Private Sector Environmental Information and the Law

Juliana Zuluaga Madrid

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781032309767
• eBook ISBN: 9781000915112
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Civil Rights in Law
• Index: Law

Current advancements in civil rights and environmental activism emphasize the crucial importance of making environmental information widely available to the public, regardless of whether it is in the hands of the government or of corporations, especially when the information is needed to understand and prevent risks for human health and the environment. In the wake of a resurgence of environmental and civil rights activism, conflicts flare between the right of the people to know and the right of private actors to keep certain information hidden, mostly for commercial reasons. This book offers a detailed comparative analysis of how environmental information is being accessed in different countries and jurisdictions, and how these issues are currently being handled by judges and governments. Focusing on the right of access to environmental information held and produced by private actors and the legal issues that emerge when other values and rights are compromised, this book offers an alternative framework to improve on current legal systems, suggesting a more nuanced and balanced approach that takes both set of interests duly into consideration. Providing an integrated approach to public environmental law and private commercial law, the book integrates the arguments from both sides to establish a common ground, defining shared principles and models that provide a solid basis for a robust new system. Reviewing access to private sector information at a truly international level, this book will be relevant to students, academics and practitioners working in these areas.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgements
• List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Preliminary Notions of the Right to Know and the Private Sector
• 3. Characterisation of the Right to Access Environmental Information
• 4. Scope of the Laws Providing Access to Information
• 5. Access to Private Sector Environmental Information
• 6. The Protection of Trade Secrets and ‘Confidential Business Information’
• 7. Problems of the System for Access to Information from the Private Sector
• 8. Proposal to Reform Access to Environmental Information
• 9. Conclusions and Recommendations
• Index