Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland

assisting the public to exercise their rights in environmental law

Our rights & resources

Header image – The not so peaceful Plantation Park in Glasgow adjacent to a loud 16 lane section of the M8

We all have the right to a healthy environment to live, work and play.
We all have the right to participate in environmental decisions that are important to us.

Through our resources and outreach work, we aim to make individuals, community groups and organisations more aware of their environmental rights and the areas for policy and law reform.

Our resources

Our guides and information sheets on environmental law rights and facts may be useful if you already have a basic knowledge and are wanting more detail. For specific legal advice, please use the enquiry form.

Our Rights Officer

What are the environmental problems that matter to you?

Our Rights Officer is here to explain what your rights are and how to use them for social and environmental justice. They can meet you online or face to face, and organise workshops, webinars, and events. We also want to share your stories of challenges and successes. This could be through videos, podcasts, or other creative ways. For more information, read our rights flyer and please share it.

Rights flyer

Working together we can:

  • Increase awareness of environmental human rights
  • Take action to address your environmental concerns
  • Use your voices and experience to campaign for better environmental laws.
Contact our Rights Officer

Resources

Videos

September 2021: watch our 4-minute presentation on why the human right to a healthy environment should be included in the Human Rights (Scotland) Bill, given at the Glasgow People’s Health Inquiry.

Podcasts

April 2022: listen to Shivali, our Chief Officer talking to Kezia Dugdale on the University of Glasgow Spotlight – The public policy and political process podcast.

March 2022: listen to Cornell, our Rights Officer talking about our rights work on the Common Weal Policy podcast.

Webinars & presentations

2022
  • January 2022: we were delighted to be the first to present to the Equality and Human Rights Portfolio Group. Facilitated by Inspiring Scotland, we presented a webinar on Environmental Human Rights, what they are, and why they matter. It was great to begin exploring the intersection between environmental human rights and the equality groups that are represented or supported by other organisations from the portfolio.
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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.