DEFRA meaning

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Contamination and pollution Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental information Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR)-UK government publishes Business Model documentation On 27 August 2025, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) released a suite of papers on its proposed Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR) Business Model and accompanying policy. The Lexis+ Energy team, working with Navraj Singh Ghaleigh, Senior Lecturer in Climate Law at the University of Edinburgh Law School, set out the context for the GGR Business Model; its relationship with the Power BECCS Business Model; the technologies the GGR framework intends to encompass; its legal footing and principal features; and how...

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy efficiency of products Energy for environmental lawyers ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change Defra opens consultation on industrial emissions permitting reforms The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has begun consulting on plans to modernise England’s environmental permitting regime for industrial emissions. The package aims to foster innovation, adopt agile standards, secure proportionate and coherent regulation, boost regulator effectiveness and efficiency, and deliver a transparent system. Suggested measures include a new registration route for low-risk installations, flexible site permits setting overall emissions caps, and faster approvals for time‑limited technology trials. The proposals reflect the Corry Review’s critique of regulatory inefficiency. The Environment Agency intends to roll out changes that could cut permit queues from months to days and lower...

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental disputes and proceedings Environmental permits and consents Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change DESNZ releases quarterly waste data reporting template for the UK ETS. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has issued a template for quarterly waste data submissions under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS). It is designed for waste operators to use when sending quarterly data reports to their regulator during the voluntary monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) period. See: LNB News 19/02/2026 50. AFME responds to European Commission consultation on climate resilience legislative framework. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has provided...

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013, SI 2013/3113 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013 (WEEE 2013), SI 2013/3113, gave effect to Directive 2012/19/EU, the recast WEEE Directive, while revoking and superseding the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006, SI 2006/3289 (WEEE 2006). The recast WEEE Directive, and by extension WEEE 2013, rest on the concept of 'extended producer responsibility'. Under this approach, producers must accept accountability for the environmental consequences of their products, particularly at the 'end of their life' stage, ultimately, when items transition into waste, i.e., waste electrical and electronic equipment...

The Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001, SI 2001/2954, and the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Oil Storage) (Wales) Regulations 2016, SI 2016/359—together the Oil Storage Regulations—are intended to prevent contamination of land and water. Threshold for storage capacity The Oil Storage Regulations apply to organisations and individuals with custody or control of an oil storage container at business premises and public sector buildings where the capacity is 201 litres or more. The English Regulations also capture domestic premises or barges in England that hold any oil storage containers of 3,501 litres or above. Oil storage containers The Oil Storage Regulations generally cover the storage of oil, subject to exemptions that differ between England and Wales. See table below — Exempt oil storage containers. Oil Storage Regulations Guidance issued by the Environment Agency (EA) and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), applying in England and Wales, provides examples of storage containers within scope: oil drums and fixed tanks...

Introduction Environmental permitting is among the principal environmental regulatory frameworks in the UK. Its purpose is to oversee and limit pollution and emissions into the environment arising from industrial and other operations across the UK. It forms a central strand of UK business regulation, created to manage and oversee activities that could pollute the environment or pose risks to human health. Permits place a suite of conditions on the design and build, running and, in due course, closure of a regulated installation, as well as stipulating how regulated activities are undertaken. The main regulators are the Environment Agency (EA) in England, Natural Resources Body for Wales (NRW), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA). Local authorities likewise regulate the less polluting processes and sites. The lead government departments/bodies (the appropriate authorities) are the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for England together with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (the Secretary of State); Welsh Ministers; Scottish Ministers;...

1 Definitions Contamination: Hazardous Substances present at, in, on or beneath the Premises. Aggravated Contamination: Existing Contamination worsened by the Tenant or those it controls. Environment: air, land, water, and supported ecosystems or organisms, including humans. Existing Contamination: contamination present by Lease start, and its escape, excluding Aggravated. Hazardous Substances: any substance, alone or combined, able to harm the Environment or the health of organisms it supports. Losses: all losses, liabilities, actions, proceedings, claims, judgments, penalties, damages, costs and expenses, including legal and other professional fees. New Contamination: contamination (not Existing/Aggravated) first arising or migrating after Lease start. Statutory Guidance: Defra 2012 and/or Welsh 2012 guidance, plus later regime guidance. 2 Contamination The Tenant has no responsibility or liability for Existing Contamination; the Landlord must indemnify the Tenant. The Tenant is liable for, and shall indemnify the Landlord against, Losses from New Contamination and Aggravated Contamination. 3 Agreement on liabilities...

UK Within the UK, Defra leads the development of new regulations arising from initial studies that prioritise gains in energy efficiency. These rules are policed by the National Measurement Office (NMO). EU Ecodesign and energy-using requirements The European EuP Directive 2005/32/EC acted as a framework, with precise performance benchmarks and test methods defined in accompanying implementing measures and regulations. It was later replaced by the Eco-Design Directive 2009/125/EC. In the UK, the 2005 Directive was transposed via the Ecodesign for Energy-Using Products 2007, SI 2007/2037, which was in turn revoked by the Eco-Design for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010, SI 2010/2617. The 2010 Regulations transpose Directive 2009/125/EC into UK law, aiming to enhance product environmental performance across the whole life cycle by embedding environmental considerations at the earliest stages of design. The EU is setting minimum energy and environmental performance standards for more than twenty product groups, including lighting. Detailed technical provisions appear in the regulations, while the Market Transformation Programme (MTP) offers further information and the evidence...