In Parliament, a draft law has been proposed to strengthen public participation in environmental decisions.

In Parliament, a draft law has been proposed to strengthen public participation in environmental decisions.

Joint Announcement of 12 Environmental Organizations

We welcome the submission to the Hellenic Parliament of the draft law aimed at strengthening and expanding public participation in environmental issues. The bill was submitted by the New Left in response to the invitation extended by 12 civil society organizations. These organizations have launched a joint initiative to address the serious deficit in public information and meaningful participation in the policy-making process and environmental decision-making.

Last May, these civil society groups highlighted to the members of the Hellenic Parliament the significant lack of effective public participation in environmental decision-making processes. Through their intervention, they requested that MPs provide adequate time and organize necessary discussions to seek cross-party consensus on the need to enhance public participation in environmental decision-making, based on the comprehensive legislative proposal submitted to them.

Broad and effective public involvement in environmental decision-making processes can promote, among other things, more ambitious climate policies that reflect the real needs of citizens and communities, particularly the most vulnerable. It also strengthens the foundations for the transition to climate neutrality while preserving environmental resources. The proposals from the 12 organizations, which are included in the bill presented to the MPs, are summarized as follows:

  1. Creation of a unified open-access online platform for all public participation processes in environmental decision-making.
  2. Establishment of safeguards to ensure the effective exercise of participation rights (e.g., discouraging abusive lawsuits).
  3. Enhancing participation through mandatory early notification of upcoming consultations, expanding public consultations to new legislative acts (e.g., legislative decrees, amendments, bills, and constitutional revisions), and conducting exploratory consultations, a first step before the final consultation when all options are still open.
  4. Strengthening the role of local communities with binding local referendums.
  5. Establishment of a new procedure for “Citizens’ Initiative” to petition administrative authorities for the issuance of a regulatory act under a law’s authorization.
  6. Empowering every citizen to submit a request for review of any incident they believe adversely affects the environment.

The signatory organizations hope that all political parties and every member of the Hellenic Parliament will support this bill, which aims to strengthen democracy and improve environmental decision-making by leveraging innovative ideas and achieving broader social acceptance of regulatory frameworks and measures related to the environment, climate, and energy.

The organizations:

  • General Confederation of Greek Workers
  • Transparency International Greece
  • Hellenic League for Human Rights
  • Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature
  • Society for the Protection of Prespa
  • Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights
  • Callisto
  • Open Technologies Organization (GFOSS)
  • Association of Greek Urban Planners
  • Greenpeace
  • Vouliwatch
  • WWF Greece