Environmentalists have a new defender. On June 23, 2022, in an extraordinary session, the Parties to the Aarhus Convention elected the world's Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders, the French human rights activist Michel Forst.
Aarhus Convention National Coordinator Mari Chakryan noted, “Unlike current environmental advocacy initiatives that seek to publicize the issue through press releases and announcements, the Aarhus Convention's rapid response mechanism has a legal basis and does not require domestic remedies to be exhausted first. Any member of the public, any Party to the Aarhus Convention or the Secretariat may submit a complaint to the Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders.
July 25, 2022 at 14:25