sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

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resource management. The countries of the region should redouble their efforts to improve their
knowledge base in this area and, when possible, undertake research on future trends.
One cross-cutting element that is applicable to all of the actions suggested under this guideline is
the need to strengthen capacities of those who are traditionally underrepresented in participatory
processes, including women and indigenous and Afro-descendent populations and communities, thus
ensuring that the region’s diverse languages and cultures are recognized. Citizen participation cannot be
restricted to one language in multicultural countries or to one medium, such as the Internet, which has
serious deficiencies in coverage. The State must guarantee citizen participation in decision-making,
paying special attention to underrepresented groups by taking specific enabling measures (such as the
provision of child-care services and technical capacity-building), introducing affirmative action policies
(such as quotas in decision-making forums) and conducting studies into the social impact of projects,
policies, plans and programmes in order to ensure that the particular needs of disadvantaged groups
are being met.
Institutional mechanisms must be created or improved to ensure that those who will be directly
affected by the environmental or social consequences of decisions are involved in the corresponding
decision-making processes. Where infrastructure projects or mining activities could be detrimental to the
economic or social livelihoods of certain populations (often indigenous communities), certain steps which
are compatible with the culture of those populations should be taken when seeking their consent and
could include public hearings, training and the introduction of economic and social <strong>development</strong> policies.
As part of the Three Demands campaign led by The Access Initiative, civil society organizations have
demanded, among other things, the establishment of public funding sources to support citizen participation and
representation in legal cases of public interest, including, for example, pretrial assistance to gather evidence. 7
The following actions are suggested under this guideline:
(a)
Establish an international agreement to take steps towards the effective implementation of
principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, guaranteeing access to information, citizen participation
and justice in decision-making on environmental issues, especially to disadvantaged persons
as a result of discrimination, poverty or poor health
Within the framework of the discussions on Rio+<strong>20</strong>, Governments of the region and civil society
have raised the issue of the need to improve mechanisms for access to information, participation and
justice in decision-making and have suggested three options in this regard. The first proposal is to
establish a regional legal instrument guaranteeing the rights enshrined in principle 10 of the Rio
Declaration. This could be based on lessons learned from the European experience regarding the
Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in
Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention). 8 A second alternative suggest the drafting of a new
international instrument and, a third option is that the countries of the region could accede to the Aarhus
Convention, which is open for signature by other member States of the United Nations, despite being a
convention of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
7
8
For more information on The Access Initiative and the Three Demands campaign, see [online]:
http://www.accessinitiative.org.
Adopted at Aarhus, Denmark, in June 1998. It entered into force on 30 October <strong>20</strong>01. By August <strong>20</strong>10 it had been
signed by 40 countries, principally from Europe and the European Union. See [online] http://live.unece.org/env/pp/
ratification.html.