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ENVIRONMENT: Gov’t Transparency Key to Defending Resources

Sanjay Suri

LONDON, Jul 10 2003 (IPS) - A major new report calls for a strengthening of the right to information – for the sake of the environment.

The report, ‘World Resources 2002-2004: Decisions for the Earth – Balance, Voice and Power’, calls on governments to include the public in decisions that affect ecosystems, and for integration of environmental impacts into economic decision-making.

The report, issued jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank and the independent World Resources Institute, says public information from governments, business and non-governmental organisations is necessary for improved performance on the environment.

The report argues that greater transparency and accountability lead to fairer and more effective management of natural resources.

"The key components we identify in the report are information, participation and justice," co-author of the report Elena Petkova told IPS at the launch of the report in London Thursday. The report was released simultaneously in Washington DC.

"It is really a follow-up of the Partnership for Principle 10," she said.

The Partnership for Principle 10 is the name given to an agreement by governments at the Rio earth summit in 1992 to ensure public access to relevant information, and to make sure that the public is involved in decision-making.

Eleven years later, a new report is saying more of the same. Klaus Toepfer, executive director of UNEP acknowledged at the London launch that producing reports and declarations like this is not enough.

"There is no point having a nice report that is not implemented," he said. "Very soon people will be saying we have spectacular conferences but that nothing changes. It is good to have access to information, but you need to have the capacity to use it." Too many policies are just "paper tigers", he said.

Exactly how UNEP and other agencies can persuade governments, business and NGOs to implement the recommendations in the report is, Toepfer acknowledged, "a million dollar question." UNEP and other agencies, he said, had been "working mainly with the carrot and not the stick", and that there is "no binding structure for compliance."

But there is some movement toward binding governments to specific actions, Petkova says. With some persuasion by international agencies, the Ugandan government is, for instance considering a freedom of information act "so that governments have a responsibility to disclose information".

The World Bank is working with governments in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to assess gaps and help suggest ways to fill them. "It is usual for donors to decide how their money is spent, but we are trying to find ways so that people determine what they need," Petkova said. "We are moving to ways to make governments, NGOs and international organisations all accountable for the commitments they make."

The report says that "when constituencies for the environment and for the poor have a seat at the table, the resulting decisions are more likely to promote ecological sustainability, social equity, and lasting conflict resolution."

Those are distant goals. But the least the report seems to do is to point to the areas where the gaps are widest. Survey findings included in the report on the extent of public participation in environmental decisions were startling on several counts.

The survey carried out a comparative analysis of national assessments conducted by research teams in nine pilot countries: Chile, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda and the United States.

Some key results:

– In six of eight countries studied for this, data on water quality was inaccessible, or only accessible with much effort.

– Frequently, reports on compliance with air or water standards were not available from the government.

– Only the United States provides data on pollution from industries.

– Information about accidents, explosions and fires in private facilities is shrouded in mystery everywhere.

– Efforts to incorporate public concerns into plans for power provision are minimal.

– Environmental impact assessment studies do not necessarily ensure public accessibility to the decision process.

The survey was carried out by The Access Initiative, a collaboration of the World Resources Institute and 24 civil society groups.

"Poor communities are particularly vulnerable to failed environmental governance, since they rely more heavily on natural resources for subsistence and income," said Dr. Kristalina Georgieva, director of the environment department of the World Bank.

The report makes five principal recommendations: make ecosystems the fundamental unit of environmental management and governance; increase the public’s environmental literacy and at the same time increase the government’s capacity to give environmental information; broaden participation in environmental decisions to include all affected parties; integrate environmental sustainability into economic decision-making; and finally, strengthen global economic cooperation.