An independent environment watchdog has been established to make sure Scotland is meeting the highest standards on everything from pollution to wildlife conservation.
Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS), which launches today, will play an important role in ensuring compliance with environmental law as well as the effectiveness of these laws.
It fills a gap left by Brexit, as the previous environmental governance body was run by the European Union which ended its scrutiny of Scotland on January 21 2020.
Keeping environmental law in check
The main responsibility of ESS will be to monitor the environmental actions of all public authorities – from the Scottish Government and local councils to the NHS and the police.
As well as monitoring Scotland’s environmental performance, the body will also identify areas where laws are not being complied with or are ineffective.
ESS has the authority to secure compliance in any way it sees fit, and in extreme cases has the power to bring matters to court. It can also seek improvements to environmental law in Scotland going forward.
“The creation and launch of Environmental Standards Scotland comes at a critical time for Scotland, as we face the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity decline,” said Jim Martin, chair of ESS.
“Following our departure from the European Union, there was an essential need for a new organisation to ensure high environmental standards are maintained.”
He explains that environmental laws like those covering pollution, wildlife and conservation can only help to tackle climate change if they are being implemented effectively.
“We intend to work tirelessly to spotlight areas where the law is not being complied with, or is ineffective, and to seek solutions to the problems we identify,” he said.
How can I report an environmental issue?
Although ESS has its own planned list of issues to begin investigating, the organisation is keen for ordinary people to get involved.
Matters of environmental concern can be raised by individual members of the public, community groups, non-governmental organisations, businesses and public authorities.
From there the body, which works independently of the Scottish Government, will undertake a preliminary review and gather information to determine whether the issue warrants a full-scale investigation
If you think an environmental law is being broken or would like to see a serious issue investigated, contact enquiries@environmentalstandards.scot