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Ukraine

Publishing Environmental Information (UA0078)

Overview

At-a-Glance

Action Plan: Ukraine Action Plan 2018-2020

Action Plan Cycle: 2018

Status: Active

Institutions

Lead Institution: Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Other bodies responsible for environment monitoring

Support Institution(s): Reform Support Team at the Ministry of Ecology, Government-Civic Initiative “Together against Corruption,” Open Environment Project of Open Society Foundation, USAID and UK aid-funded Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services Program/TAPAS, European Environment Agency (SEIS in Ukraine), other CSOs and international organizations (upon their consent)

Policy Areas

E-Government, Environment and Climate, Legislation & Regulation, Legislative, Public Service Delivery

IRM Review

IRM Report: Ukraine Design Report 2018-2020

Starred: Pending IRM Review

Early Results: Pending IRM Review

Design i

Verifiable: Yes

Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information , Technology

Potential Impact:

Implementation i

Completion: Pending IRM Review

Description

Providing free access of citizens – through modern ICTs – to environmental information received by public authorities in the field of environment protection, rational use, reproduction and protection of natural resources Ensuring environmental rights of citizens in terms of free access to the information on environmental status, risks for life and health, environmental perspectives is currently complicated by a number of problems: • Lack of the national digital geoinformation infrastructure of public authorities and local self-government bodies to support them in implementation of their authorities on environment protection, rational use, reproduction and protection of natural resources; • Lack of a unified centre to accumulate information on environmental status; • Unclear division of authority, poor coordination of activities and suboptimal institutional capacity of public authorities and local self-government bodies to gather, accumulate and exchange information/data on environmental status; • A lot of autonomous and non-unified – in terms of structure – registers and databases, non-systematized information on environmental status on hard copies that should be digitized and published in open data format. Actions Responsible Timeframe Partners Indicator 1. Establishing legal framework for ensuring citizens’ access to environment information in line with European norms and requirements Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Other bodies responsible for environment monitoring December 2018 – May 2020 Reform Support Team at the Ministry of Ecology, Government-Civic Initiative “Together against Corruption,” Open Environment Project of Open Society Foundation, USAID and UK aid-funded Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services Program/TAPAS, European Environment Agency (SEIS in Ukraine), other CSOs and international organizations (upon their consent) Action Plan on implementation of Concept Note on establishing the National Automated System “Open Environment” adopted; Procedure for Operation and Administration of National Automated System “Open Environment” and Action Plan of information policy and strategic communications on Open Environment System approved 2. Developing and implementing the components of Open Environment System as a Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Other public authorities and local self-government December 2018 – December 2019 Reform Support Team at the Ministry of Ecology, Government-Civic Initiative “Together against Corruption,” ToRs developed and approved, pilot projects and components of Open Environment System as a whole implemented 16 whole bodies (upon their consent) Open Environment Project of Open Society Foundation, USAID and UK aid-funded Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services Program/TAPAS, European Environment Agency (SEIS in Ukraine), other CSOs and international organizations (upon their consent) 3. Upgrading/reforming the national system of environment monitoring, in particular, of radiation monitoring Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management Other public authorities December 2018 – December 2020 Reform Support Team at the Ministry of Ecology, Government-Civic Initiative “Together against Corruption,” Open Environment Project of Open Society Foundation, USAID and UK aid-funded Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services Program/TAPAS, European Environment Agency (SEIS in Ukraine), other CSOs and international organizations (upon their consent) A tool for GPS-environment monitoring, in particular, of radiation monitoring, is developed, piloted and launched; the structure of sub-system of radiation monitoring formed; software developed; technical capacity for its operation built; ecosystem project piloted, launched and integration into Open Environment System Expected results are ensuring environmental rights of citizens in terms of free digital access to information on environmental status, risks for life and health, environmental perspectives; updating and digitizing national environment administration system, and thus, improving the quality of administrative service provision by digitizing them; creating conditions to increase participation of citizens, CSOs and economic entities in decision-making in the field of environment protection; launching new methods and technologies of environment monitoring, in particular, of radiation monitoring, and providing public access to monitoring data.

