Introduction: new frontiers of environmental governance - Environmental Reform in the Information Age - page 6

access to environmental information ( OJ L 041, 14/02/2003) defines in
article 2 environmental information as written, visual, aural, electronic
and other material forms of information: (i) on the state of the envi-
ronment; (ii) the factors, emissions and withdrawals influencing the
state of the environment; (iii) environmental measures and policies;
(iv) reports on the implementation, cost-benefit and other economic
analysis; (v) the state of human health and safety, including food chains,
built structures, cultural values and so on.
Initially, during the 1960s and 1970s, environmental information
collection and handling was primarily a state task, and environmen-
tal information also was primarily used - or meant to be used - by
state authorities in protecting the environment. State agencies relied,
of course, on scientific institutes to do part of the data collection,
monitoring and reporting, often within state-run programs. Subse-
quently, other nonstate actors started to get involved in the collec-
tion and handling of environmental information. Environmental non-
governmental organisations began their own programs of information
gathering and knowledge building to countervail the information
monopoly of the economic and political centres. Later on, private eco-
nomic sectors became actively involved in environmental monitoring
and information collection, either forced by state regulation, or more
'voluntary' for internal purposes (better management of environmental
and natural resource flows to save money or increase product quality)
or external reasons (collecting countervailing evidence against NGO
pressure, setting up public relation campaigns, building annual envi-
ronmental reports, fulfilling requirements set by customers, preventing
legitimacy questions). The diversification of information collection and
handling agencies contributed to the enhancement of environmen-
tal data and information, making information increasingly available
for larger groups in shorter time periods at more and more locations
around the globe.
Among these numerous actors and institutions involved in infor-
mation generation, collection, handling and distribution science and
scientists have played a particular role. It is not only that science and
scientists have been crucial with respect to the generation of new infor-
mation and knowledge on cause-effect relations of substances released
in the environment; the development of new environmental measuring,
monitoring, data storage and data analysis technologies; the compila-
tion of state-of-the-environment reports and advancements on mod-
elling and prediction, among others. Arguably more of importance,