Environmental democracy is not only about protecting the environment. It is about ensuring that environmental decisions are transparent, participatory and accountable.
Environmental democracy refers to the set of rights, principles and mechanisms that enable individuals and communities to take part in environmental governance. It is based on the idea that environmental decisions should not be taken solely by governments or experts, but should involve citizens, civil society organisations and affected communities.
At its core, environmental democracy is founded on three interconnected procedural rights: access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters. Together, these rights help ensure transparency, accountability and effective environmental protection.
Over the last decades, environmental democracy has become a key concept in international and European environmental law. From Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration to the Aarhus Convention and the European Climate Law, participation and public engagement are increasingly recognised as essential components of sustainable governance.
Today, environmental democracy plays a crucial role in addressing major challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation and the transition towards climate neutrality. By empowering citizens and communities, it contributes not only to better environmental outcomes but also to stronger democratic institutions.
Key Legal Instruments
Environmental democracy has progressively developed through international and European legal instruments that recognise the importance of transparency, participation and accountability in environmental governance.
International Law
The foundations of environmental democracy are commonly traced back to Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro.
Environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including information on hazardous materials and activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making information widely available. Effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided.
Adopted under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Aarhus Convention is widely regarded as the cornerstone of environmental democracy.
Article 1 provides:
In order to contribute to the protection of the right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being, each Party shall guarantee the rights of access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.
The Convention guarantees three procedural rights:
- access to environmental information;
- public participation in environmental decision-making;
- access to justice in environmental matters.
The Escazú Agreement extends the principles of environmental democracy to Latin America and the Caribbean and introduces specific protections for environmental human rights defenders.
Article 1 states that the objective of the Agreement is:
The objective of the present Agreement is to guarantee the full and effective implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean of the rights of access to environmental information, public participation in the environmental decision-making process and access to justice in environmental matters, and the creation and strengthening of capacities and cooperation, contributing to the protection of the right of every person of present and future generations to live in a healthy environment and to sustainable development.
European Union Law
The European Climate Law explicitly recognises the democratic dimension of climate governance.
Recital 38 provides:
As citizens and communities have a powerful role to play in driving the transformation towards climate neutrality forward, strong public and social engagement on climate action should be both encouraged and facilitated at all levels, including at national, regional and local level in an inclusive and accessible process. The Commission should therefore engage with all parts of society, including stakeholders representing different sectors of the economy, to enable and empower them to take action towards a climate-neutral and climate-resilient society, including through the European Climate Pact.
Article 9 on « Public Participation » provides:
1. The Commission shall engage with all parts of society to enable and empower them to take action towards a just and socially fair transition to a climate-neutral and climate-resilient society. The Commission shall facilitate an inclusive and accessible process at all levels, including at national, regional and local level and with social partners, academia, the business community, citizens and civil society, for the exchange of best practice and to identify actions to contribute to the achievement of the objectives of this Regulation. The Commission may also draw on the public consultations and on the multilevel climate and energy dialogues as set up by Member States in accordance with Articles 10 and 11 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999.
2. The Commission shall use all appropriate instruments, including the European Climate Pact, to engage citizens, social partners and stakeholders, and foster dialogue and the diffusion of science-based information about climate change and its social and gender equality aspects.
The Regulation highlights the importance of citizen participation in achieving the Union’s climate-neutrality objectives.
The Aarhus Regulation incorporates the principles of the Aarhus Convention into the EU institutional framework.
It establishes rules concerning:
- public access to environmental information held by EU institutions;
- public participation in environmental plans and programmes;
- access to administrative and judicial review.
This Directive implements the first pillar of the Aarhus Convention within the European Union.
Its objective is:
(a) to guarantee the right of access to environmental information held by or for public authorities and to set out the basic terms and conditions of, and practical arrangements for, its exercise; and
(b) to ensure that, as a matter of course, environmental information is progressively made available and disseminated to the public in order to achieve the widest possible systematic availability and dissemination to the public of environmental information. To this end the use, in particular, of computer telecommunication and/or electronic technology, where available, shall be promoted.
The Directive also promotes the active dissemination of environmental information.
This Directive strengthens the participation rights of citizens and civil society organisations in environmental decision-making processes.
Article 2 provides:
[…] les États membres veillent à ce que:
a) le public soit informé, par des avis au public ou par d’autres moyens appropriés, tels que les moyens de communication électroniques lorsqu’ils sont disponibles, de toute proposition d’élaboration, de modification ou de réexamen de tels plans ou programmes, et à ce que les informations utiles concernant ces propositions soient mises à sa disposition, y compris, entre autres, les informations sur le droit de participer au processus décisionnel et sur l’autorité compétente à laquelle des observations ou des questions peuvent être soumises;
b) le public soit habilité à formuler des observations et des avis, lorsque toutes les options sont envisageables, avant l’adoption des décisions concernant les plans et programmes;
c) lors de l’adoption de ces décisions, il soit tenu dûment compte des résultats de la participation du public;
d) après examen des observations et des avis du public, les autorités compétentes fassent des efforts raisonnables pour informer le public des décisions prises et des raisons et considérations sur lesquelles elles sont fondées, y compris l’information relative au processus de participation du public.
