Events convened on Tuesday, 26 March 2002

Essential elements of good governance
Presented by the Environmental Law Institute 

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental, stresses that effective public participation requires recognition of the need for strong democracy, as well as measures to address corruption.

Elena Petkova, World Resources Institute, outlined common elements of national systems for public participation, which are being proposed as guidelines for adoption at the WSSD. She highlighted progress in implementation of national laws, institutional infrastructure and practices for public access to environmental information, though requirements for reporting and disclosure of information about facility performance are still lacking in some countries. She noted more limited progress on procedures to enable participation in decision making affecting the environment. Progress is most needed to facilitate access to justice and remedy in environmental decision making, particularly in ensuring affordable and timely legal services and building the capacity of both the public and governments on participation and environmental rights.
Listen to Petkova's presentation

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental, described the Inter-American Strategy for Public Participation, which focuses on, inter alia: establishment of legal frameworks to ensure public access to information, decision making and justice; promotion of institutional structures, policies and procedures to expand public participation; education and training; and dedication of funding for public participation in decision making.
Listen to Pulgar-Vidal's presentation   

Mas Achmad Santosa, Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, discussed how to ensure access to information in countries that are in transition to democracy. He emphasized the importance of: recognition of access rights in national legal systems; institutions and mechanisms to implement rights; and international cooperation. He highlighted significant gaps in ensuring public access to information and participation, including inadequate information management and consequent limitations on access, and a lack of awareness by both the public and governments of the value of environmental information.
Listen to Santosa's presentation

Carl Bruch, Environmental Law Institute, outlined provisions and mechanisms to promote public participation and access to information and administrative and judicial remedy in North American and European regional agreements.
Listen to Bruch's presentation

Nathalie Bernasconi, Center for International Environmental Law, stressed the importance of public access to international policy-making procedures. She suggested that the proposed guidelines could help improve governance structures at both national and international levels, as well as access to decision making, and could promote the use of stronger, more rules-based judicial mechanisms by international institutions.
Listen to Bernasconi's presentation

Left to right: Clayton Thomas-Muller, Indigenous Youth; Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network; Wilfredo V. Alangui, Tebtebba Foundation; and Sebastio Haji Manchineri, Indigenous Peoples of Latin America.

Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network, recommended: the adoption of the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; recognition of indigenous food-related knowledge and practices; involvement of spiritual practitioners in decision making; non-violation of indigenous peoples' rights by governments; and prompt ratification of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
 
Sebastio Haji Manchineri, Indigenous Peoples of Latin America, presented the priorities of indigenous peoples for the WSSD, including sustainable development, rights, natural resources, and organizational strengthening. He highlighted initiatives for: a general diagnosis of the indigenous situation since Rio; consensus building among stakeholders; and WSSD proposals and their implementation.

Sayo':kla Kindness, International Environmental Network, called for stricter legislation on and removal of subsidies for mining activities as an unsustainable form of development. She said the rights of indigenous people are often ignored due to lack of land ownership.

Lucy Mulenkei, African Indigenous Women's Organization, presented indigenous women's concerns, including a lack of participation and recognition of women as key players, pollution, poverty, AIDS, and a lack of awareness of high-level decision making among indigenous women.

Clayton Thomas-Muller, Indigenous Youth, highlighted challenges facing young indigenous people, including: practicing sustainable lifestyles; preserving cultural identity; participating in decision making; obtaining rights to intellectual property; and resisting systematic racism and criminalization.

Joji Cariño, Tebtebba Foundation, outlined difficulties in lobbying for indigenous peoples' rights in intergovernmental negotiations. She called for promotion of the right to self-determination, and noted the struggle for indigenous peoples' prior informed consent to the use of traditional lands.

Desmond Johns, UNAIDS, described the recent transformation of HIV/AIDS from a health issue to a development crisis, citing household-level impacts of the epidemic in developing countries such as financial difficulties and reduced agricultural output.
 

Daniel Leyva, Latino Commission on AIDS; and Bibiana Bunuan, Maryknoll Sisters, with a quilt made by a woman living with AIDS.

