THE ENVIRONMENTAL
DEMOCRACY INDEXThe Access Initiative
LALANATH DE SILVA, DIRECTOR, THE ACCESS INITIATIVE | JESSE WORKER, ASSOCIATE, WRI

THE ACCESS INITIATIVE (TAI)

NETWORK of 200+ civilsociety organizations in 50+countries

MISSION: to strengthen
public rights to participate inenvironmental decisionmaking through evidencebased advocacy

Photo: Flickr/CIFORRAMESH AGRAWAL | TAI PARTNER & WINNER OF2014 GOLDMAN ENVIRONMENTAL PRIZE FOR ASIA

 Using Right to Information law,
uncovered illegal clearances Faced threats and corruption atpublic forums
 Challenged coal company in court
and won—once National Green
Tribunal was established

Photo Source: The Hindu

WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL DEMOCRACY?

INFORMATION  publicly
available, accessible, and relevant
environmental information

PARTICIPATION  meaningful
opportunities for the public to shapedecisions that have environmental
impacts

JUSTICE  accountability andgrievance mechanisms to enforce laws
and compensate for harms

Photo: Flickr/UN Photo/Tobin Jones

THE CHALLENGE

The environmental rights oftransparency, participation, and accessto justice are essential to sustainable
development and the public interest.
However, in many countries these rights
are either weak or lacking. To bring aboutchange, these rights need to beconsistently and reliably measured andpublicized in a useful format.

Photo: Flickr/UN Photo/Tobin JonesOPPORTUNITY

Growing Global Awareness

New Regional Instruments
Open Government Partnership
Post-2015 Development Agenda

Photo: Flickr/WorldFish

WHY EDI?
• First index to measure environmental democracy• Benchmarks to an International Standard (UNEP Bali
Guidelines)• Not perceptions-based or composite—clear,actionable indicators developed by WRI• Makes data easily accessible, engages governmentswith results

SCOPE OF LAWS INCLUDED IN 201475

Legal Indicators

24

NATIONAL RULES and LAWS |Relevant and legally-binding

SECTORS | air and water quality,forests, extractives (mining/oil & gas),terrestrial biodiversity (protectedareas)*Not included: energy, coastal,marine, and fishery laws

Performance Indicators

GUIDELINE 10: INFORMED PARTICIPATIONStates should ensure that all information relevant fordecision-making related to the environment is madeavailable, in an objective, understandable, timely andeffective manner, to the members of the public concerned.

GUIDELINE 10: LEGAL INDICATOR
Indicator: To what extent do the laws concerning: environmental
impact assessments, pollution control permits, forest concessions,
extractive industries, protected areas and biodiversity, andenvironmental policy-making, require all information relevant todecision-making processes relating to the environment to be madeavailable to the public concerned, without the public having to make anofficial information request?
Guidance: This indicator differs from previous indicators in that it istesting whether a requirement exists to make relevant information
available to the public so that it may make informed contributions todecision-making processes. This is different from simply informing thepublic about opportunities to participate.
In the best-case scenario, the law provides a minimum list of
information which must be made available.

GUIDELINE 10:LEGAL INDICATOR SCORING GUIDEof the laws assessed require all information relevant to3 All
decision-making processes relating to the environment to bemade available to the public concerned without having to makean official information request

2 Most of the laws assessed…
1 A few of the laws assessed…
0 None of the laws assessed…

GUIDELINE 4
States should ensure that their competent public authorities
regularly collect and update relevant environmental
information, including information on environmental
performance and compliance by operators of activities
potentially affecting the environment. To that end, Statesshould establish relevant systems to ensure an adequate
flow of information about proposed and existing activities
that may significantly affect the environment.

GUIDELINE 4: PRACTICE INDICATOR
Does a national agency in your country ensure that information
on daily air emission and waste water discharges by large-scaleindustries at a facility level are proactively made publicly
available either online, through a public register or at a library; ifso, is that information comparable to a national standard?
Yes
Limited (only air or water data (but not both) are made available, the data are
more than one year old, or the data are available but not at a facility level)

NoHOW EDI RESULTS ARE CREATED

140 environmental lawyers in 70 countries contributed
Clear scoring criteria to limit subjectivity
Multiple reviews and quality control checks
Government feedback to results for each country

NEXT STEPS• Government engagement• DC Launch: May 20, 2015 (additional launches inEurope)• Convening workshops with partners and stakeholders• Expanding partnerships• Revising indicators

VISION OF SUCCESSOver 10 countries strengthen laws,
institutions and practices by 2016

Marginalized communities achieve greater
voice and power in decision making
EDI used to monitor environmental
commitments in Open Government
Partnership
Actionable EDI indicators used as Post-2015
metrics for progress

Photo: Flickr/CIFORSCALING UP | 2013 - 2018

THANK YOU!
LEARN MORE:
www.wri.org/tai
ldesilva@wri.org
jworker@wri.org
10 G Street NE
Suite 800
Washington, DC 20002, USA+1 (202) 729-7600