This timely and forward-looking book explores how environmental democracy can be advanced globally through wider accession to the Aarhus Convention (AC), with a particular focus on the Mediterranean region. Drawing on a foundational, internationally authorized study by the author and the MEPIELAN team, Evangelos Raftopoulos presents an innovative legal and policy framework for participatory environmental governance, grounded in the horizontality of international law and the relational nature of treaties.
The book highlights the universality of the AC, examining its architecture, governance, and benefits. On the path toward a comprehensive agenda for the entry of non-UNECE Mediterranean countries into the AC, Raftopoulos proposes a structured and creative multilateral Pre-Accession/Preliminary Negotiation Phase to facilitate their effective integration, providing a new avenue for collaborative engagement and strategic diplomacy.
Emphasizing the transformative potential of the AC for the acceding countries, Raftopoulos explores theoretical and practical linkages between the Convention and global environmental, trade, economic, and technological regimes, including human rights. He offers a systematic vision for participatory governance and international accountability.
Integrating international law, diplomacy, environmental governance, and sustainable development, this book is essential reading for scholars, policymakers, legal practitioners, institutions, and civil society working across environmental law, international relations, trade policy, and global sustainability.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
'Accession to the Aarhus Convention by non-UNECE States is of great significance, as the Convention has from its inception provided a legal basis for such extension. Yet the issue has remained under-explored, both in its practicalities and theoretical implications. This volume, principally authored and expertly edited by Professor Raftopoulos, addresses both aspects, focusing on States of the Mediterranean region. But it also offers a much wider perspective on participatory environmental governance - introducing an original contribution to the horizontal dimension of international law and the normative interlinking of treaties- at a time when the need for it could not be more pressing.' -- Jorge E. Vinuales, University of Cambridge, UK 'Evangelos Raftopoulos offers a compelling and authoritative legal analysis of how the UNECE Aarhus Convention can be coupled with international environmental agreements and processes - including the Mediterranean Action Plan - to promote transparency and public participation across all governance levels in the Mediterranean region, with particular significance for the acceding Mediterranean countries.' -- Peter M. Haas, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Maße
Höhe: 234 mm
Breite: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0353-3930-3 (9781035339303)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Evangelos Raftopoulos, Professor Emeritus of International Law and International Environmental Law, Panteion University and Director, Mediterranean Programme for International Environmental Law and Negotiation, Greece
Contents
Introduction
Evangelos Raftopoulos
PART I FUNCTIONAL CONTEXTUALIZATION, ARCHITECTURE AND GOVERNANCE ENGINEERING OF THE AARHUS CONVENTION REGIME
1 The emerging universality of environmental democracy
Elli Louka
2 Architecture and governance of the Aarhus Convention and benefits of accession
Elli Louka
PART II INTERLINKAGES AND COMPLEMENTARITIES OF THE AARHUS CONVENTION REGIME WITH INTERNATIONAL STUCTURES AND PROCESSES: "BIOS THEORETIKOS" (THEORETICAL LIFE)
3 The normative function of the Aarhus Convention's interlinkages with international structures and processes: scope, operations, and perspectives (general analysis)
Evangelos Raftopoulos
4 The normative function of the Aarhus Convention's interlinkages with international structures and processes: specific applications (focused perspectives)
Evangelos Raftopoulos and Georgios Raftopoulos
5 Complementary interlinkages: attaining sustainable development goals through the implementation of the Aarhus Conventional regime
Evangelos Raftopoulos
PART III Participatory governance in decision-making and multilateralism in negotiating accession to the Aarhus Convention
6 Unlocking the Aarhus Convention decision-making and negotiating processes to advance participatory environmental governance
Evangelos Raftopoulos
7 Negotiating creatively the accession to the Aarhus Convention
Evangelos Raftopoulos
8 Recommendations and conclusions
Evangelos Raftopoulos and Elli Louka
Bibliography
