Conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Aarhus Convention
脕ine Ryall (School of Law, UCC and Vice-Chair of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee) presented a paper at a conference organised by the in Dublin on 22 November 2018 to mark the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the (Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters).
Using the Aarhus Convention as a case study, 脕ine鈥檚 paper examined the intersection between Irish law and international environmental law. The paper also highlighted recent developments at national and international level concerning the right to a healthy environment.
Key themes in the paper were: the significant challenges that arise in practice for national legislatures when implementing international (environmental) law; the risk of fragmentation of legal principle when a number of different legal venues are tasked with interpreting and applying the Aarhus Convention in practice (i.e. the , the Court of Justice of the European Union and the national courts); and the fundamental importance of the right to a healthy environment in the context of the enormous societal challenges posed by climate change.
The conference was chaired by Mr Justice Robert Haughton, High Court of Ireland. The contributors were: Jonas Ebbesson, Chair of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee; Dr Andrew Jackson Sutherland School of Law, UCD; and Mr Peter Tyndall, Commissioner for Environmental Information.