Dr. ?ine Ryall:

I am happy to start. The first point is that constitutionalising anything sends an incredible powerful signal right across society and it is hard to underestimate the significance of that in terms of the visibility and generation of potential political will for change. As regards what specific difference it might have made if we had had this right up to now, it is genuinely very difficult to say. What I would say is that by constitutionalising something, it has to be seen in tandem with the existing body of law. The two go together. It is not that we can see the constitutional right as being separate. With the constitutional right and well-designed and well-implemented domestic legislation, we really can bring about change. There is no doubt in my mind that the Constitution dimension has added value in ultimately setting the scene and giving the context to what happens - as somebody put it - underneath with the other body of legislation. The strong message it gives is so powerful. It demonstrates that society takes the environment seriously.