TAI and the World Summit on Sustainable Development

How are TAI and the WSSD related? Here are answers to a few basic questions:

• What were the relevant outcomes of WSSD?
• What did The Access Initiative offer to Johannesburg?
  
• Does the Access Initiative end with the WSSD?
  
• Is The Access Initiative a Type II Partnership?
  
• What events was The Access Initiative involved with during the WSSD process?

What were the relevant outcomes of WSSD?

At the Summit, the governments of the world reaffirmed their commitments to Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration in the Plan of Implementation.

The Partnership for Principle 10 was launched as a viable coalition working to promote access to information, participation, and justice in environmental decision-making. (See the Partnership's website for more information.) This coalition provides a forum for relevant government agencies, NGOs, and other stakeholders to make verifiable commitments toward the implementation of Principle 10.

The Summit did not endorse a set of common elements of national public participation systems for national level implementation, as TAI had hoped.

What did The Access Initiative offer to Johannesburg?

At the Johannesburg Summit, the Initiative presented a family of products, including:

1. A global synthesis report that provides:

• Information about common patterns and variations among the nine pilot-test countries;
• Information from a global survey on demand for and satisfaction with access to information and participation in 60 countries;
• Assessments of application of Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers in 40 countries, and EIAs in the countries of Latin America;
• Assessment of legal frameworks for access in Africa; and
• Assessment of tolerance of NGO activities in 30 countries.

2. National reports from nine countries with specific recommendations to national-level governments.

3. Common guidelines for national public participation systems.

Does The Access Initiative end with WSSD?

No. The Access Initiative continues to work with our current partners. We are also engaging NGOs in new countries to conduct TAI assessments.

Is The Access Initiative a Type II Partnership?

No. But the Access Initiative supports a new Type II Partnership, called the Partnership for Principle 10.

What events was The Access Initiative involved with during the WSSD process?

TAI was very busy at the World Summit for Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, 26 August to 4 September. Click here for a summary of TAI and PP10 activities.

Please also see our press releases on TAI and PP10, and on the launch of the new report Closing the Gap, both issued at the Summit

WSSD PrepCom4, May 27-June 7, 2002: TAI hosted a side event in Bali, on May 30th.

WSSD PrepCom2, January 28-February 8, 2002: TAI hosted a side event in New York, on January 31.

Regional PrepCom--Latin America and the Caribbean, October 23-4, 2001: Participa and WRI represented the Access Initiative at this World Summit PrepCom in Rio de Janeiro, and organized a side-event on the Initiative.

UNECE Regional Preparatory Meeting, September 24-5, 2001: EMLA organized a side-event (on the Initiative) for this official meeting, which took place in Geneva.

NGO-UNECE Meeting, September 2, 2001: EMLA attended meetings of NGOs preparing for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) World Summit Preparatory Meeting.

Central and Eastern Europe Subregional PrepCom, June 27-28, 2001: Judy Amorosa of EMLA attended the CEE Subregional PrepCom in Bucharest. She reports that the CEE Region representatives expressed strong support for the principles of public access to information as expressed by the Aarhus Convention.

Subregional PrepCom in Latin America, June 18-20, 2001: Participa participated in the Subregional PrepCom in Chile and disseminated information about the Access Initiative. Maria Eugenia Brockmann and Andrea Sanhueza met with staff from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the regional UNEP office to identify opportunities to participate and influence the preparatory process for the WSSD. Together with WRI's Crescencia Maurer they have prepared information about the Access Initiative for the UNEP newsletter for Latin America. UNEP has posted this information on their website, at www.rolac.unep.mx/cronica/ing/index.htm#07-Acceso