Members of West Dorset Friends of the Earth have been s§itting on Bridges asking for cleaner rivers and an affirmation of our environmental rights. The UN has already recognised these rights in a unanimous vote that affirmed a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a human right. But the UK government has been slow to guarantee this.
An Environmental Rights Act would embed the legal right to a healthy environment into law and ensure pollution was acted on. It would hold public bodies to account and give people legal means to challenge decisions that harm their health.
It would give an individual the right to know, the right to engage and the right to challenge, anyone undertaking functions of a public nature (including private companies).
So, if you give a sh*t about protecting and restoring our environment, join in with the outcry about the state of our waterways and shoreline. Everyone should have the right to a healthy environment. And our rivers and seas deserve to be treated with respect rather than used as dumping grounds.
A full description of the Environmental Rights bill can be found here:
https://www.wcl.org.uk/environmentalrightsbill.asp
The campaign is gathering attention and we will update this page. For now, the public could ask the question of their candidates in the general election: would they support this bill? (email, visit a Hustings) Let us know if you get an answer.