... information in the UK. Participation There is a number of different ways in which the general public can be involved in environmental law and decision-making. These include democratic accountability through the election of politicians, who make environmental law and policy, and more direct participation such as local consultation on individual planning or pollution control applications or the availability of judicial review remedies for people with a 'sufficient interest'.2 In short, benefits of public participation include the following: improving the quality of decisions, environmental problem solving, promoting environmental citizenship, improving procedural legitimacy and eliciting values. Access to environmental information has fundamental importance for the mobilisation of public's enforcement mechanisms.3 Similarly, environmental data enables the public to assess the environmental performance of operators and the regulatory performance of the authorities. It is therefore the key to the enforcement of environmental law, accountability and public confidence in environmental matters. Improved access to environmental information is also ...

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