Topic: access to justice

RELEASE: 14 Latin American and Caribbean Countries Adopt an Ambitious Plan of Action to Improve Access Rights in the Region

Lauren Zelin — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:17:15 -0400

Fourteen Latin American and Caribbean countries adopted an ambitious Plan of Action to improve access rights in the region, including access to information, public participation, and access to justice. The plan, which was approved at a meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, on April 16-17, 2013, seeks to implement the Latin American and Caribbean Declaration on Principle 10 that was signed at the Rio +20 Conference in June 2012, under which countries agreed to work towards a regional instrument to improve access rights.

The meeting began with Colombia and Honduras signing on to the LAC Declaration, a major accomplishment for all parties. The 14 countries that have now signed on include: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.

“The new Plan of Action shows political will to transform environmental justice and transparency in the region,” said Carole Excell, Senior Associate at the World Resources Institute and The Access Initiative. “It sets the pace and the agenda to tackle the challenges of negotiating a regional instrument to ensure access rights across Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Under the new 2013-2014 Plan of Action, the LAC countries have committed to:

Promote the Principle 10 Declaration and incorporate new signatories into the process;
Strengthen and highlight the progress made on rights of access to information, participation, and justice;
Promote active participation of civil society at the national level; and
Develop working groups to deliberate capacity-building and cooperation efforts, and determine the nature and scope of the regional instrument.

Ambassador Jose Balmaceda of Chile noted that the Plan of Action “is a strong political signal to the international community that we are responding in a responsible way to this commitment [to Principle 10] … It is the first time that government representatives from 14 countries and civil society sat down to debate – with transparency and trust – relevant issues for the future of the region. This is a testament to maturity in the region. We have been able to reach consensus on the Plan of Action that will allow us to move ahead on national processes and regional efforts. I am sure that this result will motivate other nations in the region to join the process.”

The Plan of Action includes a number of innovative provisions, including procedures for public participation in the regional process and its working groups. It will create opportunities for close South-to-South cooperation on rights to promote transparency, public participation, and access to justice, as well as a focus on increased support for effective implementation at the national level.

“We hope at the end of 2014 we can count on the development of an instrument on Principle 10 that establishes concrete actions to guarantee effective and informed participation to all citizens and communities of our region,” said Daniel Barragan, Ecuadorian Center for Environmental Law (Centro Ecuatoriane de Derecho Ambinental Ambiental), an environmental law NGO. “Soon we can have a voice and be a part of the decision making on the environment and natural resources.”

In addition to adopting the Plan of Action, members elected co-chairs to run the working groups. Costa Rica and Brazil were mandated to design the regional instrument on Principle 10 and Jamaica and Columbia were given the role to facilitate work on cooperation and capacity building.

RELEASE: Caribbean Freedom of Information Network launched at Landmark Conference

Lauren Zelin — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:55:32 -0400

11 Caribbean Countries Meet to Discuss Freedom of Information Laws in the Region

For the first time, Caribbean governments and civil society have come together to discuss access to information, public participation in governance, and access to justice at a landmark conference held in Kingston, Jamaica. Representatives from 11 Caribbean countries attended the “Regional Conference on Freedom of Information in the Caribbean: Improving Management for the Environment.”

At the close of the two-day conference on March 21, 2013, governments, civil society, and media announced the decision to launch a Caribbean network on freedom of information to support processes to improve standards for access to information in the region.

Dr. Carolyn Gomes, chairperson of the Access to Information Advisory Stakeholders’ Committee and Executive Director of Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) said, “freedom of information is the most powerful tool for ordinary citizens to arm themselves with the information they need to change their lives. Launching this freedom of information network will build opportunities for collaboration, learning and capacity building among information commissioners, civil society and media across the region.”

Countries reviewed the status and effectiveness of freedom of information laws, the number of requests for information being made in each country, and institutional structures for implementation and enforcement. Jamaica is one of seven Caribbean countries (Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Cayman Islands) to have freedom of information laws in force. Five countries have draft laws pending, and Bahamas and Guyana have passed laws but they are not yet in force. Gaps in implementation were noted in Belize, Antigua, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, which have laws that have not yet fully been utilized by the public.

“Freedom of information laws ensure that citizens can access official documents from their governments and gives them a voice in decisions that directly impact them and the environment,” said Danielle Andrade, Legal Director of the Jamaica Environment Trust. “Using Jamaica’s Access to Information Act, we were able to obtain documents to build our legal case to compel the government to fix a non-functioning sewage treatment plant in Harbour View, Kingston.”

The event was a follow-up to the Rio+20 sustainable development conference in May of 2012, where ten countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) signed a declaration to work towards a legally binding, regional instrument to promote the implementation of the rights of access to information, public participation, and access to justice in environmental matters. Jamaica was the first Caribbean country to sign the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Declaration on Principle 10, and Trinidad and Tobago joined in 2013.

“The LAC Principle 10 regional declaration is a game changing opportunity for the region,” said Carole Excell, Senior Associate at the World Resources Institute. “Caribbean governments need to embrace new regional approaches that seek to improve transparency, reduce conflicts over environmental decisions, and build capacity to implement new rights for citizens.”

Michelle Fife, Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of St. Vincent and the Grenadines stated, “this is a positive initiative which brings the region together on an important issue. Transparency is important to our government. With continued work we will build and strengthen our institutional capacity to improve access to information.”

The conference was funded by The Commonwealth Foundation, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Information Commissioner’s Office of the Cayman Islands. Organizers included the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), World Resources Institute (WRI), The Access Initiative (TAI), Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), The Mona School of Business and Management, and the Access to Information Unit of Jamaica.

