Together (Scottish Alliance for Children's Rights)

Membership Spotlight – Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland

Membership Spotlight highlights the work of our member organisations and outlines how other individuals and NGOs can support them. We are shining the light the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland who have now been a member of Together for three years. On International Mother Earth Day, we are sharing what the Environmental Rights Centre are currently working on to improve environmental rights. They have responded to our #RightsOnTrack question.

Tell us about the work of your organisation in Scotland.

The (click here to find out about Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland) (ERCS) was established in January 2020. Our vision is of a Scotland where every person’s right to a healthy environment is respected, protected and fulfilled.

ERCS assist the public and civil society to understand and exercise their rights in environmental law and to protect the environment. We carry out advocacy in policy and law reform to improve environmental rights and compliance with the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice on environmental matters.

We do this in four ways:

So far, our (click here to find out about our free legal advice service) has responded to over 250 enquiries relating to all aspects of environmental problems. These range from water pollution to land contamination, how to access environmental information, as well as issues relating to nature conservation.

Does your organisation influence policy development on issues affecting children and young people?

Yes. The Scottish Government published its consultation on a new Scottish Human Rights Bill in June 2023. The Bill aims to protect a range of rights, including the human right to a healthy environment ‘with substantive and procedural elements’. ERCS is advocating for an enforceable human right to a healthy environment.

Children and young people are particularly vulnerable to the effects of poor environmental conditions and climate breakdown as their minds, bodies, knowledge and agency are continuously evolving. Extreme temperature changes combined with diminished air, water, and nutritional quality have severe and irreversible implications for children’s long-term physical and mental health, development and overall well-being.

Children’s rights and the right to a healthy environment are intrinsically linked, as the UN Convention on the Rights of Children (UNCRC) states: ‘realising the right to a healthy environment means that children and young people are thriving, safe, healthy, and developing in order to fulfil their greatest potential’.

The climate emergency is one of the largest threats to children, young people and future generations. ERCS is using strategic legal action to hold our public bodies accountable for the climate crisis. Most recently, we joined forces with Good Law Project to challenge the Scottish Government’s failure to demonstrate whether their £26bn Infrastructure Investment Plan aligns with net zero targets.

Together’s #RightsOnTrack campaign is all about making sure that ALL children in Scotland have ALL of their rights ALL of the time. We’re looking for members to join the campaign, by taking on a specific recommendation from the United Nations’ latest review of Scotland (more about these here) and calling for decision makers to put this into practice. If you’d like to take part, which recommendation would you want to take on and why? If there’s an issue that you’d like to drive forward that’s not included in the recommendations then please let us know this!

You can sign up to our new mailing list for our campaign #RightsOnTrack by clicking here.’

Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland’s response:

In addition, to Climate Change we would like to drive forward a recommendation for environmental justice for children and young people.

What projects are you currently working on?

The Gypsy/Traveller Community experiences higher levels of poverty and poor health than the rest of Scotland. This extends to poor environmental conditions within public static sites with some of the most vulnerable people in the Community being children and young people. In partnership with MECOPP, ERCS is currently conducting a participatory action research project with the Gypsy/Traveller Community to identify the range of environmental problems they face and the enablers and constraints to address them. This project seeks to identify the environmental harm that the Community is experiencing on static sites, increasing their awareness of environmental rights and how to exercise them and improve environmental quality through our collaborative action.

How can children and young people make their views heard to influence your work?

Our Rights Officer works to raise awareness of environmental rights and how to enforce them. They outreach to the most vulnerable groups in Scotland such as children and young people. You can directly contact our (click to find out about Rights Officer) to increase awareness of environmental human rights, take action to address your environmental concerns and use your voices and experience to campaign for better environmental laws.

How can other organisations or individuals get involved or support your work?

To stay updated on our work to improve environmental law and enforcement in Scotland, click here to sign up to our mailing list and click here to follow us on social media.

If you know about or have a concern about any kind of environmental problem in Scotland, we hope that our advice service can help. 

Get in touch and bookmark our advice service here: https://www.ercs.scot/get-advice/

Lunchtime 101: Access to Justice on the Environment

Why is Scotland still in breach of the UN Aarhus Convention’s access to justice requirements? Join us over lunch to find out what the Aarhus Convention is, what actions are needed now to fix Scotland’s breach, and hear from environmental campaigners on their fight for justice.

  • Online, free to attend
  • 1:00pm-2:00pm, Tuesday 30 April 2024

More info & book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lunchtime-101-access-to-justice-on-the-environment-registration-882055330237

If your organisation was an animal what would it be and why?

An oyster. Oysters are not the most pretty animal but they are important for the ecosystem they live in, filtering the water and cleaning the environment they live in. Our work on environmental law may also not be pretty but we play an important role in making sure that environmental law and governance are effective in protecting our environment. We also may have a few pearls in our team.

Sign-Up and Become a Member (Individual or Organisations)

#RightsOnTrack

Donate To Us Today!

By donating to Together, you can help us to promote children’s rights in Scotland and improve the lives of all babies, children and young people. Click here to make a donation.

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