Extraterritorial political representation in environmental planning: Patterns and practices under the UNECE Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context

Abstract

The UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context is significant in the context of environmental governance because it was one of the first multilateral environmental agreements to formalise extraterritorial actors’ involvement in the environmental planning of sovereign nation states. In this article, we examine patterns and practices of extraterritorial political representation under the Espoo Convention and consider its strengths and limitations in extending representation beyond national borders. The analysis draws upon data contained in publicly available national reports submitted by Parties to the Convention under compliance procedures. The data covers the latest two compliance reporting periods: 2016–2018 and 2019–2021. We assert that the available data indicate that the Espoo Convention has provided relatively modest – in terms of number and extent – opportunities for extraterritorial political representation amongst Parties to the Convention, but its contribution to regional and international environmental governance is considered important, nonetheless. A number of weak or potentially problematic practices are identified, including concerning the requirement for early notification, limited public involvement in decisions on the response to a notification, and limited use of Article 7 on post-project analysis. A particular area of controversy concerns the lack of specifications for a linguistic and translation regime; inconsistent practices herein potentially restrict equivalence in opportunities for involvement between domestic and supranational actors, a fundamental goal of the Espoo Convention. We conclude by outlining three themes for future research covering implementation practices, environmental justice, and the substantive outcomes of the Convention.