Call for action to address critical funding needed to support the Aarhus Convention

Over environmental and human rights organisations from across Europe and Central Asia have sent an urgent joint letter to National Focal Points of the Aarhus Convention, warning that chronic underfunding is putting the Convention’s work at risk.

The Convention, which guarantees the public’s rights to environmental information, participation, and justice, is facing what its own Bureau has called a crisis. Staff contracts are being terminated, key positions remain unfilled, and more than half of all Parties have yet to pay their 2026 contributions.

The letter calls on governments to urgently settle pledged contributions, increase voluntary funding, and treat this as a shared responsibility ahead of the 30th Working Group of the Parties.