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Seventh meeting of the Task Force on Access to Information under the Aarhus Convention (Virtual meeting)

Public Participation

16 - 17 November 2020

Switzerland

The seventh meeting of the Task Force on Access to Information took place online from 16 to 17 November 2020.

At its seventh meeting, the Task Force promoted the exchange of information, case studies and good practices and discussed recent and upcoming developments focusing on (a) access to environment-related product information; (b) access to information with respect to genetically modified organisms; and (c) the update of the Recommendations on electronic information tools.

The Task Force also took stock of recent and upcoming developments with regard to the public access to environmental information, including those related to COVID-19 pandemic and to the application of restrictions in disclosure in accordance with the Convention. The Task Force also addressed access to information on monitoring progress towards environment-related Sustainable Development Goals and their targets.

The outcomes of the meeting aimed to support countries’ efforts in the transition towards green and circular economies and zero waste approaches and implementing, monitoring and measuring environment-related Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 3 (Health), SDG 6 (Water), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 11 (Resilient and Sustainable Cities), SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 15 (Life on Land) and target 10 SDG 16 (Ensure Public Access to Information).

For more information, please read a news article about the meeting: “Promoting transparency and digital transformation to support a green and circular economy, biosafety and community resilience”

Documents

Provisional agenda and other meeting documents are available below.

The background material also includes relevant information derived from 2017 national implementation reports and the synthesis report, the Implementation Guide, relevant Aarhus Clearinghouse resources, Compliance Committee findings of a systemic nature and jurisprudence database. The Task Force on Access to Information continues its work based on the outputs of the previous meetings.

Title	ENG	FRE	RUS
Provisional Agenda (AC/TF.AI-7/Inf.1)	PDF
List of participants	PDF
List of speakers (AC/TF.AI-7/Inf.1/Add.1)	PDF
Report of the meeting	PDF	PDF	PDF
List of key outcomes (AC/TF.AI-7/Inf.4)	PDF
*For all agenda items*
Decision VI/1 on promoting effective access to information, ECE/MP.PP/2017/8	PDF	PDF	PDF
*Item 2. Access to environment-related product information*
Access to Environment-related Product Information: Implementation Outlook (AC/TF.AI-7/Inf.2)	PDF
*Item 3. Access to information with respect to genetically modified organisms*
GMO Amendment to the Convention	PDF	PDF	PDF
Lucca Guidelines with respect to GMOs	PDF	PDF	PDF
Outcomes of the third Joint Round Table on Public Awareness, Access to Information and Public Participation regarding Living Modified Organisms/Genetically Modified Organisms (Geneva, 16-18 December 2019)
*Item 4. Update of the Recommendations on electronic information tools*
Draft updated Recommendations on electronic information tools (track changes) (AC/TF.AI-7/Inf.3)	PDF
Addendum to the draft updated Recommendations on electronic information tools (track changes) (AC/TF.AI-7/Inf.3/Add.1)	PDF
Comments received (third round)
Case studies on electronic information tools
Deliverables of the ENI SEIS II East project (access to information component)
Deliverables of EU EIS-data project

Statements and Presentations

Title	ENG	FRE	RUS
Item 2: Access to environment-related product information
*Setting the scene*
Mr. David Jensen, Coordinator, Digital Transformation Task Force, United Nations Environment Programme	PDF
Ms. Francesca Carlsson, Legal Officer, European Environmental Bureau	PDF
Experience by Parties to the Convention
Ms. Natalya Dauletiarova, Deputy Head, Department of Environmental Policymaking and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan	PDF		PDF
Mr. Thomas Legoupil, Policy Advisor, Department of Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, France	PDF	PDF
Ms. Adriana Gheorghe, Project Manager, European Environment Agency	PDF
Mr. Rade Ostojic, Head, Department for standards and cleaner production, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Serbia	PDF
Item 3: Access to information with respect to genetically modified organisms
Setting the scene
Ms. Ulrika Nilsson, Associate Information Officer, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity	PDF
Ms. Antje Lorch, Communication Officer, Ecoropa	PDF
Experiences by the Parties to the Convention
Ms. Volha Zakharava, Manager, Aarhus Centre, Belarus	PDF
Ms. Edlira Dersha, Public Relation Officer, Ministry of Tourism and Environment, Albania	PDF
Item 4: Update of the Recommendations on electronic information tools
Mr. Stefan Jensen, European Environment Agency	PDF
Mr. Jiri Pilar, Legal Officer, DG Connect, European Commission	PDF
Ms. Stephanie Speck, Chief, Communication, Advocacy, Knowledge Management and ICT, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction	PDF
Mr. Mordechai Haklay, European Citizen Science Association	PDF
Item 5: Stocktaking of recent and upcoming developments
Mr. Thomas Schomerus, Professor, Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany	PDF
Ms. Marta Hirsch-Ziembinska, Principal Adviser, European Ombudsman	PDF
Ms. Chloe Gambin, Officer, Environment and Resources Authority, Malta	PDF
Ms. Natasha Dokovska, Program Director, Journalists for Human Rights	PDF
Mr. Plamen Peev, BlueLink and Justice and Environment	PDF