It might seem strange on a site dedicated to Brexit and the Environment to have a blog on the European Parliament (EP) elections. Since Brexit UK citizens no longer have the right to vote in the European elections unless they hold joint citizenship for another EU country. However, leaving aside EP-nerds like me who enjoy nothing more than pondering the runners and riders in Euro elections, there are a lot of good reasons to take an interest in these elections, especially from an environmental perspective.   A major concern for green activists in the run up to Brexit was that leaving the E ..read more

Recent developments on two topics are telling different stories on how inter-governmental relations within the UK are evolving in the light of the greater freedom of devolved authorities to go their own way now that they are no longer bound by the shared constraints of EU law.  Whereas in relation to controls on vaping the picture has been one of collaboration and walking in step, on the banning of glue traps dispute has arisen between Edinburgh and London, whilst the earlier arguments over the deposit and return scheme may be re-energised.    Background  At the end of ..read more

Whether we will see divergence or convergence in areas of devolved competence after Brexit has been a recurring question since the 2016 referendum. A simple answer is – both… and it depends on where/what we are looking at. Take environmental governance: one body for England and Northern Ireland (convergence) but a different body for Scotland (divergence). As for principles, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland have the same list of principles but each have their different guidance.   What of Wales in this context? As we have explained in our two previous blog posts, Wales is a late ..read more

Brexit opened environmental governance gaps in the UK. During the UK’s membership of the EU, many practical environmental governance functions, from setting long-term targets to monitoring practical conditions and enforcing compliance with environmental law was done (in part) by EU institutions. Brexit triggered a review of those arrangements: were some functions not needed anymore? If they were needed, could we ‘make do’ with existing bodies, or were new bodies needed?   All of these questions were made more difficult as ‘we’ in those questions is tricky to narrow down. The UK yes ..read more

After missing for two years, the Assembly and the Executive, especially the Minister in the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs have a lot of catch up to do. The new minister, Andrew Muir, is from a party, Alliance, which has never held this portfolio. He furthermore, compared to his predecessor, is not a farmer. He has committed to focus on the “full remit” of the department – which has already been interpreted by Agriland as meaning he would favour climate and environment over agriculture. Whether Muir will favour environmental action as much as agriculture policy (or i ..read more

Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in the UK and Ireland is dying. Eutrophication and ensuing wide-spread cyanobacteria bloom have seen the Lough turn bright green this summer, killing wildlife and stopping economic activity such as fishing and tourism. NI residents, both on its shore and beyond are worried about what this means for the quality of drinking water in Northern Ireland. 40 percent of NI waters come from the Lough.  Eutrophication is always a complex problem which is hard to fix. It is caused by an overabundance of nutrients which come from different sources. Reducing th ..read more

For centuries, scholars interested in Gnostic thought could only get their hands on critiques (indeed, very harsh critiques) of Gnosticism, and not the original texts which had mostly been destroyed. This changed in the 1940s with the discovery, and gradual translation of texts which had been buried in the Egyptian sand. What does this have to do with environmental governance in Northern Ireland in 2023? In the absence of a sitting Executive, we are in a very odd position. Not only are deadlines being missed and action not taken, but critical policy documents that have been produced are not be ..read more

In the wake of the Prime Minister’s recent announcement granting numerous new oil and gas licenses, the UK’s post-Brexit energy governance has come under intense scrutiny. This development follows our “green day” blog series in April, which aimed to shed light on the trajectory of the conservative government’s energy policies after Brexit. The UK’s journey towards sustainability and energy security has been marked by both promising steps and bewildering reversals. This blog post delves into the government’s post-Brexit energy policies, highlighting key policy shifts, their implications, and th ..read more

It has been seven years since the EU referendum and three and a half years since Brexit ‘proper’. This timeframe is both long enough for the UK to have profoundly changed its system of environmental governance and still quite early days to judge how successful those changes have been. Looking back, we can note a worrying tendency in Westminster towards centralised and slapdash environmental law. This centralisation of power (or ‘power grab’) raises questions about the balance of power between Parliament and Government and the implications for the UK territorial constitution. The hurried and sl ..read more

Two significant consultations on environmental governance and rights have been launched in Scotland. One reflects on the present position and proposes no changes. The other continues moves towards the major step of incorporating a range of social and economic human rights into the law, including the right to a healthy environment. Review of Environmental Governance The first publication is a direct consequence of Brexit since the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021 required a review of the effectiveness and appropriateness of governance relating to the enviro ..read more