Climate Justice Dialogue

Kevin Lustig — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 16:31:26 -0500

At COP 17 in Durban, governments agreed to launch a new round of negotiations that will result in adoption of a new agreement in 2015 under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. To capitalize on the promise of Durban and to build an atmosphere of trust and reciprocity between countries, issues of equity will have to be discussed and reshaped in an open and constructive manner. The World Resources Institute (WRI) and Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice (MRFCJ) are facilitating the Climate Justice Dialogue to ensure that the new agreement is informed by science, considers the specific needs of the most vulnerable populations, and catalyzes sustainable development.

The Climate Justice Dialogue will feature regional workshops and scenario exercises, a series of working papers and commissioned papers, and a flagship report. This Dialogue will seek to understand and shape the views of political leaders, UNFCCC negotiators, and domestic decision-makers and thought leaders in key countries.

Climate Finance

Christine Potochny — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 13:55:16 -0500

Facts and Figures: The Scale of Needed Investment

Developing countries will require new investments of up to $300 billion annually by 2020—growing up to $500 billion annually by 2030—to adequately limit their growing greenhouse gas emissions.
These countries will also require several hundred billion additional dollars to protect themselves from the worsening physical and economic impacts of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere.
About $900 billion per year between now and 2050 will be needed to address investments in global energy supply and demand technologies (in addition to the roughly $2.6 trillion in annual investments to occur in a “business as usual” scenario.
While developed countries have committed to channeling US$100 billion (from public and private sources) annually by 2020 to developing countries for climate mitigation and adaptation activities, this level of investment is far from what is required.

Global Investment for a Resilient Low-Carbon Economy

Stabilizing the global climate is one of the most urgent challenges in coming decades. Our warming world affects all people and ecosystems, particularly the poor who already suffer disproportionately from climate-change impacts. Major financial investments – from both public and private sources and guided by smart and equitable policies - are required to transition the world’s economy to a low-carbon path, reduce greenhouse gas concentrations to safe levels, and build the resilience of vulnerable countries to climate change.

WRI is addressing how these massive investments toward a low-carbon and resilient economy – which we refer to as climate finance –can be realized.

In developing countries, climate change investment needs are significant. Direct government funding is scarce. And the billions of dollars committed to be marshaled by industrialized countries remain inadequate to the magnitude of the challenge of stabilizing a steep trajectory of greenhouse gases. Additional financial investment should be accompanied by rules, regulations, fiscal incentives and effective markets at international, national, and sub-national levels to shift current and projected “business-as-usual” investments, and mobilize resources at the scale required.

WRI’s Vision of Success

Public and private actors—development financing institutions, governments, and private sector investors, including financiers and project developers—significantly shift and scale-up their investments in sustainable, low-carbon and climate-resilient development. These investments will create new markets, address long-term opportunities and risks arising from climate change, promote wider socio-economic benefits, and minimize social and environmental harm.

WRI Strategy

WRI focuses on climate finance broadly defined, not just international public climate finance but both public and private flows including domestic (within developing countries) and international (to developing countries) finance that support climate-related goals.

WRI focuses its expertise on the technical and institutional aspects of three major questions:

How to SHIFT finance from high carbon to low carbon and climate resilient investments (mainstreaming);
How to LEVERAGE private flows using public climate finance (domestic and international) and
How to ASSESS the impact or effectiveness of climate finance, whether positive or negative.

WRI is pursuing national, international and private sector strategies.

National Strategy: Strengthen institutions for effective climate finance mobilization, management and monitoring

SHIFT

Facilitate building national public institutions and capacity to access, manage, program, deploy and monitor climate finance in an effective and transparent manner.
Empower non-governmental institutions and actors to engage and participate in climate finance processes in order to ensure more effective outcomes.
Related projects: Open Climate Network, Electricity Governance Iniative, Measurement & Performance Tracking in Developing Countries.

LEVERAGE

Ensure development financing institutions and finance ministries catalyze a shift in public and private investments toward climate-friendly development through the strategic use of international climate finance.

ASSESS

Help create efficient and accountable financial systems. WRI aims to help national governments and their domestic stakeholders develop systems through which they can wisely generate, access, disperse, and track finances for adaptation.
Related work: Vulnerability & Adaptation
Maximize the impact and effectiveness of climate finance by aligning national mechanisms for receiving, allocating and disbursing international climate finance with the country’s planning, budgeting, programming and monitoring procedures and systems.
Related project: Open Climate Network
Related publication: Summary of Developed Country ‘Fast-Start’ Climate Finance Pledges

International Strategy: Build a robust, effective and equitable climate finance architecture

SHIFT

Promote more effective and legitimate governance of international climate finance by bringing to bear developing country expertise and experience to inform discussions on governance and operation of international climate finance.
Related project: International Financial Flows & the Environment (IFFE).
Related blog posts: the Green Climate Fund.
Ensure mainstreaming climate change in international development finance by encouraging public international financial institutions to adopt and implement ambitious, internationally recognized standards. Such a significant investment shift will support low‐carbon and climate‐resilient development, while ensuring high environmental and social standards.
Related project: International Financial Flows & the Environment (IFFE)
Related publications:

ASSESS

Create an enabling environment for investment by ensuring that international climate finance includes long-term support for conducive policy environments and addresses non-financial barriers to investment. WRI has developed a framework to guide governments and their international partners in selecting pre-investment activities to support and inform the providers of public international climate finance.

