International Environmental Politics and the Aarhus Convention

The Aarhus Convention, for some, is a momentous breakthrough in international environmental politics (IEP). Safeguarding environmental information access, participation and justice, it may help revolutionise the way IEP is practised and understood. Despite this, the Convention remains relatively undiscovered. This is the first book to gauge Aarhus' true impact on IEP. Offering a long overdue, extensive account of the Convention, the book is animated by an English School narrative. It unravels the harmony and discord between Aarhus' rationales and realities, and uses this innovative treaty as a test for exploring opportunities for cosmopolitan and communitarian progress in a greener international society.

The book offers comprehensive coverage of the Convention; assesses it against a suite of criteria that characterise more orthodox environmental regimes; and explores the Convention's potentially ground-breaking transition from government machineries to complex architectures of governance. Aarhus' democratising potential is critically scrutinised, as is the compliance mechanism. Whilst the Convention's revolutionary aspirations are not always echoed by its evolutionary achievements, the conventional wisdom of IEP is undoubtedly challenged and invigorated by an agreement that simply refuses to take the sanctity of sovereignty as a perennial 'given'.

International Environmental Politics and the Aarhus Convention should be of interest to students and researchers in the fields of international relations, environmental politics, policy, governance, management and law.