TFEIT pages navigation menu

Task Force on Electronic Information Tools

On the opening day of the sixth meeting of the Task Force, the Task Force hosted a mini-conference entitled, "Agenda 21 and the Information Society: Assessing Progress on Closing the Digital Divide, Access to Environmental Information and ICT for Sustainable Development in the ECE Region."

The event marked the 15th anniversary of the adoption of Agenda 21 and principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development by the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. These agreements prefigured the development of the Aarhus Convention.

Mr. Charles Geiger, Special Advisor for the UNCTAD Secretariat on the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and former Executive Secretary to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), served as Chairperson of the conference.

The conference opened with a session examining the growth of the Information Society in the UNECE region in light of the implementation of principle 10 and the Aarhus Convention and initiatives to build the region's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capacity.

Session One: Regional benchmarking and capacity-building

Regional overview of the development of the Information Society – Prof. Larissa Kapitsa, Professor, Moscow State Institute of International Relations		ENG
Trends in access to environmental information among Parties to the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) – Mr. Chris Jarvis, Chairperson, Task Force on Electronic Information Tools and Freedom of Information Policy Manager, Environment Agency of England and Wales		ENG
Regional capacity-building and guidance for policy makers in Central Asia – Ms. Michiko Enomoto, Economic Affairs Officer, Economic Cooperation and Integration Division, UNECE		ENG

A second session was devoted to Web-based information clearinghouses. It sought to highlight the unique partnerships between UNECE and other agencies created to support the development and management of these increasingly popular public information services.

Session Two: Making environmental information accessible: collaboration, networking and partnerships on clearing-house mechanisms

The Aarhus Clearinghouse for Environmental Democracy: UNECE and GRID-Arendal – Mr. Michael Stanley-Jones, Environment, Housing and Land Management Division, UNECE		ENG
Transport, Health and Environment: Lessons from THE PEP Clearinghouse: UNECE and WHO/Europe – Mr. Martin Magold, Chief, Border Crossing Facilitation Section, Transport Division, UNECE		ENG
The Good practices in Education for Sustainable Development and UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development web portals: UNECE and UNESCO – Mr. Bernard Combes, Programme Specialist for Education for Sustainable Development, UNESCO		ENG
Development of the Stockholm POPs Convention Clearinghouse – Mr. Osmany Pereira Gonzalez, Information Manager, Secretariat to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, UNEP		ENG
The Biosafety Clearinghouse of the Convention on Biological Diversity – Ms. Jyoti Mathur-Fillipp, UNEP - GEF Biosafety Protocol Unit, Geneva		ENG
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN) and the “Aarhus” Public Environmental Centres – Ms. Nana Janashia, Executive Director, CENN		ENG

A final session examined European and national perspectives on the Directive establishing Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) and the complementary development of a Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS). E-tools Task Force members and other experts discussed how INSPIRE and SEIS may transform public access and use of environmental information, and the impact these changes are expected to have in the areas of e-environment, e-commerce, e-democracy in Europe.

Session Three: E-environment, E-commerce and E-democracy

Directive 2007/2/EC establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) – Ms. Meropi Paneli, Directorate-General Environment, Commission of the European Communities		ENG ENG
National perspectives on the Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS) – Ms. Michaela Dombrovská , Czech Environmental Information Agency		-
E-commerce as a strategy for development – Mr. Jean Kubler, Chief, Global Trade Solutions Section, UNECE		ENG
Public/Private Partnerships for Sustainable Development – Mr. Geoffrey Hamilton, Chief, Cooperation and Partnerships Section, Economic Cooperation and Integration Division, UNECE		ENG
E-democracy and the quest for environmental sustainability: the role of the Aarhus Convention – Mr. Jeremy Wates, Secretary to the UNECE Aarhus Convention		ENG

The mini-conference was co-organized by the UNECE informal ICT Group for Development.

For the complete programme of the mini-conference, click here.

See also the Aarhus Clearinghouse Special Report.

Stakeholder Consultation on Public Participation in Internet Governance
"Towards a code of good practice building on the principles of WSIS and the Aarhus Convention"
23 May 2008, 14:00-17:00 – International Telecommunications Union, Geneva

The Stakeholder Consultation on Public Participation in Internet Governance will discuss the results of the exploratory research into a “Code of good practice on public participation, access to information and transparency in Internet governance”, undertaken through a trilateral initiative of the Council of Europe, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), initiated at the scond Internet Governance Forum (November 2007).

