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
WRAP launches UK Packaging Pact to transform packaging system...
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has published the outcome of its call for evidence on a future carbon capture, usage and...
The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) has published an article highlighting that nature‑related reporting is becoming...
Natural England has published guidance detailing how it assesses the condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and the enforcement...
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has published its 2026–29 Business Plan, following feedback from its December 2025 public consultation....
Latest Environment Practice Notes
Executive narrativeThe UK environmental, social and governance (ESG) regime is best understood as a collection of interlocking legal and regulatory...
Executive narrativeIn the United States, environmental, social and governance (ESG) regulation is not a single regime. It is a patchwork of disclosure...
When can costs be recovered by an enforcing authority?Subject to sections 78J(7) and 78K(6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990), an...
When a public body receives a claim form for judicial review, the first step is to consider whether the claim has been brought in time. For further...
What is the aggregates levy?The aggregates levy is an environmental tax administered by HMRC on the commercial exploitation of aggregates in the...
Latest Environment Precedents
1DefinitionsContamination•the presence or accumulation of any Hazardous Substances at, in, on or under the PremisesAggravated Contamination•any...
This Agreement is made on the [insert date] day of [insert month] 20[insert year]Parties1[insert name of party], a company incorporated in [England...
1DefinitionsContamination•the presence or accumulation of any Hazardous Substances at, in, on, under or around the PremisesEnvironment•all or any of...
This Agreement is made on [insert date] 20[insert year]Parties1[Insert name of Client] of [insert address of Client] (‘the Client’ which term shall...
ARCHIVED: This Precedent has been archived and is not maintained.These training materials consist of template PowerPoint slides that can be used as...
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
Cause pollution
Legal test for establishing liability for pollution.
European waste catalogue
The waste classification scheme that categorises waste types according to what they are and how they were produced.
Registers
The registers and public records that various regulatory authorities are required to maintain in respect of certain types of environmental information in order that it can be made available to the public.
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