Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland

assisting the public to exercise their rights in environmental law

An enforceable human right to a healthy environment

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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 more

George is backing the petition

“The law and court procedures in Scotland are complex and intimidating.”

Read more

Ann is backing the petition

“We have no voice. We have no rights. We cannot protect ourselves. it’s impossible to get justice.”

Read more

Simon is backing the petition

Read more

What 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.

    Individual

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    1671 signatures

    84%

    target: 2,000

    Total updated weekly after verification.





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        Organisations supporting this petition

        Find out more …

        AFF the Clyde
        Amnesty International Scotland
        Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
        Art27 Scotland
        Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland (APRS)
        Badenoch & Strathspey Conservation Group
        Bat Conservation Trust
        Biofuelwatch
        Borders Forest Trust
        Bright Green Nature
        British Ecological Society – Scottish Policy Group
        Buglife
        Bumblebee Conservation Trust
        Cairngorms Campaign
        CEMVO
        Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management
        Engender
        Equality Network
        Faith for the Climate
        Fidra
        Flora & Fauna International
        Friends of the Earth Scotland
        Froglife
        Global Justice Academy
        Global Justice Now
        greenspace scotland
        Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT)
        Highlands & Islands Environment Foundation
        Human Rights Consortium Scotland
        Inclusion Scotland
        John Muir Trust
        JustRight Scotland
        Keep Scotland Beautiful
        Landworker’s Alliance
        Making Rights Real
        Marine Conservation Society
        Nature Foundation
        NESCAN
        North East Mountain Trust
        Open Seas
        Parents for Future Scotland
        Peoples Health Movement Scotland
        Planning Democracy
        Plantlife Scotland
        Ramblers Scotland
        RSPB Scotland
        Scotland: The Big Picture
        Scottish Communities Climate Action Network
        Scottish Environment LINK
        Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
        Scottish Raptor Study Group
        Scottish Wild Land Group
        Scottish Wildlife Trust
        The ALLIANCE
        The Poverty Alliance
        The Surefoot Effect, CIC
        Together
        Transition Edinburgh
        Trees for Life
        Universities and Colleges Union
        Wild Planet Explorers
        Woodland Trust Scotland
        Woodland Wakeup

        Naomi McAuliffe, Amnesty International

        Amnesty International is a global movement standing up for human rights. It campaigns to protect people wherever justice, freedom and truth are denied. Naomi McAuliffe, Scotland Programme Director, Amnesty International said:

        “With millions experiencing hunger and displacement due to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation, it is clearer than ever that human life and dignity depend on a healthy environment.

        “Amnesty International is working at the international as well as domestic level to have the right to a healthy environment recognised in law. Although the links between climate change and the violation of multiple human rights has been long-established, there is still widespread failure to act and too few accountability mechanisms.

        “Scotland has the opportunity to be a world leader in enshrining the right to a healthy environment and could motivate others around the world.”

        George Niblock, Aberdeenshire

        “The law and court procedures in Scotland are complex and intimidating. The potential financial implications are without limit, as are the consequences for the individual applicant.”

        “We felt the council’s claims for legal expenses was punitive and it led to the closure of our group.”

        George Niblock is a public health and environmental professional with over 50 years’ experience advising government and statutory bodies. George used to be the Chair of the volunteer-led Aberdeenshire Environmental Forum in his spare time. For ten years the forum engaged with the Aberdeenshire Council to address address major street cleansing concerns, but with little success.

        The impact of rubbish on the streets led the forum to use its statutory right to apply for a Litter Abatement Order. The process took several years and the total cost was estimated at £40,000. Fortunately the forum was able to get free legal help but lost its case. After settling out of court at £9,000, they had no funds left to appeal the decision and the forum was forced to close after operating for 30 years.

        Ann Coleman, Central Belt

        “We’ve been living with the largest capacity landfill site on our doorstep in Europe for decades, along with opencast coal mining. The environment was never considered as relevant to our health.”

        “We have no voice. We have no rights. We cannot protect ourselves. it’s impossible to get justice.”

        “Scotland needs an environmental court because it will give us the power to bring harmful developments to the attention of the government in a way that they will have to listen.”

        Ann has been fighting environmental injustice for over twenty years. She lives in Greengairs, just a few hundred yards away from the Greengairs landfill site. It is the largest landfill in Scotland, and reportedly the largest in Europe. There were previously two opencast coal mines in the area. In 2009 planning permission was given to a waste incinerator near to the landfill.

        Ann had good evidence to show that the polluting incinerator would further damage the environment and the health of the community. She engaged in the local planning process, and sought legal advice. The advice gave her confidence that she had a strong case but Ann and her community could not afford to go to court to challenge the incinerator development because it would have cost tens of thousands of pounds.

        Simon McLean, Aberdeen

        ‘I had good grounds to challenge the incinerator but when it came to it, I had no assets to pursue a legal challenge – so where was my human right of access to justice?’

        Simon McLean, a resident of Torry in Aberdeen, was concerned about a proposed incinerator which was granted planning permission in 2016. During the planning process, he and a group of other residents were able to access legal advice and were informed that they had strong grounds for a legal challenge due to alleged planning irregularities. However, they were warned that if unsuccessful, their likely costs liability could be up to £65,000. Because of this threat of costs liability, they were unable to pursue the challenge.