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

Division of Early Warning and Assessment 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 or any 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;

Division of Early Warning and Assessment 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

Division of Early Warning and Assessment 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

Division of Early Warning and Assessment Access to Environmental Information --- a multi-layered challenge NeedResponseActions PolicyMandateAarhus, Principle 10, etc NetworkingSupplyInstitutional framework Production/ Repackaging DemandMeeting client needs DisseminationMechanismWeb, information centers, media

Division of Early Warning and Assessment Environmental Information Service ( UNEP Governing Council decision 20/5 ) A formal service providing wide-ranging and authoritative information to anyone who needs it Definition

Division of Early Warning and Assessment The UNEP-Infoterra Global Network INFOTERRA 177 government designated national focal points (Environmental Information Centres)

Division of Early Warning and Assessment National Environmental Information Centre National Environmental Information Centre Ministry of Environment Environmental Protection Agency Media Contacts Local Authorities (Environmental Planning & Management) Environmental Education (Formal & non-formal) Internet/www NGOs & Civil Society Libraries & Documentation Centres Thematic Environmental Networks & Information Clearinghouses Federal Ministries (Environmental Planning & Management) The communication hub

Division of Early Warning and Assessment ENFO - Environmental Information Centre 17 St Andrew St, Dublin, Ireland

Division of Early Warning and Assessment INFOTERRA - NAMIBIA Namibian Non- governmental Forum NGO liaison De Beers Waste Management Multidisciplinary Research Centre Environmental Research Chamber of Mines Mining National Planning Commission Development Planning Desert Research Foundation Desertification Namibia Economic Policy Research Unit Environmental Policy National Thematic Centre Issue

Division of Early Warning and Assessment 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

Division of Early Warning and Assessment

Division of Early Warning and Assessment 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 ).

Division of Early Warning and Assessment UNEP.Net Management Structure

Division of Early Warning and Assessment “Content is the King”  Early warning advisories, disasters  Environmental 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

Division of Early Warning and Assessment 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

Division of Early Warning and Assessment 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

Division of Early Warning and Assessment 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.

Division of Early Warning and Assessment

Profile to portal evolution NGO Govt. Administrator NGO Administrator Country portal Country profile Decentralized administration ECOLEX (Law) UBA Austrian Ecobureau (Ökobüro)

Division of Early Warning and Assessment

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 (  Aarhus Capacity Building Service (Decision I/10)  First Meeting ETTF (Sofia, June 2003)

Division of Early Warning and Assessment Where to next?  Need to assess access  Important role for NGO partners  WRI’s Access Initiative (TAI) (  Document best practice (or lack of)  Transfer best practice (I/10)  Capacity Building (Aarhus Service)