Natural Environment

On 20 December 2022, at the Conference of the Parties (“COP 15”) of the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity, an agreement was reached by the almost 200 member states on a new Global Biodiversity Framework (“GBF”). This document replaces the previous Aichi Biodiversity Targets (1), agreed in 2010. A core theme of the conference was […]

We have won a key Habitats Directive case in the High Court: Harris v Environment Agency. Read our press release in full here > Freeths’ clients, long-standing campaigners and landowners Mr and Mrs Harris, argued that the Environment Agency failed to do enough to protect internationally rare wetland species and habitats of the Broads Special […]

Law firm Freeths LLP has today won a landmark environmental case in Harris vs Environment Agency. The High Court has ruled that key European nature conservation laws remain enforceable against the Environment Agency (and by implication other public bodies), despite the UK having left the European Union. The Court agreed with Freeths’ clients, husband and […]

This article will be of interest to ecological consultants who work closely with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). On 20 July 2021, the government issued the new NPPF which includes a couple of changes to the chapter of the NPPF entitled “Conserving and enhancing the natural environment.” The NPPF contains the government’s planning policies […]