Commercial

Commercial

Commercial contracts—Practice Notes

Content on Commercial contracts in this subtopic includes the following Practice Notes:

Supply chain issues in practice

•
Environmental issues in the supply chain for commercial lawyers—which covers a number of questions and scenarios concerning compliance with environmental law that may be encountered by commercial lawyers when providing advice on supply chains and supply agreements. It covers issues concerning the fields of chemicals, REACH, hazardous substances, waste duty of care, waste electrical electronic equipment (WEEE), reporting and compliance, shipping of waste/hazardous substances, climate change and net zero and eco-labelling
•
Supply chain sustainability—which considers supply chain sustainability and sustainable procurement. It looks at how the UN Global Compact leads the effort to improve organisations' supply chain sustainability performance, and provides guidance to commercial lawyers on how to help clients develop supplier codes of conduct as well as supply chain sustainability programmes that address human rights, labour, environmental issues, corruption, litigation and risk management concerns
•
Sustainable procurement—private sector—which outlines what sustainable procurement is and why lawyers should understand how to apply the principles of sustainable procurement in the private sector. It provides a practical

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

Commission opens consultation on circular bioeconomy initiative

The European Commission has launched a call for evidence on its new circular bioeconomy initiative, open from 31 March 2025. The initiative, presented as a Communication under the Commission Work Programme, aims to support sustainable biomass use across agriculture, forestry, fisheries, biomanufacturing and biotechnology sectors. The proposal focuses on maintaining materials and products within the economy while operating within environmental constraints. Stakeholders can submit feedback through the Commission's online consultation platform, with all responses to be published publicly. The consultations closes on 23 June 2025.

Defra and Environment Agency announce £2.65bn flood defence investment programme

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Environment Agency have announced a £2.65bn two-year investment programme for flood defence infrastructure. The programme encompasses over 1,000 flood schemes, with £430m allocated for construction and £220m for defence reinstatement for 2025. The government has prioritised £140m to complete 29 schemes facing cost pressures. Major projects receiving funding include: the Derby Flood Risk Management Scheme (£34.6m), North Portsea Island Coastal Flood scheme (£13.8m), and Preston and South Ribble scheme (£10.4m). The investment aims to protect communities and businesses from flooding impacts while supporting local economic growth.

EA publishes consultation outcome on standard permit rules consultation number 28

The Environment Agency (EA) has published the consultation outcome to the consultation on the development of new standard rules that would allow operators of existing installations to apply for a bespoke permit variation to permitted activities. The consultation received 16 responses, with most supporting the new approach. The EA has reviewed the responses, finalised the standard rules and generic risk assessment, and plans to publish them by April 2025. Guidance will be provided to help operators notify research and development (R&D) operations under the standard rules.

Defra consults on proposed amendments to Heather and Grass Burning Regulations

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched a consultation, seeking views on proposed amendments to the Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) Regulations 2021, SI 2021/158. The proposals include: (1) extending the ban of burning on deep peat to cover a larger area of upland peat, increasing the protected area by 146,000 hectares; (2) revising the definition of deep peat to include peat over 30cm deep; and (3) amending the licensing regime to allow land managers and owners to apply for a licence to burn peatlands in limited circumstances. Applicants must demonstrate why alternative methods are ineffective and outline a plan to transition the land away from the need for future burning. The consultation closes on 25 May 2025.