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CONVENTION ON ACCESS TO INFORMATION, PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION IN DECISION-MAKING AND ACCESS
TO JUSTICE IN ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS

The Parties to this Convention.
Recalling principle 1 of the Stockholm Declaration on the Human
Environment,

Recalling also principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development,

Recalling further General Assembly resolutions 37/7 of 28 October 1982
on the World Charter for Nature and 45/94 of 14 December 1990 on the need to
ensure a healthy environment for the well-being of individuals,

Recalling the European Charter on Environment and Health adopted at the
First European Conference on Environment and Health of the World Health
Organization in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, on 8 December 1989,

Affirming the need to protect, preserve and improve the state of the
environment and to ensure sustainable and environmentally sound development,

Recognizing that adequate protection of the environment is essential to
human well-being and the enjoyment of basic human rights, including the right
to life itself,

Recognizing also that every person has the right to live in an
environment adequate to his or her health and well-being, and the duty, both
individually and in association with others, to protect and improve the
environment for the benefit of present and future generations,

Considering that, to be able to assert this right and observe this duty,
citizens must have access to information, be entitled to participate in
decision-making and have access to justice in environmental matters, and
acknowledging in this regard that citizens may need assistance in order to
exercise their rights,

Recognizing that, in the field of the environment, improved access to
information and public participation in decision-making enhance the quality
and the implementation of decisions, contribute to public awareness of
environmental issues, give the public the opportunity to express its concerns
and enable public authorities to take due account of such concerns,

Aiming thereby to further the accountability of and transparency in
decision-making and to strengthen public support for decisions on the
environment,

Recognizing the desirability of transparency in all branches of
government and inviting legislative bodies to implement the principles of this
Convention in their proceedings,

Recognizing also that the public needs to be aware of the procedures for
participation in environmental decision-making, have free access to them and
know how to use them,