Before we explore how we can assist our clients with legal obstacles and concerns, we want to go back to basics and look at the legal duty to achieve net zero placed upon the UK. Please see below some Questions and Answers about the Climate Change Act and the relevance of the Paris Agreement to the UK’s Net Zero goals.
Under the Habitats Regulations 2017, if a local planning authority is required to carry out a habitats “appropriate assessment” for a development, it can only grant planning permission for the development where there is no likelihood of a significant adverse effect on any European designated nature conservation site (unless certain circumstances apply). High levels of nitrates in various areas of
Climate change and energy are very much in the news at the present time. Positive excitement before Christmas with the UK hosting the prestigious COP 26 conference has deteriorated into political headaches over the spiralling costs of energy and its impact on UK consumers.
But local authorities are large energy users too and will not escape the rampant energy
An example of Local authority green action is illustrated in this article. West of England Combined Authority (WECA) plan to replace their climate change plan with a more ambitious one, as they were not on track to meet their 2030 climate change goal of achieving net zero. Their projections will mean reducing CO2 emissions each year by 10%. They
In Contracts, the NEC has introduced the consultative form of its new “option X29” clause which aims to tackle misleading green claims made by suppliers (sometimes called “greenwashing”) and enable tangible net-zero requirements within contracts.
For more information see the NEC statement and our article on option X29.
In Procurement, the Government’s Net Zero Strategy outlines the intention to “leverage public procurement as a tool that drives greener and more resilient outcomes” which is supported by the policies within the Innovation Strategy.
