Scottish Human Rights Commission statement on the right to a healthy environment

“Rights linked to a clean and healthy environment are a crucial for the everyday lives of people across Scotland.  In our local monitoring work, we see evidence that environmental damage, such as air pollution, water contamination, and flooding, affects the enjoyment of human rights in everyday life.

"Civil society organisations and campaigners have fought long and hard to secure these rights in Scots law.  There is deep disappointment that the Scottish Government will not include the right to a healthy environment in the forthcoming Human Rights Bill.

"The Scottish Government must ensure effective enjoyment of these rights via our existing legal system and in public policy.  The Scottish Human Rights Commission is committed to working with others to ensure relevant and existing legal frameworks are upheld, and that effective remedies are available where they are breached. 

"We will engage with the Scottish Government on how the Bill can protect all of our rights to a safe, healthy and sustainable environment most fully through other routes of comprehensive human rights incorporation.”