Voice and Choice

The report finds that while legal frameworks for environmental access rights have expanded globally, actual implementation remains slow due to vested interests and systemic gaps.

• Governments have successfully established legal foundations for access rights, with over 69 countries now having constitutions or laws that guarantee freedom of information. Additionally, many governments have implemented administrative requirements for public participation, such as environmental impact assessments.
• Despite the growth of laws regarding public participation and access to information, the actual implementation of these policies has been slower, as it requires deep transformations to achieve a shared commitment to environmental democracy between governments and civil society.
• The report identifies several hurdles to the implementation of access rights, including the influence of vested interests in controlling information and participation, gaps in the collection and dissemination of environmental information, and the need to balance expert deliberation with public input.
• The document argues that access rights are supported by three primary justifications: they are human rights grounded in international law, they correlate with a positive relationship between good governance and national growth, and they improve the quality of small-scale decisions.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Voice and Choice. https://www.wri.org/research/voice-and-choice

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Voice and Choice. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/voice-and-choice.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Voice and Choice |url=https://www.wri.org/research/voice-and-choice |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendvoice, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Voice and Choice}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/voice-and-choice}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }