ERC Bellona Organization Strategy 2006-2007
1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2006–2007, the focus of The Environmental Rights Center “Bellona” (referred further as ERC Bellona) activities will address three major directions enabling human rights to favorable environment, access to environmental information, participation in environmental decision-making, and compensation of damage caused by environmental violations:
environmental expertise;
environmental information;
environmental right and law.
Environmental Expertise
Within the environmental expertise direction, ERC Bellona activities will concentrate on professional research and analysis in the fields of nuclear energy usage, oil and gas industry functioning, and development of renewable energy in Russia.
As a result, several reports and other analytical materials will be prepared in order to increase knowledge and awareness of public and of professionals about possible ways for development and on current environmental safety levels within the fields in question. Materials prepared by experts will include recommendations and proposals addressed to politicians, administrations, professionals, and general public.
Specific attention will be focused on nuclear energy usage, in particular on issues related to management of radioactive waste (RW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF), as well as on environmental safety issues related to activities of the Russian oil and gas industrial complex, and on development of clean renewable energy sources. The expert activities will be aimed to elaborate recommendations on strengthening public control and establishing legislative regulation within the fields in question. Specific areas of interest will be Russian North-West, as well as other so-called problem regions of Russia.
Topical conferences and workshops will also be held within this direction. Section 2.0 presents detailed information related to this initiative.
Environmental Information
Information is one of major resources and tools of ERC Bellona. Priority objectives of the organization for 2006-2007 in the informational field include: search of socially significant information and enabling public access to it; development of actual, reliable and qualified informational products; accumulation of informational resources, and dissemination of information.
Section 3.0 describes programs and projects ERC Bellona intends to implement in order to develop the informational direction.
The informational direction will be developed counting the real situation in the informational space. The ERC Bellona activities within the informational direction will be based on the fact that in Russia informational streams are still under control but there are also possibilities to resist that control.
The information group of ERC Bellona, together with other Bellona offices (those in Oslo, Brussels, and Murmansk), should play a part of an “expert filter” that should clean the informational space in the fields of Bellona's interests from so-called overloads (i.e. excessive and chaotic information) as well as from evident misinformation. Thus, any informational product prepared by Bellona should be qualified, reliable, and understandable for target audience. By means of relevant methods ERC Bellona will seek for influence on media space covering the field subject to ERC Bellona's expertise.
To implement this direction, ERC Bellona will involve journalists specializing in clean technologies, environment and rights, as well as experts and lawyers working in those fields. The organization will establish and extend its contacts with experts and researchers of all countries in order to accumulate and to analyze large amounts of information on a wide range of issues.
Bellona plans to develop and to improve its existing Internet resources (www.bellona.org, www.ecopravo.info), and to issue a periodical journal, Environment and Rights.
Environmental Right and Law
Within this direction, ERC Bellona activities will focus on protection of human rights to:
favorable environment;
access to socially significant environmental information;
compensation of damages caused by environmental violations;
participation in environmental decision-making.
ERC Bellona will implement international cooperation in the fields of environmental law and environmental human rights.
Activities within the direction will be accompanied by:
Preparation of legal conclusions
Legal consulting and reviewing specific cases
Protection of environmental rights activists (in courts also)
Monitoring actual normative acts, draft laws, and human rights violation cases
Creation of an informational legal database encompassing this information and results that will be available to all.
To implement these activities, ERC Bellona will involve lawyers specializing in environmental law and in other issues of human rights. Additional participation will include specialists who are able to perform court expert activities, and professional journalists experienced in the illustration of court hearings.
Section 4.0 presents detailed information related to this direction.
Organizational Resource Extension
ERC Bellona plans to extend its own capacities and the scale of its cooperation with other NGOs.
The organization's goal is to become a resource center for NGOs in the fields of environmental expertise, information, and law.
ERC Bellona intends to focus its efforts on environmental problems in the fields related to significant risks, - such as nuclear, oil/gas and other fields.
ERC Bellona includes the following issues in the sphere of its interests:
Civil society development in Russia
Strengthening interaction between various environmental and human rights organizations at national and international level
Environmental rights of citizens
Defense of environmentalists and other human rights activists
Education in environmentalism and environmental human rights
Access to information, public participation in decision making and access to justice in environmental matters.
