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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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In this issue: Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental enforcement and prosecutions ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Latest Q& A Energy efficiency and buildings The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ( DESNZ) has issued its 2025 post‑implementation review ( PIR) of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme ( ESOS) Regulations 2014 ( SI 2014/1643). Using Phase 3 compliance notifications from the Environment Agency, together with unpublished interim data from Phase 3 action plans, and building on the 2020 PIR, it recommends holding off any major amendments to the ESOS Regulations until a full evaluation ends in May 2026, after which a...
R (on the application of Associated Petroleum Terminals ( Immingham) Ltd and Humber Oil Terminals Trustee Ltd) v Secretary of State for Transport ( Harbour Master for the River Humber, intervening) [2025] EWHC 1992 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? This case addresses environmental impact assessments ( EIAs) and the relevance of the Gateshead principle to DCO decision making. It does not establish new law but reinforces established tenets within the EIA regime, which will interest those involved in nationally significant infrastructure projects. The key points reaffirmed were: the adequacy of an ES is a matter for the decision maker, who applies their own judgment to its suitability; the court stressed it will not intervene in such evaluative judgments save in a case of Wednesbury unreasonableness an ES should include information ‘reasonably required for reaching reasoned conclusions on the...
In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental assessment Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental information ESG and sustainability Health and safety Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Latest Q& A Air emissions and climate change Commission launches call for evidence on CO2 transport infrastructure regulation The European Commission has begun a call for evidence on its draft rules covering CO2 transport networks and related markets. This step flows from the Industrial Carbon Management strategy of February 2024, which highlighted the requirement for competitive CO2 transport markets to underpin Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage ( CCUS) deployment. The regulation would create an EU-wide framework for CO2 transport infrastructure to help deliver the Union’s 2050 climate goals. A public...
Introduction The Independent Water Commission’s Final Report lays out a bold, ambitious blueprint to overhaul governance, regulation, and strategic planning across the water sector in England and Wales. It proposes sweeping structural shifts: establishing integrated national regulators, reshaping the system-planning remit, and dramatically streamlining the industry’s planning frameworks. The report prioritises long-term resilience, cross-sector collaboration, and aligning environmental and growth ambitions through a National Water Strategy. It presses for statutory resilience benchmarks, mandatory smart metering, a national social tariff, and the consolidation of nine separate water plans into two core frameworks. Recognising the shortcomings of today’s fragmented regime, the Commission urges targeted legislative change, stronger consumer safeguards, and a more coherent model for infrastructure delivery, with the goal of building a sustainable, efficient, and transparent water sector equipped to meet the challenges of the next 25...
Watson Farley On 5 August 2025, Watson Farley observed that the push to appeal to ESG‑aware investors and consumers has given companies powerful motives to overstate the genuine sustainability of their activities. The firm says this trend is drawing increased scrutiny from relevant regulators. The report notes that the need to tackle greenwashing has now hit a new high in 2025. Watson Farley highlighted several recent matters that, it said, demonstrate a step‑up in disputes around greenwashing. As an illustration, it referenced the Competition and Markets Authority ( CMA), which has announced it will commence public enforcement of its green claims code in 2025. The code is intended to stop businesses from issuing environmental assertions that lack evidential support. The CMA can penalise companies that breach the code......
UK developments FCA issues full-page update on climate change and sustainable finance The Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) has issued a full-page refresh of its ‘ Climate change and sustainable finance’ webpage, setting out its ongoing work in this area. The update draws together recent developments in the FCA’s regulatory stance, designed to support the management of risks linked to the shift to a more sustainable economy and to the impacts of climate change. It also details action to improve the availability and reliability of sustainability information, encourage fair competition, and contribute to internationally aligned standards. This sits within wider efforts to back the UK Government’s goal of making the UK a global centre for sustainable finance. Refer to LNB News 22/07/2025 51. Source: Climate change and sustainable finance [ Update]. FCA publishes multi-firm review findings on climate-related disclosures by asset managers, life insurers and...
R (on the application of Alison Caffyn) v Shropshire County Council [2025] EWHC 1497 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling will interest anyone tracking the trajectory set by the Supreme Court in R ( Finch) v Surrey County Council [2024] UKSC 20, as the High Court relied on that approach when testing the legality of an EIA for planning permission for an IPU. The court confirmed that, for an EIA to be lawfully sound, the LPA must reach evaluative judgments on two fronts: Causation — whether the effect is sufficiently likely and linked to the proposed development to justify assessment; and Evidence — whether there is an adequate evidential foundation for a reasoned conclusion. A meaningful appraisal does not require absolute certainty or pinpoint precision. Mr Justice Fordham stressed that where an evaluative issue, reserved to the...
