The Access Initiative

Topics: Principle 10

Globalizing Environmental Democracy: A Call for International Action

Published: 2012

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development is returning to Rio de Janeiro in 2012, with institutional framework for sustainable development and green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication as the main themes. As part of the preparations for Rio+20, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) called for submissions by 1 November 2011 through a web portal they established.

An analysis of the submissions carried out by The Access Initiative (TAI) showed that there were over 140 submissions (including submissions by several states, intergovernmental organizations and civil society organizations) calling for better implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration and greater transparency, participation, and accountability in matters affecting sustainable development. Clearly, there is a growing sense of urgency and a chorus of national governments, intergovernmental bodies and civil society groups calling for the strengthening of Principle 10 worldwide.

These calls for a convention or legally binding framework on Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration provide the context for this paper. In it we seek to (a) provide reasons why a convention offers a good option for making future progress in implementing Principle 10, (b) suggest what the contents of such a convention might be and (c) conclude with what Rio+20 can do to further such a convention. For those who would like more information on Principle 10 and the details of the various calls for a convention, we have provided an annex.

Improving Participation in International Environmental Governance         

Published: 2011

UNEP Perspectives Series

This discussion paper 1) briefly explores the rationale and principles for “public participation” in IEG; 2) reviews exemplary practice and options of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) with regard to implementing these principles and suggests a number of changes to IEG that could enable more transparent, participatory, and accountable governance; and 3) suggests that Rio +20 provides an opportunity to improve the quality of civil society participation by enabling civil society organizations not merely to observe, but also to inform, shape, and engage decisionmaking processes by securing an equal footing with states in some aspects of the IEG policy-making process; performing key governance functions that governments cannot or will not perform themselves; and amplifying the voices of people and of interests that governments may not represent adequately. In order to frame these observations in the context of Rio +20’s mandate to review progress toward sustainable development, this paper concludes by summarizing proposals across the three pillars of Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration (access to information, public participation, and access to justice).