Event Title
Environmental Compliance & Enforcement: the Role of Access to Information and Public Participation
Location
Ceremonial Mootcourt Room
Start Date
3-7-2012 10:30 AM
End Date
3-7-2012 12:00 PM
Description
Good governance supports the process that links and harmonizes policies, institutions, procedures, tools, and information to empower stakeholders to make fundamental decisions, manage conflicts, seek points of consensus, and be accountable for their actions. In order to achieve good governance, public participation must be promoted; as Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration states: environmental issues are best handled with participation of all citizens, at the relevant level.[1] Public participation has to be seen as an inclusive interaction between government and civil society, incorporating the process by which they not only open dialogue, establish partnerships, share information, but also interact in designing, implementing, and evaluating development policies, projects and programs.[2] Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, in addition, points out that public participation is part of a wider process which includes access to information, to the decision making process and the judicial system as a means to improve environmental governance[3], describing access to environmental information as a right for individuals, and disclosure of information as an objective to facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation. The policy framework of the Inter-American Strategy for Public Participation in Decision-Making forSustainable Development (ISP) contains the basic principles, goals, and policy recommendations for greater involvement of all sectors of society in decision-making on sustainable development. In this context, the presentation delivered at the IUCN Academy Colloquium will discuss the links between the three elements of public participation and how they have been advanced in theAmericas to improve enforcement of environmental laws. Concrete examples from the region will be used to illustrate how through participation environmental law can further realize its potential.
[1] Rio Declaration, Principle 10. http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?documentid=78&articleid=1163
[2] Inter-American Strategy for Public Participation in Decision-Making for Sustainable Development, http://www.oas.org/dsd/PDF_files/ispenglish.pdf, p. 1.
[3] Rio Declaration, Principle 10. http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?documentid=78&articleid=1163
Presentation
Included in
Environmental Compliance & Enforcement: the Role of Access to Information and Public Participation
Ceremonial Mootcourt Room
Good governance supports the process that links and harmonizes policies, institutions, procedures, tools, and information to empower stakeholders to make fundamental decisions, manage conflicts, seek points of consensus, and be accountable for their actions. In order to achieve good governance, public participation must be promoted; as Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration states: environmental issues are best handled with participation of all citizens, at the relevant level.[1] Public participation has to be seen as an inclusive interaction between government and civil society, incorporating the process by which they not only open dialogue, establish partnerships, share information, but also interact in designing, implementing, and evaluating development policies, projects and programs.[2] Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, in addition, points out that public participation is part of a wider process which includes access to information, to the decision making process and the judicial system as a means to improve environmental governance[3], describing access to environmental information as a right for individuals, and disclosure of information as an objective to facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation. The policy framework of the Inter-American Strategy for Public Participation in Decision-Making forSustainable Development (ISP) contains the basic principles, goals, and policy recommendations for greater involvement of all sectors of society in decision-making on sustainable development. In this context, the presentation delivered at the IUCN Academy Colloquium will discuss the links between the three elements of public participation and how they have been advanced in theAmericas to improve enforcement of environmental laws. Concrete examples from the region will be used to illustrate how through participation environmental law can further realize its potential.
[1] Rio Declaration, Principle 10. http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?documentid=78&articleid=1163
[2] Inter-American Strategy for Public Participation in Decision-Making for Sustainable Development, http://www.oas.org/dsd/PDF_files/ispenglish.pdf, p. 1.
[3] Rio Declaration, Principle 10. http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?documentid=78&articleid=1163