Goal 4. Guarantee public access to information and decisions regarding natural resources and the environment.

Access to data and information about environmental conditions is essential for informed participation in decisionmaking. It enables members of the public to make informed decisions about how to improve their overall wellbeing and minimize the risks to their health and welfare. But access to information is not sufficient. It must be accompanied by opportunities to use it to influence public policy.

Meaningful public access to decisionmaking further requires that all affected stakeholders have access to the process. Innovations in access at the regional and global levels are particularly important in the context of economic globalization, as many people feel alienated from decision-making that takes place in remote capitals and international institutions.

In order to enforce access to information and participation in decision-making, members of the public and public interest groups also must have access to justice and redress.

WRI houses a global portal to environmental information, empowers civil society groups to evaluate their governments’ performance in providing access, and conducts research on how changes in institutions and governance regimes can lead to better access.