The objective of the consultation is to consider the purpose and scope of the proposed instrument and to discuss with panellists and participants its possible opportunities, limitations and risks. The consultation also aims to identify other interested stakeholders from different stakeholder groups with a view to associating them with the initiative.

Click here for a list of speakers and discussants.

The consultation is being organized in the context of the WSIS Cluster Week, 19 - 23 May 2008.

Stakeholder consultation and background documents

Information note on Stakeholder consultation on public participation in Internet governance (23 May 2008, Geneva)
ENG ENG

Exploratory Report on the Concept and Possible Scope of a Code of Good Practice on Participation, Access to Information and Transparency in Internet Governance - Discussion paper for the Skakeholder Consultation on Internet Governance, 23 May 2008, Geneva
ENG

Report of the IGF-2 Best Practice Forum (13 November 2007, Rio de Janeiro)
ENG

Council of Europe/APC press release (13 November 2007)
ENG

"Encouraging Implementation of the WSIS Principles" by William J. Drake, from The Power of Ideas: Internet Governance in a Global Multi-stakeholder Environment, Wolfgang Kleinwächter (Ed.), with a foreward by Nitin Desai, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Internet Governance (Berlin, Marketing für Deutschland GmbH, pp. 271-280).
ENG

World Summit on the Information Society Cluster Week event
Geneva, 21 May 2007

As a follow up to the WSIS Summits, and parellel to the 2007 Annual Session of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development, the UN Regional Commissions organized an event entitled “The Information Society – From Declaration to Implementation” at the Palais des Nations, Geneva.

Jeremy Wates, Secretary to the Aarhus Convention, spoke on the topic."e-participation in environmental decision-making under the Aarhus Convention" during the panel "ICT and Sustainable Development".

Read the secretariat's press release, "Managing the environmental footprint of the Information Society" or view the secretariat's powerpoint presentation.

At the 21 May 2007 press conference preceding the event, the UNECE secretariat announced the launch of the next phase in the development of the Aarhus Clearinghouse for Environmental Democracy, the global electronic portal dedicated to promoting the Convention and principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.

For more information on the activities of the UN Regional Commissions implementing WSIS, read the UNECE press release.

First Internet Governance Forum
Athens, 30 October-2 November 2006

At the Inaugural Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum in Athens, Greece, the secretariat addressed institutional and legal mechanisms which strengthen the capacity of civil society to participate in environmental decision-making at the workshop "Greening Development through ICT and Civic Engagement".

The event was organized by the Association for Progressive Communications and BlueLink Information Network and co-sponsored by the UNECE ICT Group for Development.

Read more about the First Internet Governance Forum here.

World Summit on the Information Society
Tunis Phase, 16-18 November 2005

The World Summit on the Information Society-Phase II opened in Tunis on 16 November 2005. In conjunction with the Summit, the Aarhus Convention secretariat organised a side event, on behalf of the (then) UNECE Environment and Human Settlements Division and the United Nations Environment Programme/Division of Early Warning and Assessment, at the World Forum on Information Society (WFIS), held on 14-15 November in La Marsa, Tunisia.

Mr. Chris Jarvis (UK) chaired the WFIS panel Capacity-building for Electronic Information Tools and the Environment. The panel high-lighted the significance of legally binding instruments developed in the UNECE region to further environmental democracy and sustainable development, and provided examples of how electronic tools were being applied in support of implementation of the Aarhus Convention and preparation for implementation of the Kiev Protocol on PRTRs.

During the session, the UNECE secretariat introduced the.Recommendations on the more effective use of electronic.information tools to provide public access to environmental information (ENG FRE RUS) which had been adopted at the Second Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention. The Recommendations were also noted in the publication Information Society Regional Initiatives and Activities which was presented by the United Nations Regional Commissions at WSIS-II.

World Summit on the Information Society
Geneva Phase, 10-12 December 2003

The World Summit on the Information Society opened in Geneva on 10 December 2003. The Aarhus Convention secretariat, on behalf of UNECE, organised a side-event on the opening day.

During the preparatory process for WSIS, on 29 April 2002, UNECE helped organise the European Regional Expert Meeting on Information and Communication Technologies in preparation for the Pan-European Conference (7-9 November 2002, Bucharest). One of the panel discussions focused on democracy and participation in the Information Society, and a presentation on the potential of the Aarhus Convention to use electronic tools to promote environmental democracy was delivered by Jeremy Wates on behalf of Kaj Barlund.