Private Sector Strategy: Leverage private sector flows from public climate finance

Related project: Climate Finance & the Private Sector

SHIFT

Provide robust research and analysis to determine what tools and approaches are the most effective at leveraging private climate investment, including detailed mapping of financing instruments used by public and private institutions to finance climate-relevant projects.
Related publications:
Moving the Fulcrum: A Primer on Public Climate Financing Instruments Used to Leverage Private Capital
Public Financing Instruments to Leverage Private Capital for Climate-Relevant Investment: Focus on Multilateral Agencies

LEVERAGE

Help leaders in the public sector seize the opportunity to leverage private investment in a low-carbon future. The public sector can expand its role in effectively unlocking private investment by reducing risk, directing investment and maximizing public and private benefit through the appropriate mix of policies and finance.
Related resources:
Moving the Fulcrum: A Primer on Public Climate Financing Instruments Used to Leverage Private Capital
Climate Finance and the Private Sector brochure

ASSESS

Mobilize WRI’s strong external ties with private sector financial institutions to bring a private sector perspective to climate finance, and help translate the complex languages of private sector investors and public sector policy makers.

STATEMENT: Rio+20 Wraps Up with "More of a Whimper Than a Roar"

Michael Oko — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:09:12 -0400

The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) comes to a close today. In total, more than 100 heads of state and tens of thousands of representatives from government, business, and civil society came together over two weeks to advance solutions on sustainable development in Rio de Janeiro.

[Editors’ note: You can find WRI’s experts’ analysis on specific issues and outcomes here.]

Following is statement by Manish Bapna, Acting President, World Resources Institute:

“Rio+20 closed with more of a whimper than a roar. Expectations for the conference were understandably low, but the outcomes were even more modest. The agreed upon text was simply not forceful enough to meet the environment and development challenges of our times. This was a missed opportunity to re-energize the global conversation and importantly drive greater action around sustainability.

“There were a few bright spots— the advancement of Sustainable Development Goals, support for better governance around environmental issues, and progress on sustainable transport, among others. But, still, that is not enough.

“Certainly, there are reasons why the conference fell short: economic and political crises on the global stage; the challenge of taking on complex issues; and the struggle of coming to a unanimous decision among the diverse views. These challenges are real, but they should not be an excuse for inaction.

“So then, what comes next?

“We cannot lose sight of the big picture. It would be a mistake to conflate the outcome here with what’s happening on the ground around the world. Real action is taking place on national and local levels in many countries. Just look at Germany’s shift to clean energy, Niger’s efforts to re-green its landscape, or Rio’s just launched bus rapid transit system.

“We understand the challenges. We know the solutions. What we need is to build the political will for bolder leadership.

“As we leave Rio and return to our homes around the globe, we must not give up on the vision of a more sustainable pathway. Given the urgency of the challenges, we must continue to push forward with ambitious solutions that will create a more sustainable future.”

–

Read a summary blog by Manish on where to look for key areas of progress at Rio+20.

RELEASE: Governments and Leaders Call for Strengthening Access to Transparency and Public Participation at Rio+20

James Anderson — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:51:06 -0400

More than 300 representatives from government, multilateral institutions, and civil society came together today to push for more action and commitments to support stronger governance around environmental issues.

Access to information, public participation and access to justice are core values that were embedded in the UN environmental process going back to the original Rio “Earth Summit” in 1992. These announcements show important progress toward implementing and strengthening these values at the international, national, and regional level.

Jose Luis Balmaceda, Chilean ambassador to the United Nations, attended the event, where he discussed efforts by a group of Latin American governments to strengthen their commitment to access rights in the region.

Ambassador Balmaceda said that Chile would guarantee Principle 10 and honor the original Rio Declaration. He noted that several governments are working together in Rio to explore the option of a regional approach on Principle 10. Additionally, he said that the negotiators have been working to strengthen this principle at different levels in the final Rio+20 outcome document.

“It is a fact that at the global and regional levels there is a growing recognition of the value of Principle 10, which demands to be translated into effective and concrete actions,” Ambassador Balmaceda said. “Chile is calling to reaffirm the need to achieve the commitments for the full implementation of the rights to access to information, participation, and justice.”

The call for greater access to information and justice was seconded by senior representatives from two UN agencies: Alicia Bercena, Executive Director of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC); and Sven Alkalaj, Executive Director, the Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

In a statement Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations said, “My organization is committed to further advancing the application of Principle 10.” UNEP aims to improve Principle 10 “by enhancing opportunities for public participation and access to information, independent from the outcomes of Rio + 20.”

The EU has shown global leadership in embracing environmental protection and governance protection, through the Aarhus Convention, which is the largest regional effort to date to ensure people have the right to access to information, participation, and justice.

Jonas Ebbesson, Chair of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee said, “The Aarhus Convention shows that highly diverse states can agree on minimum requirements for public participation around environmental matters and they can trust an independent review mechanism in which civil society is a key actor.”

UNECE expressed its willingness to support efforts in the Latin American and Caribbean region to develop a convention on Principle 10 and to share experiences.

The announcement was made at a side event at Rio+20, “Choosing our Future: Open and Participatory Sustainable Development Governance,” organized by the United Nations Environment Programme, Fundação Getulio Vargas Rio Program on Law and Environment, the World Resources Institute, and the Access Initiative.

“In the context of the Rio Summit, where most countries have been reticent to strengthen international norms and legal frameworks, today’s announcements present an alternate and more positive approach. This demonstrates modest, but important progress toward greater governance among a number of democracies,” said Lalanath de Silva, director of the Access Initiative, an international network of non-governmental organizations that are working to advance rights and governance issues.

In addition to these announcements, a number of other governments made announcements around voluntary commitments with regard to open government and sustainability, including representatives from Mexico City and the Irish Delegation.

Correction: A previous version of the press release attributed a statement to Amina Mohammed, Deputy Director of UNEP. The correct attribution is Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.

-ENDS-

If you would like more information about the event and announcements, please contact Michael Oko; moko@wri.org; +55 (0) 21 8351 1349.

