A/HRC/43/53 Special Rapporteur has collected the texts of the constitutional and legislative provisions that recognize this right.3 B. Procedural elements 1. Access to environmental information 14. Access to information is a widely recognized human right and is essential for people to be able to protect and defend their human rights from potentially harmful environmental impact. Some States have put in place laws, policies and programmes that afford enhanced access to environmental information, including at least 20 States (such as Albania, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, Czechia, France, Norway and Ukraine) the constitutions of which guarantee the right of access to environmental information. 15. Other States have enacted legislation specifically authorizing affordable access to environmental information. For example, in Norway, the Environmental Information Act recognizes every person’s right to obtain a broad range of environmental information from public and private entities, subject to specified exceptions that are to be narrowly interpreted. In Slovenia, the Environmental Act specifies that environmental information is public and everyone has the right to have access to environmental information. 16. A growing number of States have created websites that offer comprehensive information relating to the environment. In Uruguay, a national environmental observatory was created to organize and disseminate all available environmental information in a single portal.4 Environmental indicators identify not only trends in the state of the environment, such as pollutant emissions, waste, effects on the quality of water, air, soil and biodiversity, but also the protection and response measures being developed by Governments. The observatory also provides information on territorial planning and the environmental management of river basins and aquifers, technical reports and open data for researchers. One innovative feature of the observatory is the fact that it provides citizens with a simple procedure for reporting potential violations of environmental law. Citizens can also share information on wildlife species sighting and coastal monitoring. A similar environmental observatory operates in El Salvador. 17. Hungary has a comprehensive national environmental information system. The national public health institute publishes updated data online on air quality and the quality of drinking water and bathing water, pollen levels, and other factors posing a potential health risk.5 France, North Macedonia, Norway and Sweden also have excellent websites with comprehensive information on the state of the environment. 18. Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu are collaborating on a Pacific island network of national and regional data repositories, reporting tools and public websites to monitor, evaluate and analyse environmental information, supporting planning, forecasting and reporting requirements. 6 19. Another important type of environmental information is data about toxic substances. The Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers to the Aarhus Convention requires its 35 parties thereto to collect and publish information on pollution from industrial facilities. This information must be gathered annually, made available in a user-friendly way to the public for free, and must include at least 86 pollutants covered by the Protocol. Canada, Mexico and the United States of America also have comprehensive pollutant release inventories. 20. A growing number of States publish regular national reports on the state of the environment, including Hungary, Kazakhstan and Turkey. Kazakhstan also publishes 3 4 5 6 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Environment/SREnvironment/Right2HE/Pages/national.aspx. See www.dinama.gub.uy/oan/. See http://oki.antsz.hu/. See www.sprep.org/inform/data-portals. 5