The poor quality of government Web sites on environmental law means the UK is in danger of breaching the Aarhus Convention on access to information and justice on environmental matters that it is ratifying, recent research has revealed.

A study commissioned by the UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA) found that sites such as the Environment Agency Web site and NetRegs (aimed at small and medium sized businesses) were too specialised for the public to understand and not written in plain English.


Other sites that are geared towards the public, such as Citizens Advice Bureau sites, did not contain enough information and simply re-directed enquiries elsewhere.


UKELA chairman Andrew Wiseman said: ‘Across all the organisations surveyed, there was an overwhelming sense of people not being able to find out what information they needed if they were involved in an environmental issue, despite present-day awareness of the importance of legislation governing environmental matters. The Aarhus Convention has at its core government accountability, transparency and responsiveness. Public bodies are obliged to provide access to information on environmental matters.


‘As a charity concerned with raising awareness about environmental law, UKELA is committed to working with others to try to address this lack of access to information.’