Participants observed that SDG target 16.3 is critical in safeguarding the rule of law and access to justice and recognized the role of courts in achieving sustainability.
Participants also discussed the role of the Aarhus Convention in the context of environmental rights and sustainable development.
22 April 2019: The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) hosted a colloquium on the SDGs and environmental rule of law in the pan-European region. The event aimed to strengthen judiciary capacity to handle cases related to the environment and to apply environmental rights, in support of SDG target 16.3 on promoting the role of law at national and international levels and ensuring access to justice.
The event titled, ‘SDG16: Role of Judiciary in Promoting the Rule of Law in Environmental Matters,’ brought together representatives from the judiciary, judicial training institutions and other experts from 30 countries. The event convened from 27-28 February 2019, back-to-back with the meeting of the Aarhus Convention’s Task Force on Access to Justice.
The colloquium took stock of progress on SDG target 16.3. In an opening address, the President of the EU Forum of Judges for the Environment and the Chair of the Colloquium, Justice Luc Lavrysen, observed that SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and SDG target 16.3 are critical in safeguarding the rule of law and access to justice and recognized the role of courts in achieving sustainability. The IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law Chair, Antonio Benjamin, highlighted the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment’s (GJIE) role as a platform for judicial capacity building to improve the administration and resolution of cases related to the environment.
Participants discussed the role of the Aarhus Convention in the context of environmental rights and sustainable developments. Participants also discussed linkages between the Aarhus Convention and other UNECE Multilateral Environmental Agreements, including the Air, Water and Industrial Accidents Conventions, the Protocol on Water and Health and the SEA Protocol. They recognized linkages between enforcing environmental law and sustainable development across these Conventions and Protocols.
UNECE organized the event in cooperation with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Office of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, Global Judicial Institute on the Environment, EU Forum of Judges for the Environment and Association of European Administrative Judges. The meeting also provided input to the 2019 Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (RFSD) for Europe and its roundtable on ‘Empowering People to Protect the Planet-the Environmental Dimension of SDG 16’.
SDG 16 is one of five SDGs that will be reviewed at the July 2019 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). [UNECE Press Release] [IUCN Press Release] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on 2019 RFSD for Europe] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on SDG 16 Roundtable]