The importance of the right to a healthy environment during the pandemic

Abstract

The protection and preservation of the environment and stable climatic conditions, as well as the right of public participation in environmental decision-making in public spaces, are emerging as topics of special significance, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for integrated protection of natural goods of general interest, harmonization with the EU acquis, the need to simultaneously overcome the COVID-19 crisis and implement the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans raises numerous questions, some of them being: is environmental protection a priority during the pandemic and, if so, which aspects of environmental protection represent the primary concern; have the measures limiting public gatherings had an impact on public participation in decision-making; and, do the proposed legislative amendments and additions complete the environmental protection system, with clear criteria for an environmental impact assessment of the related activities and the decisions to support their pursuit?