FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2018
GENEVA — Today, responding to concerns regarding the protection of civil and political rights during the upcoming UN Climate Conference (COP-24) in Katowice, a UN Body charged with facilitating implementation of the Aarhus Convention on Environmental Democracy called on the UNFCCC Secretariat and on the Polish Government to guarantee the right to public participation during COP-24.
COP-24 will take place this December in Katowice, Poland. At the conference, States plan to adopt a set of guidelines for implementing the Paris Agreement.
In anticipation of the conference, on January 10, the Polish parliament adopted a bill regarding matters associated with COP-24. Civil society organizations (NGOs) have expressed particular concern about two of the bill’s provisions: The first prohibits any spontaneous demonstration in Katowice prior to and during COP-24. The other grants new powers to the Polish police to collect information about the COP-24 participants without their knowledge, including in cooperation with other countries’ law enforcement authorities.
According to a letter signed by eight NGOs, these provisions appear to contradict the international obligations of Poland. In particular, they expressed concern about its compatibility with the UN Aarhus Convention, a legally binding instrument signed by 47 European and Central-Asian States to promote access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters.
“Environmental negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations must uphold the principles of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, rather than being used to curtail individual freedoms and undermine civil and political rights,” says Sébastien Duyck, Senior Attorney with the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). “The Polish bill is not only dangerous for the legitimacy of the UN climate negotiations, but it also sends a very disturbing message at a time when civil society organizations and community leaders are criminalized or targeted in many parts of the world for their political engagement.”
In February, several NGOs urged the representatives of seven States designated to facilitate the implementation of the Aarhus Convention to remind Poland of its legal obligations with respect to public participation in environmental decision-making.
Having reviewed the information sent by NGOs last month, the representatives composing the Bureau to the Aarhus Convention issued two letters today to share these concerns with the Polish government and with the UN Climate Change Secretariat. In these letters, they seek clarification from Poland regarding the compatibility of the bill with its legal obligations under the Aarhus Convention and offer technical support to ensure that the principles of public participation are fully respected in conjunction with COP-24.
“We welcome the initiative of the members of the Bureau to the Aarhus Convention: it is critical at this early stage in the planning of COP-24 that other governments and UN agencies remind Poland of the importance of effective public participation for the legitimacy and ambition of the decisions that will be adopted in Katowice,” comments Duyck.
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