HI HR149

Hawaii House of Representatives engages, endorses, accepts, and adopts the Aarhus Convention on access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters.

Aarhus Convention implementation includes six core components: access to environmental information, collection and dissemination of environmental information, public participation in decisions on specific activities, public participation in environmental plans and policies, public participation in preparation of environmental regulations, and access to justice.

Resolution requests Congress to embrace the Aarhus Convention and make environmental protection and environmental policy decision-making the centerpiece of national debate and practice.

Certified copies of the resolution are to be transmitted to the President, Congress leadership, Hawaii's congressional delegation, Governor, county mayors, UN Secretary General, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Hawaii's Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission.

Resolution recognizes the Aarhus Convention as an important instrument for achieving goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement and the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, while promoting transparency, public awareness, and participation in environmental decision-making in Hawaii.