Environmental offences

Environmental offences in the UK

Environmental crime is concisely described in Parliamentary Briefing Paper POSTNote no. 547: Environmental Crime (Jan 2017) as ‘any illegal activity that harms the environment’. The Briefing adds that it ‘...can also have serious health and social impacts’. Environmental offences are regulatory and now, exclusively, statutory response to environmental crime. Yet, there has been concern over many years about the effectiveness of environmental crime enforcement and whether the UK criminal justice system adequately protects the environment. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 was introduced to assist, although a number of parliamentary committee inquiries, NGO reports, and public funded research over the last 25 years have found that fundamental problems of enforcement persist. In 2015, the EU project, EFFACE, published: Fighting Environmental Crime in the UK: A Country Report, concluding at pages 75–81 that the existing legal regimes for environmental crimes in the UK were far too complex and fragmented. It added:

‘This creates difficulties in complying with the system, even when there is willingness to comply. There are also too many Agencies involved and, although there is a very good degree of coordination among them,

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Environment News

Government to announce £7.9bn flood defence investment programme

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has confirmed that the government is set to announce a record £7.9bn flood defence programme as part of its upcoming Infrastructure Strategy. The ten-year investment programme aims to protect homes, businesses and critical infrastructure from flooding through measures such as high-performance flood barriers and wetland restoration. For every £1 invested, approximately £8 in economic damage is expected to be prevented. The programme includes a £4.2bn allocation for 2026–27 to 2028–29, as outlined in the government’s 2025 Spending Review, covering both capital and resources, including the construction of new defences and the maintenance of existing ones.

EA publishes updated water company drought plan guideline

The Environment Agency (EA) has published an updated technical guideline for water companies and New Appointments and Variations (NAVs) companies to follow when preparing statutory drought plans, replacing the 2020 version. The guideline, developed in collaboration with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, applies to companies operating wholly or mainly in England, and it also covers requirements for water retailers.

EA publishes response to consultation on amine-based carbon capture EALs

The Environment Agency (EA) has published the response to its January 2025 consultation on developing Environmental Assessment Levels (EALs) for the amine-based carbon capture process. Following stakeholder feedback, the EA will proceed with publishing six of the seven proposed EALs. The EAL for aminomethylpropan-1-ol (AMP) remains under review and is currently excluded from the updated EALs. The new EAL values will be published on GOV.UK.

Welsh Government responds to independent marine planning review findings

The Welsh Government's Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies has announced the findings of an independent review of Welsh marine planning approaches. The review, commissioned following a recommendation from the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee, endorsed the 2019 Welsh National Marine Plan as fit for purpose. In response, the government announced several initiatives including a study on marine net benefit approaches, expansion of Strategic Resource Areas (SRAs) and Wales's first detailed spatial assessment of its seas. These measures aim to balance marine development with ecosystem protection while supporting the government's climate and nature commitments.