An open letter has been sent to John Swinney.
Over sixty environmental, human rights, and health organisations have written an open letter to Scotland’s First Minister, urging him to push ahead with plans for an enforceable right to a heathy environment in the next Programme for Government.
Signatories implore John Swinney to show leadership by incorporating the human right to a healthy environment with both substantive and procedural elements into Scots law, ‘mitigating any concerns that this may be weakened or diluted’.
Scottish Ministers have previously committed to recognising the right to a healthy environment, which was included in the public consultation on a Human Rights Bill for Scotland last summer, but stalled progress on the Bill has now given rise to concerns that this is at risk.
The letter highlights how recognition of the right will strengthen delivery of the First Minister’s four priorities for Scotland, most notably around eliminating child poverty and accelerating climate action.
It has been endorsed by a broad civil society coalition – including Chris Packham from Wild Justice, Human Rights Consortium Scotland, the Scottish Crofting Federation, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and Poverty Alliance.
The call has also received backing from former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Professor David R. Boyd.
He said: “To be a leader in human rights and the environment, Scotland must include the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in the Scottish Human Rights Bill. This fundamental human right is of paramount importance for children and youth whose future depends on accelerated climate and environmental progress.”
The Scottish Government has been repeatedly urged to introduce a right to a healthy environment with effective legal remedies.
Among the letter signatories is the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS), who on Human Rights Day 2023 presented the Government with a petition signed by 66 organisations calling for enforceable environmental rights in Scotland.
The United Nations General Assembly recognised the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment for the first time in July 2022.
164 out of 193 UN Member States now legally recognise the right as essential to protecting human life, wellbeing and dignity, and because it provides protection against the full range of environmental harms, including damage to nature.
ERCS chief officer Shivali Fifield said: “There can be no backtracking on a robust Scottish Human Rights Bill. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver new rights protections and demonstrate Scotland’s global leadership in tackling the triple planetary crisis of climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, and the pollution of our air, land, and water.
“We urge the First Minister to show leadership by ensuring our right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is recognised in law. New rights must ‘have teeth’ and be fully enforceable. Only then can Scotland claim it is a champion of human rights and committed to reaching our net zero targets, reversing environmental degradation and empowering communities to uphold their environmental rights.”
