SCELG presents at BREXIT Breakfast Seminar at Holyrood on Environmental Implications

Dr Antonio Cardesa-Salzmann and Miranda Geelhoed speak to Members of Scottish Parliament

7 December 2016, Dr Antonio Cardesa-Salzmann and Miranda Geelhoed spoke at a Breakfast Seminar at Holyrood, organised by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) for Scottish Members of Parliament, on the possible implications of Brexit for the protection of Scotland’s natural environment. The seminar was chaired by Graeme Dey, the convenor to the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee and MSP for Angus South. 

Download Antonio and Miranda's Presentations - Breakfast Seminar

Integration and the ecosystem approach: Brexit through an international lens

Antonio Cardesa-Salzmann emphasised the great diversity of instruments in the field of environmental law at EU and international level. He also recognised that EU and international environmental law, against the backdrop of the ecosystem approach and the integration principle, is becoming increasingly integrated, thus calling upon policy makers to pay attention to:

• The linkages between different instruments of EU environmental law and EU and international environmental law;
• The linkages between EU environmental law and other areas of EU law;
• The role of EU law in supporting an integrated (ecosystem-based) approach to nature conservation and environmental mainstreaming.

The role of EU law in supporting or preventing good agro environmental stewardship

Some practical illustrations of environmental integration were provided by Miranda Geelhoed, who discussed the example of the agricultural sector. She showed how the complex EU legal regime on agriculture seeks to support good agro environmental stewardship and that taking EU law out of the equation could leave considerable gaps in environmental protection; a pressing matter considering that 80% of Scotland is managed by farmers. However, she also identified opportunities for better integration of agro ecological values into a Scottish agricultural regime – building upon the ecosystem approach.

Practice-led teaching and research

Antonio Cardesa-Salzmann is a lecturer on EU environmental law and teaches on the LLM International Law & Sustainable Development and the new LLM Global Environmental Law & Governance. Miranda Geelhoed is a PhD candidate at SCELG and specialises in the legal regime on agriculture.