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Shadow Report on the Implementation of the Aarhus Convention

Public scrutiny Completed
mazowieckie
Warszawa
2014-10-30 - 2016-04-30
229 120,56 PLN
205 690,82 PLN
environment protection/sustainable developement
Project description
Experiences of individual persons and environmental NGOs (ENGOs) show that in spite of the rights granted by the Aarhus Convention, the access to information on environment is often hampered, as well as the real social participation in decisions influencing natural environment and the access to justice in this field. The situation was not properly presented in government reports on implementation of the Convention, for its functioning was not systemically monitored and the drafts of the government reports were not effectively consulted with the society. The aim of the project was to prepare a social report (Shadow Report) on implementation of the Convention, documenting deficits and difficulties in introducing its provisions in Poland, and to initiate necessary changes. The Shadow Report shows general and systemic ineffectiveness of the functioning of the Convention in Poland. It was based on the analyses performed, including: 1) a survey of 240 municipalities, 16 regional environmental protection directorates (REPD) and state forests, showing ineffectiveness of Public Information Bulletins and environmental data inventories; 2) evaluation of „inadequacy of time framework” for consultations based on data from 100 municipalities and REPD, indicating mechanisms hampering social participation in decisions on environment; 3) gathering ENGO experiences concerning the Convention; 4) evaluation of availability of financing sources for environmental education and support for ENGO activities. The report showed widespread and systemic violations of the requirement of social participation in environmental law-making. Legal expert opinions identify many deficits in transferring Art. 4-9 of the Convention into national law. 15 ENGOs participated in preparing the report, describing their experiences concerning the Convention, and thus also preparing to the future consultations of the government report. Based on quantitative data and analyses, the report is a valuable contribution to evaluation of the implementation of the Convention in Poland. The analyses concerned 2014-2015, but experiences in implementing the Convention and diagnosed deficiencies in introducing its provisions in Poland can be used in preparing the government report on the implementation of the Convention for 2014-2016. The report was forwarded to the ministries of environment, administration, MPs, control institutions, ENGOs. Advocacy activities led to first legal amendments based on the Convention.