The Access Initiative

Topics: Capacity Building

Memoria: Taller regional de las Coaliciones de Acceso de Centroamérica

San José, Costa Rica. 2009

Last April 29th and 30th, representatives from TAI Coalitions from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Costa Rica gathered in regional workshop to create a common Action Plan to strengthen their work on the implementation of Principle 10.

The Action Plan has three sections:

A) Challenges and commitments of the leader organizations in each coalition: This point is related with the strengthening of the following aspects: 1) National coalitions to promote the Access Rights. 2) Information channels within the coalitions and between the coalitions. 3) Fundraising for national coalitions projects. 4) the inclusion of the Dominican Republic and Panama in the regional process. 5) Establishing a regional partnership that consolidates common work strategies and get funding for regional projects. 6) Political context challenges in each country. B) Regional Agenda: This point refers to issues related with: 1) access to information and communications between governments and civil society, 2) Legal framework on access rights. 3) Proceedings and institutional structures of public participation. 4) Education and training on access rights. 5) Funding for public participation and access to information. C) Building a regional partnership: It contains the actions defined to create a regional partnership of TAI Coalitions in Central America.

As part of the program, the meeting had two spaces to tend other topics: Daniel Barragán, from TAI Ecuador, presented the hemispheric strategic plan of Latin America Access Coalitions. Aldo Palacios and Diego Cooper from PP10Secretariat presented the components and the work of the Partnership for Principle 10.

This workshop is an activity of the project “Partnership 10 Central America” which is funded by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and executed by Foundation for Peace and Democracy(FUNPADEM).

Further information please contact Luis Diego Segura from Foundation for Peace and Democracy, FUNPADEM. Email sociedadcivil@funpadem.org or +506 2283 9435.

La Inciativa de Acceso en Centro America

San José, Costa Rica. 2009

Last April 29th and 30th, representatives from TAI Coalitions from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Costa Rica gathered in regional workshop to create a common Action Plan to strengthen their work on the implementation of Principle 10.

The Action Plan has three sections:

A) Challenges and commitments of the leader organizations in each coalition: This point is related with the strengthening of the following aspects: 1) National coalitions to promote the Access Rights. 2) Information channels within the coalitions and between the coalitions. 3) Fundraising for national coalitions projects. 4) the inclusion of the Dominican Republic and Panama in the regional process. 5) Establishing a regional partnership that consolidates common work strategies and get funding for regional projects. 6) Political context challenges in each country. B) Regional Agenda: This point refers to issues related with: 1) access to information and communications between governments and civil society, 2) Legal framework on access rights. 3) Proceedings and institutional structures of public participation. 4) Education and training on access rights. 5) Funding for public participation and access to information. C) Building a regional partnership: It contains the actions defined to create a regional partnership of TAI Coalitions in Central America.

As part of the program, the meeting had two spaces to tend other topics: Daniel Barragán, from TAI Ecuador, presented the hemispheric strategic plan of Latin America Access Coalitions. Aldo Palacios and Diego Cooper from PP10 Secretariat presented the components and the work of the Partnership for Principle 10.

This workshop is an activity of the project “Partnership 10 Central America” which is funded by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and executed by Foundation for Peace and Democracy(FUNPADEM).

Further information please contact Luis Diego Segura from Foundation for Peace and Democracy, FUNPADEM. Email sociedadcivil@funpadem.org or +506 2283 9435.

La Iniciativa de Acceso en el proceso de la V Cumbre de las Américas / The Access Initiative in the V Summit of the Americas…

By Daniel Barragan (Posted: March 9, 2009) 

Del 17 al 19 de abril de 2009 se realizará la V Cumbre de las Américas en Puerto España, Trinidad y Tobago, enfocada a “Asegurar el futuro de nuestros ciudadanos promoviendo la prosperidad humana, la seguridad energética y la sostenibilidad ambiental”.

Como parte del proceso de Cumbres, la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA) ha venido promoviendo la participación de la sociedad civil de las Américas a través de una serie de foros subregionales en Puerto España (octubre 2008), San Salvador (diciembre 2008) y Lima (febrero 2009); y un foro hemisférico en Washington D.C.(marzo 2009).

