MIM, Lilongwe

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MIM, Lilongwe Friday April 21, 2006
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International Commitments

• 1992
• 178 governments sign the Rio Declaration.
  Principle 10 mandated appropriate access to
  information, encouragement of public
  participation, and effective access to judicial
  proceedings.
• 2002
• WSSD Plan of Implementation
• calls on governments to implement
• Principle 10.

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The Access Initiative focuses on

• promoting the accelerated and enhanced
  implementation of Principle 10 at the national
  level.

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The Access Initiative

• A global civil society coalition promoting access
  to information, participation, and justice in
  national decision-making that affects the
  environment.
• Six organizations jointly lead The Access
  Initiative

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The Access Initiative lead organisations

• Corporation PARTICIPA (Chile),
• Thailand Environment Institute (Thailand),
• World Resources Institute (United States),
• Environmental Management and Law Association
  (Hungary),
• Advocates Coalition for Development and
  Environment (Uganda).
• Iniciativa de Acceso-México (México)

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The Access Initiative Goals

• Build a constituency working on access issues.
• Develop national indicators for use by partners.
• Monitor implementation of Principle 10 globally.
• Identify main implementation gaps and urge action
  at the national level.

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The Access Initiative Pilot Countries

• Chile
• Hungary
• India
• Indonesia
• Mexico
• South Africa
• Thailand
• Uganda
• United States

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A brief history of TAI

• 2000-2001 Assessment method developed.
• 2001-2002 Method tested in 9 countries.
• 2003 Method refined expansion begins.
• 2004 and Beyond Assessment results used to
  catalyze action.

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Expanding the Network 2003 - 2005
Europe Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Portugal, UK,
Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Kazakhstan Africa
Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, Malawi, Zimbabwe,
Mozambique Latin America Argentina, Brazil,
Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru Southeast
Asia Vietnam, Philippines Repeat assessments
Hungary, India, Chile, Mexico, South Africa,
Thailand, Uganda, US
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The Access Initiativewhat we assess
Our methodology looks at national-level law and
practice in

• Access to information
• Public participation
• Access to justice
• Capacity building

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Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration

• Principle 10 of the RIO Declaration states that
• Environmental issues are best handled with
  participation of all concerned citizens, at the
  relevant level.
• At the national level, each individual shall have
  appropriate access to information concerning the
  environment that is held by public authorities,
  including information on hazardous materials and
  activities in their communities, and the
  opportunity to participate in decision-making
  processes.
• States shall facilitate and encourage public
  awareness and participation by making information
  widely available.
• Effective access to judicial and administrative
  proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall
  be provided.

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World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).

• In 2002, 100 governments reaffirmed RIO Principle
  10 goals during the World Summit on Sustainable
  Development.
• Article 128 of the WSSD Plan of Implementation
• States shall ensure access, at the national
  level, to environmental information and judicial
  and administrative proceedings in environmental
  matters, as well as public participation in
  decision-making, so as to further principle 10 of
  the Rio Declaration on Environment and
  Development.

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Partnership for Principle 10 (PP10

• PP10 is committed to translating RIO and WSSD
  principles into action by promoting transparent,
  inclusive, and accountable decision-making at the
  national level.
• The Partnership provides a venue for governments,
  international organizations, and civil society
  groups to work together to implement practical
  solutions that provide the public with access to
  information, participation, and justice for
  environmentally sustainable decisions.

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TAI and PP10 Strategies
TAI
PP10

• Shared commitments to promote assessment and to
  implement Principle 10 and WSSD Plan Article 128
• Action-oriented specific commitments by each
  partner
• An accountability, matchmaking, and learning
  mechanism

• National constituencies
• Common tools to monitor implementation of
  Principle 10
• National indicators and a global database

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TAI and PP10 Differences
TAI
PP10

• Coalitions of NGOs
• Tracking of progress in implementing Principle 10

• Partnership of governments, NGOs, and
  international organizations
• Implementation of Principle 10 and Article 128

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The 10 TAI assessment steps

• Learn about TAI and the access principles
• Build a coalition of TAI researchers and
  reviewers
• Choose case studies and sectors for assessment
• Prepare for research and divide up the workload
• Conduct research
• Use the TAI CD-RoM to record and analyze your
  research
• Review your results and write your country report
• Publish and publicize your results
• Put your results into action publications,
  meetings
• Get involved as an active member of TAI and its
  related coalition, the Partnership for Principle
  10.

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Getting Involved in TAI and Communication with
the TAI Network

• Websites
• www.accessinitiative.org
• www.iniciativadeacceso.org
• www.pp10.org
• Listservs email access_at_wri.org to join
• - News for general access interest, partners,
  PP10 Partners, CD-RoM help and comments

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Assessing Access to Information, Participation,
and Justice for the Environment A Guide
A CD-ROM tool from The Access Initiative
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Thank you