The United Kingdom is reportedly considering changes to the legal safeguards that limit the costs community groups face when challenging planning decisions that could harm the environment. The proposed reforms would remove or increase the cost‑cap protections that have been in place since the UK ratified the Aarhus Convention in 2005.
The Aarhus Convention is an international treaty that guarantees the public right to participate in environmental decision‑making. Under the treaty, individuals who bring an environmental claim are protected by a cost cap: if they lose, they are required to pay only £5,000 of the other side’s legal costs. For organisations, the cap is £10,000. These limits were designed to keep environmental litigation affordable for public interest groups and individuals.
According to environmental lawyers, the Ministry of Justice has been holding private meetings with a select group of stakeholders to discuss plans to strip these protections. The proposed changes would not only remove the cost caps but could also double the caps at each stage of a challenge, eliminate protections where a court finds a “misuse of judicial review,” and allow crowdfunded legal challenges to face costs of up to 70% of the money raised if they lose.
These proposals first emerged under the current government, which has repeatedly described nature as a barrier to economic growth. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has criticised environmental activists, calling them “nimbys and zealots” who file “vexatious” legal claims. He cited Dr Andrew Boswell’s two‑year legal battle over the expansion of the A47 in Norfolk as an example of such claims. Boswell, who raised £73,000 from 2,000 supporters, said Starmer had “put a target” on his back and that his campaign had united the Norfolk community.
Senior environmental solicitor Carol Day of Leigh Day warned that the changes would “bring environmental litigation almost to a halt.” She noted that without a clear record of cases where legal action has successfully stopped development, it would be difficult to justify the reforms. “We have nothing from them, no kind of hard and fast evidence,” Day said.
Environmental campaigners, including Sarah Finch, argue that the cost‑cap protections are essential for holding developers and governments accountable. Finch said her group would not have been able to bring their landmark legal action without the Aarhus Convention’s cost limits. She highlighted the importance of keeping environmental challenges financially accessible to community groups.
If the government proceeds with these changes, it would distance the UK from the Aarhus Convention and potentially discourage public participation in environmental decision‑making. The legal community and environmental NGOs have called for a review of the proposals and urged the government to maintain the cost‑cap protections that have enabled thousands of environmental cases over the past decade.
Source: The Guardian World
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