Estos espacios de participación para la sociedad civil fueron muy importantes para poder analizar y debatir la propuesta de resolución que adoptarán los gobiernos del continente en abril próximo, y definir propuestas concretas para enriquecer esta declaración.Justamente en estos espacios ha sido relevante el rol de las organizaciones miembros de la Iniciativa de Acceso, que han logrado incidir en este proceso en dos vías:

(i) Centro Ecuatoriano de Derecho Ambiental (CEDA), AC Consorcio Desarrollo y Justicia y Corporación Participa, incidieron para incorporar en las recomendaciones del Foro Subregional de América del Sur (Lima), a los derechos de acceso, ya no como un reconocimiento expreso por parte de los gobiernos, sino como una garantía por parte de los Estados para su implementación. La propuesta insertada en el párrafo 44 del documento de recomendaciones dice:

“También trabajaremos en aras de promover una gobernabilidad ambiental sana, mediante el refuerzo de las leyes ambientales nacionales y creando capacidad institucional para la gestión democrática de los recursos naturales, garantizando el acceso de los ciudadanos a la información ambiental, a la participación en los procesos de toma de decisiones y a mecanismos de justicia ambiental. De igual forma, los gobiernos nos comprometemos a desarrollar un sistema de indicadores ambientales orientados a monitorear la información y justicia ambiental, en coordinación con la sociedad civil.”

De igual forma esta propuesta fue apoyada y promovida por los socios TAI presentes en el Foro Hemisférico (Washington D.C.) realizado el pasado 3 y 4 de marzo: World Resources Institute (Estados Unidos), Corporación Participa(Chile), Centro Ecuatoriano de Derecho Ambiental (Ecuador), AC Consorcio Desarrollo y Justicia (Venezuela) y FUNPADEM (Costa Rica); logrando que conste en el documento de recomendaciones de este Foro.

(ii) Adicionalmente, la Iniciativa de Acceso estuvo presente en dos espacios en el Foro Hemisférico de la Sociedad Civil (Washington D.C.). El primer espacio estuvo dentro del panel de Seguridad energética y sostenibilidad ambiental, en el que Linda Shaffer difundió la Iniciativa de Acceso y habló sobre los fundamentos de la gobernabilidad ambiental que son el corazón de nuestro proceso.

El segundo espacio tuvo lugar en la Sesión Especial de la Comisión de Gestión de Cumbres Interamericanas y Participación de la Sociedad Civil en las actividades de la OEA, en donde el Centro Ecuatoriano de Derecho Ambiental presentó a la Iniciativa de Acceso y el trabajo que desarrollamos como un mecanismo de apoyo al seguimiento de los mandatos de cumbres en los temas ambientales.

Fue muy importante la presencia de la Iniciativa de Acceso en estos espacios, a través de sus miembros presentes, no solo para reforzar nuestra presencia institucional y liderazgo en los procesos de gobernabilidad ambiental, sino para poder incidir en foros políticos y procesos de desarrollo de políticas públicas.

The Access Initiative in the V Summit of the Americas process

From April 17 to 19, 2009 will be held the V Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, aimed at “Securing Our Citizens’ Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability”.

As part of the Summit, the Organization of American States (OAS) has been promoting the participation of civil society in the Americas through a series of subregional forums in Port of Spain (October 2008), San Salvador (December 2008) and Lima (February 2009) and a hemispheric forum in Washington DC (2009 March).

These spaces for civil society were very important to analyze and discuss the proposed resolution to adopt the governments of the continent in April, and define concrete proposals to enhance this statement. Precisely in these areas has been relevant the role of TAI members, who influenced this process in two ways:

(i) Centro Ecuatoriano de Derecho Ambiental (CEDA), AC Consorcio Desarrollo y Justicia and Corporación Participa influenced to incorporate in the recommendations of the Sub-Regional Forum of South America (Lima), the access rights, not as an explicit recognition by governments, but as a guarantee by the States for their implementation. The proposal inserted on paragraph 44 of the document reads:

“We will also work towards promoting sound environmental governance by strengthening national environmental laws and building institutional capacity for the democratic management of natural resources, guaranteeing citizens access to environmental information, to participation in decision-making processes, and to mechanisms for environmental justice. In addition, the governments commit to developing a system of environmental indicators geared toward monitoring environmental information and justice, in coordination with civil society.”

The proposal was also supported and promoted by TAI partners in the Hemispheric Forum (Washington DC) held on March 3 and 4: World Resources Institute (Estados Unidos), Corporación Participa (Chile), Centro Ecuatoriano de Derecho Ambiental (Ecuador), AC Consorcio Desarrollo y Justicia (Venezuela) y FUNPADEM (Costa Rica); achieving the inclusion in the document of recommendations of this Forum.

(ii) Additionally, the Access Initiative was present at two spaces in the Civil Society Hemispheric Forum (Washington DC). The first space was on the panel on Energy security and environmental sustainability, in which Linda Shaffer introduced the Access Initiative and spoke about the foundations of environmental governance that are the heart of our process.

The second space was in the Special Session of the Committee on Inter-American Summits Management and Civil Society Participation in OAS Activities, in which the Ecuadorian Center of Environmental Law (Centro Ecuatoriano de Derecho Ambiental) presented the Access Initiative process and the work we develop as a support mechanism to follow the summits mandates on environmental issues.

It was very important the presence of the Access Initiative in these spaces, through its members present, not only to strengthen our institutional presence and leadership in environmental governance processes, but in order to influence policy forums and of public policy development processes.

Más información / more information:
http://www.civil-society.oas.org/Default.htm
http://fifthsummitoftheamericas.org/home/

Highlights from the TAI Global Gathering

By Monika Kerdeman (Posted: March 6, 2009) 

50 people representing 29 countries participated in the second TAI Global Gathering, held in Sligo, Ireland at the Sligo Institute of Technology. The gathering was the largest international conference held at Sligo Institute of Technology. Highlights from the meeting include:

  1. Jeremy Wates, from the Aarhus Convention Secretariat in Geneva, opened the conference by discussing the importance of access work in the role of shaping environmental policy.

  2. The deputy leader of Seanad Eireann (the Senate of Ireland), and Green Party chairperson, Senator Dan Boyle, addressed the gathering. He spoke on Ireland’s need to ratify the Aarhus convention and the importance of access to information in a mature democracy.

  3. TAI partners shared ideas, stories, successes and solutions for moving the network to more action on the ground.

  4. Latin American partners agreed on next steps for a collaborative regional advocacy plan.

  5. The TAI Secretariat shared major themes and messages from its publication, Voice and Choice: Opening the Door to Environmental Democracy.

  6. Partners discussed case studies on access rights for the poor carried out by five TAI partners and next steps for including poverty-access rights analysis in all future TAI assessments.

  7. The Thailand Environment Institute (TEI) introduced partners to a draft citizen’s toolkit.

  8. New sectors were explored in the context of TAI, including climate change, forestry and aid effectiveness.

Click here to read the full report from the gathering.

Greenwatch Uganda Champions Information Rights

By Lalanath de Silva (Posted: March 4, 2008)

Laws alone are not enough to ensure environmental protection. Civil society organizations often play a critical role in bringing those laws to life. In Uganda, Greenwatch has done exactly that for the country’s laws on access to environmental information, the first of which passed in 1998.

Under Ugandan environmental law, the public has several opportunities to make its voice heard about new development projects. Projects that might affect the environment of Uganda have to be approved by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). Before such projects are approved the developer must perform an Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA), which studies the environmental impacts and examines environmentally friendly alternatives. The law requires that the press announce that the assessment has been performed and that the written results are made available to the public for comment. If comment shows that a project is controversial, NEMA must hold a public hearing.

The public can also challenge NEMA decisions in the Ugandan courts, and that’s where the civil society organization Greenwatch, Uganda (Greenwatch) has distinguished itself. As early as 1999, the organization began suing the government to honor the regulations requiring the assessments.

Although the court refused to stop the signing of the agreement, Greenwatch and other advocates of greater public participation consider the case a partial victory: for the first time, a Ugandan court recognized that concerned advocates could bring a case to vindicate environmental laws. Justice Richard Okumu Wengi of the High Court of Uganda also declared that an assessment and NEMA approval were required before the project could go forward.Greenwatch’s first court challenge of a NEMA decision was to a hydro-electric project funded by the International Finance Corporation and other banks. A utility company – AES Nile Power – was attempting to sign a power purchasing agreement with the Government of Uganda, but the company had not performed an assessment nor had it obtained NEMA approval.

