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June 11th, 2026

ELF in the Supreme Court: Addressing the cost barrier to accessing environmental justice

By Renee Karunungan

 

 

The Environmental Law Foundation along with Friends of the Earth has been granted permission to intervene in the Supreme Court case brought by Foodrise. This case raises critically important questions about access to environmental justice in the UK. Today, 11th of June ELF’s written submissions will be considered at the one day hearing at the Supreme Court.

The case relates to a legal challenge to the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement. Foodrise argues that the deal could have significant environmental impacts, including higher emissions associated with imported agricultural products such as beef, and that these impacts were not properly considered as should have been.

Alongside this, a key issue in the case is whether the legal costs cap, designed to keep environmental challenges affordable under the Aarhus Convention, should apply. Without this protection, the cost of bringing a case can become quickly prohibitively expensive, stretching to hundreds of thousands of pounds, putting environmental challenges out of reach for grassroots communities and organisations.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the cap should not apply in this instance. If upheld, this will create a significant costs barrier to bringing future environmental cases, limiting the ability of communities and organisations to hold decision-makers to account.

If the judgement is allowed to stand it would see typical common law grounds in an environmental JR such as lack of adequate consultation, fettering of discretion, or ignoring material considerations, for the first time, would be considered to not trigger Aarhus costs protection. Thus considerably limiting the publics access to environmental justice, given the huge impact costs can have in a public interest case.

ELF’s intervention focuses on these wider public interest implications, drawing on our experience supporting communities across the UK to access legal advice and use the law to protect their local environment.