Environmental Democracy Index #launchEDI
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Launched on 20 May 2015, www.EnvironmentalDemocracyIndex.org is an interactive platform that allows users to explore, rank, and compare information related to environmental democracy measures for countries worldwide - the right to know, the right to be heard, the right to access justice.
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Environmental Democracy Index #launchEDI
- 1. May 20, 2015
- 2. LALANATH DE SILVA, DIRECTOR, THE ACCESS INITIATIVE | JESSE WORKER, ASSOCIATE, WRI ENVIRONMENTAL DEMOCRACY INDEX LAUNCH May 20, 2015
- 3. THE ACCESS INITIATIVE (TAI) Est. in 1999: WRI as Secretariat NETWORK of 200+ civil society organizations in 50+ countries MISSION: to strengthen public rights to participate in environmental decision-making through evidence-based advocacy Photo: Flickr/CIFOR
- 4. WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL DEMOCRACY? INFORMATION publicly available, accessible, and relevant environmental information PARTICIPATION meaningful opportunities for the public to shape decisions that have environmental impacts JUSTICE accountability and grievance mechanisms to enforce laws and compensate for harms Photo: Flickr/UN Photo/Tobin Jones
- 5. THE CHALLENGE • In many countries laws are weak or absent. • Practice lags behind the law • Measuring progress is essential to creating change Photo: Flickr/UN Photo/Tobin Jones
- 6. WHAT IS EDI? NATIONAL RULES & LAWS Relevant and legally-binding 75 Legal Indicators scored to create the index 24 Supplemental Practice Indicators provide key insights
- 7. WHY EDI? • First of its kind • Benchmarks to 2010 UNEP Bali Guidelines • Limits subjectivity with clear scoring criteria • Makes data easily accessible • Engages governments and stakeholders
- 8. KEY FINDINGS • Top ten countries: Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, United State (tied), South Africa (tied), United Kingdom, Hungary, Bulgaria, Panama and Colombia • Better legal protection in Aarhus Convention countries • Wealth is important, but it’s not the only factor
- 9. KEY FINDINGS • Countries that have good laws tend to have more observable good practices • Countries scored best on access to information laws, while public participation lagged behind • 73% of EDI countries environmental cases are heard in court.
- 10. NOTES ON METHODS • Scores provisional until August 31st • Federal vs. Unitary • Practice indicators not comprehensive
Notas del editor
- Photo: Simone D. McCourtie / World Bank https://www.flickr.com/photos/10816734@N03/3492673802/
- Photo: Simone D. McCourtie / World Bank https://www.flickr.com/photos/10816734@N03/3492673802/
- Flickr/CIFOR - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciat/7165484335/ What have we learned from 15 years of TAI research and advocacy? There is often a lack of easily accessible and well-researched evidence on the status and quality of environmental transparency regimes, rights to engage, and the public’s ability to seek solutions through administrative or judicial means. There is an even greater dearth of evidence on implementation. Not only was a body of knowledge created, but so was the capacity of TAI members to conduct this research and engage decision-makers with the evidence. Building this evidence and civil society capacity created opportunities to influence governments and this has produced several Tier 1 outcomes over the years. It can take time, as in Paraguay’s passage of a Right to Information law this year. Finally, these assessments are costly and time consuming. Prevented follow ups to measure progress. Revealed the need for an independent benchmarking tool to track progress in environmental democracy. The importance of engaging with governments in this process as well.
- Flickr/CIAT - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciat/6520240743/ When we talk about environmental democracy, we are talking about three essential rights that allow for the public to influence decisions that affect the quality of their environment—and thus their health, livelihoods, and culture. The environmental rights of transparency, participation, and access to justice are essential to sustainable development and the public interest.
- Right now it is difficult to compare content and quality and implementation of access rights across countries Advocates need to hold governments accountable for weak laws Even when laws are strong, there is little to no monitoring of implementation. Enforcement can be inconsistent. These rights are not currently being measured, especially not in relation to one another Pressure on environmental continues to grow; despite Rio convention being 22 years old, many countries still lag behind Environmental democracy rights are essential to provide a voice for those who are often left out of development decision-making and thus are critical for sustainable development Photo: Flickr/UN Photo/Tobin Jones - http://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/12366885945/
- The legal indicators measure legally binding laws and regulations. They ONLY look at national laws, not state or local (at least not in 2014—this may be added in future years). They EXCLUDE sectoral laws on energy, coastal, marine and fisheries. Why? Primarily because of resource and time constraints of reviewing so many laws. This does limit its ability somewhat to describe the legal protections in federal countries such as Australia, Mexico, India, etc. However, it is still very useful to assess national laws.
- Photo: Flickr/WorldFish - https://www.flickr.com/photos/theworldfishcenter/9703826469/ Why does the standard matter? Because we did not simply try to create the guidelines for good practice from nothing. These underwent extensive discussion by governments and stakeholder and were adopted by the UNEP Governing Council, so strong strategy for promoting change. We are not trying to create a proxy for environmental governance. We are clear about our scope. The indicators have clear scoring guidance to limit subjectivity. Rigorous and iterative review methodology. This information will be more accessible than it has ever been. It will allow for learning, provide for clear evidence for advocacy, and start conversations between advocates and governments. It will start the conversation around these results between the public and governments. (We’ll show you how)
- KEY FINDINGS: The top ten countries are: Lithuania, Russia, Latvia, United States, South Africa, United Kingdom, Hungary, Bulgaria, Panama, and Colombia. Countries that are part of the legally binding Aarhus Convention have better legal protection for environmental democracy rights. Wealth is important, but it’s not the only factor; several lower income countries are also leading the way. Countries that have good laws tend to have more observable good practices Laws on public participation lag behind; 79% of EDI countries have fair or poor public participation provisions. Encouragingly, 73% of EDI countries are willing to hear environmental cases in court. The best performing country in practice is the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan, Lithuania, Ireland, Chile, Israel, and Australia.
- Sectoral laws not examined: marine, coastal, energy production and transport
- Photo: Simone D. McCourtie / World Bank https://www.flickr.com/photos/10816734@N03/3492673802/