Environmental Justice

In a broad sense Environmental Justice means ensuring that everyone has a right to a clean and healthy environment regardless of his or her means, where they live, or their background. This includes being able to secure access to the law in resolving environmental concerns. In addition to the rights of people to a clean and healthy environment, it is also important that the relevant authorities have access to a range of effective enforcement methods, including powers to ensure that those who damage the environment bear the cost of putting things right.

The main principles behind the concept of environmental justice are:

• Combating poverty and social exclusion
• Respecting environmental limits
• Transparency
• Information
• Participation and access to justice
• Making the polluter pay

As part of the Environmental Justice agenda the Department has workied closely with colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on a review of Enforcement in Environmental Regulation. The aims of this review are:

• To protect the environment by influencing behaviour away from that which causes damage towards that which protects the environment.
• To create more efficient, effective and flexible enforcement of punishment for environmental crimes.

A copy of the final report is available from www.defra.gov.uk/environmental/enforcement.