In 2006 - 2007, ERC Bellona plans to establish a new. permanent office that should dispose enough computer and office equipment, communications, databases, and a library, in order to enable good working conditions for its own staff and employees of other NGOS.
Section 5.0 presents detailed information related to this direction.
Section 6.0 presents the outline of the infrastructure development of ERC Bellona.
Section 7.0 presents expected results from successful implementation of these initiatives over the next two years.
Contact information
Contact Information
Council Chair: Alexander K. Nikitin
Organization: Environmental Rights Center “Bellona”
Postal Address: P.O.Box 58, St.-Petersburg, 191028 Russia
Phone: +7 (812) 327 29 43
Fax: +7 (812) 273 62 57
Email: mail@bellona.ru
Internet: www.bellona.org
2.0 ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTISE
2.1 Introduction
ERC Bellona activities will concentrate on professional research, expertise, and preparation of analytical reports, position papers, and comments aimed to increase understanding and awareness of environmental situation and arising problems, especially for fields of high risk. Primary attention shall include current state of affairs in the fields of nuclear energy usage, oil and gas industry, and other environmentally hazardous fields. Besides, expert activities will be carried out to study the problems of clean renewable energy development.
Specific issues of interest are methods to reduce environmental hazards caused by industrial activities, to empower the public, and to implement legislative controls in these fields.
This work includes components, described below in details, defined as:
international participation;
civil society;
research ;
extension planning.
2.2 International Participation
International participation is critical for the successful enforcement of change and analysis within environmental rights. By involving international participants (legal, technical, and political), national participants (activists and local officials) will obtain more abilities to affect Russian authority structures. Supported by international help, Russian NGOs can have hope of reaching progress and reducing personal risk existing at present. This work will involve international NGOs, scientists, experts, lawyers, government experts, and politicians.
Starting in 2006, Bellona plans to form an international expert group (IEG) for it to take some function of the Interparliamentary Working Group (IPWG) that was founded by initiative of Bellona Foundation and functioned from 1996 till 2003. The main task for the IEG will be to prepare analytical materials and proposals on environmental issues to be submitted to international institutions in the EU and the US. Experts from a number of countries will be involved in the IEG activities. The Bellona office in Oslo, together with Russian offices, will plan the IEG activities. The IEG is expected to organize hearings in the European Commission, the European Parliament, and in national parliaments of the countries participating in international environmental programs and projects in order to discuss the most important projects. The IEG programs will provide possibilities to involve international financial institutions and European politicians in implementing important international projects, primarily those funded within the G8 Global Partnership program and the programs of oil/gas complex. This initiative is an innovation that will enable the following important goals to be achieved:
Awareness of, and action on, important environmental problems by top state officials and involvement of NGO representatives in this process.
International input and control related to projects that can cause environmental hazards at national and international levels.
Effective information support and lobbying international and inter-state structures regarding funding the proper treatment and elimination of environmental hazards.
Increase prestige of NGOs, when supported by European and other international organizations, in the view of Russian federal and regional politicians.
Development and professional improvement of NGOs as a basic institution of civil society.
Participation in projects that will arise as a result of the G8 initiative on Global Partnership against proliferation of weapons and materials of mass destruction.
ERC Bellona and Bellona Foundation (Oslo) will be primary implementing organizations for the IEG initiative and is responsible for all related activities. Together with Bellona Foundation (Oslo), Bellona Europa (Brussels), and Bellona Murmansk, it participation in preparation and performing of activities in Russia and abroad.
Additionally, ERC Bellona will be responsible for:
organization of expert groups that will prepare reports and analytical notes;
coordination and management of experts' work;
collection of materials needed for preparation of the working documents;
organization of publication and distribution of the materials prepared for the IEG and for other project participants;
planning and arranging of visits to regions and enterprises;
preliminary meetings with administrations of regions and enterprises;
preparation of proposals to be discussed within working visits of the IEG;
logistics and administrative issues related to the IPWG activities (visas, hotel booking, ticket booking, etc.);
preparation and holding of conferences in Russia;
interaction with NGOs involved to the project;
preparation of reports on project activities;
financial management of the initiative.
