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 Environment Agency (EA) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) have published a revised Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) methodology for...
The Department for Transport (DfT) has launched a consultation seeking views on the design of an aviation fuel supplier levy that will fund the...
The Environment Agency (EA) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have published the FloodReady review, setting out...
The Environment Agency (EA) has published its modern slavery report covering the period from September 2022–March 2025, prepared in accordance with...
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has published its response to the Office for Environmental Protection's (OEP) review of...
Latest Environment Practice Notes
Nuclear energy—an outlineWhat is nuclear energy?Nuclear energy is the energy derived from the core (the 'nucleus') of an atom.Nuclear energy can be...
GB CLP—competent authorities and enforcementBackground to the Great Britain Classification, Labelling and Packaging RegulationTrade in substances and...
Sustainable finance—recent newsThis Practice Note links to news on sustainable finance, including green loans and green bonds, that has been published...
Net zero carbon buildings—law and policyWhat is a net zero carbon building?In April 2019, the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) published Net Zero...
Environmental permitting—flood risk activitiesHistory of flood defence consentsThe former system of flood defence consents, prior to 6 April 2016,...
Latest Environment Precedents
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...
Commercial Lease: Alterations (improve environmental performance) (Rosie’s Clause) (The Chancery Lane Project)These precedent green clauses are for...
Environment Health and Safety due diligence questionnaire (DDQ)—asset purchaseEnvironment Health & SafetyPlease provide the following:1Copies of all...
Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) due diligence questionnaire (DDQ)—share purchaseEnvironment Health and SafetyPlease provide the following:1Copies...
Environmental Information Regulations 2004—request for environmental information[Insert name of public authority][Insert public authority's address,...
Latest Environment Q&As
Featured Environment content
Private nuisance and the rule in Rylands v Fletcher—common law liability for environmental harm
Nuisance and the rule in Rylands v Fletcher—common law liability for pollutionPrivate nuisancePrivate nuisance is an unlawful interference with a...
Public nuisance—general principles
Public nuisance—general principlesPublic nuisanceThe common law offence of public nuisance was abolished by section 78 of the Police, Crime,...
Meaning of waste—definition of waste
Meaning of waste—definition of wasteDefinition of Waste'Waste' is defined in the Waste Framework Directive, Directive 2008/98/EC (WFD) as any...
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...
Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSE)—environmental and health and safety considerations and additional enquiries
Commercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSE)—environmental and health and safety enquiriesCommercial Property Standard Enquiries (CPSEs) are industry...
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,...
Environmental insurance—when is it needed?
Environmental insurance—when is it needed?What is environmental insurance?Environmental insurance is a risk transfer solution to indemnify the insured...
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,...
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...
Environmental management—environmental management systems (EMS)
Environmental management—environmental management systems (EMS)What is an environmental management system (EMS)?An environmental management system...
Water pollution—legislation
Water pollution—legislation This Practice Note looks at the key legislation in England and Wales for controlling and preventing water pollution and...
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...
Judicial review—sufficient interest (standing) in environmental matters
Judicial review—sufficient interest (standing) in environmental mattersOriginally produced in partnership with Alistair Mills of Landmark Chambers and...
Contaminated land—remediation notices (service and appeal)
Contaminated land—remediation notices (service and appeal)What is a remediation notice?A remediation notice is a formal written notice that requires...
Energy performance certificates (EPCs)—issues for commercial landlords and tenants
Energy performance certificates (EPCs)—issues for commercial landlords and tenantsThis Practice Note looks at some of the key practical issues for...
Environmental management—environmental legal registers
Environmental management—environmental legal registersWhat is a legal register?A legal register is the documented output from a process where an...
Environmental liabilities—what are clean-up liabilities?
Environmental liabilities—what are clean-up liabilities?Clean-up liabilities are legal and financial obligations to remediate pollution or...
Contaminated land—meaning of remediation
Contaminated land—meaning of remediationMeaning of remediation'Remediation' is given a relatively wide definition in the Environmental Protection Act...
Associated legal terms
Environment
The environment includes all or any of the following media; air, water and land and any living organisms (including humans) or ecosystems supported by those media.
Statutory nuisance
A nuisance is something which interferes with a person's right to use or enjoy their property and a statutory nuisance arises where such interference is prohibited by statute, or is such that it is prejudical to health.
Waste duty of care
The legal duty of any person who imports, produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste to take all such measures as are reasonable in the circumstances to prevent that waste causing harm to the environment.
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