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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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What is the failure to prevent fraud offence? The FTPF offence, in force from 1 September 2025, marks a major widening of corporate criminal exposure. Departing from classic corporate fraud cases that hinge on proving senior management’s awareness or participation, this route imposes liability on a ‘failure to prevent’ basis. Large organisations—those satisfying any two of: over 250 staff, turnover above £36m, or total assets exceeding £18m—can be prosecuted where an employee, agent, subsidiary, or other ‘associated person’ commits fraud to benefit the organisation. The sole defence is to show that the organisation had reasonable anti-fraud procedures in place. How does the FTPF offence relate to greenwashing? Its relevance to greenwashing emerges from the offences it captures. The regime covers fraud by false representation (section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 ( Fr A 2006)), fraud by failing to disclose information ( Fr A 2006, s 3), and...
The IUA stated that the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances—usually shortened to PFAS—represent a risk with an 'uncertain impact' for the insurance sector. This extensive class of chemicals, known as PFAS, is found in household goods from non-stick frying pans to skincare creams......
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 it aligns with the UK...
GGR Business Model and related policy On 27 August 2025, DESNZ released a suite of documents setting out its proposed GGR Business Model and associated policy. The package includes: GGR Business Model Summary Draft GGR Front End Agreement Draft GGR Standard Terms and Conditions, which together constitute the ‘ GGR Contract’ Draft GGR Grant Offer Letter Draft GGR Grant Funding Agreement Terms and Conditions The GGR Grant Funding Agreement Terms and Conditions are intended to be incorporated as a schedule to the final version of the GGR Grant Offer Letter. The GGR Grant Offer Letter, along with its schedules (including the GGR Grant Funding Agreement Terms and Conditions), is referred to as the ‘ Grant Funding Agreement’. The GGR Business Model aims to stimulate private capital in GGR technologies in the UK, with particular emphasis on engineered removals of...
In its 2026 work programme, ESMA noted that teams are already busy laying the necessary groundwork to commence fresh supervision across these fields and of consolidated tape providers, set to deliver price and volume market data via a unified electronic stream. ' Through broad engagement and advance preparation work, ESMA supervisory units are now readying themselves to assume these new duties', ESMA Director Natasha Cazenave said in a statement. The authority added that the broadened supervisory scope ties into new or updated EU rules now applying across financial services. ESMA will, from 2 July 2026, begin registering environmental, social and governance ( ESG) rating firms under the new ESG ratings regulation. This framework, enforced by ESMA, sets standards for how providers issue ESG assessments used to gauge companies’ financial exposure to those risks. In June 2026, ESMA will oversee external reviewers of green bonds,...
EU developments ESAs Joint Committee publish fourth annual report on PAI disclosures under EU SFDR The Joint Committee of the three European Supervisory Authorities (the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, and the European Securities and Markets Authority— ESAs) has released its fourth annual report reviewing the breadth of voluntary principal adverse impact ( PAI) disclosures under Regulation ( EU) 2019/2088 ( EU SFDR). It notes steady advances by financial market participants ( FMPs) in fulfilling SFDR disclosure obligations, alongside better completeness and quality of the data submitted. The outcomes echo earlier trends and also draw on input from National Competent Authorities ( NCAs). See: LNB News 09/09/2025 30. Source: the ESAs report stronger efforts by financial market participants in setting out principal adverse impacts. Commission adopts technical standards for European Green Bond external reviewers The European Commission has adopted a...
This note reviews the issues surrounding the recycling representations and the company’s response to them. As this matter illustrates, accusations of ‘greenwashing’—with tangible legal exposure—have intensified over the past two years, even amid shifting EU legislation. The legal risk attached to environmental claims has risen sharply. At national level in particular, multinational brands risk waves of challenges from rivals and consumer organisations, with significant financial and operational fallout. The stakes are high, as missteps can prompt complaints that carry real consequences indeed. Achieving the right equilibrium—clear, truthful claims that neither swamp shoppers with detail nor clutter the tight packaging ‘canvas’ in a visually appealing manner—remains demanding. Many are grappling with how to be precise and transparent while fitting messages onto a narrow labelling ‘landscape’. As brands progress on this steep learning curve, teams can draw lessons from cases like this. The complaint and issues raised with the...