Soft Law and Institutional Practice
In addition to legally binding instruments, environmental democracy has been promoted through a variety of soft law instruments, institutional mechanisms and participatory practices developed by international organisations and public authorities. These initiatives have contributed to the diffusion and implementation of the principles of access to information, public participation and access to justice beyond formal legal obligations.
The Guidelines for the Development of National Legislation on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters were adopted by the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2010.
The Bali Guidelines provide voluntary guidance to States on the implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration and encourage the development of national legal frameworks protecting procedural environmental rights.
Although non-binding, they have become an important international reference for legislators, public authorities and civil society organisations seeking to strengthen environmental governance and public participation.
Established under Article 15 of the Aarhus Convention, the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee is a non-confrontational, non-judicial and consultative review mechanism designed to facilitate and monitor compliance with the Convention.
One of its most innovative features is that members of the public, including non-governmental organisations, may submit communications concerning alleged failures by Parties to comply with the Convention.
Through its findings and recommendations, the Committee has played a significant role in clarifying the scope of procedural environmental rights and promoting their effective implementation across the Aarhus region.
- Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making
Environmental democracy is increasingly implemented through administrative practices that facilitate public engagement in environmental governance.
Examples include:
- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures;
- Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) procedures;
- public consultations on environmental legislation and policies;
- participatory planning processes at local, national and European levels.
These mechanisms seek to ensure that environmental decisions are informed by public input and that affected communities have meaningful opportunities to express their views before decisions are adopted.
- Citizens’ Assemblies and Deliberative Processes
Recent years have witnessed growing interest in deliberative democratic mechanisms, particularly in the fields of climate governance and sustainability transitions.
Citizens’ assemblies, climate assemblies and other deliberative forums aim to involve randomly selected citizens in discussions on complex environmental and climate-related issues. These initiatives are increasingly viewed as complementary tools that can strengthen democratic legitimacy, public trust and societal engagement in environmental policymaking.
The Environmental Democracy Index, developed by the World Resources Institute and the Access Initiative, assesses the extent to which national legal systems protect the rights of access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters.
The Index is based on indicators derived from internationally recognised standards, including the UNEP Bali Guidelines, and provides comparative data on the legal protection of environmental democracy across different jurisdictions.
Bibliography and Resources
Books, Articles and Book Chapters
Barritt, E. (2024). The Aarhus Convention and the Latent Right to a Healthy Environment. Journal of Environmental Law, 36(1), 67–84.
Bekhoven, J. van (2016). Public Participation as a General Principle in International Environmental Law: Its Current Status and Real Impact. National Taiwan University Law Review, 11(2), 219–271.
Brett, R. (2025). Fin de partie pour la démocratie environnementale ? Revue Juridique de l’Environnement, 50(3), 493–495.
Crespy-De Coninck, M., & Huten, N. (2025). Chronique « Démocratie environnementale ». Revue Juridique de l’Environnement, 50(1), 165–181.
Eliantonio, M., & Richelle, J. (2024). Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in the EU Legal Order: The “Sectoral” Turn in Legislation and Its Pitfalls. European Papers, 9(1), 261–274.
Fleury, M. (2024). Touchée, coulée. La démocratie environnementale à l’épreuve du FSRU. Revue Juridique de l’Environnement, 49(1), 19–30.
Ituarte-Lima, C., & Mares, R. (2024). Environmental Democracy: Examining the Interplay Between Escazú Agreement’s Innovations and EU Economic Law. Earth System Governance, 21.
Lee, M., & Armeni, C. (2025). Participation and Protest Across Civic Space: An Environmental Law Story. Transnational Environmental Law, 14(3), 582–605.
Mauerhofer, V. (2016). Public Participation in Environmental Matters: Compendium, Challenges and Chances Globally. Land Use Policy, 52, 481–491.
Pickering, J., Bäckstrand, K., & Schlosberg, D. (2020). Between Environmental and Ecological Democracy: Theory and Practice at the Democracy–Environment Nexus. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 22(1), 1–15.
Pickering, J., Hickmann, T., Bäckstrand, K., Kalfagianni, A., Bloomfield, M., Mert, A., Ransan-Cooper, H., & Lo, A. Y. (2022). Democratising Sustainability Transformations: Assessing the Transformative Potential of Democratic Practices in Environmental Governance. Earth System Governance, 11.
Roelens, C. (2022). Penser éducation au politique et questions environnementales dans la démocratie. Fondement d’un projet intellectuel et ressources de l’éducation informelle. Éducation et socialisation, 63.
Sharman, N. (2023). Objectives of Public Participation in International Environmental Decision-Making. International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 72(2), 333–360.
Sharman, N. (2025). Exporting Environmental Democracy to International Forums: Understanding the Role of the Aarhus Convention.
Struillou, J.-F., & Huten, N. (2017). Chronique – Démocratie environnementale. Revue Juridique de l’Environnement, 42(1), 111–141.
Struillou, J.-F., & Huten, N. (2020). Démocratie environnementale. Revue Juridique de l’Environnement, 45(1), 147–169.
Legal and Policy Resources
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. (1992). Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.
UNECE. (1998). Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention).
UNEP. (2010). Guidelines for the Development of National Legislation on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Bali Guidelines).
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). (2018). Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement).
Worker, J., & De Silva, L. (2015). The Environmental Democracy Index. World Resources Institute.