On Wednesday, following a cultural performance, Iurie Leanca, Moldova Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, opened the fourth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention (MOP 4). Gheorghe Salaru, Moldova Minister of Environment, noted that much experience has been gained over twelve years of implementation of the Convention. Jan Dusik (Czech Republic), MOP 4 Chair, pointed to MOP 4 theme on the role of the Aarhus Convention in promoting sustainable development. Marco Keiner, Director of the Environment Division of the United Nation Commission for Europe (UNECE), suggested highlighting the Aarhus Convention as the best example of implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration public participation at Rio+20.

Delegates then discussed: the future work on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) under the Convention, with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) encouraging parties to ratify the GMO Amendment to the Convention; a draft decision on access to information, discussing possible future work of the Task Force on Electronic Information Tools; and a draft decision on public participation in decision-making and future work of the Task Force on Public Participation.

In the afternoon, delegates discussed promoting effective access to justice, with many underlining the need for further work by the relevant Task Force on standing, costs, remedies and injunctions, as well as for more progress at the national level. On public participation in international forums, delegates heard a report from the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and discussed the proposal to entrust the Working Group of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention with the oversight of continued work on this topic. Delegates finally addressed compliance, discussing draft decisions on general compliance issues and individual cases of non-compliance.