Thread by @JolyonMaugham

The procurement hearing presently taking place in the High Court is not the only @GoodLawProject hearing today. We also have a hearing in relation to an incredibly important environmental matter.

EU law recognises something called the Precautionary Principle: “where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.”

That definition comes from the Earth Summit’s Rio Declaration of 1992. It is part of EU law but - at least this is the Government's position - it is not part of our domestic law.

We say that the growing body of evidence around the relationship between air pollution and Covid-19 - and we have commissioned what a literature review from Aaron Benstein hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/team/… - engages the precautionary principle.

We say that Government must review its position on acceptable levels of air pollution in light of that evidence - we can't wait for "full scientific certainty" because "there are threats of serious or irreversible damage."

The case is a difficult one - but astonishingly important. It would be a radical, a profound, shift in how we think about Government's legal responsibilities to guard against climate catastrophe if it could not hide an absence of "full scientific certainty."

We are funding this case from @GoodLawProject's own resources, drawn from thousands of monthly direct debits. We think it is right that we take a portfolio of cases - from the demonstrably right to the difficult but incredibly important. And we are proud to be taking it on.

We should publicly express our thanks to the legal team at @HausfeldGlobal who have worked incredibly hard and without payment.

In line with our transparency principles you can read the bundle in the case here. rebrand.ly/clean-air-bund…

We have not been given permission to bring this claim by the High Court. But we will consider with Counsel whether we wish to renew our application in the Court of Appeal and we will, of course, report back once we have made a decision.