Call to action
Everyone in Scotland deserves to live in a healthy environment.
To achieve this, we must be able to hold public bodies and polluters to account.
But in Scotland it is incredibly difficult to use our legal system to stand up for our health and our planet. It is complicated, expensive and intimidating.
The Scottish Government wants to include the human right to a healthy environment in law. The task now is to make sure the right is enforceable, so that public bodies and polluters respect it and we can take them to court if they do not.
Now is the time to act.
We are faced with the climate and nature emergencies and we have an opportunity to make a difference. During 2022-23, the Scottish Government will be drafting new human rights laws and considering whether to create a specialist environmental court. Show you want change by signing the petition.
The Petition
We call on the Scottish Government to
1. Ensure our right to a healthy environment is enforceable in a court of law against public bodies and polluters, with effective remedies
2. Ensure our right to a healthy environment guarantees the highest standards for clean air, a safe climate, access to safe water and adequate sanitation, healthy and sustainably produced food, non-toxic environments in which to live, work, study and play, and healthy biodiversity and ecosystems
3. Reform legal expenses so that it is affordable for all of us to uphold environmental laws in a court or tribunal
4. Create a specialist environmental court which is affordable and accessible for everyone, fair, timely and effective
Support for the petition
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment is backing the petition
Naomi McAuliffe, Scotland Programme Director, Amnesty International is backing the petition
“Scotland has the opportunity to be a world leader.”
Read moreGeorge is backing the petition
“The law and court procedures in Scotland are complex and intimidating.”
Read moreAnn is backing the petition
“We have no voice. We have no rights. We cannot protect ourselves. it’s impossible to get justice.”
Read moreSimon is backing the petition
Read moreWhat next
This petition will stay live through 2022 so please share it widely. We will highlight your support through meetings with representatives of the Scottish Government.
ERCS will submit the petition to the Government when it consults for an environmental court before Spring 2023. We will only pass on your name, email and postcode for this purpose.
Our Advocacy Manifesto
Read our Advocacy Manifesto – An enforceable human right to a healthy environment to find out more. Or you can just read our one-page Summary of Recommendations.
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target: 2,000
Total updated weekly after verification.
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