The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has urged retailers to deplete their single-use vape stocks before the 1 June 2025 sales ban deadline. After this date, businesses cannot sell remaining stock and must ensure safe disposal. In England, non-compliance will result in a £200 initial fine and product seizure by Trading Standards, with potential unlimited fines or prosecution for subsequent breaches. The announcement aims to help businesses prepare for the implementation of legislation laid in parliament last year.

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has announced that the UK government and the Welsh Government have launched the largest review into the water sector since its privatisation. An Independent Commission will report back in 2025 with recommendations on how to tackle systemic problems in the sector. The recommendations will then also assist with further legislation to create long-term investment in the water sector and clean-up the UK’s waters. The Commission will be chaired by former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Jon Cunliffe and its objectives are to provide recommendations to enable the regulatory system to deliver clear vision, strategic planning, better regulation, empowered regulators, improved delivery, stable framework, consumer protection as well as resilient infrastructure.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has announced that the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act has received Royal Assent on 20 May 2024. The Act bans the export of live animals including cattle, sheep and pigs for slaughter and fattening from Great Britain, ensuring that animals are slaughtered in ‘high welfare UK slaughterhouses’, in an effort to ‘boost the value of British meat’ and to help grow the economy. Live exports in other specific circumstances such as for breeding and competitions, will still be allowed if animals are transported in line with rules protecting their welfare.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has announced that the UK made several environmental commitments at the COP30 climate conference, including the first contribution to the Cali Fund by British startup Tierra Viva AI and joining multiple international initiatives on fertiliser emissions, saltmarsh protection and food waste reduction. Domestically, the government announced the second National Forest will be located in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, supported by over £1bn allocated to tree planting this parliament, with further environmental restoration plans to be detailed in an upcoming Environmental Improvement Plan.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA)  and the Department for Transport (DfT) have published the Environment Act 1995 (Greater Manchester) Air Quality Direction 2025. This latest direction is part of an ongoing series of air quality directives issued to various local authorities across the UK. These directives, underpinned by the Environment Act 1995, require specified local authorities to undertake studies or implement measures to achieve compliance with legal nitrogen dioxide limits in the shortest possible timeframe.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published annual bathing water quality statistics for England showing compliance with the new Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/1129. The statistics indicate 417 of 450 bathing waters (92.6%) met minimum standards, with 289 (64.2%) classified as 'excellent' and 37 (8.2%) classified as 'poor'. This marks the first year reporting under the amended regulations, replacing the previous 2013 framework.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published its consultation outcome regarding proposed reforms to food labelling requirements. The consultation, which received 31,011 responses between March and May 2024, focused on country of origin and method of production labelling. While acknowledging strong public support for enhanced country of origin information and animal welfare labelling, DEFRA indicated it will consider these reforms as part of broader UK food policy development, noting implementation barriers raised by stakeholders.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Welsh Government have published their response to consultation on reforming exemptions under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. The government intends to proceed with amendments giving the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales new powers to create, amend and remove exempt facilities that do not require environmental permits. The powers will apply to flood risk activities, groundwater activities, waste operations and water discharges, with implementation planned for England in 2026 and Wales after May 2026 elections.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published a policy paper mapping national biodiversity targets against Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) outcomes for England. The paper demonstrates how the EIP implements the Global Biodiversity Framework agreed at COP15 in 2022, which includes 23 global targets to be met by 2030, as part of England's delivery of the UK national biodiversity strategy and action plan.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published summary log templates and guidance for reprocessors and exporters under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging requirements, effective from 1 January 2026. The templates implement record-keeping obligations under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, requiring registered operators to update logs quarterly and accredited operators monthly. One template is currently available for accredited reprocessors, with exporters' templates due by 21 November 2025.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published its updated guidance setting out how procurement authorities and suppliers should provide and assess Category B evidence when demonstrating that timber and wood-derived products meet the government’s definitions of ‘legal’ and ‘sustainable’. The document explains that Category B evidence is used when approved certification schemes (Category A) are not relied upon, and must show that at least 70% of the supplied material comes from legal and sustainable sources, in line with the Timber Procurement Policy. It clarifies the relationship between the Policy and the UK Timber Regulations (UKTR), noting that UKTR compliance may help demonstrate legality but does not replace the requirement to evidence sustainability. The guidance also outlines obligations for products within and outside the UKTR scope, including the continued need for evidence even where recycled or heavily processed items are not regulated under the UKTR.

The Dematerialisation Market Action Taskforce (DEMAT) has published its implementation plan for the first phase of the UK's shareholding digitisation programme for publicly traded UK companies, recommending that paper share certificates should no longer be recognised as evidence of share ownership and should be replaced by entries on digital share registers. The implementation plan sets out the legislative, operational and industry measures required to implement the reforms, including modernising share transfer requirements, establishing common operational standards for digital share registers, introducing digital shareholder access, delivering a public awareness campaign and supporting vulnerable and digitally excluded shareholders. It also outlines preliminary proposals for subsequent phases of the programme, including reforms to improve the exercise of shareholder rights through intermediaries and the longer-term transition to a fully intermediated system of share ownership.