The Fundamental Need to Know: The Role of Pollution Information Portals | HRC57 Side Event

About this Event

Confronting the global pollution crisis demands information on critical questions concerning emissions and the disposal of hazardous substances and wastes – what pollutants and wastes are emitted or disposed of; where; in what quantities; by whom; and with what consequences. Such information could enable regulators, communities, and businesses to take measures to prevent, control and reduce pollution and exposure.

While they vary in their specific features, pollution information portals provide direct and contextual information on emissions and wastes to the public, businesses, regulators, and other users. They are thus key to good environmental governance and corporate accountability.

In his report, the Special Rapporteur explores the functions of pollution information portals in regard to human rights related to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, science, and information access and identifies good practices in their design and implementation. He also critically assesses limitations and shortcomings of existing models and includes recommendations to help States establish, strengthen, or integrate pollution information portals.

This side event to the 57th session of the Human Rights Council will examine methodologies and share experiences and good practices around pollution information portals. It will also aim to identify ways in which countries could establish or strengthen pollution information portals.

Environment @ HRC57

The 57th regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC57) is taking place in Geneva and online from 9 September to 11 October 2024. With the environment high on the agenda, consult regular updates on key environmental issues at HRC57, side events, and further resources available on our dedicated HRC57 and the environment update.

Speakers

H.E. Amb. Fernando ESPINOSA OLIVERA

Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva

Marcos ORELLANA

UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights

Kristof DOUÇOT

Environmental Affairs Officer, Secretariat of the Aarhus Convention and its Protocol on PRTRs, UNECE

Naoko MORITANI

Administrator, Environment, Health and Safety Division, Environment Directorate, OECD

Yves LADOR

Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Earthjustice

Jindrich PETRLIK

Head of the Toxic and Waste Programme, Arnika | Video Statement

Diana RIZZOLIO

Coordinator, Geneva Environment Network | Moderator

Highlights

Video

Live from Palais des Nations.

Photo Gallery

Summary

Opening Remarks

H.E. Amb. Fernando ESPINOSA OLIVERA | Mexico

• Accessible, transparent information plays a key role in protecting the environment and public health in the face of the environmental crises that we face today. Open and comprehensive information portals on pollutants are fundamental not only to guarantee the need and right to know, but also to contribute to the empowerment of key actors including environmental human rights defenders, Indigenous Peoples, youth and women in the prevention and reduction of pollution.
• The Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (El Registro de Emisiones y Transferencia de Contaminantes, RETC), implemented in Mexico since 2004, manages information on over 200 hazardous chemicals. Emission reports of over 35,000 industrial facilities in the country have led to effective policies and improved monitoring, resulting in a 15% reduction in hazardous chemicals emission.
• An initiative has also been developed to integrate information on pollutant emissions from Canada, United States and Mexico. The database manages and makes accessible reports on the emission of substances released to air, water and land from approximately 40,000 facilities across the region. Over the past 15 years, a reduction of over 30% in certain atmospheric pollutants has been achieved, highlighting increased transparency and strengthened cooperation.

Keynote Presentation: Overview of the UN Special Rapporteur’s Report

Marcos ORELLANA | UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights

• The thematic report on pollution information portals, whose idea originates from the UN General Assembly recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, provides a concrete tool for the implementation of this right in the context of a global pollution crisis.
• Solutions demand information on when, by whom, what pollutant, and how much was emitted. Pollution information portals are fundamental tools that facilitate good governance for corporate accountability and the implementation of this right.
• There is a trend in the development of this field, from first generation portals with disclosed data to second generation that transform data into knowledge and enable the engagement of communities.
• Regulators and authorities need information for governing environmental toxics, including assessing risk and prioritizing and adopting regulation. Information is also crucial for communities to participate meaningfully in decision-making, as well as for businesses, to prevent deriving a competitive advantage by externalizing risks and harms onto communities.
• The model originated from a tragedy in Bhopal, India over 40 years ago, where a gas leak from a pesticide manufacturing facility, owned by a company from the United States, killed hundreds of thousands of people. Victims are still struggling for justice, and this has become a sacrifice zone in a systematic breach of human rights. In response, the communities in the United States mobilized and the US Congress adopted a Right-to-Know Act. Since then, a number of countries have adopted pollution information portals, mainly from OCED and developing countries.
• Multilateral agreements have been created, such as the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters and Escazú Agreement on environmental rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. These agreements commit their Parties to take steps in setting up these portals and provided opportunities for South-South collaboration.
• The existing models exhibit two gaps.
  • First is the lack or insufficient pollution prevention mandates; the information portals distribute information but are not associated with the pollution prevention mandate.
  • The second gap is the coverage in the type, number and emission modes of pollutants. For example, diffuse sources such as transportation and agriculture are not addressed in many portals.