ADVISORY: Governments, UN Agencies and Civil Society to Reveal Commitments on Governance at Rio+20

Michael Oko — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:13:09 -0400

On Tuesday, June 19, 2012, more than 300 representatives from governments, UN agencies, and civil society will gather to express their support for action and make commitments around open and transparent government and environmental issues.

The event will take place at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), Priaa de Botafogo, 190, in Rio de Janeiro. The opening plenary will take place from 8:20 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.; followed immediately by a press conference from 12:00 – 12:30 p.m.

Representatives will include Ambassador Jose Luis Balmaceda, head of the Chilean Delegation, and representatives from Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Peru, along with senior officials from two UN agencies, Alicia Barcena, Executive Secretary, of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Sven Alkalaj, Executive Secretary, of the Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and Manish Bapna, Interim President, World Resources Institute.

A number of other governments are expected to make voluntary commitments with regard to open government and sustainability, including representatives of Mexico City and an NGO representative of the Irish delegation.

Speakers at the press conference will include: Ambassador Jose Luis Balmaceda, Permanent Ambassador of Chile to the United Nations; Amina Mohamed, UNEP Deputy Executive Director and Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nations; Manish Bapna, Interim President WRI; and Andrew Jackson, NGO representative on the Irish delegation

Additional speakers at the morning plenary, include:

Alf Jerve, Chair of the World Bank Inspection Panel;
Georghe Salaru, Minister of Environment, Republic of Moldova;
Pierre Arcand, Minister of Environment, Sustainable Development, and Parks, Quebec, Canada;
Jonas Ebbesson, Chair of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee;
Ritwick Dutta, Legal Initiative for Forests and Environment;
Ambassador M. Jean-Pierre Thébault, Representative of France;
Murilo Nunes de Bustamante, Environmental Public Prosecutor, State of Rio de Janeiro

See the full agenda for the event, here: http://www.wri.org/event/2012/06/choosing-our-future-open-and-participatory-sustainable-development-governance

WHAT
Press conference to announce commitments for stronger governance at Rio+20

Twitter hashtag: #choosefuture

WHO
Ambassador Jose Luis Balmaceda, Permanent Ambassador of Chile to the United Nations
Amina Mohamed, UNEP Deputy Executive Director and Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nations Manish Bapna, Interim President, WRI;
Andrew Jackson, NGO member of the Irish delegation

WHERE
Funacao Getulio Vargas (FGV), Priaa de Botafogo, 190, Rio de Janeiro

WHEN
Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Plenary session: 8:20 – 12:00 p.m.

Press conference: 12:00 – 12:30 p.m.

Note: Additional photo opportunity with representatives from 30 different countries: 17:00 (5:00 p.m.)

–

If you would like more information about the event and announcements, please contact Michael Oko; moko@wri.org; +55 (0) 21 8351 1349

MEDIA ADVISORY: Hope or Hype? WRI Experts Host Press Call on Rio+20 Summit

James Anderson — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:28:05 -0400

As leaders in government, business and civil society prepare to head to Rio de Janeiro for the UN Sustainable Development Summit, known as Rio+20, experts from the World Resources Institute will host a press call to discuss issues and expectations for the meeting.

WRI experts will discuss issues, including the green economy, governance, climate change, role of business, and more. WRI will provide an update on the state of play and on possible outcomes for the global summit.

Listen to the audio recording of WRI’s press call below:

WHAT:

Press call to discuss expectations for the Rio+20 Summit.

WHO:

Manish Bapna, Interim President, WRI

Craig Hanson, Director, People & Ecosystems Program, WRI

Lalanath de Silva, Director, The Access Initiative

Jennifer Morgan, Director, Climate & Energy Program, WRI

Followed by a Q&A session

WHEN:

Tuesday, May 22, 10:00a.m. EDT // 11:00a.m. BRT

CALL-IN:

United States (Toll free): (866) 803-2143

Brazil (Toll Free): 0800-8911992

Other international locations (Toll): +1 (210)795-1098

Passcode: Callers should ask for “RIO”

You can read more about WRI’s work at Rio +20 at: http://insights.wri.org/topic/rio20.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Michael Oko: Tel. + 1 (202) 729-7684; email: moko@wri.org; or

James Anderson: Tel. +1 (202) 729 7608; email: JAnderson@wri.org

A Seat at the Table: Including the Poor in Decisions for Development and Environment

Maggie Barron — Tue, 04 May 2010 16:59:37 -0400

For more information, and to watch a webcast of the launch of “A Seat at the Table,” visit the Access Initiative website.

En Español

Executive Summary

Decisions that have significant environmental and social consequences are often made without the involvement of those whose interests are directly at stake. For poor people whose lives and livelihoods often depend on natural resources, and who are therefore most vulnerable to environmental risks, the consequences of exclusion can be especially severe. Weak access to decision-making may expose poor communities to high levels of pollution, remove them from productive land, and deprive them of the everyday benefits provided by natural resources.

The three pillars of sound decision-making for the environment that are key to responding to the challenge of providing “access” are: access to information, public participation, and access to justice. Many countries, regardless of their level of economic development, have promoted these pillars as policy aspirations or as enforceable legal rights. Yet even where progress has been significant, more work remains if such laws are to be implemented in a way that is meaningful to all citizens, especially the poor.

To better understand the obstacles to access facing the poor, and the efforts by governments to reach this population, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and its civil society organization (CSO) partners in The Access Initiative (TAI) closely examined access rights and practices in four countries—Cameroon, Paraguay, Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

The case studies highlighted in this report cover a range of environmental concerns including water quality, land use, data availability, and the use or absence of environmental impact assessments (EIAs). The findings and literature review show that the poor in these countries face a daunting array of barriers to access, including low literacy, high costs (including the costs of corruption), exposure to risk from participation, and lack of documentation of legal identity or rights to a resource that is necessary to influence decisions. Additionally, cultural norms that limit who may speak in public disproportionately exclude the poor.

