UK Expands Public Access to Environmental Decision-Making 6/24/2004
From: Racine Tucker-Hamilton, 202-729-7684 or 301-922-8417 (cell), media@wri.org, Web: http://newsroom.wri.org WASHINGTON, June 24 -- Bill Rammell, the United Kingdom's Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, announced today new commitments by his government to expand public access to information and participation in environmental decision-making both at home and abroad. Speaking at a press conference on the Partnership for Principle 10 (PP10) organized by the World Resources Institute (WRI), Rammell announced greater cross-government working on environmental governance as well grants of more than $600,000 to promote public access to environmental decision-making in Latin America and Africa. "The British Government is pleased to be a founding member of Partnership for Principle 10 and we are keen to improve our own performance as well as supporting other partners in promoting just, transparent and participatory environmental decision-making through our UK project funding," said Minister Rammell. "It essential that we all work together. Environmental issues are global and we are all affected. That is why working in partnership, as we are doing in PP10, is so important." "This is a significant step to embrace the principles committed to by more than 178 governments during the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio and reaffirmed at the 2002 World Summit in Johannesburg," said Jonathan Lash, WRI president. "The financial commitment shows global leadership by the UK to build the capacity of developing countries to implement those principles as well." Some $450,000 of the U.K. financial commitment will fund national assessments of government policies and practices that facilitate public access to decision-making in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico and Peru. These assessments, being launched this month by public interest groups participating in WRI's The Access Initiative ( http://www.accessinitiative.org ), are usually conducted as a precursor to countries being considered for membership in the Partnership for Principle 10 (PP10). "Support from the British Government is allowing us to share our experience with other countries to help them improve their own environmental governance," said Juan Carlos Carrillo of Access Initiative-Mexico. "Working with governments to improve citizen access to information, participation, and justice is one of the most powerful ways to ensure protection of the environment and social equity." The balance of the UK's funding will be made available on a competitive basis to developing country governments and non- governmental organizations that have committed to improving public access to decision-making that affects the environment. "The Government of Chile welcomes support for the independent assessment of our performance in implementing Principle 10," said Esteban Tomic, ambassador and permanent Chilean representative to the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C. "By collaborating with non-governmental organizations and the international community, we can make real improvements to the quality of our environment through increased public participation." Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration articulates public access to information, participation in decision-making, and access to justice as key principles of environmental governance. In 2002, the international community reaffirmed these goals during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Partnership for Principle 10 (PP10), launched two years ago, puts this commitment into action and supports transparent, inclusive, and accountable decision- making for sustainable development. "The Partnership for Principle 10 is providing us with practical tools to enable us to act on the commitments made in Johannesburg," said Kahinda Otafiire, Minister of Water, Lands, and Environment, Uganda. "We welcome international support for our efforts to improve law and practice related to public participation in environmental management." The announcement was made on the occasion of the second meeting of the Partnership for Principle 10 ( http://www.pp10.org ) taking place at the World Bank headquarters, June 23-24, 2004. Government and civil society officials from 11 countries --- as well as the European Union, the World Conservation Union, the UN Development Programme, the UN Environment Programme, the World Bank and WRI -- are attending the meeting. They will share best practices in environmental governance, and discuss ways to expand the PP10 to 20 more countries in the next three to five years. ------ The World Resources Institute ( http://www.wri.org/wri ) is an environmental research and policy organization that creates solutions to protect the Earth and improve people's lives. |