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Decisions for the Earth: Balance, Voice, and Power Environmental Governance Is the Exercise of Authority Over Natural Resources and the Environment

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Decisions for the Earth: Balance, Voice, and Power Environmental Governance Is the Exercise of Authority Over Natural Resources and the Environment A G U I D E T O WORLD RESOURCES2002–2004 Decisions for t h e E a r t h Balance, Voice, and Power UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME WO R L D BA N K WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE Full ReportFebruary Forthcoming 2003 WORLD RESOURCES 2002–2004 WORLD RESOURCES REPORT Esther Camac, Directora General, Área THE ACCESS INITIATIVE PARTNERS Carol Rosen, Editor-in-Chief de Relaciones Internacionales, Advocates Coalition for Development Gregory Mock, Co-Director Asociación Inzacavaa de Desarrollo e and Environment (ACODE), Uganda Wendy Vanasselt, Co-Director Información Indigena Agricultural Cooperative Development Hyacinth Billings, Managing Editor Fabio Feldmann, Executive Secretary, International (ACDI), Uganda Martha Downs, Associate Editor Brazilian Forum on Climate Change; Austral Center for Environmental Law, Lori Han, Production Editor Special Advisor on the WSSD to the Chile Erin McAlister, Research Assistant President of Brazil Centro de Investigación y Planificación Rich Barnett, Outreach and Marketing Madhav Gadgil, Professor, Centre for del Medio Ambiente (CIPMA), Chile Director Ecological Sciences, Indian Centro Mexicano de Derechos Institute of Science Ambientales (CEMDA), Mexico DATA AND MAPS Habiba Gitay, Capacity Building Comunicación y Educación Ambiental, Dan Tunstall, Director, Information Coordinator, Millennium Ecosystem Mexico Program Assessment Corporación PARTICIPA, Chile Christian Layke, Senior Associate Chris Herlugson, Group Biodiversity Cultural Ecológica, Mexico Amy Cassara, Research Analyst Specialist, BP America, Inc. Ecological Institute for Sustainable Daniel Prager, Research Assistant Peter Lee, National Coordinator, Global Development (Miskolc), Hungary Robin White, Senior Associate Forest Watch Canada Environmental Justice Networking Janet Nackoney, Research Analyst Bedrich Moldan, Director, Forum (EJNF), South Africa Carmen Revenga, Senior Associate Environment Center, Charles Environmental Law and Management Johnathan Kool, Associate University Clinic of Technikon Pretoria, South Yumiko Kura, Associate Hubert Ouedraogo, Faculty of Law and Africa Political Science, University of Environmental Law Institute (ELI), PRINCIPAL PARTNERS Ouagadougou USA United Nations Development Programme Anand Panyarachun, Chairman of the Environmental Management and Law Charles McNeill, Jake Werksman Council of Trustees, Thailand Association (EMLA), Hungary United Nations Environment Programme Development Research Institute Environmental Partnership for Central Marion Cheatle, Gerard Qian Yi, Civil and Environmental Europe (ÖKOTÁRS), Hungary Cunningham, Mirjam Schomaker Engineering Department, Tsinghua Fundación RIDES, Chile (consultant) University Fundación Terram, Chile World Bank Ralph Taylor, President, Greenleaf Indonesian Center for Environmental Kristalina Georgieva, Kirk Hamilton Composting Company Law (ICEL) Erna Witoelar, Co-Chair, Partnership King Prajadhipok’s Institute (KPI), SENIOR ADVISORS for Governance Reform, Indonesia Thailand Gustavo Alanis Ortega, Centro NGO-Coordinating Committee on Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental THE ACCESS INITIATIVE Development (NGO-COD), Thailand Richard Andrews, Professor of Elena Petkova, Director Ohio Citizen Action, USA Environmental Policy, University of Frances Seymour, Director, Institutions Presencia Ciudadana, Mexico North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Governance Program Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC), Gyula Bandi, President, Board of Crescencia Maurer, Associate USA Directors, Environmental Norbert Henninger, Deputy Director, Society for Participatory Research in Management and Law Association Information Program Asia (PRIA), India Duncan Brack, Head, Sustainable Frances Irwin, Fellow Sustainable Development Institute, Development Programme, The Gretchen Hoff, Program Coordinator Hungary Royal Institute of International Andrew Buchman, Communications Thailand Environment Institute Affairs Coordinator Uganda Wildlife Society John Coyle, Program Assistant World Resources Institute, USA A G U I D E T O WORLD RESOURCES 2002–2004 Decisions for t h e E a r t h Balance, Voice, and Power UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME WO R L D BA N K WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE W ORLD R ESOURCES I NSTITUTE Washington, D.C. How we decide and who gets to decide often determines what we decide. WORLD RESOURCES S UMMARY 2002–2004 DECISIONS F O R T H E EARTH Balance, Vo i c e , a n d P o w e r Who should decide whether to build a road or a dam, or how much timber or fish to harvest? What