The case studies also provide examples where civil society organizations, community groups, and - most importantly - governments have taken steps to overcome these barriers. Based on the findings and literature review, we have identified six poverty-related barriers to access to decision-making and proposed eight categories of policy responses to overcome these barriers. Importantly, a general lack of access to information for all citizens had a commensurately larger impact on access to information for the poor.

En Español

Las decisiones que tienen consecuencias medioambientales y sociales significativas suelen ser tomadas sin la participación de aquellas personas cuyos intereses están directamente en juego. Para las comunidades vulnerables cuyas vidas y medios de subsistencia suelen depender de recursos naturales, y quienes, por lo tanto, están más expuestas a los riesgos medioambientales, las consecuencias de la exclusión pueden ser particularmente severas. Un acceso precario a la toma de decisiones puede exponer a las comunidades vulnerables a altos niveles de contaminación, apartarlos de tierras productivas, y privarlos de los beneficios cotidianos que los recursos naturales les proveen.

Los tres pilares de la toma de decisiones sobre el medioambiente que resultan claves para responder adecuadamente al desafío de dar “acceso” son: el acceso a la información, la participación pública, y el acceso a la justicia. Muchos países, independientemente de su nivel de desarrollo económico, han promovido estos pilares como objetivos de sus políticas públicas o como derechos legales vinculantes. Sin embargo, aun ahí donde el progreso ha sido significativo, hay mucho por hacer si se desea que las leyes que norman los derechos de acceso sean implementadas de una manera que resulte significativa para toda la ciudadanía, y especialmente para los grupos vulnerables.

Para aportar a una mejor comprensión de los obstáculos al acceso que afectan a las comunidades vulnerables, y de los esfuerzos que los gobiernos pueden hacer por alcanzar a esa población, el Instituto de Recursos Mundiales y sus socios de la organización de la sociedad civil La Iniciativa de Acceso examinaron detenidamente los derechos y prácticas de acceso en cuatro países—Camerún, Paraguay, Filipinas y Sri Lanka.

Los estudios de caso destacados en este informe cubren una variedad de asuntos medioambientales incluyendo la calidad del agua, el uso de la tierra, la disponibilidad de datos, y el uso o ausencia de Evaluaciones de Impacto Ambiental (EIA). Los hallazgos de la investigación y la bibliografía revisada muestran que en estos países los grupos vulnerables enfrentan un abanico enorme de barreras para ejercer sus derechos de acceso, incluyendo el bajo alfabetismo,
los altos costos (incluidos los costos de la corrupción), la exposición a los riesgos de la participación, y la falta de documentos de identidad o del derecho a algún recurso necesario para participar o influir en la toma de decisiones. Adicionalmente, las normas culturales que definen quiénes pueden hablar en público excluyen a los grupos vulnerables desproporcionalmente.

Los casos de estudio también proveen ejemplos en los que organizaciones de la sociedad civil, grupos comunitarios, y –más importante– algunos gobiernos han dado pasos para superar o eliminar estas barreras. En base a los hallazgos y la revisión bibliográfica, hemos encontrado seis barreras al acceso a la toma de decisiones que se relacionan con la pobreza y propuesto ocho categorías de medidas de política pública (policy responses) que sirven para superarlas (ver Tabla 1). Es importante señalar que la falta generalizada de acceso a la información por parte de la ciudadanía tiene un impacto apreciablemente más alto en la falta de acceso a la información por parte de los grupos vulnerables.

NEWS RELEASE: Environmental Courts Becoming More Popular Worldwide, but Steps Needed for Improvement

Paul Mackie — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:12:34 -0400

The number of specialized courts that resolve environmental issues has grown from only a handful in the 1970s to more than 350 in 41 countries. And while past research has studied a few courts in one or two countries, The Access Initiative of the World Resources Institute (WRI) today releases the first comprehensive global report on the status of these courts.

“The dramatic growth in the number of these courts is the result of growth in the complexity of environmental laws and in public awareness of environmental problems,” said George Pring, who coauthored the report – Greening Justice: Creating and Improving Environmental Courts and Tribunals, being released here at an event at WRI – with his wife Catherine Pring.

World Map of Countries with Environmental Courts and Tribunals

She added, “Considering there has been so much growth in this area, there has not been a lot of cross-border learning going on. We wanted to examine these courts first-hand. And what we discovered is that there are 12 essential elements that go into making environmental courts successful.”

Those “12 essential elements” depend on the legal framework, political system, and goals for each country establishing these courts – which, in the report, are referred to as “environmental courts and tribunals” (ECTs). They include type of forum, legal jurisdiction, ECT decisional levels, geographic area, case volume, standing, costs, access to scientific and technical expertise, availability of alternative dispute resolution expertise, competence of ECT judges and decision-makers, case management, and enforcement tools and remedies.

The report’s findings are the result of site visits by the Prings to 33 ECTs in 21 countries and interviews with 150 ECT-experienced justices and judges, prosecutors, court staff, government officials, private-sector attorneys, nongovernmental organizations, and academics.

Over the last three decades, ECTs in many countries have responded to environmental challenges. Good examples include Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Sweden, and Canada. Major ECT developments are also happening in India, China, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The report includes a full list of the known ECTs worldwide.

“Greening Justice examines plenty of innovative models around the world, but the bottom line is that most citizens still lack adequate access to justice. Further, the research that would help us better understand the effectiveness and promise of these institutions is almost non-existent,” said Lalanath de Silva, director of The Access Initiative at WRI.

With new ECTs being proposed, considered, or developed around the globe, most recently in Chile, Bolivia, Thailand, the Philippines, China, Abu Dhabi, India, and Hawaii, it appears that the increase in ECTs and their ongoing reform and improvement will continue.

