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

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

Can Gove meet the UK’s housing needs without trashing nature?

22 Sep 2021 by Michael Donnelly
Michael Gove was handed the housing portfolio in the prime minister’s Cabinet reshuffle earlier this month, but how will the former environment secretary deal with net gain, EIA reform, underfunded councils and a large scale overhaul of the planning system? Michael Donnelly reports

ECO Chamber podcast

ECO CHAMBER PODCAST: Divide and REUL, beaver breakout, and DEFRA’s ‘culture of delay’

River target tussle, raptor reckoning, and the notorious BNG

The heroes, villains and biggest gaffes of 2022

Peer pressure, tidal power, and the government's pilloried poo plan

Forever chemicals, Bevan's goodbye and net zero heroes

Ep 24: Phantom rules, tardy targets, and Thérèse Coffey’s comeback
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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: Peter Kellett on a 'perilous time for environmental law'

Interview: ClientEarth’s new boss on the next chapter in environmental litigation

Watchdog unleashed: Natalie Prosser on how the OEP is already having an impact

Interview: NFU president Minette Batters on why we’re all complicit in farm pollution

Interview: The chair of Scotland’s new green watchdog talks about plans for investigations and maintaining independence

Interview: Delivering a huge road-building programme in the face of the climate crisis

Interview: Rebecca Pow on the great British sewage scandal

Interview: Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta on why we need to place a value on nature

Interview: What’s next in the global fight against chemicals and waste pollution

Interview: Rebecca Pow on the latest amendments to the Environment Bill

Legal comment

Why directors can be personally held to account for environmental harm caused by their companies

12 Jan 2023 by Simon Tilling
The separate legal status of one company director’s waste firm was not enough to prevent him being personally punished in the Court of Appeal for his business’ lack of environmental compliance, and senior managers across the country should take note, writes Simon Tilling

Legal comment: Why EU nature conservation laws have survived Brexit - for now

08 Dec 2022 by Angus Evers
The Court has ruled that despite Brexit, certain parts of the EU-derived Habitats Directive remain enforceable by domestic courts, and has ordered the Environment Agency to prepare a plan for complying with the Directive in respect of the Broads Special Area of Conservation. However, the claimants’ victory may prove short-lived, writes Angus Evers

Legal comment: Why a quashed appeal for wind farm planning permission will bring uncertainty for developers

09 Nov 2022 by Laura Tainsh
The court’s decision to uphold a ruling which refused planning permission for an offshore wind farm due to its impact on the landscape is likely to cause uncertainty for developers, as achievement of energy targets is not given decisive weight under the current Scottish planning system, writes Laura Tainsh

Legal comment: The practicalities of cases where property rights meet environmental regulations

13 Oct 2022 by Nina Pindham
When a minerals supplier took Natural England to the High Court this year the case produced some particularly practical advice for lawyers. Nina Pindham of No.5 Barrister’s Chambers explains

Legal comment: Nutrient neutrality in the courts - the limits of precaution

07 Sep 2022 by Ned Westaway
A judge’s dismissal of a legal challenge against Natural England’s nutrient neutrality advice is an important restatement of the reluctance of the courts to intervene in technical cases, writes Ned Westaway

Legal comment: Why the courts will not intervene when it comes to a water company’s duty to invest in sewage infrastructure

25 Aug 2022 by Simon Tilling
In June, judges rejected a private claim against a water company for illegal sewage discharges, reasoning that statutory oversight created by Parliament ousted the role of the court when ruling on cases where the only solution was capital investment in England’s sewerage infrastructure. The case shows why the courts will not step into this controversial fray, writes Simon Tilling


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