In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Contamination and pollution Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental permits and consents ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Water, flooding and drainage Lex Talk®Environment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Air emissions and climate change DESNZ confirms contracts signed for two carbon capture projects DESNZ has announced that two carbon capture schemes in North Wales and the North West of England have executed final agreements with the Low Carbon Contracts Company and can now commence construction. The pair comprise the UK’s inaugural carbon capture‑enabled cement works at Padeswood, North Wales, led by Heidelberg Materials UK, and a capture‑equipped energy‑from‑waste plant at Protos, Ellesmere Port, promoted by Encyclis. Together, they are expected to remove 1.2 million tonnes of CO₂ each...
Consultation background On 26 August 2025, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs ( Defra), supported by the Environment Agency ( EA), opened the consultation on Modernising Environmental Permitting for Industry. It invites views on reforms to update the environmental permitting framework for the industry and energy sectors, presenting what is billed as a once-in-a-generation programme of change. Focusing on the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 ( EPR 2016), SI 2016/1154, the consultation addresses a range of “industrial” activities, including: installations; medium combustion plants and specified generators; small waste incineration plants; solvent emission activities; Part B mobile plants; and mobile medium combustion plants. Although the portrayal of a once-in-a-generation reform package is somewhat bold, the announcement itself was far from surprising. It arrives shortly after the government’s Corry Review of April 2025, which recommended revising the EPR 2016 to...
In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental information Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Health and safety Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change The House of Lords European Affairs Committee has sent a letter to the Cabinet Office concerning planned UK– EU talks on establishing a common sanitary and phytosanitary ( SPS) area and on connecting the respective emissions trading systems ( ETS). The Committee asks for clarity on: Parliament’s scrutiny of any dynamic alignment; the negotiation schedule and anticipated go‑live dates; and the scale of UK financial contributions to the relevant EU agencies and systems. It also seeks an...
In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental assessment Environmental disputes and proceedings Environmental information Environmental permits and consents 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 Commission launches clean mobility and innovation initiatives at EU automotive dialogue The European Commission has unveiled a package of measures to bolster innovation, competitiveness and the shift to cleaner mobility across the automotive sector. The announcements followed the third Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the European Automotive Industry in Brussels on 12 September 2025, chaired by President Ursula von der Leyen. Confirmed next steps include the inaugural meeting of the newly...
In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental information ESG and sustainability 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 Defra requests CCC to assess climate change adaptation planning assumptions The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ( Defra) has released a letter from the Minister for Water and Flooding, Emma Hardy, to the Climate Change Committee ( CCC), seeking an assessment of which climate change assumptions ought to be embedded within government planning for climate adaptation. This request comes after the CCC’s April 2025 progress update on adaptation, which called for clearer objectives and targets. The resulting assessment will guide the government in formulating stronger objectives for managing climate risks. See: LNB News 05/09/2025 30......
Green Lane Association Ltd v Central Bedfordshire Council [2025] EWHC 2251 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The Aarhus costs protection scheme in CPR 46, Pt IX limits the adverse costs exposure of unsuccessful claimants in “ Aarhus Convention claims”. The first real-world consequence of this judgment is the High Court’s renewed emphasis on the rigidity of the relevant procedural requirements where defendants intend to dispute either the availability of costs protection or, if it applies, the appropriate ceiling on adverse costs. If a defendant neglects to contest a claim’s Aarhus status in its acknowledgement of service, any later bid to revisit that point will be tested against Denton, and such attempts will be on the back foot, particularly in the absence of a cogent justification. The second consequence is that, following the interpretation of “ Aarhus Convention claim” and...
Asociacion De Veciños As Conchas, Federacion De Consumidores Y Usuarios CECU 4019/2025 What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling of the High Court of Justice of Galicia has tangible consequences for those working in administrative, environmental, and human rights practice. On substance, the judgment forges a firm connection between ecological degradation—most notably agricultural water pollution—and violations of core rights: life, health, private life, and the ability to access safe water. It broadens legal acknowledgement of environmental damage as a direct encroachment upon constitutionally safeguarded rights, creating a persuasive precedent for advisers supporting individuals and community groups suffering from contamination. On procedure, the court affirms that neighbourhood associations and consumer organisations may pursue fundamental rights actions, even when they are not the immediate victims but act for collective interests. This enlarges the room for group litigation, particularly in...
