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First Meeting of the Aarhus Convention Task Force on Electronic Information Tools
Sofia, 23 – 24 June , 2003
UNEP.Net initiative on Access to Environmental Information
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Environmental Information
Many different sources of definitions
European Union Council Directive 90/313/EEC
Europe’s Environment – The Dobris Assessment, 1995
Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (1998)
Any information in written, visual, aural,
electronic orany other material form on: (a) The state of elements of the environment,
such as air and atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites, biological diversity and its components, including genetically modified organisms, and the interaction among these elements;
(b) Factors, such as substances, energy, noise and radiation, and activities or measures, including administrative measures, environmental agreements, policies, legislation, plans and programmes, affecting or likely to affect the elements of the environment within the scope of subparagraph (a) above, and cost-benefit and other economic analyses and assumptions used in environmental decision-making;
(c) The state of human health and safety, conditions of human life, cultural sites and built structures, inasmuch as they are or may be affected by the state of the elements of the environment or, through these elements, by the factors, activities or measures referred to in subparagraph (b) above;
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Characteristics of Environmental Information
Multi-thematic(Content)
air, water, land, biodiversity, chemicals etc.
Amorphous(Format)
text, audio-visual, map, image, electronic
Multi-stakeholder(Demand)
User community (Government, Academia, NGOs, Civil society, Business)
Multi-stakeholder(Supply)
Provider community (Government, Academia, NGOs
Multi-access points(User- Provider linkages)
Internet, institutional networks, public access centres
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Barriers to Information Access
Legal / Political Absence of national legislation or multilateral environmental agreements (Aarhus Convention) Lack of compliance
Institutional Lack of proactive dissemination Reluctance to share Prohibitive charges Unwieldy formats
Linguistic Different language groups inhibits access and exchange
Technological Lack of technical capacity (Internet, fax, tel, PCs, copiers) Lack of technical skills
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Access to Environmental Information--- a multi-layered challenge
Need Response
Actions
Policy Mandate Aarhus, Principle 10, etc
Networking Supply Institutional framework
Production/Repackaging
Demand Meeting client needs
Dissemination
Mechanism Web, information centers, media
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Environmental Information Service(UNEP Governing Council decision 20/5)
A formal serviceproviding wide-ranging
and authoritative information to anyone who needs it
Definition
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The UNEP-Infoterra Global Network
INFOTERRA 177 government designated national focal points (Environmental Information Centres)
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National Environmental Information Centre
National Environmental
Information Centre
Ministry of Environment
Environmental Protection Agency
Media ContactsLocal Authorities (Environmental Planning & Management)
Environmental Education (Formal & non-formal)
Internet/wwwNGOs & Civil SocietyLibraries & Documentation Centres
Thematic Environmental Networks & Information Clearinghouses
Federal Ministries (Environmental Planning & Management)
The communication hub
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ENFO - Environmental Information Centre17 St Andrew St, Dublin, Ireland
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INFOTERRA - NAMIBIA
Namibian Non- Namibian Non-
governmental Forumgovernmental Forum
NGO liaisonNGO liaison
De BeersDe BeersWasteWaste ManagementManagement
Multidisciplinary Multidisciplinary Research CentreResearch Centre
EnvironmentalEnvironmental ResearchResearch
Chamber of MinesChamber of MinesMiningMining
National Planning National Planning CommissionCommission
DevelopmentDevelopment PlanningPlanning
Desert Research Desert Research FoundationFoundation
DesertificationDesertification
Namibia Economic Namibia Economic
Policy Research UnitPolicy Research Unit
EnvironmentalEnvironmental PolicyPolicy
National Thematic National Thematic CentreCentre
IssueIssue
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Structure of Information Service
Component Services
Chemicals (PRTRs)
Energy efficiency
Waste Management
Development planning (EISs)
Air quality
Water quality
Biosafety and green consumerism
National Environmental Information Service
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http://www.UNEP.Nethttp://www.UNEP.Net
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What is UNEP.Net ?
Global partnership for the delivery of environmental
data and information.
3 inter-locking components:
Global Environmental Network of the United Nations (the network of providers of environmental data and information working with UNEP or known to UNEP).
Global Environmental Information Portal (one Internet gateway to a multitude of sources accessible via multiple pathways).
Global Environmental Information System (a system comprised of a networking component and various information delivery mechanisms).
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UNEP.Net Management Structure
Board(DEWA-centric)
TechnicalCoordination
Committee
GC, HH and MW
Cambridge GenevaSiouxFalls
MexicoCity
Arendal BangkokBahrain Nairobi
The 8 development teams
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“Content is the King”
Early warning advisories, disastersEnvironmental emergencies, accidents
Other
Best practice, methodologies, case studies, education & awareness raising
Management
Major themes - Air, land, water, biodiversity. Hotspots. Monitoring. Effect of pollutants on health EISs, Industrial facilities (PRTR)
Assessment
Law (MEAs, national legislation), policy, strategies, action plans, programmes, guidelines, regulations,etc. (national down to municipal level)
Policy
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Basic Characteristics of an Information Resource
Theme Geographic scope Resource type (Map, Database, Technical report, Graphic, Press release, etc)
Examples:– a map showing forest cover in Kenya – an assessment report of the groundwater quality in Botswana – a database of endangered flora species in Ghana
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UNEP.Net approach to content development
Catalogue priority content in the Environment Directory (institutions and their info/data resources)
Extract priority content from existing services on the web (ECOLEX, Proteus, GEO data portal)
Possible future application of information agents for trawling the web for other useful content
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Definitions – Information Service and Portal
An information service (application) provides access to information resources of a particular type (irrespective of theme and geographic scope)
A portal draws information and data from global
UNEP.Net information services and, in the absence of a comprehensive service, points to information resources on authoritative web sites.
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Profile to portal evolutionNGO
Govt. Administrator
NGO Administrator
Country portal
Country profile
Decentralizedadministration
ECOLEX
(Law)
UBA Austrian Ecobureau (Ökobüro)
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Where from (ETTF) ?
Discussion paper on the use of electronic tools in the implementation of the Aarhus Convention prepared by European ECO Forum, REC/CEE and UNEP/INFOTERRA (Cavtat, July 2000)
Workshop on the use of electronic tools in the implementation of the Aarhus Convention (Arendal, 8-9 March 2001)
Decision I/6 on electronic tools adopted by the first meeting of the Parties to the Convention (Lucca, Oct 2002). Bulgaria leading ETTF.
Best practice compendium (www.rec.org/e-aarhus)
Aarhus Capacity Building Service (Decision I/10)
First Meeting ETTF (Sofia, 23-24 June 2003)
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Where to next?
Need to assess access Important role for NGO partners WRI’s Access Initiative (TAI)
(www.accessinitiative.org) Document best practice (or lack of) Transfer best practice (I/10) Capacity Building (Aarhus Service)