(Citation: NAPE VS AES Nile Power Ltd High Court Misc. cause No. 26 of 1999)

AES Nile Power then proceeded to perform an EIA, and NEMA approved the project. Yet when Greenwatch requested information on the project and the power purchase agreement, the Ugandan Government refused. Review of the power purchase agreement would tell the public if the electricity produced would be affordable and would ease the burden on the environment. Greenwatch sued the Attorney General of Uganda to obtain the document. The court decided that the power purchase agreement and all connected documents were both public documents and therefore ought to be made available to the public.
(Citation: Greenwatch Vs AG & UETCL)

A recent UN report concludes that while Uganda has made remarkable progress in the application of EIA procedures, there is a need to improve key aspects of its application. The report states that there is a “need to further develop approaches to ensure effective public participation in EIA, as well as need to create and strengthen regional and sub-regional EIA networks to complement national efforts for promotion of EIA.”

Greenwatch has also successfully used the space provided for public participation at EIA public hearings to stop the spraying of herbicides on Lake Victoria – the second largest lake in the world and the largest in Africa. Greenwatch produced convincing evidence to show the dangers of pesticide spraying. Greenwatch also showed that the entire operation might not be financially viable because the Ugandan company’s parent company in the U.S.A was bankrupt.

Greenwatch continues to advocate in the public interest today. Most recently, it obtained an interim order against Warid Telecom (U) Ltd., stopping the construction of a telecommunication tower in a residential area. The company had failed to perform an EIA and the residents had fears of a cancerous gas affecting them and the construction noise creating a nuisance. Warid Telecom has challenged these allegations saying that there is no scientific basis for any of them. The application for a temporary injunction will be heard soon.

Greenwatch has been closely associated with The Access Initiative coalition in Uganda and has blazed a trail championing citizen rights of access to information, public participation and access to justice (“access rights”) in environmental matters. It also works closely with the Government of Uganda to train public officers and judges in environmental law.

“Every person has a right to information under the Ugandan Constitution,” says Kenneth Kakuru, the Director of Greenwatch, Uganda. “An Environmental Impact Assessment is a public document.”

Resources and Legal Citations:

Full Judgments and more information can be obtained from the Greenwatch website, www.greenwatch.or.ug.

Freedom of Information Victory in India

By Lalanath de Silva (Posted: January 28, 2008)

For the first time in its ten-year history, the National Environmental Appellate Authority* (NEAA) has overturned a decision by the Government of India, quashing an environmental clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. In its decision, the Appellate Authority cited a failure of public participation and access to information.

On December 19, 2007, the NEAA quashed environmental clearance for the Polavaram Multipurpose project granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The project, which would have displaced close to 3000 families (totaling about 200,000 people) in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Chattisgarh, was to have included a hydroelectric power component of 960 MW and irrigation facilities. The project was proposed by the State of Andrah Pradesh.

The project was opposed by civil society organizations on the grounds that the required Environmental Impact Assessment had been performed inadequately, and the Ministry of Environment and Forests had failed to conduct any public hearings in the affected States of Orissa and Chattisgarh.

During the hearing, both States contended that the legally required environmental clearance was granted by the Ministry of Environment without considering the opinion of the states though they were affected by submergence.

Immediately after the Appellate Authority’s decision, the State Government (Andrah Pradesh) filed a petition for the Andra Pradesh High Court (the highest court in the State) to review the case. The Court has now temporarily suspended the decision of the Appellate Authority and fixed a hearing for February 11.

The NEAA found that:

  • People to be affected by the project had no access to the executive summary in the notified place
  • People to be affected by the project had no opportunity to participate in public hearings and express their view on the likely environmental impact of the construction of the project

The Appeal against the clearance was filed by Dr R. Sreedhar of Academy for Mountain Environics and represented by Ritwick Dutta. Dutta is a leader of the TAI network in India, and is preparing to launch a formal, TAI assessment of access to justice, public participation, and access to information in Northern India.

*The National Environmental Appellate Authority is the only competent Authority set up by Parliament through an Act to hear appeals from aggrieved/ affected persons against the grant of environmental clearances by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to different projects across the country.

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