The Access Initiative

Guatemala

1.28

Environmental Democracy Index Score

Guatemala received a good score on the Justice pillar, a fair score for the Transparency pillar, and a poor score for the Participation pillar. Regarding the Transparency pillar, the law recognizes the public’s right to access environmental information; however, government authorities are not obliged to proactively disseminate environmental information to the public. For the Participation pillar, the law does not provide for public input in the preparation of rules, plans, policies, and programs that relate to the environment. For the Justice pillar, the law establishes review procedures by which aggrieved persons can challenge government decisions that violate their environmental rights. However, there are no adequate mechanisms in place to reduce financial or gender-related barriers to access to justice. By addressing these issues, Guatemala could provide the public with access to environmental information, a right to participate in environmental rulemaking, and an ability to gain access to courts to obtain redress.

Visit the Environmental Democracy Index to explore the EDI score.

The TAI coalition in Guatemala seeks to understand and improve the current state of access rights in order to achieve the implementation of Principle 10. Much of their work uses the Law on Access to Public Information, which was passed in 2008 after months of analysis and debate, as a foundation.

The TAI Guatemala coalition is led by the Red Nacional de Formación e Investigación Ambiental (REDFIA). REDFIA seeks to strengthen the coordination between university research centers and the government authorities responsible for environmental management in order to further social and environmental research.

The TAI coalition in Guatemala has been involved in the Principle 10 process for Latin America and the Caribbean by participating in the negotiations process and working in collaboration with other TAI partners at the regional level.

 

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