Stories: Governance & Access

Laws alone are not enough to ensure environmental protection. Civil society organizations often play a critical role in bringing those laws to life. In Uganda, Greenwatch has done exactly that for the country’s laws on access to environmental information, the first of which passed in 1998.

The Access Initiative (TAI) and its partners are launching the first of its kind assessment of environmental governance in China. It is the first step towards engaging civil society organizations and government agencies to promote the public transparency, participation, and accountability that are essential foundations for sustainable development.

These films show how Senegal’s Forestry service, forest merchants, and other government agents are blocking local governments from playing their legal role in forest management and use.

Access Initiative (TAI) partner Instituto de Derecho y Economía Ambiental (Environmental Law and Economics Institute, IDEA) is working to build government capaci

Once isolated Paraguay has changed radically due to a boom in soybean exports, which has brought changes in land and pesticide use. 

The representatives of more than 100 countries attending December’s U.N. climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, finally focused on the important role tropical forests play in global warming.

For the first time in its ten-year history, the National Environmental Appellate Authority* (NEAA) has overturned a decision by the Government of India, quashing an environmental clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Border security is not typically recognized as being tied to environmental changes, but in this recent article by The New York Times, the links are clear. It details how declining fish catches in northwest Africa are fueling immigration to Europe.