PROJECTS

Summary of seminar
The Access Initiative - Kazakhstan

The Access Initiative (TAI) is a global coalition of public interest groups collaborating to promote national-level implementation of commitments to access to information, participation, and justice in environmental decision-making. TAI is led by five organizations.

• Corporación PARTICIPA (Chile)
• Thailand Environment Institute (Thailand)
• World Resources Institute (United States)
• Environmental Management and Law Association (Hungary)
• Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (Uganda)

What is the goal of TAI?
The Access Initiative seeks to improve decisions and policies that affect the environment and human lives by establishing common global practices for public access to information, participation, and justice in environmental decision-making.
Improved public access produces decisions on broad policies and specific projects that are more effective, legitimate, and just.
The Access Initiative is motivated by a vision of the world in which all people — regardless of citizenship, country of residence, wealth, or education — have access to the information and decision-making processes necessary to participate meaningfully in the management of their natural environment.
To achieve this vision, we seek to accelerate implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration — access to information, participation and justice in environmental decision-making — by a diverse set of national and international institutions.
For a short background document describing the goals, strategy and methods of the Access Initiative, please read our Access Initiative Brochure.

What is TAI's strategy?
Our strategy is to:
- establish common access benchmarks;
- develop and promote the use of a common methodology for national-level assessments; and
- engage public interest groups in using these indicators to examine the performance of their governments.

The Partnership for Principle 10 (PP10) is committed to translating these principles into action by promoting transparent, inclusive, and accountable decision-making at the national level. The Partnership provides a venue for governments, international organizations, and civil society groups to work together to implement practical solutions that provide the public with access to information, participation, and justice for environmentally sustainable decisions.

PP10 Strategies
PP10 addresses the main implementation gaps in national systems for public participation. These gaps have been identified through independent assessments, in partnership with The Access Initiative. While gaps differ from country to country, some common gaps include:

• Poor and insufficient access to information about water quality
• Lack of access to information about risks and pollution from industrial facilities
• Poor participation in policy development in 'real' sectors, such as mining, forestry, and power generation
• Poor participation in project-level decisions
• Poor enabling conditions for access to justice, including high costs and limited standing

These implementation gaps stem from the rapid evolution of national public participation systems, the incomplete development of the law and provisions supporting implementation, and the gap between law and practice. PP10 addresses these gaps by:

• Addressing deficits in the framework for public participation
• Building capacity of the government to support public participation
• Building capacity of the public to monitor progress and use the system for public participation
• Engaging the international community at the national level

The Partnership builds on the work of The Access Initiative (TAI), a global coalition of civil society organizations promoting access to information, participation, and justice in decision-making that affects the environment. TAI supports independent monitoring of government progress by civil society groups using a common assessment tool.

http://www.accessinitiative.org/kazakhstan.html

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