Our work on Brexit | University of Strathclyde

Following Prime Minister Theresa May’s announcement that the UK will trigger the formal Brexit negotiation process by end March 2017, SCELG is contributing to policy and academic debates on the implications of Brexit for the protection of the environment and sustainable development in Scotland and in the UK.

The threats and opportunities arising from different BREXIT scenarios for the environment, sustainable development and human rights in the UK and in Scotland have only started to be mapped. Collaborative and creative legal thinking is needed, as part of a dialogue across disciplines, sectors and stakeholders, to understand the variable geometries of Scottish, UK, EU and international law in the negotiations ahead." Prof Elisa Morgera

SCELG looks forward to working together with partners and colleagues to ensure that BREXIT does not undermine the legal foundations for environmental protection and sustainable development in Scotland and the UK. Several SCELG members are part of the Scottish Universities Lawyers Network on Europe (SULNE).

Our Brexit publications can be found here.

Contributions to Policy Debates

Scottish Government

Professor Elisa Morgera, SCELG co-director, has been appointed by Scotland’s First Minister to a new Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership. The group will provide independent advice to the government on how Scotland can continue to promote and support human rights, with a focus on social, economic and environmental rights.
Prof Elisa Morgera and Antonio Cardesa-Salzmann have been invited to contribute to the Roundtable on Environment and Climate Change, which met for the first time on 3 October 2016 in Edinburgh, under the leadership of Professor Dame Anne Glover, member of the Standing Council of Europe advising the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government on securing Scotland’s relationship with the European Union.
SCELG prepared a policy brief on the baseline of procedural rights in the field of environment, energy and sustainability for a Roundtable on Human Rights, Social Protections and EU Law to be held in late October in Glasgow, under the leadership of Alan Miller, member of the Scottish Government’s Standing Council on Europe (publications below).
SCELG Members contributed to a SULNE report on the implications of Brexit for different fields of environmental law, which has been presented to Scottish government.

Scottish Parliament

SCELG Members Antonio Cardesa-Salzmann and Miranda Geelhoed delivered a presentation to the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood on BREXIT and the environment on 7 December 2016, as part of the Brexit Breakfast Seminar Series.
SCELG submitted two policy briefs, the implications of BREXIT for Scotland in the field of agriculture and fisheries respectively, in response to the Scottish Parliament’s written call for evidence on Scotland’s relationship with the EU. The policy briefs were prepared by SCELG PhD students Miranda Geelhoed and Mara Ntona (publications below).
SCELG submitted a&nbsppolicy brief on the implications of Brexit for nature conservation in Scotland, which was presented by Prof Elisa Morgera in Scottish Parliament on 14 March 2017.

Civil Society

SCELG produced a policy brief for the Scottish Human Rights Consortium on Brexit and environmental rights.
SCELG organized a workshop on Brexit and environmental rights during the Second Festival of Environmental Law and Governance in 2018.
Dr Antonio Cardesa-Salzmann has been invited to contribute to a conference hosted by Environment LINK (the forum for Scotland's voluntary environment organisations) aimed to explore the importance of international law and the United Nations for Scotland and its natural environment in a post-EU world. The conference will be held in Edinburgh on 21st November 2016.
SCELG produced a policy brief for the Scottish Human Rights Consortium on Brexit and the Trade Bill.

Contributions to Academic Debates

Dr Francesco Sindico has been invited to contribute to a workshop organised by the Journal of Environmental Law in Edinburgh titled “Re-Imagining Environmental Law in an Age of Sovereignty and Control”. The workshop, to be held on 23rd November 2016 at Edinburgh Law School, aims to look afresh at sovereignty in environmental law in a post-BREXIT world.
SCELG PhDs Mara Ntona and Miranda Geelhoed have been invited to contribute to a Workshop on Brexit, Agriculture and Fisheries at the University of York on the 22nd March 2017.