difference does it make if the public is consulted? Do democratic rights and civil liberties contribute to better environmental management? Should local citizens or advocacy groups have the right to appeal a decision they believe harms an ecosystem or is unfair? What is the best way to fight corruption among government bureaucrats who manage our forests, water, grasslands, and parks? These are all questions about how we make environmental decisions and who makes them—the process we call environmental governance. How we decide and who gets to decide often determines what we decide, so questions of governance are crucial. That is especially true today, when our decisions stand in stark relief against a backdrop of dying reefs, degraded forests, and dirty air—the reflection of our past failures. World Resources 2002–2004 focuses on the importance of good envi- ronmental governance. We explore how citizens, government managers, and business owners can foster better environmental decisions— decisions that meet the needs of both ecosystems and people with equity and balance. The Goals of the Report first attempt to do this—the Access Initiative. This ground- breaking effort, undertaken by an international consortium of orld Resources 2002–2004 has three goals. The public interest groups, assesses the openness and accessibility first is to define in everyday terms what envi- of environmental decision-making in nine nations. The ronmental governance means and how it results of the Access Initiative give a detailed picture of how relates to today’s environmental trends and well the public in the surveyed nations can participate in local Wsocial conditions. That involves probing what lies behind the and national decisions about the natural environment they environmental decisions that shape our lives. It means enu- inhabit. They offer a guide to better governance by identifying merating the variety of players and decision points that medi- the kinds of information and involvement people require to ate our impacts on Earth’s ecosystems. It requires examining become active partners in the management of ecosystems. whether decisions are made transparently and the public Our third goal is to advance the thesis that attention to accountability of the decision-makers. It involves exploring better environmental governance is one of the most direct the role of good information and public participation in envi- routes to reversing the world’s environmental decline. In ronmental affairs. It means looking at the rights and respon- practice, better governance must translate to more inclusive sibilities that come with private and public ownership of the processes for making decisions about natural resources. environment. These are all elements of how we exercise our Institutions must clearly integrate environmental concerns authority over the planet, which is really what environmental into everyday activities and economic decisions. Natural governance is about. resource management agencies like forestry, agriculture, The second goal is to assess the state of environmental mining, and environment ministries need to reshape their governance in nations around the world. How close are we to mission and structure around maintaining the health of embodying good governance practices? Measuring our gover- ecosystems. nance performance is difficult. For example, how should we In this report, we consider ecosystems as the fundamen- measure transparency of government agencies? What consti- tal biological engines of the world economy and the founda- tutes adequate public participation in resource-related deci- tions of a sustainable future. They form the physical anchor sions? What is an “effective” law or regulation? for our consideration of environmental governance. For our Until now, no one has undertaken a systematic study of purposes, environmental governance is only effective if it environmental governance indicators. Here we report on a leads to fair and sustainable management of ecosystems. 2 A GUIDE TO WORLD RESOURCES 2002–2004 What Is Environmental Governance? ho let this happen? Who’s responsible for this mess? These are typical questions people ask in reaction to a local environmental disaster or to the steady deterioration of global environ- Wmental conditions. For most people, it is not obvious who is “in charge” of the environment, or how decisions are made about developing, using, or managing ecosystems. Governance is about decisions and how we make them. It is about the exercise of authority, about being in charge. It relates to decision-makers at all levels—government managers and ministers, business people, property owners, farmers, and consumers. In short, governance deals with who is respon- sible, how they wield their power, and how they are held accountable. In this report, we look at governance specifically as it relates to the environment, and we try to evaluate it from the perspective of public empowerment and participation: Who has a
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