Celebrating Five Years of the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS)

That the Parliament congratulates the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) on its fifth anniversary, to be marked on 18 September 2025; notes what it sees as the important milestone of the launch of Scotland’s only dedicated environmental law centre, which, it believes, will strengthen access to environmental justice by enabling individuals and communities to hold public bodies and polluters to account in court; commends ERCS’s free legal advice service, which, it understands, has received over 500 enquiries since 2021 from people across Scotland seeking support on environmental and planning law matters; acknowledges what it sees as the essential role that ERCS plays in advocating for an enforceable right to a healthy environment in Scots law; recognises what it sees as the impact of its Environmental Justice Network, which supports community campaigners in addressing environmental harms such as sewage pollution, the destruction of ancient woodlands, the spreading of toxic sludge on farmland, incineration, contaminated land, and the loss of vital greenspace, and wishes ERCS continued success in its work to advance environmental rights and accountability in Scotland.