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 Council of the European Union has adopted a directive amending EU measuring instrument requirements to support the deployment of electric vehicle...
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has published a policy paper outlining environmental compensatory measures reforms (ECMR)...
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has published guidance for mayoral strategic authorities on incorporating circular...
EU Law Analysis: On 26 February 2025, the Commission published the first of its omnibus simplification packages containing a proposal to substantially...
A round-up of the latest environmental enforcement, including the prosecution of a farmer for failing to comply with an anti-pollution works notice...
Latest Environment Practice Notes
Sustainable finance—recent newsThis Practice Note links to news on sustainable finance, including green loans and green bonds, that has been published...
How to comply with the extended producer responsibility regime for packaging waste, as a local authorityThe extended producer responsibility (EPR)...
Property boundariesThis Practice Note explains how to ascertain the location of property boundaries: the general boundaries rule that applies to HM...
How to manage environmental risk for inhouse lawyersWritten for in-house lawyers, this risk management guide aims to provide a useful checklist when...
Health and safety fines over £1 million—trackerThis Practice Note provides a summary of the prosecutions for health and safety offences brought by the...
Latest Environment Precedents
Green Residential Lease Clauses (Emma’s Clause) (The Chancery Lane Project)These Precedent green clauses are for insertion into a long residential...
Board briefing note—environmental reporting—quoted companiesMemorandum prepared by [Name of Firm]For the directors of[insert company name] (the...
Environmental Information Regulations 2004, Data Protection Act 1998, Freedom of Information Act 2000—provision for disclosure by a local authority...
Board briefing note—environmental reporting—unquoted companiesMemorandum prepared by [Name of Firm]For the directors of[insert company name] (the...
Retained EU law—training materials [Archived]ARCHIVED: This Precedent has been archived and is not maintained.These training materials consist of...
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.
Environment
The environment includes all or any of the following media; air, water and land and any living organisms (including humans) or ecosystems supported by those media.
Hazardous substances
Any substances, whether solid, liquid or gaseous capable of causing harm to the health of living organisms or interference with the ecological systems of which they form part and, in the case of man, includes harm to his property.
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