Environmental principles and governance after Brexit: responses to consultation

Appendix 5: Chapter 5, Q3

Non-regression

Comments about non-regression included:

• a suggestion that this should be considered but also noted that it could be a requirement in primary legislation to periodically review alignment with the EU; and
• an acknowledgment that it could be included but arguing that it may be misapplied to require a continuation of existing regulations when new / different ones may be more appropriate.

Individual principles

Respondents referenced individual principles in response to Question 3. Those marked * are Aarhus rights, and are part of the nine principles included in the UK Environment Bill and EU Withdrawal Bill (along with the four principles in the consultation and Integration and Sustainable Development).

• *Environmental justice / access to justice in environmental matters
• *Public access to environmental information
• *Public participation in environmental decision-making
• UN Convention on Biological Diversity / Biodiversity Duty
• Ecosystems approach
• Net Biodiversity Gain / Environmental Net Gain
• Duty of care / duty to protect and restore ecosystems / principle of restoration
• Proportionality principle
• Innovation principle
• Appropriate spatial and temporal scales
• Consistency of standards across the UK
• Principle of 'maintaining and increasing natural capital'
• Principle of sustainable use of natural resources
• Principle of science-based decision-making
• Principles in relation ensuring actions do not contribute to climate change
• Principles in relation to creating a circular economy, closed loop materials cycle
• A principle that places a duty on all public and private organisations in Scotland to publish an annual statement of their environmental and climate change impact, and an estimate of the forecast impact of their activities for the following year
• Overriding public interest only
• Principle of non-transboundary harm and a principle of enabling engagement in environmental decision-making in cross border scenarios
• Principle of making use of the best available scientific and technical expertise
• Principle of intergenerational equity
• Transparency
• Subsidiarity
• The future generations principle
• Principle of understanding and acknowledging the value of natural systems
• Improving the welfare of humans and animals and recognising 'animal sentience'
• Principle of improving public health and well-being.