Transcript TASK 10 Public awareness The role of the NGOs

TASK 10
Public awareness
The role of the NGOs
DAC PROJECT
CAPACITY BUILDING IN BALKAN COUNTRIES IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
Prepared by: Stelios Psomas
TASK 10 – Public awareness
Key targets

Dissemination of the project’s outcomes to the administration,
as well as to the public (including actions such as workshops,
publications into regular technical reviews, publicity via press and
media leaflets etc.)

Actions for strengthening collaboration between local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) being active in climate
change mitigation and research. Apart from promoting
awareness, this action will allow for an information flow from
NGOs to the project team and vice-versa and thus will provide
the project team with useful insights in some policy areas and will
maximize the impact of the project on target countries.
Why a particular role for NGOs?
“All Parties … facilitate at the national level public awareness and
public access to information on climate change. Suitable modalities
should be developed to implement these activities through the
relevant bodies of the Convention”.
Article 10 of the KYOTO PROTOCOL
Why a particular role for NGOs?
Freedom of access to information and public participation has
become a cornerstone of EU policies in recent years.
“The public should have access to information concerning the
results of the monitoring, reporting and verification obligations… in
accordance with Directive 90/313/EEC on the freedom of access to
information on the environment… Member States publish their
national plan, provide for comments to be made on it by the public
and submit it to the Commission before taking any final decision,
which must take due account of public comments… The proposed
provisions are consistent with the Aarhus Convention”.
European Commission, 23-10-2001
Why a particular role for NGOs?
"Although regional in scope, the significance of the Aarhus
Convention is global. It is by far the most impressive elaboration of
principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, which stresses the need for
citizen's participation in environmental issues and for access to
information on the environment held by public authorities. As such it
is the most ambitious venture in the area of 'environmental
democracy' so far undertaken under the auspices of the United
Nations".
Kofi A. Annan
Secretary-General of the United Nations