Workshop on the Use of Electronic Tools

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me first of all congratulate the women in the audience with today – the Internationalt Women`s day – a day of solidarity and equality between the genders.

Let me also thank you for giving me the opportunity to open this workshop on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Environment.

The Aarhus Convention and the use of electronic tools

A number of initiatives have been taken in order to implement the Aarhus Convention in Norway. The main focus in this regard has been to increase the quality and amount of publicly accessible information on environmental issues, to amend existing environmental legislation, and to improve public participation in planning procedures. A substantial part of these preparations have been done by using electronic tools. This has for instance led to the creation of the web-page: State of the Environment Norway, which offers a comprehensive overview of the environmental status in Norway.

State of the Environment on the Internet aims to provide its users with the latest information about the state and development of the environment in Norway. Each topic is presented in a simple and easy-to-follow way and provides access to more detailed scientific presentations. On most of the pages you will also find additional information about legislation and international agreements, environmental targets, references and relevant links. In addition you may download the latest data sets. All information and all data in State of the Environment Norway have of course been quality checked, and the site is also available in English.

Further development of the State of the Environment Norway will be in the fields of more local and regional information. Our experience is that this is what the users are searching for, their own back yard. For instance, Telemark County, has as the first county in Norway, recently made available environmental information at this page. We expect the other counties to follow their example, and we would also like to see that environmental information is provided at local level. This will require additional funding and time, but we believe that it is of vital importance that people can easily find environmental information regarding their own neighbourhood.

Informing the public through the use of electronic tools and the media are effective ways in reaching a substantial number of citizens. More than half of the Norwegian population has access to the Internet, either through their work place, schools, at home or at municipal libraries. Norway has already gained experience in using the Internet when information to the public is made accessible, and the usage and possibilities have been increasing substantially during the last few years. We aim at having a dialog with the public on the net, through open hearings and by encouraging the public to mail directly to the Minister or to the Directors General of the Ministry. Something that we may regret since the minister for the time being receives more that two thousand e-mails during one day regarding the management of wolves in Norway. However, this also shows that being accessible leads to accessibility.

The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority has set up a web site offering public access to the environmental profiles of individual businesses, The Norwegian Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR). This site is not the first of its kind, but was probably among the first in mainland Europe.

The Release and Trasfer Register-site includes information on most emissions made by Norwegian companies to air and water, how much energy they consume, how much they produce and volumes of ordinary and special waste, based on the companies' own reports to government agencies. Such reports are a condition of any emission licences issued to the companies; these will also be on display together with the results of The Pollution Control Agency’s own monitoring.

Initially, the site will contain information on about 70 onshore companies representing the greatest potential for pollution, rising to almost 500 next year. The pages in English will be ready this year, and examples from the register will be presented for you later here today.

Even if some companies has been reluctant in providing the relevant information so far, I believe that it is only a matter of time before all Norwegian companies will be ready to make such information accessible to the public. Legislation on these matters is also being developed within the EU, and this legislation will eventually also be implemented in Norwegian Law.

The public commission for environmental information

A public commission reviewing the laws on access to environmental information in Norway completed their work in December last year. This work is a main step towards the Norwegian implementation of the Aarhus Convention. The committee has proposed a new law on access to environmental information, which is now going through a public hearing, both at regular manner and on the Internet. The committee concluded that all citizens should have the right both to make requests for environmental information and, of course, to receive the required information. In addition, the commission stated that both private and public actors have a duty to provide such environmental information and that this should be easily accessible.

The public’s right of access to environmental information is based on a number of considerations. One is the idea that the public has a legitimate interest in knowing how public resources are used. Transparency also promotes legitimacy and trust, and enables the public to "keep a check on" private and government actors. Another central consideration is democracy. Access to environmental information also enables environmentally aware market participants to act in accordance with their convictions, and it makes it easier for individuals to protect their health and the environment from damage.

The commission proposes that the right of access should include information about pollution, energy use, waste management, land use, transport, resource use and noise.

According to the commission’s proposal, it is sufficient if the person requesting information states what information is requested. As a rule, it will be up to the public authority to locate the information. However, a request may be refused if there is not sufficient basis to identify the information requested.

The committee also proposes that the person requesting the information should as a rule receive the information in the requested form. Exceptions may be made if the information is readily available in another form or it is reasonable to supply the information in another form or another format. Reasons should be given if the latter is chosen. A Summary in English of the Committee's recommendations is available here, and, of course, on our web-site.

Decision-making processes

One of the main reasons for the public’s right to environmental information is to enable people to take part in public decision-making processes that will have a significant impact on the environment. Briefly, the right to take part in public decision-making processes means the right to obtain information that a case is being processed and to receive details of the case, and then to be able to submit comments.

