CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS Nonetheless, to fulfill their human rights obligations relating to international cooperation and transboundary harm, developed countries should increase the amount of financial assistance that is provided to developing countries. They should also seek to achieve a more equitable balance between adaptation and mitigation funding, especially in light of current emissions trajectories. 3.5 Respect for Procedural Rights in Climate Policies and Planning A complete overview of procedural safeguards for national adaptation and mitigation measures is beyond the scope of this report. But there are a few trends worth highlighting. One of the most important developments occurred in 1992, when the UN General Assembly adopted the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Principle 10 stated that: Environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including information on hazardous materials and activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making information widely available. Effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided.242 The outcome document for Rio+20, The Future We Want, reaffirmed that “broad public participation and access to information and judicial and administrative proceedings are essential to the promotion of sustainable development.”243 Countries across the world have taken important steps towards implementing these principles in environmental decision-making,244 and this seems to be the case for climate-related decisions as well. For example, it appears that many countries are making reasonable efforts to assess the impacts of climate change, as well as the contribution of their activities to climate change, and make this information available to the public. This includes efforts to: (1) monitor and disclose domestic sources of GHG emissions, in accordance with Annex I of the UNFCCC; (2) inform the public about the potential impacts and risks associated with climate change; 245 (3) describe and evaluate efforts to respond to climate change;246 and (4) use existing EIA procedures to inform decision-makers and the public about the contribution of a proposed action to global GHG emissions, as well as the potential impacts of climate change on those proposals.247 It is difficult to gauge the extent to which governments are promoting public participation in decisions that involve climate change, for instance major projects that generate GHG emissions or the development of local, regional and national adaptation plans. National progress in this context relates to the broader issue of public participation in local, regional and national governance, and accordingly with general implementation of the rule of law in nations around the world. There is evidence that, as a general matter, many states have taken important steps towards promoting public participation in environmental decision-making.248 This appears to be the case for climate-related decisions as well. For example, one study found that many European countries have mechanisms in place to ensure that affected stakeholders are informed about climate-related decisions and that they can provide input on those decisions. 249 However, the same study found that government decision-makers should be more proactive about 242 UN GA, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, A/CONF.151/26 (Aug. 12, 1992). 243 UN GA Res. 66/288, The Future We Want, p. 43, UN Doc. A/RES/66/288 (July 7, 2012). 244 Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future, Review of Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Rio Principles 43 (Jan. 2012) (finding that the implementation of Principle 10 has been “very successful in some regions, and looks set to secure successful implementation in others”). 245 See, e.g., U.S. Global Change Research Program, National Climate Assessment (2014); UK Climate Change Risk Assessment: Government Report (2012); Australian Department of Environment, Climate Adaptation Outlook: A Proposed National Adaptation Assessment Framework (2013). 246 See, e.g., the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), National Adaptation Programmes of Actions (NAPAs), and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat. 247 See Morgan (2012) supra note 100. Promisingly, many jurisdictions have developed policies or guidance for integrating climate change considerations into strategic and project-level EIA, to address both the contribution of proposed actions on climate change and the potential impact of climate change on those projects. However, in some jurisdictions, EIA documents do not thoroughly assess the GHG emissions from activities and/or the impacts of climate change on the project. See Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Climate Change and Environmental Impact Assessment, http://web.law.columbia.edu/ climate-change/resources/nepa-and-state-nepa-eis-resource-center (last visited Oct. 13, 2015) (website includes list of guidance documents from the U.S. and other jurisdictions, as well as assessments of climate change considerations in U.S. EIA). 248 See John Knox, Report of the Independent Expert on the Issue of Human Rights Obligations Relating to the Enjoyment of a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment – Compilation of Good Practices, Parts A-C, UN Doc. A/HRC/28/61 (Feb. 3, 2015). 249 Mara Silina, European Environmental Bureau & European ECO Forum, Is Everything Right with Public Participation in Climate Related Decisions? Presentation for the Fifth Meeting of the Task Force on Public Participation in Decision-making, Geneva, February 23-24, 2015. 34 I M P L E M E N TAT I O N A S S E S S M E N T