Annual Lecture 2016

By Maria Lee, on 30 August 2016

Local Publics and Offshore Wind Farms: constructing evidence in nationally significant infrastructure planning

Tuesday 11 October 2016, 18:00 – 19:00

Speaker: Professor Yvonne Rydin (UCL Barlett School of Planning)
Chair: Professor Maria Lee (UCL Laws)

About the lecture:

The regulation of offshore wind farms and other major renewable energy infrastructure provides an opportunity to examine the processes put in place by the Planning Act 2008. There has been little research on the operation of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) regime to date and an ESRC-funded project (Rydin, Lee, Lock and Natarajan No. 164522) is currently filling this gap. The project focuses particularly on how local publics are involved and their representations constructed – or not – as evidence. In this lecture, research on the NSIPs regime, based on detailed reading of extensive documentation, supplemented with on-going interviews, focus groups and attendance at hearings, will be used to show how science and technology studies (STS) offers insights into how the voice of local publics is constructed, the way that knowledge claims are recognised as evidence, and the role that material artefacts play in the hearings and deliberations.

About the speaker:

Yvonne Rydin has been at UCL since 2006. Before that she was at the LSE in the Department of Geography and Environment for 16 years. Prior to that she taught at the University of East London (Departments of Applied Economics and Land Mangement) and De Montfort University (School of Land and Building Studies). Yvonne has a BA in Land Economy (with Economics Part 1) and a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning Studies. She is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and an accredited Mediator.

Register your place:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/local-publics-and-offshore-wind-farms-registration-26756032012

Research on Environmental Compliance

By Richard B Macrory, on 29 July 2016

Richard Macrory has been expert adviser and written the guest editorial for the latest thematic issue of the European Commission’s Science for Environmental Policy series. Issue 56 (July 2016) entitled Environmental Compliance Assurance and Combatting Environmental Crime summarizes fourteen recently  published research papers from across the world, and covers such topics as the value of emerging networks of enforcement bodies, opportunities for exploiting new technologies to assist detection of regulatory breaches , the use of appropriate sanctions and the added value of a compliance assurance conceptual framework. The work for this issue was coordinated by the Science Communication Unit of the University of the West of England.  For a full copy of the Issue see the Science for Environmental Policy web-site.

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/index_en.htm

Paris Agreement on Climate Change – Its Legal Implications

By Richard B Macrory, on 21 June 2016

Professor Macrory was key note speaker at a meeting organized in Brussels by the European Environmental Advisory Councils on 17 June to discuss the legal implications of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The EEAC is a grouping of official environmental advisory bodies across the EU, and includes the UK Climate Change Committee.

Although the Paris agreement has been characterized as a commitment of effort by parties rather than  Kyoto style legally binding emission reductions , Professor Macrory’s analysis  demonstrated there were many legal obligations encased in the agreement. He went on to argue that the ambitious overall goals of the agreement were likely to influence the development of climate change law and litigation at national level.

Professor Macrory’s power point :  Macrory Paris agreement

Reflective Learning

By Richard B Macrory, on 10 June 2016

Last term  Professor Jane Holder and LLB Environmental Law students attended a two-day study retreat at the Sustainability Centre, Hampshire. The outdoor learning environment encouraged reflection on valuing nature and measuring loss, together with their legal mediation. Former students now working in a range of professional settings contributed to the event.

​Avosetta Meeting on EU Environmental Law

By Richard B Macrory, on 1 June 2016

Academics specialists in EU and national environmental law met at the end of May in Riga, Latvia for the annual meeting of the Avosetta group of lawyers.  Professor Macrory was one of the founding members of Avosetta when it was launched in 2001, and attended the Riga meeting.

Partnership with the Environmental Law Foundation

By Richard B Macrory, on 1 June 2016

 Professor Jane Holder has been leading our partnership with the Environmental Law Foundation established last year.  The ELF/UCL Clinic has been set up allowing the introduction of an environmental  legal practice element into the LLB programme and bringing UCL Laws  into a national network of ELF clinics located in universities.  This provides the opportunity to share expertise and best practice in clinical legal education, as well as identifying patterns of environmental injustice.

As outputs from the partnership and clinic, this year’s LLB environmental law students have:

• – researched EU environmental assessment law to support a cross-NGO complaint to the European Commission about the non-implementation of national regulations relating to farmland biodiversity.
• – embarked on advice work for users of Battersea Park in relation to decision making about planned Formula E racing events.  The areas of law include environmental assessment and Aarhus participation rights.

LLM Students Hold Climate Change Conference

By Richard B Macrory, on 20 April 2016

PIEL UK held its 10th Annual Conference on 15 April : “Climate Talks After Paris: Beyond the Pledges.” Students, academics and legal practitioners attended the all day event which was organized by LLM environmental law students at London universities including UCL.

The aim was to critically assess the future of climate negotiations and its impact on the international legal sector. The conference opened with keynote speaker Kirsty Schneeberger, who participated in the Paris negotiations as former advisor to the UNFCCC Executive Secretary. Other speakers and panellists included participants in the Paris negotiations and leading specialists in international climate law.

Professor Richard Macrory was moderator of one of the sessions, and Ned Westaway, Hon Research Associate and a founding member of PIEL provided the closing speech. Ashley Overhouse from PIEL has provided a Detailed Account.

First Civil Financial Penalty Served by the Environment Agency

By Richard B Macrory, on 29 February 2016

The Environment Agency has just publicized details of the first variable civil penalty served on an organization for an environmental offence. Civil penalties were part of range of new sanctions recommended by Professor Macrory in his 2006 Cabinet Office Sanctions Review, and contained in Part III Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008.
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A penalty of £63,958 plus costs was imposed on Cumbria County Council last August after chlorine leaked out of one of its swimming pools and killed more than 400 fish in a local river, according to the Environment Agency’s  latest list of civil sanctions, published on 19 February 2016.

Professor Macrory commented, “I am delighted to see another significant step in the practical implementation of a modern and flexible sanctions systems. In this case the incident was serious enough to warrant an imposed sanction rather than accept an agreed undertaking but not a full criminal prosecution. The Agency now has a flexible range of sanctions powers appropriate to the situation in hand.”

Climate Change and the National Courts

By Richard B Macrory, on 4 December 2015

Over 100 people attended a packed  conference held in London on December 1 at Mishcon de Reya LLP, and hosted by UK Environmental Law Association, Planning & Environment Bar Association, and Constitutional & Administrative Law Bar Association. The focus of the event was on the potential role of national courts in climate change issues.   Any agreement that results from the current Paris negotiations on climate change will centre on bottom up national reductions plans (termed by the UN as  ‘Intended Nationally Determined Contributions’), and this suggests that national courts may play a stronger role in the future in ensuring their effective implementation.  Speakers included Tom Burke, Visiting Professor, UCL; Sarah Kohl (Department of Energy and Climate Change); Professor Richard Macrory, Centre for Law and the Environment, UCL; and Lord Carnwath, Supreme Court, with James Maurici QC chairing.    Professor Macrory considered the UK Climate Change Act 2008 and the extent to which its provisions could be justiciable in the courts. 

New members of CLE

By Maria Lee, on 3 November 2015

We are delighted to announce the appointment of two new members to the Centre for Law and the Environment, Professor Catherine Redgwell and Justine Thornton.

Justine is a barrister at 39 Essex Chambers, specialising in environmental law, and has been appointed a visiting professor at the Centre. Catherine is Chichele Professor of International Law at University of Oxford, All Souls College, and has been appointed an honorary professor at the Centre.

We are thrilled to be joined by two such accomplished colleagues, and very much look forward to working with them.