I am really looking forward to speaking on 23 September at the Annual Scottish Conference 2021 of UKELA - UK Environmental Law Association
ANNUAL SCOTTISH CONFERENCE 2021 UKELA
Illegal waste activity in England- new evidence
A new report published on 22 July 2021 outlines the scale of illegal waste activity in England. The report “An independent Study into Fly-tipping and Unregistered Waste Carriers in England” was carried out by Air & Space Evidence and EPR, and commissioned by Material Focus, the not-for-profit behind the Recycle Your Electricals campaign. I was one of a number of reviewers taken from academia, the waste industry and former Government and regulatory officials.
SOUTHERN WATER’S £90 MILLION FINE FOR UNPERMITTED SEWAGE DISCHARGES – “DELIBERATE DISREGARD FOR THE LAW FROM THE TOP DOWN”
On 9 July 2021, Southern Water entered 51 guilty pleas to charges of making unpermitted discharges or untreated sewage along the southern coast of England. The charges covered 6,971 unpermitted discharges, some 61,704 hours or a total of 7 years worth of discharges of millions of gallons over the five years from 2010 to 2015.
UK GOVERNMENT SCRAPS ITS OWN GREEN HOMES GRANT SCHEME
UK FOUND IN BREACH OF NITROGEN DIOXIDE LIMIT VALUES BY COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR THE SUSTAINABLE USE OF PESTICIDES
ENVIRONMENT BILL – 2. COMMONS SELECT COMMITTEE CHAIRS BATTLE TO IMPROVE RIVER QUALITY, AIR QUALITY
ENVIRONMENT BILL, 1: MISSING. INACTION.
SIX KEY FACTORS FOR BUSINESS REGULATION IN 2021
EU-UK TRADE AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT – ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
On Christmas Eve, 24th December 2020, just one week before the end of the Transition Period, the EU and UK announced that they had reached an “agreement in principle” on a Trade and Cooperation Agreement. This covers tariff and quota free trade in most goods, and other aspects of cooperation on economic, social, environmental and fisheries issues.
Young Climate Activists Launch Mock COP Treaty
In the absence of world leaders, and with the UNFCCC climate conference at COP26 in Glasgow postponed until November 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, student climate activists decided to press ahead and hold their own online MOCK COP, which took place between 19th November and 1st December 2020. The full Declaration and Treaty can be read here.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION ADOPTS CHEMICALS STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY
On 14 October 2020 the European Commission adopted the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. The Commission’s proposals, which will now be debated and negotiated with EU Member States and the European Parliament, set an ambitious new agenda for chemicals regulation within the Union as part of the EU Green Deal.
UK CHEMICALS REGULATION – RAPID DIVERGENCE FROM EU’S CHEMICAL STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY
AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENT, FISHERIES – WILL UK STANDARDS BE A HOUSE MADE OF STRAW?
On 12 October 2020 the Agriculture Bill returned to the House of Commons, which voted down the amendments added by the House of Lords. The Lords amendments would have required that food products imported into the U.K. under future trade deals meet U.K. standards. They would also have required that the new Trade and Agriculture Commission be given a statutory role in reviewing trade agreements.