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Schwerpunkt: 20 Jahre Aarhus-Konvention ∙ Die Aarhus-Konvention in der behördlichen Praxis: Herausforderungen und Perspektiven

Ulrich Klein
Keywords: Aarhus-Konvention, Behörden, Vollzug


The Aarhus Convention aims to democratize environmental decision-making 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. Since its adoption 20 years ago, the Convention has led to a fundamental change in German environmental administration. This article identifies challenges for environmental agencies and outlines perspectives for better implementing the Convention. The main challenges are: extended responsibilities for authorities, greater complexity of environmental decisions, increased transparency, more external communication, stronger procedural requirements and legal protection, and the reduction of enforcement deficits. The success of the Aarhus Convention largely depends on high-capacity administration, which adapts its way of decision-making to these challenges. In addition, substantive environmental law is the foundation upon which the three pillars of the Aarhus Convention rest. Therefore, the article argues that legal instruments and high requirements of substantive environmental law are essential for environmental authorities to achieve effectively the objective of the Convention.

Dr. jur. Ulrich Klein, LL.M./Envir. (Auckland) ist Ministerialrat im rheinland-pfälzischen Ministerium für Umwelt, Energie, Ernährung und Forsten. Der Beitrag gibt seine persönliche Auffassung wieder und basiert auf einem Vortrag, den der Verfasser im Rahmen der IUTR-Tagung, 20 Jahre Aarhus-Konvention am 29.6.2018 in Berlin gehalten hat.

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