Overwhelming evidence shows that human activity has a dangerous impact on the climate and our ecosystems. Yet most political systems have failed to address climate and other environmental crises. Strong environmental governance and rule of law is crucial to supporting sustainable development as well as inclusive democratic governance.

The UN 2030 Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement represent an understanding that human wellbeing is dependent on the planet’s life-support systems as well as an unprecedented international consensus on the urgency of addressing climate change and environmental degradation. However, the fact that this has not led to enough meaningful action has meant many people do not believe that democratic governments can deliver the necessary results for their citizens – against a background of worldwide democratic decline.

The groups who will be most severely affected by the resource scarcity caused by climate change and environmental degradation are the same groups commonly excluded from political decision making – the poorest, slum residents, subsistence farmers, rural women, minorities, indigenous groups and young people. Ensuring that they are included in political processes and that decision makers listen to their political voices is critical.

Realising international environmental treaties such as the Paris Climate Agreement requires the translation of these commitments into domestic laws and regulations by democratic means. Citizens, political parties, journalists and parliaments need the capacity and resources to use the extensive evidence available on climate change and environmental degradation to inform and influence policy development.

Almost every country in the world has legislation dedicated to the protection and preservation of the environment. However, the implementation and enforcement of these laws does not go far enough to address environmental challenges. Globally, laws are poorly enforced and access to legal remedies and environmental justice is severely limited. Few parliaments effectively hold their executives to account for failure to deliver on environmental commitments. Countries and their institutions of governance need support to make sure they deliver on them.

WFD's environmental democracy programmes

Georgia

In 2018-19, WFD supported the Georgian parliament through two separate programmes to establish the practice of holding thematic inquiries and to conduct post legislative scrutiny (PLS), with the overall intention of improving the legislature’s oversight function. Both of these programmes had an environmental focus.

WFD provided assistance to the Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee (EPNRC) of the Georgian parliament to conduct two separate thematic inquiries on ambient air pollution and municipal waste management, while one of the components of the PLS programme was to assess the effectiveness of existing regulations concerning electric vehicles.

Through its support for these processes WFD has also helped to improve the participation of citizens in environmental decision-making by supporting parliament to produce recommendations based on well-structured, transparent and solution-oriented collaboration with civil society organisations (CSOs) and individual citizens, in addition to other stakeholders, such as government and the private sector.

Indonesia

WFD has led  successful focus groups on environmental issues involving MPs from relevant committees through a partnership with the Indonesian Parliament’s Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (Badan Kerja Sama Antarparlemen or BKSAP). The discussions have garnered much-needed attention on environmental sustainability with an emphasis on how the parliament can play an instrumental role in helping Indonesia achieve its nationally determined commitments under the Global Green Growth programme. WFD’s work in this area emphasises the need to enhance access to information, public participation, and accountability in environmental programming as well as the need to include marginalised groups – particularly indigenous peoples – in the process.

In 2021, WFD began implementing a programme that will seek to introduce regulatory impact assessment, cost-benefit analysis, green budgeting, and green oversight to parliamentary analysts and MPs as well as enhance the parliament’s role in overseeing the government’s implementation of climate action agendas. 

Morocco

In 2017 WFD’s Morocco programme supported committees to scrutinise Morocco’s fulfilment of its international commitments, particularly in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.

This included a workshop on “Harmonising national legislation on climate change with the requirements of the Paris Agreement.” As a result of this workshop, the House of Councillors identified nine laws that needed to be amended in order to be aligned with international conventions and commitments.

Lebanon