Additionally, ERC Bellona will be responsible for:
organization of expert groups that will prepare reports and analytical notes;
coordination and management of experts' work;
collection of materials needed for preparation of the working documents;
organization of publication and distribution of the materials prepared for the IPWG and for other project participants;
planning and arranging of visits to regions and enterprises;
preliminary meetings with administrations of regions and enterprises;
preparation of proposals to be discussed within working visits of the IPWG;
logistics and administrative issues related to the IPWG activities (visas, hotel booking, ticket booking, etc.);
preparation and holding of conferences in Russia;
interaction with NGOs involved to the project;
preparation of reports on project activities;
financial management of the initiative.
2.3 Civil Society
Within all activities of the organization, an important component includes enforcing processes aimed at developing the components of a 'rule of law' state, such as the following:
Increasing public awareness and knowledge
Public participation in solving environmental problems
Establish responsibility and demand accountability of officials who make decisions related to environmental safety.
While implementing its initiatives and projects , ERC Bellona will use various strategies aimed to establish rule of law, such as:
participation in legal cases concerning relevant issues;
documenting and disseminating information both on specific cases and on general changes in Russian and international policies and legislation;
developing educational resources in order to increase public knowledge and awareness;
improving mechanisms of public participation in decision-making;
stimulating interaction between public and authorities.
The strategies can be quite various in their scales and impact. Results can be either concrete and measurable (for example, access to some information that has been unlawfully classified), or rather global and hardly subject to quantitative measurements (for example, achieving conditions for international accountability and transparency of such world-scale projects as the Global Partnership. All such factors are of great importance for general success of ERC Bellona programs and, in the long run, for success of civil society establishment processes in Russia.
2.4 Research
This direction is connected with implementation of ERC Bellona's plans to become a non-governmental "think tank" researching the fields of nuclear, oil and gas industrial activities, environmentally hazardous technologies, and clean renewable energy development.
From 1994 till 2005, Bellona Foundation offices prepared four reports on Russian nuclear problems. The reports, released in 1994, 1996, 2001, and 2005, attracted attention of public, specialists, and politicians to nuclear problems of Russia.
At present, nuclear problems need further research and analysis. Below comes a list of topics for research and expert assessment of different purpose and scale until 2007.
Projects of decommission of the Lepse mother ship and service ships
Extension of resources and operation terms of Russian nuclear power plants
Strategy of Russian nuclear power industry development: Bellona's position
Russian Pacific Naval Fleet: a potential risk of radiation contamination for the Far East
Additional research of energy issues.
Projects of decommission of the Lepse mother ship and service ships.
assigning international status to the Lepse project;
involving foreign investors and companies, as well as the NEFCO, into its implementation;
providing up-to-date information; and
Bellona has documented its own position on the Lepse issue (http://www.bellona.org/en/international/russia/icebreakers/37625.html) that will further be designed as one or several concrete project(s) for 2006-2007.
Extension of resources and operation terms of Russian nuclear power plants.
At present, 10 nuclear power plants (NPPs) are operated in Russia, with totally 31 reactors (power blocks) of three types. Current political situation, together with an existing set of economic, technical, and industrial/environmental conditions forming a basis for NPP safe operation, have determined the necessity to retire first-generation power blocks with uranium/graphite channel reactors (those are: AMB-100, -200; EGP-6, and RBMK-1000). Those reactors have been installed and operated at the Beloyarsk, Kursk, Leningrad, and Bilibino NPPs. However, instead of retiring them, the Russian nuclear authority (Rosatom) have decided to extend the terms of operation for the old NPPs. First environmentalists, and then researchers and general public have become quite troubled over that.
Bellona believes that such an extension of nuclear object resource, performed in the way used by Rosatom, is not only dangerous, but also unlawful - sometimes at least. Having studied the world experience in the field in question, the relevant normative base, as well as technological, technical and other risks the process will cause, ERC Bellona plans to develop a Bellona position paper and other materials on the issues in question during 2006 and 2007 years.
