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Enhancing Public Awareness for Biosafety: Lessons from Aarhus Convention Workshop

Experiences from the Third World Network's workshop on public awareness and outreach activities in Japan. Discusses challenges in communicating biosafety information effectively, ensuring transparency, and supporting the right to information and consent. 8 Relevant

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Enhancing Public Awareness for Biosafety: Lessons from Aarhus Convention Workshop

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  1. Experiences with Public Awareness and Outreach Activities Lim Li Ching, Third World Network Joint Aarhus Convention/Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety Workshop on Public Awareness, Access to Information and Public Participation Regarding Living/Genetically Modified Organisms Nagoya, Japan, 8-9 October 2010

  2. Background and Experiences • Third World Network (TWN) • Biosafety programme • Analysis and research • Capacity building • Awareness and education • Dedicated biosafety website (www.biosafety-info.net) and information service on biosafety • Publications • Organization of meetings and seminars

  3. Needs and Challenges • Who provides the information? • What kind of information? • Not just about biosafety, but also about the non-GMO alternatives to meet development priorities • How is the information presented? • Transparency and openness • Communicating complex scientific issues

  4. Needs and Challenges • How to communicate scientific uncertainty and scientific disagreement? • Who gets what information? • False divide between scientific, and socio-economic and ethical issues • What information gets disclosed? • Need to support the right to information and the right to prior informed consent • E.g. location of release sites

  5. Needs and Challenges • How to deal with confidential information? • Article 21 needs to be implemented in a manner that is consistent with Article 23 • Define nationally the scope and criteria/conditions for claims for protection of confidential information • TRIPS: secret, commercial value, subject to reasonable to keep secret; protect undisclosed data against disclosure, except where necessary to protect the public • How to reach out to sectors that are not organized?

  6. Concluding Thoughts • Access to information is integral to awareness-raising • Access to information in a timely manner is necessary for effective public participation • Not just about raising awareness about biosafety issues, but also about raising awareness about the public’s rights • to information, to participation, to access to justice

  7. Concluding Thoughts • Awareness and access to information are necessary pre-conditions for meaningful public participation and access to justice • Biosafety awareness and outreach is about empowering the public, as well as enabling policy makers to make informed choices

  8. Thank you! www.twnside.org.sg www.biosafety-info.net

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