ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the role that litigation by individuals and non-governmental organisations before national courts or before the European Court of Justice can play in raising the level of ambition of EU environmental law and in advancing the achievement of full and even implementation of the environmental acquis throughout Europe. The chapter provides a practitioner’s perspective, using clean air litigation as a case study. It introduces the clear air environmental issue and presents the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, the main tool empowering individuals and NGOs to enforce environmental law before national courts. The recent history of clean air litigation is also detailed, showing that litigation has been and can be a powerful tool for environmental rights.