IRM Midterm Status Summary

9. Provide public access to environmental information

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan: [78] Providing free access of citizens – through modern ICTs – to environmental information received by public authorities in the field of environment protection, rational use, reproduction and protection of natural resources

Ensuring environmental rights of citizens in terms of free access to the information on environmental status, risks for life and health, environmental perspectives is currently complicated by a number of problems:

  • Lack of the national digital geoinformation infrastructure of public authorities and local self-government bodies to support them in implementation of their authorities on environment protection, rational use, reproduction and protection of natural resources;
  • Lack of a unified centre to accumulate information on environmental status;
  • Unclear division of authority, poor coordination of activities and suboptimal institutional capacity of public authorities and local self-government bodies to gather, accumulate and exchange information/data on environmental status;
  • A lot of autonomous and non-unified – in terms of structure – registers and databases, non-systematized information on environmental status on hard copies that should be digitized and published in open data format.

Milestones:

  1. Establishing legal framework for ensuring citizens’ access to environment information in line with European norms and requirements
  2. Developing and implementing the components of Open Environment System as a whole
  3. Upgrading/reforming the national system of environment monitoring, in particular, of radiation monitoring

Start Date: December 2018

End Date: December 2020

Context and objectives

There are multiple problems that inhibit Ukrainians’ constitutional right to freely access information on environmental status, risks for life, and health. Essential ecological information is either closed or available for a fee. [79] An ecological activist with Open Society Foundation Ukraine estimated that government ecological policies receive only 9% of necessary funding, [80] and there is no system to instantly collect ecological information in real time, causing delays of up to two years.

This commitment seeks to establish a legal framework for ensuring citizens’ access to environmental information, and introduce the nationwide automated Open Environment System. It also seeks to upgrade the national system of environment monitoring. It continues from Commitment 10 from the third action plan, which aimed to improve public monitoring of the state of the environment via the Open Environment System. [81] While some tangible results were achieved during the third aciton plan period, including the developemnt of an interactive map of river pollution, [82] the Open Enviroment System was not fully developed by the writing of the IRM End-of-Term Report. [83] This commitment is also connected to Commitment 10 of the current action plan, which calls for updating the state registers of natural resources.

Given several indicators for measuring the success of each activity, this commitment is verifiable. By disclosing a large amount of ecological data in digital form, this commitment relates to the OGP values of access to information and technology and innovation.

The government foresees multiple outcomes from this commitment, [84] including ensuring environmental rights and increasing participation in decision-making around environmental protection. A consulted civil society representative further emphasized that such system will inform citizens when choosing where to live, [85] and provide official environmental information that could be used for changing local policies or in courts to make authorities implement national environmental policies. Considering this, the commitment could singificantly improve access to environmental information. However, it is unclear from the commitment text what type of enviromental information will be disclosed in the Open Enviroment System.

Next steps

During the implementation of this commitment, the IRM researcher recommends that the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR) collaborate closely with civil society partners including leading international NGOs that focus on environment. The IRM researcher also recommends the MENR to review its funding policies to ensure sustainability of the Open Environment System.

This commitment could be continued in the next action plan and include environmental monitoring of other pollution beyond the planned radiation monitoring.