Strategy of Russian nuclear power industry development: Bellona's position
The Rosatom has published its strategy of Russian nuclear power industry development for the first half of the XXI century. Also, several documents have been published, defining state policies for enabling nuclear and radiation safety in Russian Federation for the period up to 2010, as well as the further prospects.
Bellona thinks that these and some other documents need to be studied and analyzed in deep. NGOs must understand what is the nuclear lobby seeking for, supported by authorities, and whether its interests meet those of general public.
When preparing its position paper and other materials regarding the documents mentioned above, Bellona will work for understanding how does the position of the NGOs representing the civil society meets that of the officials, when and where can NGOs and authorities act as allies or, in contrary, as uncompromising opponents. Bellona will develop and promote its proposals to be considered within procedures of adopting normative documents at various levels.
Russian Pacific Naval Fleet: a potential risk of radiation contamination for the Far East.
By 2010, the Russian Navy expects to take out of service around 200 submarines. In the Pacific, 77 retired submarines are currently awaiting decommissioning. Of those, 42 are still afloat and loaded with spent nuclear fuel. Of these 42 submarines, 39 have hulls so corroded and rusted by long years in the water that many cannot be safely towed to decommissioning points at the Zvezda plant at the town of Bolshoi Kamen for fear that they would sink en route.
The retired Pacific Fleet submarines, unlike their Northern Fleet counterparts, are spread out over several thousand square kilometres at bases in the Primorsky Krai, Kamchatka, and the Khabarovsky Krai. Full decommissioning poses risks of its own. Besides the towing logistics, these old boats could explode during defuelling. Such an accident occurred during refuelling at the Chazhma Bay base in 1985, killing 10 men and causing widespread contamination. Less dramatic but equally deadly risks are long-term leakages. , Low-level and medium-level radioactive waste (LLW) generated by defuelling a submarine produce still more risks.
The Pacific Fleet's two waste storage facilities — one on Kamchatka, to the east of the Gornyak naval shipyard, the other on the southeast tip of the Shkotovo Peninsula, both of which hold low- and high-level solid and liquid waste as well as spent nuclear fuel — suffer from chronic leakage problems. After submarine defuelling, SNF is transported to the Mayak Chemical Combine (Chelyabinsk Region) for reprocessing. Its way to the Mayak takes ten days and is very risky. The troubles of the Pacific Fleet are similar to those existing at the Northern Naval Fleet and need a similar solution.
Up to 2007, Bellona plans to prepare a report on the Pacific Fleet that would resemble its earlier reports on the Northern Fleet (1995 and 2001).
Additional research on energy issues.
In the course of the last century, the world's consumption of energy has increased by a factor of twenty. This has resulted in a series of environmental problems, including local air pollution, acid rains, the threat of climate changes, and contamination of soil and water. The challenge of balancing environment and energy needs can be met by producing more renewable energy, using cleaner production and transportation methods within the petroleum industry, and prioritizing energy efficiency.
As these are critical and inter-related issues with the primary direction of nuclear energy sources, beginning in 2004, research and implementation projects in the fields related to renewable energy development, as well as environmental problems related to oil and gas industry activities, has been added to the core activities of ERC Bellona.
It is believed by many scientists, that in terms of capacity, renewable energy resources have the potential to meet the world’s energy needs. By eliminating the current system of domestic subsidies and creating a tax system for traditional energy sources that would cover the social costs associated with energy consumption, renewable energy could be competitive.
Development of clean renewable energy sources specifically in, but not limited to, the Kola Peninsula (Murmansk Region).
Environmental problems caused by oil industry development, especially focusing initially on activities the Russian North-West.
It is believed by many scientists, that in terms of capacity, renewable energy resources have the potential to meet the world’s energy needs. By eliminating the current system of domestic subsidies and creating a tax system for traditional energy sources that would cover the social costs associated with energy consumption, renewable energy could be competitive.
ERC Bellona plans to be an important participant in studying new prospects for the energy field, as it is well known and understood that proposed changes for the energy industry will meet tremendous resistance of the nuclear lobby.
