Ending environmental secrecy

In a situation where powerful and vested interests have a direct relation to the factors causing the environmental degradation affecting everyone, it is necessary to increase the transparency of environmental decision-making processes and enable further participation by the general public. This will promote democracy and protect the right of everyone to live in a healthy environment.

Giving the public effective access to information, improving communication with the public, securing the role of the public in decision-making and providing access to justice for the public in environment and health matters.

Adequate protection of the environment is essential to human well-being and the enjoyment of basic human rights, including the right to life itself. Every person has the right to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being, and the duty, both individually and in association with others, to protect and improve the environment for the benefit of present and future generations.

1. Exposing secrecy
2. Ensuring a healthy environment

1. Recognizing citizen's rights in relation to the environment
2. Providing public access to environmental information
3. Promoting public participation in environmental decision-making
4. Facilitating public access to justice in environmental matters

1. Researching exposure to environmental hazards
2. Reducing government secrecy
3. Providing environmental information systems
4. Exposing secrecy in the nuclear power industry
5. Exposing secrecy in scientific research
6. Exposing misleading pharmaceutical publicity

1. Ruling on restriction of information
2. Revealing information
3. Reducing suppression of information concerning social problems
4. Reducing cover-up of environmental pollution
5. Publishing information on companies which generate hazardous waste
6. Providing accurate civic information
7. Promoting appropriate national information policies
8. Maintaining neutrality of intergovernmental official information
9. Increasing accuracy of official information
10. Increasing accountability of management of public information
11. Increasing accountability of institutions degrading the environment
12. Improving public information concerning problems
13. Fighting misinformation in science
14. Exposing public subsidization of environmental pollution
15. Campaigning about biodiversity issues

1. Using selective information
2. Using incorrect information
3. Suppressing information on disasters
4. Suppressing information concerning environmental hazards
5. Suppressing information by security classification
6. Restricting information
7. Restricting distribution of confidential government information
8. Promulgating disinformation
9. Manipulating public information
10. Managing news
11. Maintaining secrecy in the nuclear power industry
12. Maintaining secrecy about pharmaceutical products
13. Maintaining government secrecy over harmful scientific activity
14. Limiting availability of public information
15. Covering up environmental pollution
16. Concealing environmental information

1. Providing public information on impacts of pesticides
2. Providing public information on chemical safety
3. Providing nuclear information
4. Informing about infringement of human rights
5. Disseminating environmental information

1. Suppression of information concerning environmental safety
2. Suppression of information concerning environmental problems
3. Official cover-up of consequences of experiments
4. Government complicity in environmental abuse
5. Environmental secrecy

1. Secrecy

1. Århus Convention
2. Århus Declaration