Law reform
Everyone in Scotland deserves to live in a healthy environment. ERCS is advocating for an enforceable right to a healthy environment to be fully implemented and realised in Scots law, so we can all use it to defend our communities and nature.
Right to a healthy environment
We are advocating for an enforceable right to a healthy environment to be fully incorporated and defined to the highest possible standards as part of a new Human Rights Act in Scotland.
Aarhus Convention
We are advocating for Scotland to fulfil its legal obligations under the UNECE Aarhus Convention, by making legal expenses affordable and introducing an equal right of appeal in planning.
Scottish Environment Court
We are advocating for a dedicated Scottish Environment Court to increase access to justice, address fragmented routes to remedy, and develop judicial expertise in environmental cases.
Ecocide
We are scoping the feasibility and options for the criminalisation of ecocide into Scots law, in order to deter the worst environmental offenders.
Manifesto asks 2026
Elections for the next Scottish Parliament will take place in May 2026, and the publication of party manifestos will be a crucial test of our politicians’ commitment to to recognise environmental rights and increase access to justice.
Our Advocacy Manifesto offers a route map for political parties to protect human rights, improve access to justice and strengthen environmental governance.
We call on all political parties to guarantee environmental rights in Scotland by:
1. Enshrining our human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in a Scottish Human Rights Act, protecting both substantive and procedural elements, with effective enforcement mechanisms and routes to remedy if the right is infringed
2. Addressing the sewage pollution from sewer overflows by introducing 100% monitoring of all overflows, matching EU standards for surface water quality and wastewater treatment and investing in blue-green sewer infrastructure.
3. Ensuring access to justice is affordable and fair, and addresses Scotland’s long-standing breach of the UNECE Aarhus Convention.
4. Establishing a dedicated Scottish Environment Court to increase access to justice, address the current fragmentation in routes to remedy and develop judicial expertise to improve effectiveness and efficiency.