Farnsworth v The Information Commissioner ( IC) [2025] UKFTT 670 ( GRC) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision serves as a clear prompt for anyone managing information requests to scrutinise the applicability and breadth of exemptions under EIR 2004, SI 2004/3391, or FIOA 2000 where relevant. Erewash Council (the Council) treated the request as falling within EIR 2004, SI 2004/3391 and examined the exemptions in regulation 14. Initially, it considered relying on sub-paragraphs (a) and (e), but ultimately invoked sub-paragraph (d), covering ‘material which is still in the course of completion, to unfinished documents or to incomplete data’. Given that EIR 2004, SI 2004/3391 derives from European treaties to which the UK is a party, the judge stressed that such instruments must be read in good faith, according to their ordinary meaning, in context and in light of their...
The inquiry uncovered evidence that products made, in whole or in part, with forced labour are entering the UK market, despite the government’s position that no company operating in the UK should have forced labour anywhere in its supply chain. The Report concludes that the UK is now lagging behind international trading partners in addressing forced labour in supply chains. Its principal recommendation is to strengthen existing laws and their enforcement, and to introduce new measures to embed corporate responsibility (including mandatory human rights due diligence), apply an import ban on goods linked to forced labour, and create a ‘duty to prevent’ that establishes civil liability for companies that fail to take adequate steps to prevent forced labour in their supply chains. The Report’s themes The Report examines six themes: Corporate responsibility Import bans and...
In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental permits and consents Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat protection Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Lex Talk®Environment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change DENSZ publishes UK ETS monitoring guidance The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ( DENSZ) has issued technical guidance to support UK Emissions Trading Scheme ( UK ETS) installation operators in meeting the Monitoring and Reporting Regulation 2018 ( MRR). The suite comprises five papers covering general requirements, uncertainty evaluation, biomass reporting, data flow processes and control systems, together with sampling and analysis methods. It applies to installations in England, Scotland and Wales, setting out detailed obligations for monitoring and reporting under the UK ETS. Each paper addresses distinct technical aspects of compliance, from...
Although the guidance is not statutory, it is comprehensive and, at times, couched in obligatory terms, and in places stated in mandatory language. Unsurprisingly, it provides direction on the legal obligations the guidance engages with, on consultation, on the environmental assessment of options, on the statutory annual review of the DWMP, and on how it interfaces with other plans. Taken together, the guidance comprises three documents in all: a short introductory paper touching on key issues that arise when preparing DWMPs (‘doc1’); a detailed, step-by-step ‘how to’ guide setting out the process (‘doc2’); and a set of thresholds for reporting purposes, in addition to the undertakers’ performance indicators (‘doc3’). It is addressed to those preparing the DWMPs, but will be of real interest to all who care about the state of our infrastructure and the...
The consultation The Health and Safety Executive ( HSE) — the authority responsible, within its health and safety remit, for regulating chemicals in the UK — has released a consultation paper on chemicals policy. It concentrates on three key strands: the regulation of biocides the classification, labelling and packaging ( CLP) of chemicals the export and import of hazardous chemicals, including prior informed consent ( PIC) The background The consultation is largely a consequence of Brexit. For instance, before the UK’s departure, the European Chemicals Agency ( ECHA) handled approvals for biocidal products on the EU single market through the EU Biocidal Products Regulation ( Regulation ( EU) 528/2012), which sets rules for marketing and using biocides across Europe. Since leaving the European Union, this responsibility sits with HSE for Great Britain (not the whole UK, as Northern Ireland continues to apply certain EU...
In this issue: Key developments and materials Air emissions and climate change Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental disputes and proceedings ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments and materials UN committee finds UK breached Aarhus Convention over inadequate public consultation on Brexit legislation The UN Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee has released draft conclusions stating that the UK contravened Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention while preparing the EU Withdrawal Bill. It concluded the UK did not: observe the necessary public consultation periods; circulate the draft Bill for public scrutiny; and facilitate avenues for public feedback. Arising from a 2017 complaint by Friends of the Earth, these...
