Closing the gap: information, participation and justice in decision-making for the environment

Abstract

The study reports on the early findings of an innovative approach to measuring progress in implementing Principle 10 (known as the “Access Principles”) of the Rio Declaration at the national level. In 2001– 2002, research teams in nine countries—Chile, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, and the United States—employed a common methodological framework on a pilot basis to assess the performance of their governments in meeting the Rio commitment. Their work was conducted under the auspices of The Access Initiative, a global coalition of civil society groups seeking to promote public access to information, participation, and justice in decision-making affecting the environment.The idea articulated in Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration in 1992 states that “every person should have access to information about the environment, opportunities to participate in decision-making processes affecting the environment, and access to redress and remedy”. These three “access principles” represent fundamental global norms of equitable and environmentally sound decision-making:Access to environmental information enables citizens to make informed personal choices and encourages improved environmental performance by industry and government. For example, citizens need to know whether water is safe to drink, and public knowledge of contamination creates pressure for pollution control.Informed and meaningful public participation is a mechanism to integrate citizens’ concerns and knowledge into public policy decisions that affect the environment. Decisions that incorporate public input generally result in outcomes that are more effective and environmentally sustainable than those that do not. Access to redress and remedy (or access to justice)gives individuals and public interest groups the opportunity to protect their rights to information and participation and to contest decisions that do not take their interests into account.The findings and conclusions summarized in the study suggest a number of recommendations directed to both national and international policy arenas and to actors spanning various government and non-governmental stakeholder groups to stimulate improvements in national systems of public participation. Taken together, these recommendations constitute an agenda for accelerating the implementation of Principle 10: National governments and the international community as a whole should support independent assessment and monitoring as a first step toward improved performance. Initial response to the findings of the nine national assessments indicates that such assessments are a powerful tool to stimulate dialogue and action to improve performance.The international community should support refinement and application of a common assessment tool to support national implementation. To improve the quality of assessments, further investment is needed in the refinement of a common methodological framework, guidelines for its application, and a global mechanism for sharing best practices across countries.Efforts to improve national systems should include attention to all three principles. Balanced investment across all three principles is required if national systems of public participation are to function effectively.Where the legal framework for access is in place, efforts should focus on closing the gap between law and practice. To this end, investments in government capacity to implement elements of the national participation system as well as developing public capacity to use that system should be high priorities for governments and donor agencies. Public interest groups and the media, two engines driving demand for access, should be encouraged to play their roles vigorously and responsibly. Governments must relax onerous registration requirements for non-governmental organizations and reform regulations that constrain the financing of public interest advocates. Media outlets should improve the level and quality of their coverage of environmental issuesThe international community should support national efforts through donor assistance and incorporation of access norms into international institutions and agreements. International donor agencies can promote access both by supporting the development of access systems as a funding priority and by revising their policies and practices to ensure greater access to information, participation, and justice in their own operationsThe study then goes on to specify recommendations for the different stakeholders in ‘closing the gap’ between law (and the Declaration) and practice, outlining the possible role of governmental agencies, civil society organisations, media outlets, donor agencies and international agreements.

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