Public Participation in Environmental Matters in the UK/England & Wales

The document outlines the requirements for public participation in environmental matters in the UK, focusing on the three pillars of the Aarhus Convention: access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice. It details the specific obligations for public authorities regarding activities, plans, and legislation that significantly affect the environment. Additionally, it explains domestic standards for fair consultation, including the Sedley/Gunning principles and Cabinet Office Consultation principles, and provides guidance on challenging deficient consultations through judicial review or the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee.

• The Aarhus Convention requires signatory countries to guarantee three procedural 'pillars': access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters.
• Under the 'second pillar' of the Aarhus Convention, public authorities must enable public and NGO comments on three areas: specific activities with significant environmental effects (such as oil and gas refineries or waste management facilities), plans and policies affecting the environment, and legislation likely to have a significant environmental effect.
• UK case law has established the Sedley or Gunning principles to determine if a consultation is fair: it must occur at a formative stage, provide adequate information and time for response, and the results must be conscientiously considered in the final decision.
• While the Aarhus Convention is an international treaty and only directly enforceable in the UK where implemented into domestic legislation, failures to comply can be addressed via the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee or by publicising non-compliance to pressure the government.
• In Northern Ireland, public authorities have additional obligations under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which mandates an 'Equality of Opportunity' duty and a 'Good Relations' duty during consultations.

APA

Lobo, G., & Eames, A. (2022). Public Participation in Environmental Matters in the UK/England & Wales. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/jwyjxo5p/short-form-draft-guidance-on-public-participation.pdf

Chicago

Lobo, Gillian, and Angus Eames. Public Participation in Environmental Matters in the UK/England & Wales. ClientEarth, 2022. https://www.clientearth.org/media/jwyjxo5p/short-form-draft-guidance-on-public-participation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lobo |first1=Gillian |last2=Eames |first2=Angus |title=Public Participation in Environmental Matters in the UK/England & Wales |publisher=ClientEarth |date=February 2022 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/jwyjxo5p/short-form-draft-guidance-on-public-participation.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lobo2022public, author = {Lobo, Gillian and Eames, Angus}, title = {{Public Participation in Environmental Matters in the UK/England \& Wales}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2022}, month = feb, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/jwyjxo5p/short-form-draft-guidance-on-public-participation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }