This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes: analysis of the Supreme Court decision in HMRC v Orsted West of Dutton Sands (UK) Limited and others, which decided that expenditure on environmental surveys and studies for windfarms was not incurred ‘on’ the provision of plant for capital allowances purposes. In addition this week, , the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced the first tranche of species to receive funding under the expanded Species Recovery Programme, implementing the £90m investment in threatened species recovery across England, Defra, the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England, have introduced Strategic Policy Statements directing regulators to prioritise outcomes over administrative processes in planning and environmental assessments. In addition this week, we have also published a new Practice Note, Water, flooding and drainage law—new starter guide.

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes: analysis of the key changes under the revised National Planning Policy Framework, key energy law developments in 2024 and what to expect in 2025 from our Energy team and forced labour imports raising criminal risks for UK retailers. Also this week, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has launched an investigation into the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) regarding a suspected failure to implement the necessary measures to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) of marine waters, Defra has published its response to the OEP’s January 2024 report on progress in improving the natural environment in England and the Law Society has published the results of its consultation on climate risk and conveyancing. .

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes: the confirmation by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office that the UK has ratified the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement. In addition this week, Defra has published its plan for achieving the protection of 30% of land for nature by 2030 (‘30x30’).

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes: the Office for Environmental protection (OEP)'s report outlining concerns with the practical application and enforcement of marine protection law in England, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)'s publication of the government response to a consultation on marine discards reform, and the publication of a government response to a Defra consultation on bathing waters in England. In addition this week, Defra has launched a new approach to recycling collections, aiming to simplify and boost recycling rates in England, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) has published the new UK biodiversity framework on behalf of the Four Countries' Biodiversity Group, and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published the final report containing guidelines on fund names using environmental, social and governance (ESG) or sustainability-related terms.

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes: news analyses on the UK government's Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan which aims to double clean energy investment in designated 'frontier' industries to over £30bn per year by 2035, how the failure to prevent fraud offence raise the stakes on greenwashing, insurers starting to introduce policy exclusions for so-called ‘forever chemicals’ and how simple flood defence measures could save the UK £740m a year. Further this week, the Environment Agency (EA) has published a summary of responses to its January 2025 consultation on proposed amendments to its enforcement and sanctions policy to implement civil sanctions under the Environment Act 2021 (EA 2021), the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) has adopted its position on the European Commission’s omnibus proposal to streamline requirements under the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D), and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published the response to its March 2025 consultation on establishing the Marine Recovery Fund (MRF).

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes an update on the UK’s accession to the Lugano Convention, Chatham House’ paper on climate change risk assessment, the National Audit Office’s report on the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme, and details on the fourth round of the Contracts for Difference scheme. In addition this week, the Department for Transport confirmed it will back an absolute zero target for international shipping emissions by 2050, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs announced it will invest £24m into the UK fishing industry, and the European Commission published its sustainability and competition policy brief in support of the European Green Deal.

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes: news analysis on the UK's approach to modern slavery since the passing of Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA 2015) into legislation and key takeaways from the ICO's final anonymisation guidance. In addition this week, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has launched an inquiry to examine the risks associated with Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), often referred to as 'forever chemicals' in the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published guidance to assist lead local flood authorities (LLFAs) in conducting flood investigations under section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 (FWMA 2010) and the Environment Agency (EA) has launched a consultation, seeking views on a proposed new levy targeting certain water discharge activities conducted by water companies in England. Further, this week the EA has launched a consultation, seeking views on proposed one-off increases to its regulatory charges under the Environmental Permitting and Abstraction Licensing Charging Scheme 2022 and the Waste (Miscellaneous) Charging Scheme 2018 and the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has submitted its formal response to the Independent Water Commission (IWC) regarding potential reforms to the 2027 targets set under the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017, SI 2017/407 (WFD Regulations).

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes: analysis of the UK-EU Common Understanding, including provisions relating to linking the UK and EU emissions trading schemes. In addition this week, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published the Environment Improvement Plan (EIP) annual progress report for 2024–25, Friends of the Earth (FoE) has issued a legal challenge against the UK National Adaption Programme 3, the Environment Agency (EA) has published its fourth climate adaptation report to report to Defra, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Defra have jointly published a report outlining actions to address climate change and biodiversity loss in England, Defra has announced new restrictions on the use of lead in ammunition under UK REACH regulations and has launched a consultation on extending UK REACH transitional registration deadlines, and Defra and the Welsh Government have published a policy paper setting out their approach to reforming the waste exemptions system.

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes our coverage of the developments at COP27 over the past week, including the announcement of 25 priority actions under the Breakthrough Agenda, the launch of the Enhancing Nature-based Solutions for Climate Transformation initiative and the Indonesia Just Energy Transition Partnership, and the signing of four commitments to funds supporting the green transition under the InvestEU initiative. We have also published analysis on the implications of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on environmental law. In addition, this week the deadline for UK businesses to apply new UK product safety markings was extended to 31 December 2024, the UK methane memorandum was published, amendments to the Renewable Energy Directive, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, and the Energy Efficiency Directive were adopted, the European Commission has launched a fitness check of the ‘polluter pays’ principle, and the EU carbon sinks target for the land use, land use change and forestry sector was increased.

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes: news analysis on South Lakeland Action on Climate Change—Towards Transition v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, in which permission for a proposed ‘net zero’ coal mine was quashed. Friends of the Earth has also confirmed this week that West Cumbria Mining have missed the deadline to appeal the decision. In addition, this week Dan Corry, has been appointed to conduct an internal review of the regulation and regulators within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has launched a consultation on the development of a new Industrial Strategy, the UN Climate Change (UNCC) has announced the publication of two key standards to operationalise a new UN crediting mechanism ahead of COP29. Further, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has published a report on the drivers and pressures affecting nature in Northern Ireland. DESNZ has published the response to its consultation on the climate change agreement scheme and Defra has published guidance on accessing the lists of large organisations (producers) that have reported their waste packaging data for 2023 and 2024 using the report packaging data (RPD) service.

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)’s responses to (1) its earlier consultation on amendments to the Assimilated Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulation (GB POPs Regulation) and (2) the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP)’s review of the Environment Agency (EA)’s activity in waste enforcement, in which it accepts the OEP’s recommendations and commits to additional actions to enhance waste enforcement from 2027. In addition this week, the Carbon Border Adjustment (Emissions and Verification) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/995 and the Nature Restoration Levy Regulations 2026, SI 2026/1020 have been enacted, introducing clarificatory provisions and additional record-keeping requirements for the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (UK CBAM) and a means by which developers can pay a levy to Natural England to offset nature impact, respectively. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No 9 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/1015 have also been enacted, which abolish the role of the Information Commissioner and consolidate its functions into the Information Commission’s remit.

This week's edition of Environment weekly highlights includes: HM Treasury (HMT) has published a summary of responses to its consultation on new climate-related financial disclosures in entity-level annual reports that align with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)’s recommendations and the Environment Agency (EA) has reported on the prosecution of South West Water (SWW) for illegal water discharge activities and environmental permit breaches. In addition this week, the Council for the EU adopted the Euro-7 Regulation, setting out emission limits for road vehicles and batter durability, the European Parliament adopted new measures to reinforce CO2 emissions targets and introduced a new certification framework for carbon removals.