The Right to Access Environmental Justice

That the Parliament notes the publication of the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland report, Why Scotland needs an environmental court or tribunal, in October 2021; considers that the report informs the debate on how to ensure that members of the public, including those in the North East Scotland region, can enjoy their right of access to environmental justice, which it understands forms part of the procedural right to a healthy environment guaranteed by the Aarhus Convention, and is proposed for inclusion in a new statutory right in Scotland; believes that access to environmental justice is unaffordable to many, and that this is contrary to the requirements of the Aarhus Convention; welcomes what it sees as the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensure that a review of environmental justice, including the case for an environmental court, will commence by spring 2023, and notes the calls for all stakeholders to participate in this debate ahead of the 2023 consultation.