Hi, this is Michelle. The Aarhus Convention has been hailed as one of the world’s most ambitious environmental treaties.
As its state parties gathered in Geneva this week for what are typically uneventful quadrennial talks, clashes over EU and UK-led attempts to rein in the convention’s oversight mechanisms laid bare the increasingly fraught landscape of environmental activism. |
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EU delegates huddle to discuss their nomination for the Aarhus Convention's compliance committee, after the committee's chair threatened to resign if he was elected at the meeting of the parties in Geneva, 20 November 2025. (Geneva Solutions/Michelle Langrand)
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Tensions flared on all sides this week as states convened in Geneva under the Aarhus Convention, the 1998 treaty that guarantees citizens the right to information, public participation and justice in environmental matters. Held every four years, the meeting of the parties, which wrapped up on Thursday, was overshadowed by attempts by the European Union and the United Kingdom to reshape key oversight mechanisms, triggering outcry from campaigners, warnings from Switzerland and Norway and a near-rebellion from the convention’s own experts.
The 48-party agreement, covering most of Europe and Central Asia, faces mounting pressure amid a cash-strapped secretariat and a global landscape in which environmental defenders – including in western democracies – face tightening legal restrictions.
Read the full story on Geneva Solutions.
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Here's what else is happening
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👋Unicef says ‘Ciao Ginevra!’
Geneva, the longtime epicentre of humanitarian aid, peacemaking and diplomacy, is feeling the tremors of yet another wave of relocations and job cuts, from the UN children’s agency to the World Health Organization to Gavi.
Geneva Solutions (EN)
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💰Global Fund seeks $14bn at replenishment summit – with progress against HIV, TB and malaria at risk.
The health fund is holding its replenishment summit today in Johannesburg, co-hosted by South Africa with the United Kingdom. Only $4bn has been raised so far, and whether its biggest donor, the US, will pledge support is still an open question.
Health Policy Watch (EN)
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⛑️Hobbled by obstruction and uncertainty: Gaza’s post-ceasefire aid response.
A little over a month since the truce, Israeli authorities have continued to restrict the entry of aid and sideline established organisations, with uncertainty still hanging over plans for Gaza’s future.
The New Humanitarian (EN)
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🇬🇧Britain tries to reform global trade – without alienating Trump.
Kumar Iyer, the UK’s new ambassador to the UN in Geneva, envisions WTO reform centred on shaking up the way the 30-year-old watchdog handles disputes.
Politico (EN)
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🎙️Jamaica’s recovery after Hurricane Melissa.
The country’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Richard Brown, outlines the full scale of the destruction and the urgent need for stronger global support, particularly from international organisations and the United Nations system.
The McKay Interview (EN)
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