Bibiana Bunuan, Maryknoll Sisters, discussed the implications of globalization on Filipino social culture. Underlining growing problems of homelessness, migrant labor and school absenteeism that correlate with elevated vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, Bunuan called for economic policies that address the needs of poor people.

Daniel Leyva, Latino Commission on AIDS, focused on the stigma experienced by HIV-positive individuals in many parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. Noting that treatment and education are hampered by widespread persecution, he said that prevention campaigns and expanded treatment options can only succeed if those in need are free to access such programmes.

Discussion: A lively exchange addressed the potential and limitations of traditional remedies in AIDS treatment, circumstantial variations in individual risk assessment, the roles of men and gender stereotypes in treatment and remediation, the global focus on HIV/AIDS in Africa, medication pricing, and the interaction of moral and ethical viewpoints with social policy.

Amb. Mary Beth West, US, presents a proposal for a Type II initiative.

Listen to West's presentation

Veerle Vanderweerd, UNEP/GPA, endorsed the proposed regional approach and its focus on the link between freshwater and oceans, highlighting the potential for synergies and for catalyzing programmes in other regions.
Listen to Vanderweerd's presentation

Amb. Neroni Slade, Samoa, expressed support for the proposed initiative and interest in playing a contributory role. Highlighting existing regional projects related to this proposal, he underscored the importance of effective coordination. He emphasized the need for a full range of capacity building efforts in such programmes, and for efforts to ensure that the information collected is retained and shared with experts in the region.
Listen to Slade's presentation

Representatives of the UK, IUCN, the Netherlands, Australia, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and others welcomed the proposed initiative. Support was expressed for its integrated approach, linking of freshwater and oceans, synergies with other programmes, replicability, and involvement of other regional programme representatives. Others stressed the need to address social aspects of sustainable development, institutional strengthening and capacity building in developing countries, and priority-setting by countries within the region.

Zmarak Shalizi, World Bank, outlines the World Bank's forthcoming World Development Report for 2002-2003.

Discussion: Several participants suggested additional issues for incorporation into the final Report, including desertification, the ecosystem approach, use of poverty reduction strategy papers in planning processes, non-commodity measures of well-being, and economic valuations of non-monetary assets. Others called for a greater focus on concrete action items, in light of the Report's potential contributions to the WSSD process.

William Pace, World Federalist Movement, stresses the need to address international environmental and sustainable development governance at the WSSD, and cautions against the existing view that these types of governance cancel each other out.

Cleusa Canales Cevallos, IRFD, presented a case study on a small city in Brazil that demonstrated how efforts to meet the basic needs of underprivileged people and apply a democracy approach can help to ensure sustainable development.

Chang-Erh Chou, IRFD, explained how economic development in Taiwan enabled response to environmental problems and resulted in more sustainable policies. She concluded that sustainable development must be achieved gradually in continuous consultation with all stakeholders.

Nishantha Arachchige Don, IRFD, stressed that sustainable energy production, distribution and consumption methods play an important role in achieving necessary levels of economic growth while ensuring sustainability.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) on the Side is a special publication of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Editor of ENB on the Side is Kira Schmidt kira@iisd.org . This issue has been written by Tamilla Gaynutdinova miloin@yahoo.com, Jenny Mandel jenny@iisd.org and Kira Schmidt kira@iisd.org. The Digital Editors are Andrei Henry andrei@iisd.org, Leila Mead leila@iisd.org, Diego Noguera diego@iisd.org and Kenneth Tong ken@iisd.org. Funding for publication of ENB on the Side at PCIII is provided by UNDP. The opinions expressed in ENB on the Side are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD and funders. Excerpts from ENB on the Side may be used in non-commercial publications only and only with appropriate academic citation. For permission to use this material in commercial publications, contact the Managing Editor at kimo@iisd.org . Electronic versions of issues of ENB on the Side from PC-III can be found on the Linkages WWW server at http://enb.iisd.org/2002/pc3/.