Disclosure of Environmental Information and Citizen Engagement

The lack of information on pollution and environmental quality in the province has not only limited GoPunjab’s capacity to take informed decisions to curb pollution, but has also undermined the public’s trust in GoPunjab’s efforts to manage the environment. Thus, the adoption of an environmental information disclosure and citizen engagement regulation is a key step to show the Government’s willingness to become more transparent and accountable on environmental management. Following this regulation, EPD’s annual publication of a substantial report providing environmental quality data and information on actions taken to strengthen environmental governance and reduce pollution, incorporating feedback solicited during public consultations, would be a major achievement to translate the Government’s willingness into concrete actions. This will reflect both the EPD’s increased capacity to collect and analyze environmental quality data and progress on transparency and citizen engagement for environmental management. Therefore, these two actions are key outputs to be delivered under DLI 3. Considering the time needed to improve EPD’s monitoring and analytical capacity, the publication of a partial report is expected in the third year of the Program, to be followed by comprehensive reports from the following year onward.