Furthermore, the committee feels that decision-making processes that the public will be participating in, should meet the following general requirements:

• Participation must take place at stages in the process when it is possible to influence the result.
• Action must be taken to ensure that broad sectors of the population are given the opportunity to submit their comments.
• The authorities should actively inform the public in a way that ensures that any groups having an interest in the decision are aware of the decision-making.
• The time frames for public participation must allow sufficient time for the public to have a real opportunity to submit comments.
• The authorities must have a duty to consider the comments submitted by the public.

This is, in my view, our main challenge – how to make the information accessible at an early stage so that citizens, NGOs and others in fact have a possibility to influence decision-makers before decisions are taken. The use of electronic tools may facilitate this aspiration. It is particularly important to promote Networking and Co-operation between Environmental NGOs in this regard. Because of this, Norway has this year provided funding (Euro 100 000,-) for a project on the establishment of electronic computer networks on a national and regional level between NGOs, under the auspices of the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South-eastern Europe (ReRep).

The main objective of this project is to strengthen the civil societies of southeastern European countries through providing a platform for co-operation and information exchange. The primary target audience will be environmental NGOs. The project will be implemented primarily by the NGO community, co-operating closely with the Regional Environmental Centre (REC) and the project lead country (Albania).

The key objectives of this project are:

• To strengthen the environmental NGO community in Southeast European countries.
• To support the environmental NGO-community of the region in terms of communications skills, human capacity, technical infrastructure, and influence on national policy making.
• To provide a platform for co-operation and bring together environmental NGOs.
• To create a forum for SEE regional networking and encourage the exchange of ideas on a regional level.
• To provide technical assistance to environmental NGOs.
• To build the capacity of environmental NGO personnel through training programmes.
• To supporting their access to state-of-the-art information infrastructure.
• To secure the long-term sustainability of the newly created environmental NGO networks by selecting and supporting a capable NGO to run and co-ordinate the network.
• To provide a one-stop gateway to environmental NGO information in Southeast Europe.

eNorway

The initiatives I have just mentioned have emphasised the need for the development of a comprehensive information-technology-strategy. Our Ministry published such a strategy in December 2000. The strategy is, of course, available both in print and electronically. And as a matter of fact, the electronic version, the little CD-rom I hold in my left hand was cheaper to produce than this traditional paper I hold in my right hand.

The strategy is part of the so-called "eNorway action plan". " eNorway" is an operative plan that describes where we are, what has to be done, who is responsible and when the actions are to be implemented in the field of Information, communication and Teghnology. Each Ministry has to develop their own sectoral action plans – and the Ministry of the Environment is the sixth ministry to do so.

Our joint challenge will be to use the new technology to develop a more environment-friendly society – a green knowledge economy. Knowledge grows when it is shared and developed, and information technology can help us to manage and develop processes and systems that promote a society in ecological balance. An environment-friendly and sustainable country with an economy that is attractive to the industry, based on a partnership between the public sector and industry regarding education, research and innovation.

If we are to reach our objective of an information and knowledge society for everyone, three basic prerequisites must be taken care of: access – knowledge – confidence.

• The Government will contribute to greater accessibility so that everyone has access to the new technology.
• The Government will increase the population's knowledge in and understanding of the use of ICT (information and communication technology), so that individuals will be able to use ICT as a tool based on their own needs and desires.
• The Government will implement measures, laws and regulations that increase people's confidence in the technology. The Internet must be secure and available to everyone – irrespective of his or her level of expertise.

A uniform policy for a sustainable knowledge society will be prepared, based on environmental information, an increased use of telecommunications to replace transport, a green product policy and green public-sector procurements.

In addition, the Ministry of the Environment is responsible for developing new and to further improve existing information systems. For instance, we have already developed Internet-based solutions providing environmental information and a dialogue with a wide-ranging public, as well as made available information on the use of products, procurement, accident handling, chemicals and waste.

Our main challenges from now on will be to:

• Together with the Ministry of Education gather all existing and new information on our biological diversity in a National BioDiversity database.
• By the end of 2001 – increase access to localised information through binding co-operation agreements with local authorities.
• By the end of 2003 - gather databases with cultural-heritage and cultural-environmental information in a main cultural heritage database.

Last, but not least, I would like to mention another asset for the Ministry of the Environment – which is the fact that GRID Arendal is situated in Norway. As you all know already, and will get to see for yourselves during the next two days, electronic environmental information is the main occupation of this UNEP-organisation.

Finally, I would like to say that the Ministry highly appreciates the continuous co-operation that we have with GRID Arendal. We are very pleased with the preparations for this work shop, hosted by the Ministry, and prepared by GRID Arendal. I really hope you all will have interesting days here in the South Coast of Norway, and that this workshop will give input to the process of using electronic tools to increase public participation to promote a sustainable development.

- Thank you for your attention!