Specific Activities
Each of the six topic areas (including additional research directions) involves complex issues of environment, law and right, politics, economics, and public health. In preparing assessments and analysis for each of these topics, the activities shall include, but is not limited to, the following subtasks.
Researching legislative databases (national and international)
Researching and analyzing case histories (national and international)
Preparation of technical, legal, and public information analytical notes and reports
Acquisition, organization and presentation of raw data for independent review
Interviews and discussions with administrators, operators and others involved with the operations which are being evaluated
Workshops and conferences with participation outside experts
3.0 ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
3.1 Introduction
Information is one of major resources and tools of for any strategic change initiative. Accessibility of information and its dissemination is a critical component of all ERC Bellona initiatives. Only through access to information can lawyers, journalists and the public act on human rights issues, research topics of concern, and fulfill educational requirements in these areas.
To further develop this direction, the following efforts are required.
Perform information searches
Accumulate informational resources
Check quality and reliability of information
Prepare information products
Disseminate information
To develop the informational direction, ERC Bellona will use the experience and resources accumulated during the past years when publishing the Environment and Rights journal, implementing the School for Environmental Journalism, and performing several other projects.
ERC Bellona disseminates information by mass media including: Internet resources (www.bellona.org, www.ecopravo.info), and the Russian print journal Environment and Rights. The following sections (3.2 and 3.3) describe these two media formats (electronic and print).
3.2 Electronic Media
ERC Bellona web site (www.bellona.org) is one of most visited environmental sites with an average number of approximately 4,000 unique visitors per day. To further develop this resource, ERC Bellona plans, up to the end of 2005, to transform the web site into a portal. There are two aspects for the web site development. First is improving the site to make its resources more accessible and easily navigated. The second aspect is to include the materials developed as part of ERC Bellona initiatives such that the materials are accessible to everyone. Beginning in 2006, improvement of the Environment and Rights section of the Bellona Web portal will be facilitated.
The web sites will be restructured with the ultimate goal of enabling access to informational products by means of an interactive and comprehensive database. The redesigned web site is expected to be constantly updated: supplied with news, research results and analysis. The web site serves as a primary mean for distributing educational materials and information. By database style it is meant that each section will be supplied with updated overview tables, background texts, maps, and pictures. The sections will be built in a manner easy for viewing, with top level overviews, but presented in greater detail at the subsection levels. This new way of presentation is designed to meet the information needs of the general public, journalists and experts working in this field, as well as government administrators.
3.3 Printed Media
ERC Bellona plans to further develop the printed version of Environment and Rights journal. This publication is distributed to Russian subscribers from environmental and human rights organizations, as well as, public, university and rural libraries in different Russian regions. This is a critical component of information dissemination, as Internet (electronic) based communications are not easily accessible outside of the large cities.
The main goal of the project is to develop the Environment and Rights journal as a mass medium that will assist further consolidation of environmental and human rights activism as well as development of information freedom in Russia.
To reach the goal, ERC Bellona plans:
To develop and to promote the journal web section at the Bellona Web that will be updated at least three times a week.
To organize several electronic distribution lists of the journal materials.
a) a list for subscribers, distributing via email texts of actual articles published on the web site; also it is possible that announces of the articles will be distributed and full texts will be delivered to subscribers upon concrete requests;
b) a list for mass media and news agencies, distributing short summaries of articles with links to corresponding web publication of the journal site.
To issue the printed digest of the journal materials at least two times a year (possibly four or six times a year if additional funding would be raised).
To extend the network of freelance reporters for the journal in different Russian regions.
To participate in all significant events (forums, conferences, congresses, etc.) concerning environmental and human rights movement, and to cover the events in the journal.
To continue the practice of submitting journalists' requests to state agencies and commercial structures. Full texts of requests and responses will be published in a special Requests section of the www.ecopravo.info site. Printed issues of Environment and Rights will also cover the written interaction with state agencies.
In a special section of the web site, a directory will be published and regularly updated, listing state structures, companies, and other entities concerned with environmental problems and seeking for their solutions. For readers to be able to ask those organizations on acute environmental issues, contact data will be published.