[79] Lesia Shevchenko (Open Society), interview by IRM researcher, 7 Mar. 2019.
[80] Ibid.
[81] “On approval of the Government Priority Action Plan for 2018” Order No. 244-p on The Government Portal, Unified Web-Portal of Executive Authorities of Ukraine (Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Secretariat, 28 Mar. 2018), https://www.kmu.gov.ua/ua/npas/pro-zatverdzhennya-planu-prioritetnih-dij-uryadu-na-2018-rik.
[82] “Clean Water: The Online Map of River Pollution in Ukraine Was Presented” on the Government Portal, Unified Web-Portal of Executive Authorities of Ukraine (Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Secretariat, 6 Jul. 2018), https://www.kmu.gov.ua/ua/news/chista-voda-prezentovano-onlajn-kartu-zabrudnenosti-richok-v-ukrayini.
[83] Dmytro Khutkyy, Ukraine End-of-Term Report 2016-2018 (Open Government Partnership, 2019), https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ukraine_End-of-Term_Report_2016-2018_EN.pdf.
[84] “The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Decree on 18 December 2018 #1088-p” on The Government Portal, The Unified Web-portal of Executive Authorities of Ukraine (Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Secretariat, 18 Dec. 2018), https://www.kmu.gov.ua/storage/app/media/17-civik-2018/partnerstvo/plan_2018%20-%202020.pdf.
[85] Lesia Shevchenko (Open Society), interview by IRM researcher, 7 Mar. 2019.

Commitments

  1. Infrastructure Data Portal

    UA0070, 2018, Anti-Corruption

  2. Open Standard for e-System

    UA0071, 2018, E-Government

  3. Ensuring Openness and Transparency of Selling Public Assets and Property

    UA0072, 2018, E-Government

  4. Transparency in Public Procurement (Prozorro)

    UA0073, 2018, Access to Information

  5. Awarenss Raising About Social and Economic Development

    UA0074, 2018, Aid

  6. e-Calls for Proposals to Support CSOs

    UA0075, 2018, Civic Space

  7. Beneficial Ownership Registry

    UA0076, 2018, Anti-Corruption

  8. Anti-Corruption Training

    UA0077, 2018, Anti-Corruption

  9. Publishing Environmental Information

    UA0078, 2018, E-Government

  10. Database of Natural Resources

    UA0079, 2018, Access to Information

  11. Interactive Map of Mines

    UA0080, 2018, E-Government

  12. Priority Electronic Services

    UA0081, 2018, Citizenship & Immigration

  13. Online Platform for Executive Bodies and CSOs

    UA0082, 2018, Civic Space

  14. EITI Online Data

    UA0083, 2018, Access to Information

  15. Electronic Resources for Education

    UA0084, 2018, Access to Information

  16. Online Verification of Education Certificates

    UA0085, 2018, E-Government

  17. Free Access to National Repository for Academic Texts

    UA0086, 2018, E-Government

  18. Administrative Service Decentrilisation and Improvement

    UA0057, 2016, Capacity Building

  19. United State Portal Extension; Electronic Government Information Services Unification; Modern Tools for Electronic Identification

    UA0058, 2016, Capacity Building

  20. System for Entities Performing Government Functions

    UA0059, 2016, Anti-Corruption

  21. Free Urban Planning Documentation

    UA0060, 2016, E-Government

  22. Beneficial Ownership Verification System

    UA0061, 2016, Anti-Corruption

  23. CoST Beneficial Ownership Standards

    UA0062, 2016, Anti-Corruption

  24. Transpartent Budget System

    UA0063, 2016,

  25. Starred commitment Open Public Procurement

    UA0064, 2016, Access to Information

  26. Starred commitment Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

    UA0065, 2016, Anti-Corruption

  27. Environmental Public Monitoring

    UA0066, 2016, Access to Information

  28. Community Policing System

    UA0067, 2016, Education

  29. Draft Law on Public Consultations

    UA0068, 2016, Legislation & Regulation

  30. Development of E-Democracy.

    UA0069, 2016, E-petitions

  31. Improve Government Rules on CSO Involvement

    UA0031, 2014, E-Government

  32. Financing of Charities

    UA0032, 2014, Civic Space

  33. Not-For-Profit Status for CSOs

    UA0033, 2014, Civic Space

  34. Public Participation Law

    UA0034, 2014, E-Government

  35. Establishing Rules on Processing Official Information

    UA0035, 2014, Access to Information

  36. Access to Urban Planning Documents

    UA0036, 2014, E-Government

  37. Starred commitment Access to Communist-Era Archives

    UA0037, 2014, Legislation & Regulation

  38. Starred commitment Draft Law on Open Data

    UA0038, 2014, Access to Information

  39. Starred commitment Supervisory Mechanism for the Right to Information

    UA0039, 2014, Access to Information

  40. Compliance with EITI

    UA0040, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  41. Monitoring of Infrastructure Projects

