Posts Tagged ‘environmental info’
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2 April 2015
Draft Issued For Latin American Environmental ATI
Environmental activists say they are pleased with the preliminary document of the regional agreement for Latin America and the Caribbean on the rights of access to information, participation and justice in environmental matters. Negotiations in May will continue work on the agreement which would be the first regional convention on such rights in the developing world. […]
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11 December 2014
UNEP Seeks Public Comments On Pilot Phase Access Policy
The United Nations Environmental Programme is inviting comments on its access to information policy now in a “pilot phase.” On June 6, 2014, UNEP announced the policy and said it would be reviewed by the UNEP secretariat for possible refinement after a year. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report on announcement here, and stories about critiques of […]
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20 November 2014
Secrecy Option Proposed for Bank Forest Carbon Fund
The World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Fund is aiming to allow confidential treatment for the terms under which countries would receive payments for conserving forests. The policy is still under development, but three nongovernmental organizations recently objected to giving countries the option of secrecy in the still developing system in which the Fund will pay […]
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20 November 2014
New Tool Examines Jamaica’s Development Projects
By Carole Excell and Stephanie Ratte The authors work for World Resources Institute. Excell is Project Director of WRI’s Access Initiative. Ratte is Project Coordinator/Research Analyst with the Governance of Forests Initiative. Portland Bight (PBPA) is Jamaica’s largest protected area, extending more than 200 square miles of land and 524 miles of sea. The region is home to […]
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19 November 2014
Latin American Countries to Write Green Access Standards
A regional agreement on access to information in the environmental context for Latin America and the Caribbean will be negotiated, participants at a Nov. 9 at a meeting in Santiago, Chile, decided. Representatives from the 19 Latin American and Caribbean signatory countries of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration – which promotes access to information, […]
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6 November 2014
Tanzanian Parliament Orders Arrest of 2 Company Officials
Two top officials at Tanzania’s state-owned oil agency were arrested Nov. 3 on charges of failing to give parliament the oil and gas contracts the government signed with foreign and local investors, according to an article by Kizoto Makoye for the Thompson Reuters Foundation. The Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts instructed police to arrest James […]
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8 October 2014
Disclosure Policy Not on Agenda for Climate Fund
Creation of a permanent information disclosure policy is not on the agenda for an upcoming meeting of the Global Climate Fund board. “This was not surprising, giving the long list of issues already on their to-do list, but it is disappointing nevertheless,” said Liane Schalatek, who follows the Fund as Associate Director of the Heinrich Böll […]
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23 June 2014
WRI Criticizes UNEP Pilot Access to Information Policy
The pilot access to information policy recently issued by the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) “falls far short of providing true transparency,” according to the World Resources Institute. UNEP issued its pilot policy last week. (See FreedomInfo.org report.) The policy, which was not released in draft form for comment, is to be the subject a […]
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13 June 2014
UNEP to Establish Pilot Information Disclosure Policy
The United Nations Environmental Programme is about to create a one-year “pilot” informational disclosure policy. An official announcement is expected soon. An advance copy of the eight-page policy, dated June 6, was obtained by FreedomInfo.org. A preamble says that the goal for setting up a permanent policy is June 2015. During that time, internal and […]
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30 May 2014
Rio Declaration Follow-Up Covers Access, Participation
Efforts are advancing to clarify what access rights should look like in the context of the environment and development in Latin America and the Caribbean. A committee has developed a list of concepts that should be included as efforts continue to follow up on the application of Principle 10 (environmental democracy) of the 2012 Rio […]
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25 March 2014
UNEP Delays Producing Access to Information Policy
The United Nations Environment Programme has still not produced an access to information policy requested by the Governing Council a year ago. Instead, an “interim” access policy will begin in April, Executive Director Achim Steiner told the UNEP Committee of Permanent Representatives March 24. He said it will be evaluated after a year. A final […]
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4 March 2014
Freedom of Information in Ireland: changing of the guard
By Tony Lowes Lowes is a Director of Friends of the Irish Environment In what is a serious blow to Freedom of Information in Ireland, the newly appointed Information Commission and Ombudsman Peter Tyndall has withdrawn his predecessor’s appeal to the Supreme Court against a High Court judgment that the constitutional right to cabinet confidentiality […]
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14 February 2014
ATI Used in Brazil to Get Access to Water
This report by Article 19 appears on the Article 19 website here. Freedom of expression and information are key in the battle to fight poverty and improve people’s lives. The availability and accessibility of information promotes transparency, ensures better governance and reduces inefficiency and corruption. Information gives people the opportunity to improve their own lives, participate […]
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17 January 2014
WikiLeaks Again Discloses Trade Talk Documents
WikiLeaks on Jan. 15 for the second in several months released secret documents on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks, this time concerning the environment. Disclosed were the draft text for the entire Environment Chapter and the corresponding Chairs’ Report. The text dates from the Chief Negotiators’ summit in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Nov. 12-24, […]
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7 October 2013
Green Climate Fund Urged to Fix Draft Information Plan
Revisions are needed in the draft policy on information disclosure about to be considered by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), according to the Global Transparency Initiative. The GCF is an international financial institution which uses lending to promote compliance with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The draft policy on information disclosure is on the […]
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19 July 2013
Indonesian Minister Denies Access to Concession Maps
Indonesian Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya has determined that “concession maps” showing where companies have logging and agricultural rights are not publicly disclosable. Environmental activists say the maps can help determine who should be accountable for forest fires that recently have caused major haze problems. Questions are being raised not only about whether Kambuaya’s interpretation is […]
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21 June 2013
GTI Critiques Access Proposal by Climate Change Fund
The Global Transparency Initiative has urged the Green Climate Fund (GCF), an international lending body, to narrow the exemptions in a proposed access to information policy. The GCF, which promotes compliance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, has proposing an information disclosure policy, Information Disclosure, including Webcasting. The GCF Board will discuss […]
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31 May 2013
UN Panel Includes RTI, Better Data as Development Goals
A high-level panel charged by the United Nations with drafting a post-2015 development agenda has included the better use of data and right to information in its report. Under Goal 10, “Ensure Good Governance and Effective Institutions,” it proposes the objective: “Guarantee the public’s right to information and access to government data.” RTI is listed […]
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2 May 2013
Reforming FOI Laws in Asia Urged to Help Environment
Asian countries need to improve their freedom of information laws as one component of providing better environmental information to the public, according to a statement issued May 1 from a conference in Jakarta attended by “representatives of governments, international organizations, civil society organizations, and academia from China, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Philippines and Thailand.” The issuance […]
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22 February 2013
UNEP Council Agrees to Create Access Policy
The Governing Council of the United Nations Environmental Programme Feb. 22 agreed to create an access to information policy and increase participation of stakeholders and civil society. The draft decision was adopted by the Governing Council in Nairobi after encouragement by an information group of nongovernmental organizations calling themselves the environmental democracy group. The group […]