4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHT AND LAW
4.1 Introduction
One of ERC Bellona’s priority goals is to develop its juridical resources, aimed for further activation of the organization's legal activities in the fields of environmental law and human rights for favorable environment.
For 2006-2007, ERC Bellona's activities in the direction of right and law will be aimed to extend its own legal resources, to solve juridical problems concerning environmental rights of citizens, and to initiate cases on environmental issues at national and international level.
The following summaries present the overall ERC Bellona objectives as they relate to environmental law and rights.
(1) Develop, through setting legal precedence, sound legal and regulatory framework at the national level. When appropriate to utilize international legal mechanisms to influence national action.
(2) Provide technical, legal, and logistical input and support to executive and legislative bodies for redrafting legislation and supporting effective environmental policy-making.
(3) Serve as an active participant in reforming public administration methods and policies, especially decision-making processes. Establish general conditions and infrastructure for cooperation with authorities, especially with the administrations of nuclear regions. The primary goal of such a cooperation is to strengthen citizens' influence in the field of nuclear power industry and waste management.
(4) Establish procedures and mechanisms that will encourage reasonable restoration and utilization of Russia’s resources.
(5) Extend, by means of Russian legislation, possibilities for public influence and parliamentary control of programs and projects (including international efforts) planned and implemented within Russia, especially those concerning power industry.
(6) Create precedents and accumulate practical experience of independent (non-governmental) expertise of projects having certain environmental impact.
(7) Create a system for monitoring problems in the field of nuclear and radiological safety.
(8) Further develop means for information distribution for local, regional, national and international audiences, targeted and presented in appropriate formats for each audience.
ERC Bellona lawyers will implement these activities in cooperation with international lawyers specializing in different fields of law and human rights. Additional participation will include specialists who are able to perform court expert activities, and professional journalists experienced in the illustration of court hearings.
Realization of activities for environmental rights will be accompanied by:
Preparation of legal conclusions
Consulting and reviewing specific cases
Monitoring actual normative acts, draft laws, and human rights violations
Creation of an informational legal database encompassing this information and results that will be available to all
Filing court applications on violations of basic environmental rights of the citizens.
Realization of these programs will allow more efficient protection of environmental human rights, as well as the improvement of legislative base regulating issues of environmental rights and access to environmental and socially significant information.
ERC Bellona activities focus on defending human rights for healthy environment, access to information, and also on seeking for international cooperation on environmental rights and law.
4.2 Legal Projects
For 2006-2007, ERC Bellona plans to develop its juridical activities to reach goals and objectives listed below. The main project, titled “Human Rights Defense Practice”, will be based on experience accumulated within the “School of Human Rights Advocates” project ERC Bellona has been implementing since 2003.
The main mission of the “Human Rights Defense Practice” project is to assist strengthening civil society in Russia by means of providing practical knowledge and skills needed to defend citizens’ rights to individuals and NGOs interested in them.
Specific goals and objectives of the “Human Rights Defense Practice” project will include the following:
Involving young lawyers into activities of public organizations
Increasing lawyers' practical skills in human rights defense
Increasing professional and general feeling of law and order, as well as improving internal legal culture and practices of NGOs;
Developing new methods for educating new generations of human rights advocating lawyers.
Extending ERC Bellona’s own legal resources
Rendering legal assistance to citizens and NGOs struggling for right to safe environment and health protection
Fighting (including court trials) for human rights related to open access to information concerning environmental conditions, hazardous consequences of technology development
Protection of human rights activists, especially of environmentalists
Creating legal precedents related to environmental human rights
Court contesting authorities’ decisions and actions violating environmental human rights
Collaboration with those having rights of legislative initiative in order to lobby draft laws
Assistance in developing draft laws that will put environmental legislation into accordance with international standards
Creation of international legal mechanisms for funding environment protection
Assistance in developing and stabilizing close cooperation of Russian and international NGOs (environmental, public and human rights defense), especially those in the field of law
Participation of ERC Bellona lawyers in international projects that will involve "big money" (large companies, investment banks, development agencies, etc.) into solution of environmental problems in Russia
Creation of a data base including international treaties and legislative acts regulating nuclear and oil issues, including action schedules, finances, etc.
