Vitalised by the conversations at the International Day of Access to Information in Manila, Philippines where regional data governance leaders convened on advancing access to environmental data, Pria Chetty recommends a new Playbook centred on integrated knowledge systems and inclusive data governance, for people and planet.
The era we inhabit—the Anthropocene—is defined by human activity so pervasive it fundamentally destabilises the Earth System. This is the new, uncertain reality for future generations. According to Wickberg & Gärdebo (2023), our attempts to manage this crisis, from climate adaptation to resource protection, are entirely dependent on a “vast machine” of sensing tools, data processing, and global flows of information. Yet, as leaders in data governance, we face a critical challenge: the knowledge system designed to save the planet is fragmented, deficient, and inaccessible.
Our traditional methods for defending the right to access information (RTI) are insufficient for this scale of emergency. Transparency is in crisis not by explicit censorship, but by operational decay: data is deficient, quality is poor, and institutional capacity is too fragmented to manage the complexity. We cannot solve the climate crisis if the fundamental data required for resilient planning—water and air quality data, mining licences, contracts and procurement orders remains hidden in siloed city or national-level systems.
We must recognise that we are all co-conspirators in the Pact for the Future, and as data governance leaders, our contribution must be a systemic shift toward integrated knowledge systems for people and planet. What we urgently require is a clear, integrated Playbook for Access to Environmental Data in the digital age.
Three Conceptual Layers
This Playbook should be structured around three core layers:
1. Foundational Data Infrastructure
We must mandate that the digital infrastructure supporting environmental governance is purpose-built for transparency. This requires a robust environmental data infrastructure that ensures data sensing, processing, and sharing are integrated from the local to the global level. This is not just about building data centres. This is about clarifying that the infrastructure we build and deploy in our countries, cities or national states is for people and planet and ensuring it is climate-responsible and sustainable beyond the life of short-term funded programmes or priorities. This layer demands consultation with continental policies (such as the African Union Data Policy Framework), and global guidance (such as the Open Data Charter and Open Government Partnership resources) for public knowledge systems on public infrastructure which prioritises openness, transparency, interoperability and balanced security measures as core pillars.
2. Decolonising Governance and Transparency
We are learning that the biggest threat to data quality is the failure to include the true stewards of the land in its processing, governance and deployment. We must mandate Decolonised Environmental Governance through law:
Policy and regulatory frameworks must mandate the integration of local community governance structures and knowledge systems into environmental data collection protocols. This means working with communities, to ensure that the knowledge generated through data sensing and sharing is representative and culturally valid.
Model legislation must be established to mandate the proactive, timely disclosure of high-value environmental data (e.g., licences and permits, detailed environmental impact assessment results) in open, machine-readable formats. Beyond the typical “state of emergency”, we must crucially explore a cause that triggers an override of exceptions to disclosure. We need a Planetary Override Clause that demands immediate release of information when human and ecological survival is at stake.
3. Access to Justice and Equitable Redress
Real transparency has a dependency on access to legal recourse. We must ensure that access to environmental data is an enforceable right, especially for those most affected—vulnerable and marginalised communities.
We must strengthen laws and build the capacity of judicial institutions (judges, lawyers, civil society) to hear environmental cases grounded in data deficits. Transparency about environmental hazards is meaningless without the legal capacity for communities to seek justice and effective redress when harms are borne from a lack of timely and responsible disclosures.
Environmental legislation must explicitly prioritise equity and benefit-sharing principles. This ensures that local communities receive tangible economic returns for the stewardship of their natural resources and the data generated from them, directly counteracting the historical pattern of resource extraction.
Acting with Urgency
The urgency of the Anthropocene demands that states come together to set the definitive standards for Access to Environmental Data in the digital age.
An integrated infrastructural, legal and technical Playbook can bring together the immense power of the “vast machine” of data for the advancement of our common goals of justice, human dignity, and environmental stewardship.
This piece was originally published on LinkedIn, 13 October 2025.
