UNECE Aarhus Clearinghouse

Scotland’s top prosecutor has thrown his weight behind the creation of a specialist environmental court. The Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC said the measure would send a “huge and powerful message” to the public of the seriousness with which this area of criminal law is taken.

On 4 December, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon informally presented an advance, unedited version of his synthesis report on the post-2015 development agenda to UN Member States. "The Road to Dignity by 2030: Ending Poverty, Transforming All Lives and Protecting the Planet" outlines a vision for Member States to consider carrying forward in negotiations leading up to the UN Special Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2015 that will adopt the post-2015 development agenda. The advanced unedited version of the report is available here: http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/ Read the Secretary-General's statement about the report here: http://www.un.org/sg/statements/ Watch a video of the Secretary-General's briefing about the report here: http://webtv.un.org/watch/ban-ki-moon-on-synthesis-report-on-the-post-2015-development-agenda-general-assembly-69th-session-informal-plenary/3923593820001 Civil society: Please share your responses to the report The UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) and UN DESA Division for Sustainable Development (DESA-DSD) invite Major Groups and other civil society stakeholders to submit their official responses to the report to a central online repository via this online form: http://bit.ly/Submit-CSO-Response-SG-Synthesis Links to all submissions will be published live as they are received here: http://bit.ly/CSO-Responses-Received-SG-Synthesis UN-NGLS and DESA-DSD provide this mechanism to support review of these important perspectives by all stakeholders in preparation for the continued elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda, beginning with the 19-21 January negotiating session at UN Headquarters in New York. A preparatory forum for stakeholders will be conducted on 16 January by DESA-DSD and UN-NGLS at UN Headquarters. More information about this forum will be provided soon.

David Hart QC looks at why domestic Aarhus rules are not wide enough to comply with the Convention. Back to Aarhus and the constant problem we have in the UK making sure that the cost of planning and environmental litigation is not prohibitively expensive.

(Original article in Russian.) At the initiative of deputy Dastan Bekeshev, with the support of OSCE Centre in Bishkek on December 5 will be held a round table on the topic "Development of mechanisms for the implementation of the Aarhus Convention." This was reported in the press service of the Parliament.

The country’s air pollution levels underwent a dramatic drop between 2012 and 2013, the Environmental Protection Ministry reported on Tuesday. An examination of emissions data in the 2013 Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) indicated a sharp decrease in pollution levels, with reductions of up to 40 percent of certain contaminants, the ministry said.

The first in a series of lectures was held recently at the Harry C. Moore Library at The College of the Bahamas, where there was a lively discussion on the whole concept of freedom of information. To date, ineffective freedom of information legislation, limited access to environmental decisions and even less public participation in the decision-making process, has made the task of getting information regarding governmental decisions quite difficult.

A backlash surrounding a gold mine is placing the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development under scrutiny.

Plus encore que la question du comportement de la force publique lors des opérations de maintien de l'ordre, le drame de Sivens pose celle de la démocratie écologique et de son sous-développement.

A draft checklist of key measures required for ratifying and implementing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Article 23) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Aarhus Convention’s Almaty Amendment has been prepared pursuant to the conclusions by the Chair of the joint Aarhus Convention/CBD round table in October 2013. In this regard, we invite all interested governments and stakeholders to submit comments on the first draft checklist. Please note that comments should be submitted no later than 31 September 2014 to aarhus.survey@unece.org and to ulrika.nilsson@cbd.int. For more information, please visit the Portal on Public Awareness at http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/portal_art23/pa_main.shtml

(Original text in Russian) (Full article can be found on the website) Office of Tourism of Almaty violates the requirements of the Aarhus Convention by not providing complete information on public construction ski resort Kok Zhailau in the Ile-Alatau National Park; I'm sure human rights activist Sergei Solyanik. This opinion he tried to defend in court, but to no avail.

The OSCE is organizing a seminar-training in Kazakhstan on provisions of the Aarhus Convention in the light of transition of Kazakhstan to the "green economy" in the sector of water resources of North Kazakhstan.

On the Álftanes peninsula, a good ten kilometres from downtown Reykjavík, lies a unique lava field called Gálgahraun. The towns of Hafnarfjörður, Álftanes and Garðabær were all built around the 8,000-year-old lava, which is on the Nature Conservation Register and was immortalised on canvas by celebrated Icelandic artist Jóhannes S. Kjarval. Gálgahraun was widely considered to be one of the few spots of unspoilt nature left in the greater metropolitan area, but it isn’t any more, as a big highway that cuts the field in two is currently under construction.

(Original article in Spanish.) Ecologists in Action and Naturalist Association of Aragon (ANSAR) have warned that the new regulations of the Provincial Councils Planning has left "no consensus" and criticized that "does not include measures to avoid what happened in the years of speculation and corruption."

(Original article in Russian.) At the unique lake Bolduc in Postav area Orthodox community plans to build not only the church but also the courtyard with a children's camp, which implies a fixed infrastructure. Environmentalists believe that it can lead to the death of the lake, and a sharp deterioration of the entire surrounding ecosystem, which is already suffering greatly from the presence of seasonal campers. In addition, environmentalists say, the hydrological reserve should not be at construction sites.

(Original article in Russian.) "Save Our Kok Zhailau!" Under this slogan on Sunday gathered more than fifty concerned citizens in the tract Kok Zhailau where Almaty tourism management wants to build a ski resort. Officially, the construction has not yet been approved, but in fact a huge pit has already been dug.

(Full article available online via website subscription.) An action group is alleging that householders' health is being put at risk, says Mark Macaskill. The march of wind turbines across Scotland is set to be legally challenged on the grounds that Scottish ministers have failed to protect people who live in their shadow.

Par une décision du 16 juillet 2014, le Conseil d’Etat a rejeté la demande en annulation pour excès de pouvoir du décret du 26 novembre 2012, qui pose les prescriptions générales applicables aux centres VTHU (Véhicules terrestres hors d’usage) relevant du régime de l'enregistrement au titre de la législation des installations classées (ICPE). La demande émanait du CNPA (Conseil national des professions de l'automobile), qui faisait valoir que le texte contenait des dispositions "disproportionnées, redondantes, voire inapplicables" pour les sites de faible superficie.

(Original article in Spanish.) The institution submits "procedural and content" deficiencies in the resolution of the surveys, and reporting breaches with European directives and "displacement" of general interest for the benefit of multinational Repsol. The Cabildo of Fuerteventura has objected to the proposed resolution by the Ministry of Industry seeks to permanently authorize the execution of multinational Repsol oil exploration off the coast of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, rejecting the record by "procedural deficiencies and content ", pointing to" a shift in the public interest "to benefit the private interest of the multinational Repsol, thus claiming the suspension of the entire process.

(Original article in Spanish.) A WWF survey reveals that one year after the entry into force of European Regulation on trade in timber, some EU countries -including Spain- have not taken the necessary measures to prevent trade illegally sourced timber. The inactivity of these countries jeopardizes the efforts that are being made ​​by the EU to tackle the problem of illegal logging and associated trade.

(Full article available online with website registration.) Lithuanian Peasant and Greens Union (LVZS) resents the memorandum signed between the Ministry of Energy and the Japanese Hitachi corporation and is demanding to provide an alternative to the planned Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant project.