MEDIA ADVISORY: A Call for Environmental Courts

Paul Mackie — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:59:45 -0400

WHAT: A Call for Environmental Courts: Judges, Public Confidence, Expertise, and Visibility

WHEN: Monday, April 19th 2010 3 pm to 4:15 pm EST
Cocktail Reception: 4:15 to 5 pm EST

WHERE: World Resources Institute is located at 10 G Street, NE, #800, Washington, DC 20002 (Union Station Metro)

LIVE WEBCAST: http://www.accessinitiative.org/resource/greening-justice
Send questions during Webcast to Mkerdeman@wri.org titled “Greening Justice question”

WHO:

George (Rock) Pring and Catherine (Kitty) Pring, co-authors Greening Justice: Creating and Improving Environmental Courts and Tribunals
Honorable Merideth Wright, Environmental Judge, Vermont Environmental Court
Ritwick Dutta Supreme Court Advocate, India
Jacob Werksman, Director of Institutions and Governance Program, World Resources Institute

RSVP: Online at: http://community.wri.org/NetCommunity/greening-justice
or by responding to this message at pmackie@wri.org

It is often said that justice delayed is justice denied. Environmental courts and tribunals (ECTs) have been proposed as a quick, easy, and cheap solution to the challenges of access to justice in environmental conflicts. But under what conditions do ECTs meet these expectations?

Join us in a lively debate on the creation of and effectiveness of environmental courts and tribunals around the world. Learn why environmental courts may be critical to providing access to environmental justice for all.

This in-depth study was published by The Access Initiative (TAI), the largest civil society network dedicated to ensuring that communities have a voice in decisions concerning their natural resources. TAI partners have worked hard in over 45 countries to identify gaps in laws, institutions, practices, and tools for removing barriers to access to justice in environmental matters.

For nearly a decade, World Resources Institute has been privileged and proud to serve as the Global Secretariat of TAI.

India's Environmental Detectives

Monika Kerdeman — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:58:56 -0400

Lawyers in India advocate for environmental rights, one case at a time.

After six hours in a small basement office here in Delhi, India, I am overwhelmed by the activities of the day. From one minute to the next, it has been unpredictable and unplanned, but surprisingly productive. There is no such thing as a scheduled meeting, and adaptability is key. I’m visiting the office of the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), an Indian advocacy and law group that helps people who have been affected by environmentally harmful development projects. The people at LIFE are more than just lawyers to their clients. They serve as the voices of local people in an often voiceless world.

LIFE’s four full time lawyers (Ritwick Dutta, Rahul Chaudhary, Promod Kumar, and Soumyarup Sahu) try over 70 cases a year with the Indian Supreme Court, the National Environmental Appellant Authority (NEAA) and the Central Empowerment Committee (CEC). Their goal is to keep the government accountable for its environmental decisions, and make sure that existing laws are enforced. This work, and the work of so many Access Initiative partners like them, is a fundamental building block of sustainable development.

LIFE Attorneys Rahul Chaudhary, Promod Kumar, and Ritwick Dutta

LIFE attorneys serve as watchdogs when business and the government fail to follow the best practices mandated by law, such as holding public hearings, consultations and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). They perform quite a bit of detective work, piecing together evidence to ensure laws are being followed. They also help teach civil servants how to implement the laws, and help organizations and people connect with one another on cases taking place all over the country.

In one of their cases, runoff from a cement company had created brackish water in neighboring communities. In another, thermal power plants built without environmental testing had hurt local mango farmers. They take on these cases and others like them for only a nominal fee, if they charge at all.

In one such case I attended with Ritwick Dutta, he was appealing to the courts to enforce a law meant to protect Asiatic lions in the Girnar Sanctuary. Dutta’s client, the Gir Nature Youth Club, had used India’s Right to Information Act to obtain information about the building of an Ashram on land designated for wildlife. Through the petitions process, the club discovered that the Ashram had in fact been encroaching on protected forest lands for years, even after the courts had ordered them to stop.

The impact of the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Ashram had taken a huge toll on the land, the wildlife in the area and the local community. Even though the courts had previously decided in favor of the Youth Club to preserve the land, local ministers had overruled them and allowed for the encroachment, undermining the purpose and intent of the protected area.

Ritwick Dutta with clients outside the courthouse

Our session in court that day, like so many others, ended without a final decision. When Ritwick and I returned to the LIFE office, I asked what motivates him to take on cases that can often drag on for years. “It’s interesting and challenging work,” he said. “I want future generations to be able to appreciate how beautiful India truly is. The environment has an inherent right to exist in the form in which it has been created. Since we are not the creator we should not be the destroyer.”

In my job with The Access Initiative (TAI), I have had the pleasure of working with some of the most amazing people around the world. Being based in DC, though, I rarely get to see them in action. Generally, I read their stories on our blog or in reports.

Sitting in LIFE’s office in Delhi, I see the ultimate value of how access laws (access to information, access to justice and public participation) are the keys to empowering people to truly have a more sustainable future.

By putting the pieces of the law puzzle together one case at a time, the lawyers at LIFE help to ensure that the courts take the environment and community rights seriously. Even though they might not win all of their cases, they have at least brought the injustices to the attention of a larger Indian population. They have also given the local people a voice to ensure better standards for the future of their country’s environmental and sustainable development. It’s a process, and a story, that continues to inspire me.

LIFE is one of hundreds of groups in the Access Initiative that are fighting for better governance and environmental protection around the world. For more information about their work and the Access Initiative network, visit http://www.accessinitiative.org.

Browse a slideshow of Monika’s trip on Flickr

View slideshow on Flickr with captions

Whose Amazon Is It?

