THETHETHE NEWNEWNEW “PUBLIC”“PUBLIC”“PUBLIC” The Globalization of Public Participation THE NEW "PUBLIC" The Globalization of Public Participation Carl Bruch Editor Environmental Law Institute® Copyright© 2002 The New "Public": The Globalization of Public Participation Copyright© 2002 Environmental Law Instititute®, Washington, DC. All rights reserved. ISBN No. 1-58576-C41-2. ELI Project No. 0127 An electronic retrievable copy (PDF file) may be obtained for no cost from the Environmental Law Institute Web site <www.eli.org>, click on “Publi- cations” then “2002 Research Reports to locate the file. [Note: ELI Terms of Use will apply and are available on site.] (Environmental Law Institute®, The Environmental Forum®, and ELR®—the Environmental Law Reporter® are registered trademarks of the Environmental Law Institute.) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS any individuals and organizations have con- Partnership has sought to promote public involvement tributed to this volume. It has truly been a at the regional and international levels. Mcollaborative effort. ELI expresses its respect We also wish to thank and acknowledge the indi- and gratitude to all who played a role in producing The viduals who submitted photos for inclusion on the cover New “Public”: The Globalization of Public Participation. of this volume. Special thanks go to: Ali Ahmad, ELI wishes to acknowledge the contributions of all Michelle Allen, Lea Anderson, Jennifer Balch, Luca of the authors. They spent significant amounts of time Bernasconi, Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Brad and energy to ensure the high level of scholarship in Bobertz, Greg Boiarsky, Zoe Boiarsky, Andrew Bruch, this volume. Specifically, we would like to recognize: Carl Bruch, Lou Bruch, Tomás Carbonell, Eric Ali Ahmad, Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Carl Coppenger, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Santi Duewel, Bruch, Jorge Caillaux, Tomás Carbonell, Elizabeth Nathalie Eddy, Aboubacar Fall, Elah Feder, Ira Feldman, Dowdeswell, Nathalie Eddy, Aboubacar Fall, Ira Meg Filbey, Dorigen Fried, Kenneth Kakuru, Lenin Feldman, Meg Filbey, Dorigen Fried, Eeva Furman, Babu Kamepalli, Lily Kang, April King, Sarah King, Nick Gertler, Mikael Hildén, David Hunter, Danièle Elizabeth Koerner, Svitlana Kravchenko, Elliot P. Laws, Jean-Pierre, Sarah King, Svitlana Kravchenko, Isabel Michael Lewis, Marilee Long, Ken Madsen, Anne Lapeña, Maurice O. Makoloo, Elliott Milhollin, Collins Merwin, Kelly Mott, Andre Mura, Jane Nishida, Marcos Odote, Marcos Orellana, Bruce Rich, Manuel Ruiz, Orellana, Malka Ostchega, Pooja S. Parikh, John Godber Tumushabe, and Glenn Wiser. The organiza- Pendergrass, Kapena Pflum, Verena Radulovic, H.C. tions of many of these authors are displayed on the back Ravindranath, Bruce Rich, Chris Saporita, James cover of this volume. Shambaugh, Wendy Sandoz, Elizabeth Seeger, Nixon ELI also wishes to express its gratitude to the Rich- Sifuna, Veera Kaul Singh, Theresa S. Thames, Anthony ard and Rhoda Goldman Fund and the Jacob L. and Thompson, Michael Traynor, Mostafa Tolba, Godber Lillian Holtzmann Foundation for their generous sup- Tumushabe, Leonard J. Warren, and Tatiana port for our research on and campaign for good gover- Zaharchenko. nance. This volume and campaign would not have been Many ELI staff-members contributed to the pro- possible without the assistance of these two foundations. duction of this volume at various stages. These include: This volume grew out of an informal Partnership Jay Austin, Brad Bobertz, Carl Bruch, Marty Dickinson, for Public Participation, an effort led by ELI and funded Meg Filbey, Dorigen Fried, Lily Kang, Sarah King, by the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund and the Jacob Michael Lewis, Michelle Payne, Elissa Parker, John L. and Lillian Holtzmann Foundation. The Partner- Pendergrass, Verena Radulovic, and Wendy Sandoz. ship consists of NGOs in many countries around the Above all, we would like to express our grateful world working together to promote access to informa- appreciation to our family, friends, and colleagues for tion, public participation, and access to justice. This their support and patience throughout the process. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Table of Contents Preface Emerging Global Norms of Public Involvement.........................................................1 Carl Bruch and Meg Filbey Foundations of Public Involvement...........................................................................17 Introduction................................................................................................................19 Constitutional Procedural Rights: Enhancing Civil Society’s Role in Good Governance....................................................................................................21 Carl Bruch and Sarah King Righting Public Wrongs and Enforcing Private Rights: Public Involvement in Islamic Law.................................................................................39 Ali Ahmad The Stakeholder Convergence: Public Participation and Sustainable Business Practices...............................................................................53 Ira Feldman Regional Initiatives Advancing Public Involvement.................................................75 Introduction................................................................................................................77 The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation: A Case Study in Innovative Environmental Governance .................................................81 Elizabeth Dowdeswell Promoting Public Participation in Europe and Central Asia.........................................95 Svitlana Kravchenko Environmental Public Participation in the Americas......................................................105 Jorge Caillaux, Manuel Ruiz, and Isabel Lapeña African Initiatives for Public Participation in Environmental Governance...................121 Collins Odote and Maurice O. Makoloo Public Involvement in the East African Community....................................................133 Godber Tumushabe Towards Good Practices for Public Participation in the Asia-Europe Meeting Process...........................................................................137 Mikael Hildén and Eeva Furman Public Involvement in International Institutions......................................................147 Introduction................................................................................................................149 Democratizing Multilateral Development Banks..................................................................151 Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder and David Hunter Implementing Public Participation in African Development Bank Operations ..........................................................................................165 Aboubacar Fall Public Participation and Transparency at Official Export Credit Agencies...........................175 Bruce Rich and Tomás Carbonell Public Participation and Access to Justice in the World Trade Organization..........................193 Nicholas Gertler and Elliott Milhollin Public Participation in the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol....................................................................................................203 Nathalie Eddy and Glenn Wiser Public Involvement in the Management of International Watercourses.................................215 Carl Bruch and Dorigen Fried Unearthing Governance: Obstacles and Opportunities for Public Participation in Minerals Policy............................................................................................235 Marcos A. Orellana Access to Information, Participation, and Justice: Keys to the Continuous Evolution of the Inter-American System for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights ..........................................................251 Danièle M. Jean-Pierre PREFACE his volume builds upon more than a decade of The World Summit on Sustainable Development work by the Environmental Law Institute and (WSSD) offers a unique opportunity to examine the Tother nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) experiences of expanding the governance processes to around the world to promote good environmental gov- include citizens, NGOs, and other civil society actors. ernance. At the 1992 United Nations Conference on The stated purpose of the WSSD is to focus on imple- Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, the menting the existing commitments to protect the envi- critical role of the public was recognized and articu- ronment while promoting economic and social devel- lated in Principle 10. opment. A central theme of the WSSD has been—and Since 1992, there has been a proliferation of re- must be—involving all interested parties in gional initiatives expanding upon Principle 10 and pro- decisionmaking for sustainable development. Public viding guidance to nations on how to ensure that the involvement is critical to making sound decisions and public has the information it needs, that people can have building the popular support for decisions. a voice in decisions that affect them, and that there are In the year leading up to the WSSD, ELI, the Peru- legal channels to resolve disputes peacefully and equita- vian Environmental Law Society (SPDA), EcoPravo- bly. At the same time, international institutions, in- L’viv, the Advocates Coalition for Development and struments, and processes have started to involve citi- Environment (ACODE), and other NGOs created a zens and NGOs in their conceptualization, negotiation,