Participation in actions discussing the ratification of the Aarhus Convention for access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice on environmental matters.
Defending human rights for a healthy environment and access to information is a core foundation function and initiative of ERC Bellona. However, up to now, for every case won there are numerous situations that are not addressed due to lack of resources, knowledge, and ability. For this reason, ERC Bellona strategy will pivot around the idea of identifying potentially precedent setting cases, and investing resources into these cases such to not only win the particular case, but to enforce the implementation of constitutional law and bring attention to the human rights issues impacted by abuses of law and power.
ERC Bellona lawyers will perform legal management of all projects the organization will implement.
5.0 ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCE EXTENSION
ERC Bellona plans to extend its own capacities and the scale of its cooperation with other NGOs.
The organization's goal is to become a resource center for NGOs in environmental and related human rights issues, especially concerning fields related to most significant risks, such as nuclear or oil/gas industry.
ERC Bellona intends to extend its participation in events organized by Russian environmental community and aimed to:
Development of various activities seeking for civil society establishment and to solution of environmental problems
Strengthening interaction between different environmental/human rights organizations at national and international levels, seeking for more coordination and efficiency of their activities for defending citizens’ environmental rights
Attracting attention of both authorities and the public to issues of environmental rights observance
Elaborating efficient ways to protect “whistleblowers” who provide to the society information of environmental violations from the side of agencies and corporations where they work
Attracting more attention to the right of small aboriginal nationalities to traditional usage of natural resources
Extending educational activities in the field of environmental rights
Studying issues related to the Aarhus Convention for access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice on environmental matters
Studying possibilities for all countries to sign and ratify the Convention on the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal
Preparation and dissemination of national overviews of environmental violations
Preparation and wide dissemination of an overview of existing international norms for environmental right observance.
Activities aimed to reach these goals and objectives include:
Participation in conferences, workshops and other events
Participation in joint initiatives and actions together with other organizations
Extension of the role of Bellona Web portal as a main informational resource and a method for informational exchange
Seeking for leading part in actions outside Russia related to development and modification of international legal acts, agreements, and protocols
Active investigations of current situation and changes in the field of environmental rights.
6.0 ERC BELLONA INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
The internal development of ERC Bellona is important for long-term sustainability of both the organization and environmental rights initiatives. Within the next two years, the following will be completed.
Development of an improved, interactive informational web portal for both internal and external use
Development and implementation of a cohesive strategy for addressing both short-term and long-term environmental rights issues
Further development of expert teams working in fields of nuclear and other hazardous technologies
Development and implementation of alternative energy expert teams, especially in the field of wind energy
Development and implementation of expert teams in the field of oil industry activities, especially focusing on the problems of North-West Russia
Development and implementation of internal organization development plan that will include professional development, more specific definition of roles and responsibilities, and improving professional implementation of tasks
Development of plans for addressing foundation problems, including but not limited to purchasing premises for a permanent office and equipping office space for the organization and partners.
7.0 EXPECTED RESULTS & ASSESSMENT
7.1 Impact to Society
All ERC Bellona initiatives are aimed, first of all, to improve environmental situation and to establish civil society in Russia. Therefore, all projects of ERC Bellona are expected to become long-term and ongoing, being developed and modified as time requires. Current situation can change in the future due to some initiatives of Russian federal government and/or local administrations, for example, if foreign SNF is imported into Russia. Expected results from all initiatives include providing the possibility for target groups to obtain objective information on environmental situation in their regions. It is vital not only for public health care, but also to provide a foundation for citizens to understand the activities of regional administrations such that they have a basis for participation. This is an important factor for establishing relations between citizens and authorities.
Administrations and enterprises involved in nuclear problems are considered as target groups also. Lack of funding leads to inability for administrations to carry out programs for nuclear and radiological safety. ERC Bellona initiatives intend to provide administrations additional possibilities to attract attention and resources. These initiatives make many programs more transparent, so that their successes and perspectives can be evaluated objectively. Regional organizations are not only interested in attracting funds, but, also in finding resources for nuclear and radiological safety technology development. Previous experience of ERC Bellona demonstrates that specific programs originate as result of projects and initiatives, and enable enterprises to get funding from international programs as well as to establish business contacts with Western partners.
