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This document is a manual produced by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) in December 2015 to comply with Section 51 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA). It outlines the CER's role as a non-profit law clinic, identifies the Executive Director as the head for PAIA purposes, and details the procedures, fees, and categories of records available to the public for accessing information held by the organisation.

The report 'SIGNS OF HOPE?' by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) evaluates the implementation of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) regarding environmental records in South Africa from January 2010 to September 2015. It identifies a slow trend toward greater reactive disclosure by authorities and private companies, though proactive disclosure remains poor.

This guide, produced by the Adaptation Finance Accountability Initiative (AFAI), provides a five-step methodology for civil society organizations (CSOs) to track climate change adaptation finance. It aims to improve transparency and accountability by helping CSOs gather evidence on funding flows from international donors to local communities, ultimately informing evidence-based advocacy to ensure resources reach the most vulnerable populations.

This report by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) analyzes the implementation of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA) in South Africa between January 2010 and August 2014. It details the challenges in accessing environmental governance and management records from government departments, parastatals, and private bodies, highlighting a trend of using the protection of third-party commercial information to refuse requests.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing several environmental justice organisations, submitted comments on the draft National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory System (NAEIS) Reporting Regulations. The CER argues that the draft regulations contain overly broad confidentiality restrictions that hinder public access to emissions data, contradicting international best practices and South African constitutional and statutory principles.

This World Resources Institute working paper details the first phase of the Adaptation Finance Accountability Initiative (AFAI), which maps international-to-national adaptation finance flows and assesses institutional contexts in Nepal, the Philippines, Uganda, and Zambia.

This briefing by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) explores options for establishing a voluntary peer-review process within the G-20 to advance the phase-out and rationalization of inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies. It analyzes the benefits of peer review as a 'soft law' tool, compares existing mechanisms in other international forums, and proposes specific structural options and reporting frameworks to balance mutual learning with accountability.

This report by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) analyzes trends in the disclosure of environmental information in South Africa for 2012, comparing them to 2010-11. It finds that while public bodies are more actively responding to requests under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), actual disclosure has decreased and active refusals have increased. Private companies have shifted from ignoring requests to actively opposing disclosure, often through legal proceedings.

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the need for a robust Monitoring, Reporting and Verifying (MRV) framework for climate finance provided to developing countries. It argues that while current systems are fragmented and inconsistent, establishing transparency is essential for building trust between donors and recipients and ensuring funds are used effectively.

This policy brief describes a 2010 project by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) to evaluate government transparency regarding public expenditure, specifically focusing on fossil-fuel subsidies across 80 governments.

This report examines how increased transparency and a two-track approach—combining domestic accounting improvements with an international data-gathering regime—can accelerate the reform of fossil-fuel subsidies to support climate change and sustainable development goals.

This fact sheet, published by Friends of the Earth International in September 2004, criticizes the European Investment Bank (EIB) for its lack of transparency and restrictive information policies. It argues that the EIB often withholds critical project documentation, such as environmental impact assessments, until after loans are approved, thereby preventing public participation and oversight. The document outlines the EIB's 2002 and 2004 policy updates and presents a series of demands from NGOs to align the bank's practices with international standards and EU law.

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), representing itself and three other environmental organizations, submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on December 19, 2003. The request seeks the disclosure of environmental chapters and related provisions from bilateral or regional free trade agreement negotiations conducted since the beginning of 2003.

This document consists of the practice note, chronology, and heads of argument filed by Arcelormittal South Africa Ltd (AMSA) in the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa. AMSA is appealing a High Court judgment that ordered it to disclose environmental records to the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA) under the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA). AMSA argues that VEJA failed to meet the 'need to know' threshold required for requests to private bodies and that there is no legal right for a private NGO to act as a regulatory 'watch-dog' to monitor a private company's environmental compliance.

This report by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) analyzes the accessibility of environmental information in South Africa through an assessment of 98 PAIA requests and 42 formal requests made to 17 public and 35 private bodies between July 2010 and early 2012. The findings reveal a widespread culture of avoidance, delay, and non-compliance with the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA), which the CER argues fundamentally hampers the realization of constitutional environmental rights.

This research paper analyzes the public participation and transparency frameworks of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol. It identifies significant gaps in the 'Marrakech Accords' regarding how stakeholders are informed and involved in project development, noting that most information becomes public only after key decisions are made. The authors argue that the current rules lack standardized environmental impact assessment (EIA) requirements and provide no formal mechanism for stakeholders to seek redress or trigger project reviews, recommending the creation of a 'Good Practice Manual for Public Consultation and Disclosure' and a watchdog mechanism similar to those used by the World Bank Group.

This research paper by Claudia Saladin for the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) analyzes the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the Public Participation Convention) and argues that its transparency and accountability requirements should apply to export credit agencies (ECAs).

This fact sheet by the International Institute for Sustainable Development evaluates Argentina's government support for fossil fuels, ranking it second among G20 non-OECD member countries. While the country shows relatively good transparency and low support for fossil fuel use, it provides substantial funding for oil and gas production, primarily through state-owned enterprise (SOE) investments.

Natural Justice, a pan-African organization, submitted comments and recommendations on the Draft Climate Change (Carbon Registry) Regulations, 2025. The submission advocates for a more transparent, inclusive, and publicly accessible carbon registry system in Kenya that safeguards the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

This working paper from the World Resources Institute proposes a new expectations-based framework to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of government-led cooperative climate initiatives, addressing a gap in formalized transparency and accountability mechanisms.