It was great to make a first visit to Accra and Ghana in mid April 2025 to contribute to a workshop on nuclear liability as part of the European Commission programme in support of Ghana’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority, led by friends and colleagues from Vienna. I did sessions on nuclear liability, and on nuclear transport.
From 28 to 30 January 2025 the UK and the EU were in an arbitration hearing in the Hague. The hearing concerned the UK and Scottish governments’ decision to ban sandeel fishing in certain areas of the Dogger Bank
On 30 January 2025 the Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights handed down a judgement in the case of Cannavacciuolo and Others v Italy.
In the late 1990s, while undertaking a Harkness Fellowship in the USA and working on a book on ‘Making Environmental Laws Work’, I visited Silicon Valley to talk to some of the company managers there about environmental regulation and the US computer industry.
In September 2006 I had the good fortune to be invited to speak at a conference in Mariupol, Ukraine, on the ‘Effective Implementation of Environmental Laws’. What is happening there now has reminded me of a visit to Ukraine at a point in time when it was still emerging from its Soviet past, and of earlier witnessing the Berlin Wall and life behind the Iron Curtain.
On 23rd February 2022, the European Commission published a legislative proposal for a new Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. Although the proposed Directive remains to be negotiated and will have a lead in period before implementation, it is likely to have an immediate impact in signalling the likely direction of travel for major companies in the EU and beyond.
In the second of our notes from the highly successful Wildlife & Countryside Link conference in London on 6th December 2021, we cover some of the remarks by George Eustice, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs on the Environment Act 2021, and discuss the potential significance of his remarks on environmental targets.
The Environment Bill, first published in draft in 2018, subject to interminable delays and carried over from one Parliamentary session to another, finally completed its passage through Parliament on 9th November 2021, still mired in controversy over whether it addresses with adequate clarity the pressing need for effective enforcement of environmental laws
The IEA Report ‘Net Zero by 2050’ published in May 2021 called for no further investment in new coal mines or coal mine extensions, and no new exploration and development of oil and gas fields.
Very excited to share our contribution to #All4climate Italia 2021 programme in the run up to #cop26glasgow.
I am really looking forward to speaking on 23 September at the Annual Scottish Conference 2021 of UKELA - UK Environmental Law Association
