About Environment Law
Have you been instructed at short notice to advise on transactions or new environmental legislation outside your comfort zone? Are you up-to-date with the latest changes in environmental regulation – and have a sense of what’s on the horizon?
Current awareness, horizon scanning and trackers
Our curated daily news alerts, environmental law podcast and dedicated environmental law trackers, split according to topic and covering consultations and legislation, alongside our cases tracker, will save you time.
Air emissions and climate change
We show where climate change targets come from at national, European and international levels, plus we detail climate reporting and disclosure frameworks, track litigation and provide practical guidance for your business
Brexit and divergence
We detail the environmental law regimes that have been impacted by Brexit and track EU/UK/GB divergence.
Transactional support
We’ll give you transactional support guides and precedents for the environmental and health and safety (EHS) issues that environmental lawyers need to consider when supporting corporate and property deals.
Topics We Cover
Latest Environment News
The European Central Bank (ECB) has published a speech by Frank Elderson—a member of its executive board and vice-chair of its supervisory board—on...
The Scottish Government has published its response to the Climate Change Committee (CCC)’s 2023 ‘Progress in reducing emissions in Scotland’ report....
Natural England (NE) has published guidance on how to amend or remove a registration on the biodiversity gain sites register, or amend an allocation...
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published updates to its guidance on irreplaceable habitat. Defra has updated the...
This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes: analysis on the judicial review of a development consent for the Net Zero Teesside...
Latest Environment Practice Notes
The EU Taxonomy Regulation—essentialsThis Practice Note analyses the scope and impact of the EU Taxonomy Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2020/852), and...
Environmental insurance—when is it needed?What is environmental insurance?Environmental insurance is a risk transfer solution to indemnify the insured...
Air pollution—permitsAir pollution controlsAir pollution controls address global climate change, ozone depletion and air quality, and are complex and...
Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (the Bern Convention)—snapshotTitleConvention on the Conservation of European...
Sustainability and EU competition lawOn 1 June 2023, the European Commission (Commission) published its revised Horizontal Guidelines (the...
Latest Environment Precedents
Board briefing note—environmental reporting—unquoted companiesMemorandum prepared by [Name of Firm]For the directors of[insert company name] (the...
Sustainability definitions (The Chancery Lane Project)1.5°C Aligned1.5°C Aligned•[means that the level of ambition of [insert name of the...
Environmental consultant form of collateral warranty (with optional step—in clauses)Date...
Pie crust lease of a unit on an estateHM Land Registry Prescribed ClausesLR1. Date of the lease[date]LR2. Title number(s)LR2.1 Landlord's title...
Sustainable Soil Management Obligations (The Chancery Lane Project)Additional definitionsAgricultural Land Classification (ALC)•means the system used...
Latest Environment Q&As
Featured Environment content
Nuisance and the rule in Rylands v Fletcher—common law liability for pollution
Nuisance and the rule in Rylands v Fletcher—common law liability for pollutionPrivate nuisancePrivate nuisance is an unlawful interference with a...
Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSE)—environmental and health and safety enquiries
Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSE)—environmental and health and safety enquiriesCommercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSEs) are industry...
Sewers and drains—sewerage undertakers’ core duties and powers
Sewers and drains—sewerage undertakers’ core duties and powersA sewerage undertaker is the company appointed by the Secretary of State or Ofwat to be...
BREEAM key requirements
BREEAM key requirementsWhat is BREEAM?The Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM) is a method for evaluating...
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)—snapshot
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)—snapshotTitleUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)Parties168Adopted10...
Contaminated land—meaning of remediation
Contaminated land—meaning of remediationMeaning of remediation'Remediation' is given a relatively wide definition in the Environmental Protection Act...
Control of asbestos—asbestos surveys
Control of asbestos—asbestos surveysLegal requirementsThere is a legal presumption that any non-domestic buildings (and the common parts of domestic...
Sustainable procurement—private sector
Sustainable procurement—private sectorWhat is sustainable procurement?According to the UN Global Marketplace definition: procurement is sustainable...
Lease transactions toolkit (environmental issues)—Commercial Property Standard Enquiries and additional environmental enquiries
Lease transactions toolkit (environmental issues)—Commercial Property Standard Enquiries and additional environmental enquiriesCommercial Property...
Control of asbestos—duty to manage
Control of asbestos—duty to manageThe Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012) place various duties on employers to protect employees from...
Riparian ownership—rights and responsibilities
Riparian ownership—rights and responsibilitiesWhat does riparian ownership mean and who does it affect?‘If you own land or property next to a river,...
Highway drains and culverts
Highway drains and culvertsFor the purposes of s 100 of the Highways Act 1980, a ‘highway drain’ is defined as including a ditch, gutter, watercourse,...
Environment Agency (EA)—powers of entry
Environment Agency (EA)—powers of entryThe Environment Agency (EA), Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have...
Environmental management—environmental management systems (EMS)
Environmental management—environmental management systems (EMS)What is an environmental management system (EMS)?An environmental management system...
Transporting dangerous goods
Transporting dangerous goodsBrexit11 pm (GMT) on 31 December 2020 marked the end of the Brexit transition/implementation period entered into following...
Waste types and control—asbestos waste
Waste types and control—asbestos wasteIdentifying asbestos wasteAsbestos exists in a number of forms—the three most common are chrysotile (white),...
Harbour authorities—duties and powers
Harbour authorities—duties and powersDuties and powersHarbour authoritiesA harbour authority is an independent self-governing body that is responsible...
Energy Company Obligation (ECO)—key features of ECO1 and ECO2 [Archived]
Energy Company Obligation (ECO)—key features of ECO1 and ECO2 [Archived]Energy Company Obligation (ECO) replaces Carbon Emissions Reduction Target...
Associated legal terms
Cause pollution
Legal test for establishing liability for pollution.
Liability group
The group of persons that are appropriate persons in respect of a particular significant pollutant linkage for the purposes of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, pt IIA.
Regulated facility
Regulated facility refers to a specific class of facility requiring an environmental permit to operate, unless there is a exemption, and is defined in the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, SI 2016/1154, reg 8.
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