e9728

CREATING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN SCOTLAND

Under the slogan “No less than a decent environment for all; no more than our fair share of the earth's resources”, FoE Scotland's campaign for environmental justice cuts to the heart of the situation in many Northern European countries by tackling global and national inequalities.

The South in the North
The rich countries of the North continue to be profligate in their use of the world's wealth, whilst the distribution of economic benefits and environmental costs is unequal within countries like Scotland. Through poverty, social exclusion, geographic isolation and political disenfranchisement, many of Scotland's citizens live in poor environments.

Poverty in rich countries is a much-overlooked problem. Both inequality and absolute poverty have been growing in Scotland over the past two decades, and it is estimated that 25 percent of the country's adults and 38 percent of its children live in poverty. The interaction between poverty and environmental damage is as much a reality in Scotland as it is in many of the world's poorest countries.

Nowhere is this clearer than with poor housing. Scotland has a cool and damp climate, but much poorer building standards than countries with similar climates. The combination of poverty and poor housing means that some 750,000 people in Scotland are unable to heat their homes at a level sufficient to maintain good health. These people are particularly concentrated amongst vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and disabled, and one in four pensioners lives in “fuel poverty”. The proportion of winter deaths is more than double that in countries with comparable or colder climates.

Meanwhile, Scotland's CO2 emissions are five times our global fair share based on the concept of equal environmental space. Some 20 percent of these emissions come from domestic heating. Thus the poor are kept in poverty and at the same time forced to consume the earth's resources.

The poorest are also more likely to live near to sources of pollution. FoE England, Wales and Northern Ireland's research on pollution injustice does not cover Scotland because the data on toxic emissions are not available (see www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/industry_and_pollution/factorywatch). However, many working class and poor communities concerned about the damage to their local environment and health contact FoE Scotland.

Empowering People for Justice
These people are often unaware of their right to challenge the decisions that lead to such environmental injustices. Thus, FoE Scotland's "Catalyst" project provides training for community groups, making people aware of how they can use administrative and legal rights to prevent or challenge the sources of environmental damage in their communities. Training on organizing and campaigning has also contributed to local action for environmental justice throughout Scotland.

The signing of the Aarhus agreement on the right to environmental information and the introduction of the European Convention on Human Rights into Scottish legislation have created new opportunities for environmental justice. FoE is using these openings to push for equal rights for communities and other third parties in land use planning decisions, and for free access to information, defended by legislation and implemented in practice. High on the agenda is a toxic release inventory that will provide information about pollution in Scotland.

However, a rights-based approach to environmental justice has its limitations. Following the Scottish Executive's refusal to grant permission to develop a superquarry on the Island of Harris, the multinational Lafarge has used human rights legislation to argue that the company has been denied justice. Landowners and businesses are often the first to use legislation to promote the “right” to develop.

Furthermore, the rights that do exist are frequently not implemented. Many studies demonstrate a culture in which access to existing rights is routinely denied, offenders are inadequately policed by regulators, and courts rarely prosecute or exact negligible fines. Polluters learn that they do not need to worry too much about being punished.

Access to environmental rights is beneficial but inadequate for delivering environmental justice. Despite its failings, Scotland enjoys a democratic and relatively open planning system, which regularly delivers the worst environments to the poorest communities. Equal procedural, legal and constitutional rights for all individuals still result in unfair outcomes. On the other hand, a social understanding of environmental justice acknowledges existing inequalities and asserts the possibility of collective means of redress.

Hence the strategy for FoE Scotland's campaign for environmental justice, which combines lobbying for legislative change with direct work with the communities suffering the damage. Drawing on the challenge of communities in the South and the black communities in the United States, FoE Scotland has developed an understanding of environmental justice, which in a small country like Scotland provides opportunities for building links between environmentalists, local community activists, and anti-poverty campaigners.

Eurig Scandrett, FoE Scotland