November 2024 saw the publication of the 2024 5th edition of Halsbury’s Laws of England, Water & Waterways, vols 100 and 101, for which I was Consultant Editor, along with the expert Editor Siobhan McKeering. This made for a busy summer.

I am delighted to have started on 1 July 2024 a 6 month contract working at the Office for Environmental Protection (‘OEP’) – www.theoep.org.uk

Three key components of a credible UK approach to chemicals regulation are, as at April 2024, currently missing.  

On 6 February 2024, in the face of strong opposition from farmers in the EU and their trade bodies such as COPA COGECA, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the abandonment of the proposed Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products Regulation, which contained the Commission’s aim to halve pesticide use. This had been an important part of the Commission’s ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy and its Green Deal. 

On 30 January 2024 the Welsh Government issued a White Paper setting out its proposals for new legislation for the Senedd on Environmental Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets. The consultation will run until 30 April 2024.

The re-establishment of devolved government in Northern Ireland was the subject of intense negotiations for months before conclusions were announced by the UK government and the leadership of the Democratic Unionist Party ‘DUP’, and with the publication on 31 January 2024 of the Command Paper ‘Safeguarding the Union’ (CP 1021).  

On 8 January 2024, the UK Parliament will be asked to vote on the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill.

This will amend the UK’s Petroleum Act 1998, and require the Oil and Gas Authority, also known as the North Sea Transition Authority, to run an annual process inviting applications for new oil and gas production licences.

Natural England has said that –

“Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is an approach to development, land and marine management that leaves biodiversity in a measurably better state than before the development took place.”

The specialist not-for profit Fish Legal and the Pickering Fishery Association won a notable victory in the High Court on 20 November 2023, that could be significant for the health of many other UK rivers.

The Energy Act 2023 received Royal Assent and was enacted on 26 October 2023. It is a hefty piece of legislation – 335 sections, 22 Schedules, 473 pages – described by the government as “the biggest piece of energy legislation in the UK’s history”.

It was really welcome to be able to attend an online briefing this week by the Welsh Government Bill team working on proposals for the Environmental Governance and Biodiversity Targets Bill, along with representatives of the UK Environmental Law Association ‘UKELA’ Wales Working Party, NGOs and other stakeholders.