In this issue: Key developments and materials Air emissions and climate change Brexit Contamination and pollution Energy efficiency of products Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental disputes and proceedings Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental information Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Sources of environmental law ( UK, EU, international) Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments and materials The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy 2025 Simon Colvin (partner), Luke Davies- Foo (solicitor) and Melissa Dixon (apprentice solicitor) at Pinsent Masons explore the environmental ramifications of the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy 2025, covering consequences for the electricity market and clean power, pathways to...
Department for Business and Trade ( Respondent) v The Information Commissioner ( Appellant) [2025] UKSC 27 Background FIA 2000 grants a right to access information held by public bodies, save where the Act’s exemptions apply. On 15 November 2017, journalist Mr Montague asked the Department of Business and Trade (‘the Department’) for material about the Trade Working Groups established to undertake preliminary work on post‑ Brexit trade agreements. The Department released some material on 8 February 2018 and added more on 25 March 2019 (while the Commissioner’s investigation was ongoing), but retained the rest, invoking FIA 2000, s 27, concerning international relations, and s 35(1)(a) concerning the development of government policy. Those provisions are ‘qualified exemptions’, as they are governed by the public interest balancing exercise in FIA 2000, s 2(2)(b), which states that ‘in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in...
Background to the making of this Strategy The ‘ Strategy’ sets out a decade-long programme to boost private investment and build UK industries for the years ahead. Inside the Strategy, the government presents the shift to net zero as the defining economic chance of this century, stressing that any path to macroeconomic resilience or lasting expansion must rest on a robust route to net zero. The impetus for the Strategy is unambiguous. The incoming Labour administration cites past governments’ shortcomings as both overly prescriptive and insufficiently interventionist. According to the government, the UK has lacked the agility required to react to market shifts. The Strategy prioritises delivery and is anchored in the hurdles and prospects of the coming ten years. In line with recent economic and regulatory developments, businesses are bringing environmental measurement and reduction to the forefront of growth...
What does the Market Standards Trend Report cover? The Market Standards Trend Report delivers detailed analysis of FTSE 100 companies’ sustainability disclosures and climate transition plans during 2024, and sets out forward-looking expert commentary on the outlook for these themes for the 2025 season. To capture the multi-faceted character of sustainability reporting, the report seeks to pinpoint which sustainability areas companies are disclosing across their public materials and, subsequently, to infer why they are doing so in practice. While this year’s publication places primary emphasis on environmental disclosure, mirroring prevailing regulatory and market priorities, it also recognises the increasing salience of social and human rights matters across the corporate agenda. Topics addressed in the report include: sustainability reporting and disclosures......
In this issue: Key developments and materials Air emissions and climate change Brexit Energy efficiency of products Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental disputes and proceedings Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Sources of environmental law ( UK, EU, international) Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments and materials Defra publishes EIP annual progress report for 2024–25 The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs ( Defra) has released the 2024–25 annual progress update to the Environment Improvement Plan ( EIP), covering April 2024 through March 2025. It charts progress across ten environmental goals, noting a £2.65bn commitment to flood...
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 Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Sources of environmental law Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts Updated Practice Note Air emissions and climate change New government guidance clarifies how to evaluate the climate effects of downstream scope 3 emissions from offshore oil and gas schemes. Issued by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ( DESNZ) on 19 June 2025, the supplementary note is considered by Dr Lois Lane of Cornerstone Barristers, who sets out the context and possible practitioner impacts. See News Analysis: New government guidance on assessing climate impacts of offshore oil and gas projects. Luciano Lliuya v RWE AG: After almost a decade of proceedings, on 28 May 2025 the Higher Regional Court (...
Mums for Lungs and Client Earth asked High Court Judge Adam Constable to order the removal of redactions applied to papers filed in the protracted litigation arising from the 2015 ‘ Dieselgate’ scandal. They said doing so would serve the public interest by helping people understand whether the carmakers acted unlawfully. The 7 July 2025 hearing examined public access to documents relied upon in the case and possible limits on access to material the manufacturers insist is confidential. The organisations, which were recently granted permission to intervene, argued in written submissions that the public interest would be advanced by ensuring redactions do not stop UK regulators from obtaining the information needed to start investigations or implement policy steps against the car companies. Motorists further urged Judge Constable to reject the car manufacturers’ claims to confidentiality over documents that should be...
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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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