In focus

The Environment Act 2021: 45 things you need to know

After a long and tortuous journey through parliament, the government’s ‘world-leading’ Environment Bill has finally passed into law. The ENDS team has scoured the resulting legislation to bring you everything you need to know about the raft of changes that the new act will bring about

‘Makes no sense’: Dismay as DEFRA refuses target to improve protected site condition

‘Scaremongering’: Anger as documents reveal top UK developers’ warning of net gain market paralysis

How many legal deadlines has DEFRA missed?

Use of enforcement powers against DEFRA ‘under active review’ as it misses another legal deadline, says OEP

‘Monumental dereliction of duty’: DEFRA to miss Environment Act targets deadline

Government risks legal action if it misses environment target deadline, baroness warns

Former landfill site to become ‘biodiversity bank’ ahead of biodiversity net gain requirements

In brief: The latest DEFRA targets to cut sewage discharges from storm overflows

DEFRA must ‘stop dragging its feet’ over environmental principles, say MPs

Government ‘running scared’ of delivering absent environmental principles statement, says MP

The Environment Act 2021 analysis

The ENDS Briefing: The policy changes to expect from the Environment Act targets

13 Feb 2023 by Tess Colley
All the information you need to anticipate the implications of the new Environment Act targets in terms of policy and regulation, including expert analysis of what achieving them will require, and which sectors are set to be most impacted by them

How some of the UK’s top developers are seeking to weaken biodiversity net gain reforms

14 Dec 2022 by Tess Colley
EXCLUSIVE: Documents obtained by ENDS show some of the country’s biggest housebuilders warning DEFRA of market paralysis when its nature-friendly building reforms become policy in 2023, in an apparent bid to see the plans relaxed to allow for more offsetting. Tess Colley reports

Queen’s Speech: What could be in it for the environment?

06 May 2022 by Gareth Simkins
The Queen’s Speech, outlining the government’s legislative plans for the coming year, is due to be made on Tuesday. Here’s what ENDS expects to hear

Will the Environment Act really 'bend the curve' on nature's decline?

09 Dec 2021 by Tess Colley
The Environment Act sets a bold target to halt the decline of nature by 2030, but with a reliance on market forces and farming to make it happen, and warning of a skills crisis in the environmental sector, is it enough to turn the tide on ecological collapse? Tess Colley reports

Will rejecting stronger OEP independence ‘come to haunt’ MPs?

18 Nov 2021 by Tess Colley
The new green watchdog will be required to heed guidance from the government, but will this hinder its ability to take robust action? Tess Colley reports

‘Dirty secrets’: What are the first complaints to the OEP about?

07 Oct 2021 by Tess Colley
EXCLUSIVE: ENDS has uncovered details of the first complaints made to the post-Brexit green watchdog. Who has made the complaints and why? And what do they tell us about what to expect from the Office for Environmental Protection when it is formally established? Tess Colley finds out

ECO Chamber podcast

NEW ECO CHAMBER EPISODE: EA shake-up scoop, climate COP-out, PLUS the nightmare nurdles choking the planet

Ep 67: ECO CHAMBER EPISODE: Fish justice, zombie power project purge PLUS Plantlife on net gain and grasslands

EP 66: Coffey quits, curtains for Curtin, and Barclay’s big brief

EP 65: Water framework fracas, the silent King's speech, and the Environment Act, two years on

EP 64: LURB sick, Wales' sorry sewage saga PLUS Fish Legal on how to win eco-battles

EP 63: Barcodes for big bags, Wales' sewage shocker PLUS mitigation expert on nutrient neutrality solutions
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AN ENDS REPORT WEBINAR

The UK's emerging
green governance
landscape

Available on demand

Hear speakers from the Office for Environmental Protection and Environmental Standards Scotland discuss the UK's emerging green governance arrangements at this free to view webinar. We discuss what’s happened so far, the early priorities for the UK’s new green watchdogs, and what environmental professionals can expect to come.

Interviews

Interview: Caroline Lucas on her decision to step down from Parliament

Interview: What Ofwat’s price review chief is looking for in water company business plans

Interview: The new IPCC chair on science, politics, and knowing when to hold back

Interview: Rosamund Kissi-Debrah on her disappointment in Sir Keir Starmer

INTERVIEW: The interim EA chief on the ‘toxic’ sewage debate and his one great fear

INTERVIEW: Lord Deben on climate immigration to come and how the Environment Agency lost power

Interview: The EFRA committee chair on ‘prickly’ Coffey and Labour’s play for the rural vote

Interview: London’s deputy mayor on why City Hall won’t be cowed by ULEZ backlash

Interview: George Monbiot on taking the fight to Big Farmer

Interview: Peter Kellett on a 'perilous time for environmental law'

Legal comment

Why a court decision to slash an ‘unreasonable’ EA fine has implications for all regulated industry

23 Nov 2023 by Simon Tilling
With unlimited Variable Monetary Penalties for environmental permitting offences coming into force in December, a decision this month to reduce an ‘unreasonable’ penalty imposed by the Environment Agency shows that the body’s decision-making is not beyond challenge, writes Simon Tilling

Why a court dismissed claims that DEFRA’s sewage spill reduction plan was unlawful

05 Oct 2023 by Angus Evers
The High Court rejected applications for judicial review by two NGOs, but the case is unlikely to be the last on the subject, writes Angus Evers

Why a judicial review of sea fishing licences underlines the weight being given to environmental conservation

19 Sep 2023 by Laura Tainsh
A ruling that the Scottish government had failed to act in accordance with Scotland’s National Marine Plan when varying fishing licences demonstrates the weight being given to environmental conservation by the courts, writes Laura Tainsh

The (legal) lessons to be drawn from the failed High Court ULEZ challenge

30 Aug 2023 by Nina Pindham
Few judicial review outcomes have been as hotly anticipated this year as that brought against the mayor of London over plans to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone. While the political implications of its failure continue to be felt, Nina Pindham asks what legal lessons can be taken from the case

Why developer CG Fry’s nutrient neutrality challenge is unlikely to succeed on appeal - for now

26 Jul 2023 by Ned Westaway
Earlier this month the High Court dismissed a claim previously branded as having 'considerable importance' to how Natural England’s nutrient neutrality advice is applied by local councils. While its chances of success at appeal are limited, writes Ned Westaway, the passing of the Retained EU Law Act could make future such cases harder to predict

Why the dismissal of ClientEarth’s case against Shell will have ramifications for other NGOs seeking to change corporate behaviour

05 Jul 2023 by Simon Tilling
The High Court’s dismissal of ClientEarth’s ground-breaking claim against the directors of Shell shows that minority activist shareholders hoping to use the courts to change corporate behaviour have a mountain to climb, writes Simon Tilling
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