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Environmental Democracy and the Horizontality of International Law: The Mediterranean Accession to the Aarhus Convention

Environmental Democracy and the Horizontality of International Law: The Mediterranean Accession to the Aarhus Convention

Author: Evangelos Raftopoulos
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 9781035339303
Published In: November 2025
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Description
Contents

Details

This timely and forward-looking book explores how environmental democracy can be advanced globally through wider accession to the Aarhus Convention (AC), with a particular focus on the Mediterranean region. Drawing on a foundational, internationally authorized study by the author and the MEPIELAN team, Evangelos Raftopoulos presents an innovative legal and policy framework for participatory environmental governance, grounded in the horizontality of international law and the relational nature of treaties.

The book highlights the universality of the AC, examining its architecture, governance, and benefits. On the path toward a comprehensive agenda for the entry of non-UNECE Mediterranean countries into the AC, Raftopoulos proposes a structured and creative multilateral Pre-Accession/Preliminary Negotiation Phase to facilitate their effective integration, providing a new avenue for collaborative engagement and strategic diplomacy.

Emphasizing the transformative potential of the AC for the acceding countries, Raftopoulos explores theoretical and practical linkages between the Convention and global environmental, trade, economic, and technological regimes, including human rights. He offers a systematic vision for participatory governance and international accountability.

Integrating international law, diplomacy, environmental governance, and sustainable development, this book is essential reading for scholars, policymakers, legal practitioners, institutions, and civil society working across environmental law, international relations, trade policy, and global sustainability.

Introduction

Evangelos Raftopoulos

PART I FUNCTIONAL CONTEXTUALIZATION, ARCHITECTURE AND GOVERNANCE ENGINEERING OF THE AARHUS CONVENTION REGIME

The emerging universality of environmental democracy

Elli Louka

Architecture and governance of the Aarhus Convention and benefits of accession

Elli Louka

PART II INTERLINKAGES AND COMPLEMENTARITIES OF THE AARHUS CONVENTION REGIME WITH INTERNATIONAL STUCTURES AND PROCESSES: “BIOS THEORETIKOS” (THEORETICAL LIFE)

The normative function of the Aarhus Convention’s interlinkages with international structures and processes: scope, operations, and perspectives (general analysis)

Evangelos Raftopoulos

The normative function of the Aarhus Convention’s interlinkages with international structures and processes: specific applications (focused perspectives)

Evangelos Raftopoulos and Georgios Raftopoulos

Complementary interlinkages: attaining sustainable development goals through the implementation of the Aarhus Conventional regime

Evangelos Raftopoulos

PART III PARTICIATORY GOVERNANCE IN DECISION-MAKING AND MULTILATERALISM IN NEGOTIATING ACCESSION TO THE AARHUS CIONVENTION

Unlocking the Aarhus Convention decision-making and negotiating processes to advance participatory environmental governance

Evangelos Raftopoulos

Negotiating creatively the accession to the Aarhus Convention

Evangelos Raftopoulos

Recommendations and conclusions

Evangelos Raftopoulos and Elli Louka

Bibliography