    UA0041, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  42. Adopt Regional Anti-Corruption Programmes

    UA0042, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  43. Corruption Risk Assessment Methodology

    UA0043, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  44. Starred commitment Asset Disclosure on a Single Web Portal

    UA0044, 2014, Anti-Corruption

  45. Law on Administrative Procedure

    UA0045, 2014, Legislation & Regulation

  46. Law on Streamlining Payment of Administrative Fees

    UA0046, 2014, E-Government

  47. Administrative Services Portal

    UA0047, 2014, Access to Information

  48. Draft Law on Decentralisation of Administrative Services

    UA0048, 2014, Legislation & Regulation

  49. Draft Law on Social Services

    UA0049, 2014, E-Government

  50. e-Government Laws

    UA0050, 2014, E-Government

  51. Electronic Readiness Assessment

    UA0051, 2014, E-Government

  52. Government Regulations on Open Data

    UA0052, 2014, Access to Information

  53. Electronic Democracy Development Roadmap

    UA0053, 2014, E-Government

  54. Open Budget Initiatives

    UA0054, 2014, Access to Information

  55. e-Petitions

    UA0055, 2014, Dispute Resolution & Legal Assistance

  56. e-Governance Training for Local Government

    UA0056, 2014, Capacity Building

  57. Laws on Public Participation

    UA0001, 2012, Civic Space

  58. Amendments to the Law on Community Associations

    UA0002, 2012, Civic Space

  59. Amendments to Resolutions on Collaboration with Civil Society

    UA0003, 2012, E-Government

  60. Training for Public Servants on Consultations

    UA0004, 2012, Capacity Building

  61. Harmonisation of Access to Information Laws

    UA0005, 2012, Access to Information

  62. By-Laws on Access to Information

    UA0006, 2012, Access to Information

  63. Guidelines for Classifying Data

    UA0007, 2012, Public Participation

  64. Public Information Recording Systems

    UA0008, 2012,

  65. Law on Public Broadcasting

    UA0009, 2012, Civic Space

  66. Public Access to Information in State Registers

    UA0010, 2012, E-Government

  67. Starred commitment Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

    UA0011, 2012, Anti-Corruption

  68. Law for Controlling Declarations of Public Servants

    UA0012, 2012, Anti-Corruption

  69. Public Declarations of Officials’ Assets

    UA0013, 2012, Anti-Corruption

  70. Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest

    UA0014, 2012, Anti-Corruption

  71. Updated Anti-Corruption Laws

    UA0015, 2012, E-Government

  72. Regional Anti-Corruption Programmes

    UA0016, 2012, E-Government

  73. Law on Competitive e-Government Procurement

    UA0017, 2012, Anti-Corruption

  74. Starred commitment Administrative Services Reforms

    UA0018, 2012, E-Government

  75. Electronic Access to Administrative Services

    UA0019, 2012, E-Government

  76. Governmental Web Portal of Administrative Services

    UA0020, 2012, E-Government

  77. Administrative Services in a Digital Format

    UA0021, 2012,

  78. Starred commitment Regional Administrative Service Centres

    UA0022, 2012, Public Service Delivery

  79. Programme for Promotion of e-Government

    UA0023, 2012, E-Government

  80. Electronic Collaboration Between Executive Agencies

    UA0024, 2012,

  81. Web-Based Petitions System

    UA0025, 2012, E-petitions

  82. One Stop Shop for e-Reporting

    UA0026, 2012, E-Government

  83. e-Region Pilot Project

    UA0027, 2012, E-Government

  84. Network of e-Government Practitioners

    UA0028, 2012, Public Participation

  85. Public Libraries as Bridges Towards e-Governance

    UA0029, 2012, E-Government

  86. e-Government Knowledge Management Portal

    UA0030, 2012,

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