NGOs participating in ERC Bellona initiatives will be able to form and/or to strengthen their own expert groups – it is an important step for a NGO to become a “think-tank”. Currently this direction of development is an actual problem for Russian NGOs, especially for those working in the fields of high technologies (including nuclear), information, and politics.
For 2006-2007, it is expected that a number of quantifiable results will be observed.
7.2 Impact to the Legal Infrastructure
Formation of a sustainable team of lawyers within the organization for addressing environmental human rights issues. This team, together with legal teams of other organizations such as the Russian Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights, should provide conditions that will allow to solve any legal problem concerning environment and environmental human rights.
To form a financial stock that will enable sustainable work of the legal team independently of any specific project funding. This will facilitate and improve legal activities of ERC Bellona. The Council of the organization will decide on the stock usage.
Involvement of young lawyers in human rights advocacy. This will be seen in their participation in the “Human Rights Defense Practice” project.
The project will be aimed to reach the following specific results:
Improvement of young lawyers' practical skills in legal ethics by working with and defending those who demonstrate proper ethics.
Real world experience for young lawyers in determining normative base and special literature analysis, including legal analysis and review.
Improve the internal legal culture of NGOs.
Improved communication mechanisms and tools for use by professionals, students and the public for information required to take action. This shall include, but is not limited to: workshop and roundtable proceedings, legal analysis reports, reference materials. These products will be available in both printed (limited) and electronic forms.
Interviews, surveys, and reviews between project staff and NGO, professionals, and administrations shall be used to determine the effectiveness and changes felt as a result of student involvement in NGO activities. It is anticipated that in some circles, these changes, while needed, will be met with some reluctance or even resistance.
Multiplier effects as other organizations take notice of the results of these initiatives and copy the programs. This will be encouraged through the open sharing of materials and results through printed and electronic media, and tracked through statistical means where possible.
Publication and assessment of the related legal literature analysis, journal and electronic publications, oral communication practices (presentations, speeches), and negotiations shall be tracked statistically.
A more active part played by the lawyers in influencing current judicial practice.
7.3 Impact to the Media
Further development of the informational web portal including such web resources as the Environment and Rights journal web site.
Further development of the Environment and Rights journal printed version.
Involvement of young journalists in environmental rights advocacy. This will be seen in their participation in activities of the journal and the web portal.
Improvement of quality of journalists’ published works, and increase of their understanding the importance of these issues for harmonic development of the country and society.
Training for journalists in order to make them knowledgeable in the complicated system of organizations defending human rights and those only imitating human rights defense, as well as of environmental and pseudo-environmental organizations existing in Russia and abroad.
Training of young journalists knowledgeable in avoiding situations that may lead to others filing court cases against them or their employer.
Training of journalists' skills at knowing where and how they can find full and/or the most reliable information on the environment, human rights, and other civil society questions.
Training of journalists participating actively in the process of "environmentalization" of Russian society.
Statistics shall be kept for the development of all communication mechanisms and tools, as well as the number and level of users of those mechanisms.
7.4 Impact to NGO community
ERC Bellona initiatives create the opportunity for change within the NGO community by providing tools by which NGOs can further develop. Specifically, we anticipate the following impact to the NGO community.
Improved performance in executing their ‘every day work’ using legal mechanisms and procedures.
Improved ability to execute their missions due to improved ability to focus on the ‘real work’, having obtained additional legal resources.
More effective results in the environmental rights field, through improved information and communication.
7.5 Impact to Legislation: National and International
To facilitate access to unlawfully classified sources of important information which might help evaluate current environmental situation
To declassify information concerning state of environment, that is now illegally classified by the RF Defense Ministry
To bring subordinate legislation statutory acts in conformance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and current legislation
To form premises for ratification of international agreements regarding environment protection, access to environmental information, and access to justice.
