Natural England has said that –
“Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is an approach to development, land and marine management that leaves biodiversity in a measurably better state than before the development took place.”
UNLIMITED FINANCIAL PENALTIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION CASES
On 11 December 2023, the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Steve Barclay announced changes to the Variable Monetary Penalties that the Environment Agency can impose. This means that companies in breach of Environmental Permits in key areas could be subject to unlimited financial penalties, replacing the earlier cap of £250,000.
YORKSHIRE FISHERMEN WIN WATER QUALITY LEGAL CHALLENGE
INTRODUCING THE ENERGY ACT 2023
WALES’ ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE AND BIODIVERSITY TARGETS BILL
It was really welcome to be able to attend an online briefing this week by the Welsh Government Bill team working on proposals for the Environmental Governance and Biodiversity Targets Bill, along with representatives of the UK Environmental Law Association ‘UKELA’ Wales Working Party, NGOs and other stakeholders.
WHO’S WHO LEGAL 2023
EVIDENCE TO WELSH SENEDD CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE
BIODIVERSITY AND LAW: PART 2: ENGLAND
The UK has lost nearly half of its biodiversity since the Industrial Revolution. It has fared worse in this respect than most countries in the EU, the G7 and China. It is consistently in the bottom 10% of nations in the Biodiversity Intactness Index. According to the Royal Society, the abundance of the UK’s estimated 70,000 known species of animals, plants, funghi and microorganisms is declining.
BIODIVERSITY AND LAW : PART 1: EUROPEAN UNION
In December 2022, chaired by China and hosted by Canada, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity reached agreement on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework an ambitious set of commitments aimed at halting and reversing biodiversity loss and the accelerating rate of species extinctions now thought to threaten 1 million species.
CLIMATE CHANGE LAW PODCAST FOR PAKISTANI LAWYERS
BIODIVERSITY AND CHALK GRASSLAND
I recently had the opportunity to join a guided walk across chalk grassland at the National Trust’s site at Devil’s Dyke and Saddlescombe Farm, near Brighton in Sussex, led by the Trust’s Lead Ranger Dan Fagan. It was a reminder of how much more you can see and learn about in the company of an expert guide. As well as enjoying spectacular countryside and views, we learned about the huge pressures on England’s chalk grassland, 80% of which has been lost since the 1940s, and the real value of this critical habitat.
R (FINCH) v SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL – SUPREME COURT HEARS LEGAL CHALLENGE ON ONSHORE OIL DRILLING AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
UK JOINS CPTPP TRADE BLOC
UK GOVERNMENT’S ‘PLAN FOR WATER’: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Reading long government policy documents sometimes resembles the feeding patterns of the Whale Shark. You need to swallow oceans of print to find the fragments of policy plankton that suggest what is really going on. These are some initial reflections on the UK government’s Plan for Water announced on [ ] April 2023, and their implications in particular for England.