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 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced that £29m collected from water company fines will be reinvested into...
A round-up of the latest environmental enforcement, including a manufacturer agreeing to pay over £1m under an enforcement undertaking following a...
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has published a Water White Paper setting out a once-in-a-generation reform of the water...
The Environment Agency (EA) has published the outcome of its September 2025 consultation on changes to standard rules permits for medium combustion...
The Welsh Government has published a written statement setting out its hydrogen policy, alongside a summary of responses to the 2025 hydrogen policy...
Latest Environment Practice Notes
UK ETS—allocation of allowances and auctioningSince the end of the Brexit transition period (IP completion day) on 31 December 2020, the UK no longer...
UK ETS—regulated activities, operators, installations and exemptionsSince the end of the Brexit transition period (IP completion day) on 31 December...
Emissions trading schemes—EU/UK comparisonSince the end of the Brexit transition period (IP completion day) on 31 December 2020, the UK no longer...
UK ETS—legal framework, key obligations and administrationSince the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020 (IP completion day), the...
Water pollution—legislation This Practice Note looks at the key legislation in England and Wales for controlling and preventing water pollution and...
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...
EHS warranties—share purchase agreement—buyer’s versionDefinitionsEnvironment• all or any of the following media:(a)air (including air within...
EHS warranties—asset purchase agreement—buyer’s versionDefinitionsEnvironment• all or any of the following media:(a)air (including air within...
Restriction on title—environmental provisions binding on successors in title1Sale contract—restriction on title1.1The Buyer covenants with the Seller...
Leases—end of term environmental reportDefinitions[to be added at the start of the lease]End of Term Environmental Report•an intrusive phase 2 soil...
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
Controlled waters
The generic phrase used to cover four specific categories of water which are currently defined within the Water Resources Act 1991.
Integrated pollution prevention and control
The European regulatory system (EU directive 2008/1/EC) that requires member states to take appropriate measures to prevent environmental impacts from emissions and to regulate certain industrial activities. The term is also used within the UK Environmental Permitting regime to refer to regulation of the larger Part A1 installations by the Environment Agency.
Natural capital
Natural capital refers to natural assets including forests, rivers, land, minerals and oceans.
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