Putting it into practice
The Access Initiative – International and local level work on procedural rights
International and local level work on procedural rights – access to information, public participation and access to justice – is being spearheaded by two recently-merged teams within World Resource Institute’s (WRI) Governance Center. The Access Initiative (TAI) and the Governance of Forests Initiative (GFI) have come together to deepen and expand their work, which focuses on the right and ability of communities to influence decisions about their natural resources. TAI and GFI are built on the work of dedicated partner organizations – over 210 in total – who share knowledge and resources to support the global effort to implement procedural rights. Both groups specialize in the dual approach of geographically-focused projects in places like Brazil, Indonesia, Cambodia, Mongolia and Jamaica, along with the development of more generalized tools and indicators, ranging from TAI’s Water Governance Toolkit to GFI’s Forest Governance Assessments. This work clearly embodies the “Count it, Change it, Scale it” philosophy.
Current TAI projects include the Environmental Democracy Index (EDI), a set of 99 legal and practice indicators that build on the UNEP 2010 Bali Guidelines on Principle 10. Lawyers in 75 countries research and review the national legislation and environmental regulations in order to evaluate how well these laws harmonize with the Bali Guidelines. EDI will help equip governments and civil society organizations with the tools to implement the reforms necessary to create a more transparent, accountable and just system of environmental decision-making. EDI will launch in fall 2014 and expand to 100 countries by 2016.
Other projects like ‘Strengthening the Right to Information for People and the Environment’ (STRIPE) focus on the ‘Change it’ phase of engagement. The STRIPE project has initiatives in Thailand, Indonesia and Mongolia. TAI is working with local stakeholder groups in these countries to evaluate proactively disclosed environmental information, make additional Freedom of Information Act requests and formulate strategies to use this information to combat industrial air and water pollution.
TAI is constantly involved in the process of scaling its work. The TAI network is comprised of organizations and individuals who champion access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters. The network currently includes 200 partner organizations in 50 countries. TAI plans to expand membership to more countries and individuals. More information on the TAI network can be found here.
The Governance of Forests Initiative (GFI) aims to improve the participation, transparency, and accountability of government practices that impact forest land allocation and use in Brazil, Cameroon, and Indonesia, as well as globally though international instruments like REDD+. Operating as a network of civil society organizations, GFI generates information and dialogue on forest governance, helps to build capacity and target advocacy, and advances policy reforms. GFI’s core tool is the GFI Indicator Framework, which aims to diagnose strengths and weaknesses in forest governance and has been used to support civil society assessments and outreach. Current GFI work on accountability and REDD+ will generate new knowledge on how to institutionalize accountability in emerging international, national, and sub-national REDD+ programs and frameworks to ensure equitable and sustainable climate outcomes.
Both TAI and GFI operate within the space created at the intersection of environmental sustainability and democracy under the belief that when procedural rights are upheld, the result is better environmental management. This connects directly to the themes of the Manifesto for Democracy and Sustainability; all promote comprehensive inclusiveness as essential for both our environment and government.
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