A Consultative Meeting of Government Experts on the Draft Guidelines for the Development of National Legislation on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters was held at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi from 20 to 21 June 2008. This article reports on the initiative to draft the Guidelines taken to draw attention to the importance of these fundamental rights in environmental matters, expressed in the 1992 Rio Declaration’s Principle 10. The purpose of the Guidelines is primarily to provide guidance to developing countries and to countries with economies in transition when developing legislation and regulations on issues covered by the Guidelines. The Meeting recommended the Draft Guidelines be submitted to the UNEP Governing Council in February 2009, and once it is approved to ensure its dissemination in its countries members, in particular in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
