Freedom of Environmental Information
The right of access to environmental information is viewed as a key component of promoting good environmental governance. This is reflected in the range of legal instruments at the international, European, and domestic levels which act to guarantee the public’s ability to access environmental information. However, the operation and even existence of the right are often mysteries to the very public it is supposed to empower.
In this lecture we will introduce the right of access to environmental information, based on the Aarhus Convention and the implementation of it through EU law, setting out the “proactive” and “reactive” rights of access and their associated obligations. We will then consider the impact that the right has had on environmental governance, highlighting both the right’s successes and the challenges it has faced (and continues to face) in practice by drawing on an empirical study of who is using the right and in what ways.
Speaker
Prof. Colin T Reid is Emeritus Professor of Environmental Law at the University of Dundee having recently retired from his full-time post. Work with Dr Sean Whittaker and Dr Jonathan Mendel has led to the book Freedom of Environmental Information: Aspirations and Practice (Intersentia, 2023). Other work has focussed on biodiversity, e.g. The Privatisation of Biodiversity: New Approaches to Conservation Law (with Dr Walters Nsoh (Intersentia, 2016)), and on matters of environmental governance, especially in the context of Brexit and devolution, including a role as adviser to committees at the Scottish Parliament. He was a founder member and is now a Patron of the UK Environmental Law Association.
Dr. Sean Whittaker was conferred his PhD in Environmental Law from University College Cork in 2018, under the supervision of Professor Áine Ryall. Following the publication of his book The Right of Access to Environmental Information (Cambridge University Press, 2021), he worked on an Economic and Social Research Council-funded project. This project led to the publication of the co-authored book Freedom of Environmental Information: Aspirations and Practice (Intersentia, 2023) with Prof Colin Reid and Dr Jonathan Mendel. Currently, Dr Whittaker is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Dundee and is the Executive Director of the Centre for Freedom of Information, which is based at the University of Dundee.
Lecture Series
This lecture is part of the Environmental Law Lecture Series: Strengthening EU Environmental Law, Legal Perspectives on Greening Europe. This series provides a set of important insights from environmental law scholars on how EU environmental law helps to achieve the aim of a high level of environmental protection in the European Union and across the world.
With the European Green Deal from 11 December 2019 the European Commission tabled an ambitious legislative program, based on fundamental aims such as zero pollution, do no harm, and climate neutrality. Many legal developments took place and are still on-going, both at the European and national regulatory levels as in the courtroom, including the national courts. While efforts to protect the environment are direly needed, including effective implementation and enforcement, the regulatory acquis, and the flow of case law, has become utterly complex which poses challenges for acquiring a good understanding and application.
This freely accessible online (and hybrid) lecture series provides students and scholars with core insights in the state of affairs and further improvement of EU environmental law. The lecture series will run in 2023 and 2024. All lectures will be recorded and will be made accessible through YouTube.
This GreenDeal-Net lecture series is hosted by MCEL, METRO and organised in cooperation with GLaw-Net and GreenDeal-NET. Maastricht University students will be eligible for certificates of attendance (see more information under the registration link).