The UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention observed that in many countries, the State response to peaceful environmental protest is increasingly to repress, rather than to enable and protect, those seeking to speak up for the environment.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the Aarhus Convention) is the first rapid response mechanism to protect environmental defenders established within a legally-binding international framework. Article 3(8) of the Aarhus Convention imposes a legally-binding obligation on countries that are Parties to the Convention (Aarhus Parties) to ensure that persons exercising their rights under the Convention are not penalized, persecuted or harassed for doing so. In October 2021, alarmed by the serious situation faced by environmental defenders, including threats, violence, intimidation, surveillance, detention and even killings, the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention adopted, by consensus, Decision VII/9 establishing a rapid response mechanism in the form of a Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders, whose role is to take measures to protect environmental defenders experiencing (or at imminent threat of experiencing) persecution, penalization or harassment. Any member of the public seeking to protect the right to live in an environment adequate to their health and well-being is an environmental defender. In June 2022, the Meeting of the Parties, by consensus, elected Michel Forst as the first UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention. Peaceful environmental protest – protected by article 3(8) of the Aarhus Convention The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee has made clear that peaceful environmental protest is a legitimate exercise of the public’s right to participate in decision-making as recognized in article 1 of the Convention. The Compliance Committee has also held that persecuting, penalizing or harassing members of the public seeking to exercise this right violates article 3(8) of the Convention.

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Michel Forst UN Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders under the Aarhus Convention – letter

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