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

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.