Panel Presentation

Kristof DOUÇOT | Secretariat of the Aarhus Convention and its Protocol on PRTRs

• Since the adoption of the Kyiv Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) in 2003, significant progress has been made in digital transformation, database management, and coordination of information across sectors.
• Both the Aarhus Convention and the Protocol have been designed for all UN member States and are legally binding instruments that contribute to the protection of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, as well as the fundamental right to know on environmental issues. They establish international standards for digital environmental information portals.
• The Aarhus Convention establishes states obligations to ensure that public authorities collect, provide upon request, and disseminate environmental information in case of threats to human health and the environment. Parties are also required to establish systems of adequate flow of information to public authorities about proposed and existing activities which may significantly affect the environment and take steps to establish a coherent nationwide system of publicly accessible databases.
• The Kyiv Protocol on PRTRs is the only legally binding standard on how data must be made public. By bringing information on polluting emissions into the public domain, the PRTR raises awareness on its threats to health and the environment, and enables the public to play a more effective role in participating in the decision-making processes. Increased transparency can create pressure on producers to reduce pollution that arises from their activities.
• The integration of PRTR with other environmental and socio-economic databases enable decision makers to use them for risk assessment, assessment of resource consumption, and transition to a circular economy.
• Regular, structured exchange between countries, NGOs and organizations significantly facilitate stakeholders in overcoming different hurdles and understanding the full potential of pollution information portals.
• Today, over 70 countries have committed to developing PRTR systems that include legal commitments under the Aarhus Convention and Escazú agreement.
• Targets associated with PRTR include increasing the geographic and global coverage of different pollution information portals. The Global Framework on Chemicals sets a target for stakeholders to generate data on emission entries of chemicals and waste to the environment and make these data publicly accessible by 2035.
• Generating political will is necessary to change existing patterns and improve our knowledge about alternative production methods to reduce pollution. Effective information portals are needed to understand and analyze the status quo and make informed choices.

Naoko MORITANI | OECD

• PRTR program is a key program of the Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) program in OECD. The main objective is to assist member countries in protecting human health and the environment by establishing and enhancing pollution information portals.
• The 3 focus areas of the program are improving, enhancing the use of and harmonizing PRTRs.
• The OECD Global PRTR Dashboard, published in 2021, includes data of 39 countries to evaluate progress towards SDGs. It also covers contextual information such as toxicity impact scores which show risks to human health and the environment.
• Another dashboard compiles various uses of PRTR data by member countries and encourages additional audiences to access the data.
• The Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC) toolbox was created based on guidance documents and reports by special rapporteurs, aiming to enable countries to identify appropriate and efficient national actions to establish or strengthen their PRTR systems.

Jindrich PETRLIK | Arnika | Video Statement

• The report “Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and Civil Society” gathered case studies on civil societies from around the world and different aspects of PRTR.
• PRTR data was used in countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Czech Republic to address pollution from various industries.
• The data includes chemical-specific and non-chemical-specific reporting, reports on releases and transfers from power plants and waste insulation.
• In 2015, an application which shows the data for each facility was introduced, which helped decrease the total release of carcinogens.
• It is important to cover small and medium enterprises, where the local people are often greatly affected by toxic releases.
• PRTR needs to cover all releases and transfers, and has to be accessible to all affected parties. The entire process of establishment, implementation and operation of the PRTR system should be transparent and objective.

Yves LADOR | Earthjustice

• The information on PRTRs has to be universal. All companies exporting or importing goods should have information from their value chain.
• The Kyiv Protocol aims to enhance access to information and participation of the public, as well as prevention and reduction. Public participation not only refers to direct participation in the decision-making process (active participation), but also as a tool for policy implementation which requires informed decisions (for example, in the field of urban planning and zoning). The portals have a much wider impact that just purely administrative.
• Another important is the Best Available Technology (BAT) that provides criteria to evaluate the performance of different actors and how they deal with toxicity issues. This idea of PRTR 2.0 is something that can aggregate a vast amount of information that comes from other areas that are not usually directed or included in the PRTR mechanism. This will be useful, for example, in getting permits. This dynamic — wherein one can get information from various sources — enables stronger politics, and this is needed in instruments to see how our rights can be better implemented.
• An integration tool has been developed by the EEB that brings together already existing information and compares the performance at the level of plants, called the Industrial Plant Data Viewer. This is what the Special Rapporteur has said: You must not just provide information that you can use, but you should use it in a contextualized and dynamic way to see how it is performing. To go beyond the question of just providing information.
• PRTR 2.0 should be a tool with a human rights-based approach. It leads to the implementation of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment by helping to integrate data, have a more coherent policy, and show the relevance of the policies enacted by different countries.

Open Discussion

Kristof DOUÇOT

• Pollution information portals and systems receive too little attention and funding compared to other processes in the field of chemicals and waste management. Much more support is needed.
• Common minimum standards that facilitate exchange and cooperation must go hand in hand with designing national systems. The system has to be adapted to national needs and concerns, receiving continuous political support and long-term commitments.

Q: Given that due diligence requirements differ among countries, do pollution information portals require companies to report not only their own emissions but also emissions from the country in which they do business?

Yves LADOR

• Countries that do not have developed systems yet can also find information in existing sources.
• Companies have a number of obligations to report how they behave with their subsidiaries under other types of European jurisdictions, and this information should be added to the system. We must not leave the system as it is, at this moment it has to go further.

Marcos ORELLANA

• Pollution information portals should be seen as an element of due diligence in the discharge of human rights obligations concerning pollution and toxics. Access to information is essential for prevention, reduction and control of pollution.
• International cooperation in this area offers ample opportunities, as there is a wealth of knowledge accumulated in decades of experience by international organizations that can be utilized.
• There is a need in many parts of the world to set up these tools to implement the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Establishing and sustaining PRTRs requires international cooperation and assistance in expertise, knowhow, and capacity building. There needs to be increased attention on pollution information portals as a concrete tool for international cooperation.

Documents

• Presentations made during the event

Links

• A/HRC/57/52: Pollution information portals: strengthening access to information on releases of hazardous substances | Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, Marcos Orellana
• Human Rights and the Environment | GEN