed by 39 European and Central Asian countries and the European Community. It entered into force in October 2001. Its Parties now include most of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia and nearly all EU member States.
Ireland is now the sole European Union country that has not ratified the Convention.
The two relevant EU Directives have also not been fully implemented by Ireland.
A spokesman commented that 'eastern European countries with no democratic tradition have embraced environmental justice more readily than Ireland.'
The Aarhus convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters is the world's most far-reaching treaty on environmental rights.
It seeks to promote greater transparency and accountability among government bodies by
a. guaranteeing public rights of access to environmental information
b. providing for public involvement in environmental decision-making
c. requiring the establishment of procedures enabling the public to challenge environmental decisions.
It creates a means by which citizens from across the entire region can enforce their rights to protect and enhance the environment.
The Convention was adopted in Aarhus, Denmark, in June 1998 and signed by 39 European and Central Asian countries and the European Community. It entered into force in October 2001. Its Parties now include most of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia and nearly all EU member States.
Ireland is now the sole European Union country that has not ratified the Convention.
The two relevant EU Directives have also not been fully implemented by Ireland.
A spokesman commented that 'eastern European countries with no democratic tradition have embraced environmental justice more readily than Ireland.'
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