Short-duration storage—market and regulatory developments The Roadmap sets out a blueprint to expand short-duration flexibility across the energy system, blending active consumer involvement with focused network investment. Central to the consumer side is the Marketwide Half- Hourly Settlement ( MHHS) programme, unlocking dynamic, time-of-use tariffs and enabling innovative retail offerings that mirror real-time system conditions; Ofgem envisages delivery by 2030 at the latest. Complementary retail reforms aim to deliver tariff transparency, boost uptake of flexible appliances via smart functionality standards, and strip out disincentives, in the form of final consumption levies, on electricity exported from domestic storage and electric vehicles ( EVs). Under today’s arrangements, these levies are charged on electricity drawn into home and EV batteries and are not reimbursed when that power is sent back into the grid, thereby discouraging participation in consumer-led flexibility ( CLF). By 2050, EVs are expected to supply the...
In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental disputes and proceedings Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental information ESG and sustainability Nature and biodiversity protection Lex Talk®Environment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change ‘ Bigger than we thought it was going to be’—the ICJ Advisory Opinion clarifies states’ legal obligations relating to climate change On 24 July 2025, the International Court of Justice ( ICJ) delivered its inaugural advisory opinion ( AO) on climate change. The AO has been widely acclaimed as a watershed for both international environmental law and climate litigation, converting climate ambition into binding legal duties and ushering in intensified scrutiny of governmental and corporate behaviour. Authored by Estelle Dehon KC, of...
UK developments FCA reports improvements in SLL market since 2023 review The Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) has issued a letter summarising developments in the sustainability‑linked loans ( SLL) market since its 2023 review. It notes stronger market practice, featuring more resilient product structures and a move towards core sustainability performance targets that are material to borrowers’ business models. The Loan Market Association’s ( LMA) March 2025 update to the Sustainability‑ Linked Loan Principles has elevated baseline expectations. Banks are now applying declassification as a penalty for breaches, while the use of multiple sustainability coordinators is increasingly common in syndicated loans. These changes are intended to help capture the UK government’s estimated £200bn financial services opportunity by 2030. The FCA will continue to monitor the market and collaborate with the Transition Finance Council to promote the UK as a transition finance hub. See: LNB News...
Woodhouse Investment Pte Ltd and West Cumbria Mining ( Holdings) Ltd v UK, before the High Court of England and Wales, marks a genuinely pivotal point in the UK’s engagement with investment treaty arbitration. This development highlights a wider truth: treaty safeguards no longer belong only to investors in developing economies. Even mature rule‑of‑law states may now have to justify highly contentious policy choices before international arbitral panels. Background of the dispute The arbitration arises from the proposed Woodhouse Colliery in Whitehaven, Cumbria—the first deep coal mine in the UK for decades. Backed by West Cumbria Mining and reportedly majority‑owned by Singapore‑based Woodhouse Investment, the scheme aimed to supply metallurgical coal for steelmaking. The proposal swiftly proved divisive. Following years of consultation, government consent was issued in 2022. Two years later, the High Court in Friends of the Earth Ltd v Secretary of State for...
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...
Background Between July and November 2014, John Jones Civil Engineering & Groundworks Ltd (the appellant) tipped 410 lorryloads of building waste (soil, stone, brick, etc) into natural depressions at that location on a Herefordshire farm. The operation was unlawful because it proceeded without the requisite environmental permit and inflicted significant environmental damage (killing Great Crested Newts, a protected species). The Environment Agency brought a prosecution; the company admitted the offence and, in 2018, received a £50,000 fine (plus costs) that year. In December 2018, the Crown Court confirmed that penalty. Tax change Meanwhile, a significant alteration in tax rules had taken effect. From 1 April 2018, landfill tax was widened to include disposals at unauthorised waste sites (rather than only licensed landfills). Parliament enacted the reform to discourage unlawful dumping by reducing its profitability, thereby strengthening the ‘polluter pays’ principle. Under Schedule 12 to the Finance Act 2018, any...
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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