The Role of Information in an Age of Climate Change

Interactive Conference poster eng

The Role of Information in an Age of Climate Change
An International Conference to Mark the 10th Anniversary of the Aarhus Convention 13–14 November 2008, University of Aarhus, Denmark

Conference Programme eng

Cross-cutting processes

The principles underlying the Aarhus Convention and experience gained in the implementation of its provisions may have wide application in many policy domains, such as climate change, chemicals management and natural disaster mitigation.

Although significant progress has been achieved in implementation of the Convention at national level in the UNECE region, national implementation reports submitted by the Parties in 2008 indicate that in some countries, especially in the Eastern Europe, Caucacus and Central Asia sub-region, there remain problems with the integration of the Convention’s requirements in decision-making on sectoral activities. This is notably evident where agencies other than environment ministries are concerned.

Climate Change

The area of climate change-related policy making is becoming increasingly important throughout the UNECE region. All of the Eastern Europe, Caucacus and Central Asia Parties to the Aarhus Convention are also Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

In 2006, Parties to the UNFCCC called on a “more active role of United Nations bodies...to facilitate the continued implementation of outreach activities and to identify consistent methodologies for undertaking work at the national, sub-regional and national levels".

Article 6 of UNFCCC addresses education, public awareness, access to information, public participation and international cooperation. The Article 6 work programme is guided inter alia by the promotion of partnerships, networks and synergies, in particular, synergies between Conventions. It encourages Parties to undertake activities under the elements of the article, including by developing national plans of action, targeting specific need of various actors and groups.

In addition, intergovernmental organizations are invited to develop programmatic responses to the Article 6 work programme and, following consultation with the UNFCCC secretariat, to communicate progress achieved, for the purpose of reviewing the programme and evaluating its effectiveness in 2012.

Aarhus and the Climate-change Agenda

Parties to the Convention should ensure that Aarhus Convention’s requirements are implemented in environmental decision-making on the national climate-change agenda, both in the process of preparing strategic decisions to address the climate change agenda and in the decisions themselves.

The Convention's secretariat and capacity-building partners can assist countries in implementing their UNFCCC Article 6 commitments, in particular those related to public access to information and public participation in decision-making.

Controlling greenhouse gas emissions

The Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers to the Aarhus Convention requires Governments to collect annual reports on major greenhouse gas emissions (among other pollutants) by industry on a facility-by-facility basis and to share this information with the public. National registers created under the Protocol can help countries meet the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

Climate change, governance and corruption

The Convention secretariat participated in a workshop on Governing the Climate Change Agenda - Making the Case for Transparency at the 13th International Anti-Corruption Conference: Global Transparency, fighting corruption for a sustainable future (Athens, 30 October – 2 November 2008).

In the climate change arena, a number of relatively new institutions and processes now govern the international community's approach. The coming into force in 2005 of the Kyoto Protocol, which set targets and deadlines for reducing carbon emissions, and the subsequent introduction of carbon credits trading markets, such as the Clean Development Mechanism and the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme, were significant steps forward.

The success of these new measures will depend on their integrity. The workshop explored how the international regime on climate change can reflect best practice in good governance, accountability and transparency for stakeholders. It also addressed how corruption might distort the emerging global carbon trading system and undermine its effectiveness.

The UNECE secretariat provided an overview of good governance principles, linking the development of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the underpinning of the Aarhus Convention.

Environmental democracy, transparency and global governance: The road from Rio to Copenhagen, powerpoint presentation, Workshop 1.4: Governing the Climate Change Agenda – Making the Case for Transparency