Ruth Nogueron — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:35:04 -0400

Following the recent violence over natural resource use, Peru has an opportunity to balance economic development with human rights protections.

The tension between natural resource development and the protection of human rights reached a breaking point in Peru this month. In early April, indigenous groups initiated nearly 50 days of protests as a public outcry for laws that violated their right to decide if and how large-scale development happens on their territory. Fatal violence erupted when police and the military attempted to break a road blockade near the city of Bagua, in the northern region of Amazonas and close to the border with Ecuador. The victim count remains controversial. The official death toll is 33, with 24 policemen and 9 civilians killed. Other estimates range from 40 to 250 indigenous people dead.

The government responded to the protests with heavy-handed tactics, calling a state of emergency and calling in the military and national police. (A move denounced by human rights organizations). Also, there has been a national and international outcry at the use of violence by both sides. Public demonstrations and strikes were held in Lima and other cities in Perú, with protests in other major cities around the world. The International Human Rights Commission, leaders of the Peruvian Catholic Church, as well as Peruvian and international NGOs, all made statements calling for investigations and a stop to the violence.

The ingredients for violent conflict have been simmering for several years. The Peruvian government’s aggressive economic development strategy centers on promoting private investment in the natural resources based sectors. Between 2004 and 2009, the oil and gas concessions in the Peruvian Amazon increased their coverage from 15% to 72%. The vast majority of these concessions overlap with indigenous people’s territories, including titled and demarcated communities, communities in process of being titled, territorial reserves and proposed reserves. However, the government did not consult with these indigenous communities before it drew the concession boundaries and awarded the concessions to oil and gas companies.

Adding fuel to the fire is the 2006 US-Perú Trade Promotion Agreement, the free trade agreement (FTA) signed by President George W. Bush and Peru’s President, Alan García. The FTA included a variety of groundbreaking provisions for labor, public participation and consultation, and forest management, which were included after the agreement was re-negotiated in 2007. These provisions were meant to improve forest sector governance and promote legal trade in timber products. The FTA also included language meant to prohibit the weakening of existing environmental laws in both countries.

To make sure the agreement could be certified before President Bush left office in January 2009, the Peruvian Congress granted Peru’s executive branch special powers to enact laws and regulations needed to be in compliance with the FTA. Between February and June 2008, the executive branch used these powers to pass a series of Legislative Decrees meant to attract and facilitate large-scale private investment in the extractive industries, forestry and agriculture in the Peruvian Amazon.

Much attention has been paid to two of the more contentious decrees–Legislative Decree 1064 and Legislative Decree 1020. Decree 1064 removes previous requirements for companies to negotiate with a community prior to moving in, and it reclassifies communal land rights as subordinate to individual and private ownerships, giving favor to individuals, companies, and settlers who invade indigenous territories. Decree 1020 outlines a plan to regulate investment in the Amazon, but protesters say it frees roughly 60 percent of Peru’s forests for potential development.

As with the oil and gas concession awarding process, indigenous communities were not consulted on the content of the decrees. This is despite the fact that Peru has signed onto several international conventions and declarations that commit the government to providing specific protections to indigenous peoples, including the right to free, prior and informed consent on development activities that would threaten their territory or way of life.

Community Engagement & Natural Resource Use

WRI’s 2009 report, Breaking Ground: Engaging Communities in Extractive and Infrastructure Projects recommends 7 principles to help companies adapt to the changing rules of natural resource extraction by more effectively involving communities in project decision-making:

Prepare communities before engaging.
Determine what level of engagement is needed.
Integrate community engagement into each phase of the project cycle.
Include traditionally excluded stakeholders.
Gain free, prior and informed consent.
Resolve community grievances through dialogue.
Promote participatory monitoring by local communities.

Read the full publication here.

Last year, after public protest and indigenous peoples’ demonstrations called the decrees into question, a special investigative Commission created by the Peruvian Congress found the decrees to be unconstitutional. When debate in the Congress on the Commission’s findings was blocked and formal spaces for dialogue appeared to be ineffective, indigenous communities took to the streets to protest.

Since the events in Bagua, the Congress has repealed the controversial decrees, and President Garcia has recognized the lack of consultation and declared that it is time to start over again.

The government has set up a national working group made up by members of the executive branch, the presidents of the regional governments of the Amazonian States, and 10 indigenous representatives. The working group is tasked to prepare a sustainable development plan for the Peruvian Amazon. While the Minister of Foreign Relations has said that Peru has the support of the U.S. Government and Congress to find negotiated solutions to improve the laws, the U.S. itself has said or done very little about the situation.

An unprecedented opportunity for Peru

The “new start” offers the government an unprecedented opportunity to put effective measures in place to protect all of its citizens from the unintended negative consequences of development, and make sure that they receive its full benefits through a participatory process.

At the national level, the government needs to make sure that laws and policies:

Provide information: Give citizens adequate access to clear and accurate information about planned development, and that citizens are given an opportunity to understand the full implications of development. The government should conduct analysis and provide maps that show the location of indigenous territories and the overlaps with possible conflicting land uses for example, oil and gas concessions or forest and mining concessions.
Allow citizen participation: Give citizens formal opportunities to participate in credible decision-making processes to ensure sure that their views and opinions are reflected in final decisions.
Provide access to justice: Give citizens access to effective forms of justice so that if they have a grievance, they don’t feel they need to take the law into their own hands.

Finally, companies operating on indigenous territory should also play their part. Since the majority of oil and gas concessions in the Peruvian Amazon overlap indigenous territories, those operating in these concessions should have a policy regarding indigenous peoples, and an effective policy on community engagement and free prior and informed consent.

WRI Releases Guide to Help Extractive Companies Work with Local Communities

Paul Mackie — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:52:07 -0500

Natural-resources extractive companies are profiting financially and socially when they consult with affected communities before and during the construction of projects.

