A/HRC/30/40 if the institution concerned receives an application for access to a document, it must disclose it where the information requested relates to emissions into the environment, even if such disclosure is liable to undermine the protection of the commercial interests of a particular natural or legal person, including that person’s intellectual property.34 47. The General Court mentions that “an overriding public interest in disclosure exists where the information requested relates to emissions into the environment”.35 The Court’s decision reversed the European Commission’s refusal to grant access to information about the widely used pesticide glyphosate, which was categorized as probably carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015. III. Implementation of the right to information on hazardous substances and wastes A. Obligations of States 48. States are the primary duty-bearers to respect, protect and fulfil human rights, and are bound to take all the steps necessary to ensure the right to information with respect to the adverse impacts of hazardous substances and wastes. States must ensure that related information is available, accessible and functional for everyone. This obligation not only requires States to refrain from interfering with the distribution and the free flow of information but also requires States to provide or make information public with or without request (see general comment No. 34 of the Human Rights Committee on the freedoms of opinion and expression, para. 19). 49. The obligation to implement the right to information on hazardous substances and wastes stems from various rights including those rights that are implicated through adverse impacts of hazardous substances and wastes and rights that specifically stipulate the obligation of States to provide access to information. For example, in the context of the right to the highest attainable standard of health, as the right is an inclusive right extending to underlying determinants of health such as access to health-related education and information, access to information is an essential feature of the right itself and of an effective health system (see A/HRC/7/11, para. 40). Twenty years after principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012, stakeholders made a number of appeals to improve transparency, access to information and public participation. 36 Good governance and a truly sustainable economy require the informed involvement of members of the public, be it in their role as voters, consumers or shareholders (ECE/MP.PP/2014/27/Add.1). 34 35 36 12 Judgement of the General Court (Second Chamber) of 8 October 2013, Stichting Greenpeace Nederland and Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe) v. European Commission, case T­545/11, para. 38.. Ibid., para. 37. General Assembly resolution 66/288, para. 43. Today, the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters and the Kiev Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers remain the only legally binding instruments established to implement principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.

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