Abstract

VILLADA CANELA, Mariana. Políticas ambientales en México: El caso de los contaminantes orgánicos persistentes. Región y sociedad [online]. 2015, vol.27, n.63, pp.5-29. ISSN 2448-4849.

This article examines the effect of the use of information on participation and decision-making during the development of Mexico's National Implementation Plan (NIP) for the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. A literature review, participant observation and interviews revealed that: 1) information on persistent organic pollutants is a resource used to exert technical as well as political power when it is mobilized in favor of specific interests; and 2) this power is reflected in the development of environmental policy documents and sub-plans. As a consequence, using information in this way could be a means of exclusion, as participation requires technical competence and is limited to those with economic power. Thus, information shapes participation in the development of the nip and is linked to the fulfillment of international agreements, but it is also linked to power games and an unintentional exclusion used by certain actors to prevail in debates and decision-making.

Keywords : environmental policy; decision making; scientific and political aspects; pollutants; information; participation.