In 2004-2005, EcoPravo-Kyiv (a Ukrainian NGO) partnered with the Government of Ukraine and UNEP to undertake a pilot project to develop an approach for institutionalising public involvement in the drafting of national reports for MEAs. The project provided experiences and lessons learned from involving members of the public in different stages of preparing national reports for four MEAs:
- the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (known as the Aarhus Convention);
- the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD);
- the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); and
- the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution (the Bucharest Convention).
The pilot project was motivated by the importance of national reporting in tracking progress in implementing MEAs, the desire to make the process more open and transparent, and the limited financial and personnel resources available to the Government of Ukraine and other States for preparing national reports. The project has been effective in facilitating implementation of MEAs and environmental laws at the national level, while also promoting broad public involvement and engagement in the process.
From the beginning, the project provided opportunities for members of the public to participate in the discussion and review of the draft national reports for the target MEAs. This process was facilitated through MEA-related outreach that was conducted by e-mail, telephone, fax, and ordinary mail. Members of the public, including both individuals and representatives of organisations had the opportunity to participate in meetings, workshops, and conferences relating to the specific MEAs. The Ministry of Environment (MOE) and EcoPravo-Kyiv held national roundtable discussions on possible approaches for involving the public in drafting and reviewing national reports to MEAs. The public also received information through publications and other outputs produced over the span of the pilot project. The MOE and EcoPravo-Kyiv also included information on the project (including the public comments) on their respective Web sites.
For each of the national reports for the four MEAs, EcoPravo-Kyiv gathered, reviewed, and synthesised the public comments that it received. It then forwarded these to the MOE for their consideration and incorporation (as appropriate) into the national reports. In practice, the MOE did consider the public comments. In the case of the Aarhus Convention and the CBD, the MOE partially incorporated the comments and approved the recommendations of EcoPravo-Kyiv on the drafting of the national report for the UNFCCC.
Following the conclusion of the project in 2005, EcoPravo-Kyiv developed some specific recommendations on involving the public in preparing national reports for MEAs. These recommendations drew upon the actual experiences and lessons learned from the four separate rounds of public involvement in drafting and reviewing national reports for MEAs under the project. These recommendations were designed to assist Ukraine’s Ministry of Environment, Ukraine’s MEA focal points, and the public. They may also be useful for MEA Secretariats and other States (especially in the EECCA region) who are interested in considering ways to improve public involvement in the preparation of national reports.
For more information, see http://www.ecopravo.kiev.ua/BEY/index_en.html or contact ecolaw@ecopravo.kiev.ua