The Court of Appeal has confirmed the broad meaning of “environmental” in the context of the Environmental Information Regulations.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy v Information Commissioner and another [2017] EWCA Civ 844 the Court decided that information "on" an environmental measure under regulation 2(1)(c), is not restricted to what the information is "specifically, directly or immediately about" and that the context in which the information was created and used, and its significance to the wider environmental measure, is relevant.
The Court also decided that disclosure which would advance the purposes of the Aarhus Convention (which protects the environment by giving the public rights to information, participation in decisions and access to justice) is a way of testing whether there is “sufficient connection” between the information and an environmental measure.
The Government was refused permission to Appeal.
Harrison Grant, instructing Gerry Facenna QC and Julianne Morrison of Monckton Chambers, acted for Mr Henney.