“Rio Tinto and De Beers, for example, have negotiated agreements with communities to avoid harm and provide benefits. In so doing, they have gained local support for projects, and communities have seized opportunities for development,” said Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute (WRI). “But more work needs to be done. Too often, the rhetoric in support of community engagement does not match the practice.”

The report, Breaking Ground: Engaging Communities in Extractive and Infrastructure Projects, takes an in-depth look at international community engagement standards and how they often fall short of providing guidance to companies and communities. The work follows WRI’s 2007 report, Development Without Conflict, and is designed as a user’s guide to help companies and local community liaisons implement successful standards on-the-ground.

“Many national laws and financial institutions’ policies require companies to implement some type of community engagement in extractive and infrastructure projects, but do not necessarily provide guidance on how to do so,” said Kirk Herbertson of WRI, lead author of the report. “When local communities participate in the design and implementation of a project, they are more likely to understand and support the changes brought about by the project.”

In one of the examples from the report, community engagement during the construction of a natural gas project in the Philippines saved a U.S. company millions by allowing the company to complete construction ahead of schedule. In another example, from Guatemala, a mining company helped rebuild its damaged reputation by inviting local communities to test and monitor water quality, as a way to provide credible assurances that a mine was not polluting their water source.

WRI’s accompanying video documentary on Thailand’s Mae Moh coal power project shows what happens when companies and governments refuse to engage the communities they develop. Hundreds of people filed a lawsuit against the government-controlled Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), alleging the coal mine and power plant poisoned them with toxic sulfur dioxide emissions and mine dust, and damaged their crops. On Tuesday of this week, which is officially the World Bank’s Extractive Industries Week, a Thai court ruled that EGAT must compensate each of the victims and restore the environmental damage of the coal mine.

Extractive industry experts said at the World Bank conference that they continue to recognize the importance of engaging communities in mining projects, despite the ongoing economic crisis.

Building Laws That Work for the Poor

Remi Moncel — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:17:02 -0400

What is the link between the rule of law and poverty? A [new report](http://www.undp.org/legalempowerment/report/index.html) finds that billions of people “around the world are robbed of the chance to better their lives and climb out of poverty because they are excluded from the rule of law.”

According to the report, produced by the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, a commission hosted by UNDP, “more than seven in ten children in the world’s least developed countries do not have birth certificates or other registration documents,” and in India, there are only 11 judges for every million people.

But while the [report](http://www.undp.org/legalempowerment/report/index.html) focused on countries around the world, WRI convened an event earlier this week with influential leaders from government and civil society to put the spotlight squarely on the United States.

“I do think, and I will stand up for this, that U.S. law and U.S. democracy is better than anything else,” said Madeleine Albright, former United States secretary of state and co-chair of the Commission. “But clearly there are issues, and New Orleans is the best example of it.”

Dr. Beverly Wright, a New Orleans resident and founder and executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University, said this about the poor response to Katrina: “We were absolutely looking at a situation where a government as rich and as powerful and as knowledgeable as our government is, was absolutely unable to protect vulnerable populations.” Wright continued: “I still ask myself, ‘why?’”

Wright traces her family in New Orleans back many generations, and before the storm, she lived in a home she had inherited. She talked about what happened to her and thousands of others who had no voice in what happened to their property after the storm:

“I looked up on a map and I saw a green space, and I looked at where it was, I said, ‘Darn that’s where I lived.’ And my question was, ‘So who made this decision? Where was I?’ Somebody decided, ‘We’re going to make this footprint smaller, and your house is gone.’ Well, that happened to a whole lot of us.”

Her moving story shows that even in the United States, many people are excluded from the critical decisions that affect their environment. To exercise their right to participate in decision-making, citizens need access to the information that drives those decisions and the chance to voice their opinions and to influence choices.

“Despite robust social safety nets and legal protections available to Americans, millions of poor people in America continue to confront both formal and informal barriers to participation in civic and economic life,” said Jonathan Lash, president of WRI. “These barriers have denied them access to secure property rights, to the judicial system and to sustainable livelihoods and resilient communities.”

WRI contributed to the Commission report, which drew specifically on the work of [The Access Initiative](http://www.accessinitiative.org/), a project of WRI and the world’s largest network of civil society organizations working to ensure that people have the right and the ability to influence decisions about the natural resources that sustain their communities.

And WRI’s new book, Voice and Choice: Opening the Door to Environmental Democracy, looks at the progress governments have made in providing access to environmental decision-making–-and with the hope of accelerating this progress, the book identifies hurdles and suggests how to overcome them.

At the WRI event, Dr. Naresh Singh, executive director of the Commission, focused on the key message of the report: legal empowerment. Singh noted that some nations may have an established rule of law, yet its citizens are not empowered to take action. Singh talked about the four pillars which must be central to national and international efforts aimed at the legal empowerment of the poor: access to justice and rule of law, property rights, labor rights and business rights.

The panel talked about how billions of people worldwide have no voice in the decisions that affect their environment. The United States is no exception. The consequences of environmental degradation and poor planning are harshest on poor communities.

“Obviously, [the report] has an environmental aspect to it because we know that poor people suffer the most, I think, in terms of land that has been deforested or lack of water. So there is, I think, a direct connection between empowering the poor, the legal empowerment of the poor and [WRI’s] agenda,” said Albright.

“We believe the report contains lessons for a new administration committed to helping the poor and disempowered in this country,” Jacob Werksman, director of the Institutions and Governance Program at WRI, said about the Commission report. “Too often we assume the rule of law functions equally for everyone. As a result, ill-crafted decisions and the lack of enforcement of environmental standards unfairly harm poor communities.”