Promoting Public Participation in Climate Policies

The document outlines the legal frameworks and specific entry points within the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement processes where public participation and access to information can be strengthened. It highlights the Aarhus Convention and Escazú Agreement as regional models for environmental democracy and warns that the lack of procedural rights in the Clean Development Mechanism led to harmful projects. The briefing recommends that the new Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM) under Article 6.4 include robust stakeholder consultation and an independent grievance redress mechanism. It further suggests that the review of the Doha Work Programme and the updating of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2020 be used to enhance the participation of local communities, indigenous peoples, and women.

• The UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement establish foundational commitments to public participation, with the UNFCCC promoting "public access to information and public participation in climate policies" and the Paris Agreement committing Parties to "further cooperate to enhance public participation and access to information".
• Two regional instruments provide legally binding obligations for environmental decision-making: the Aarhus Convention, which applies to 47 UNFCCC Parties in Europe and Central Asia, and the Escazú Agreement, adopted by 24 UNFCCC Parties in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Escazú Agreement is notably the first legal instrument to establish a framework for the "effective protection of environmental defenders".
• Decisions from COP-24 created several entry points for public engagement, including guidelines for NDCs to provide information on engagement with "local communities and indigenous peoples, in a gender-responsive manner", and the operationalization of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform.
• The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is cited as a failure due to its lack of procedural rights and "meaningful community consultation during project design", which resulted in the approval of "unsustainable projects that cause significant harm".
• To avoid the failures of the CDM, the Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM) under Article 6.4 must implement robust environmental and social safeguards, require meaningful stakeholder consultation from the design phase, and establish an "independent, accessible, equitable, transparent, efficient, transparent, rights-based, and legitimate redress mechanism".
• The briefing suggests that the review of the Doha Work Programme (DWP), ending in 2020, should be used to mainstream Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) elements and ensure a balanced address of all six ACE elements.
• The document argues that the update of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2020 and the development of long-term decarbonization strategies are critical opportunities for Parties to ensure policies are ""owned"" by the public and benefit from "broad societal support".
• Current UNFCCC modalities for observer organizations are described as offering "limited opportunities for effective input by civil society" compared to other processes, particularly regarding direct access to contact groups and informals.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2019). Promoting Public Participation in Climate Policies. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/PromotingParticipation_EntryPoints_SB50_final-1.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Promoting Public Participation in Climate Policies. 2019. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/PromotingParticipation_EntryPoints_SB50_final-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Promoting Public Participation in Climate Policies |date=June 2019 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/PromotingParticipation_EntryPoints_SB50_final-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2019promoting, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Promoting Public Participation in Climate Policies}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2019}, month = jun, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/PromotingParticipation_EntryPoints_SB50_final-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }