Environmental Law

Greenpeace has been ordered to pay $660 million in damages to an oil and gas company following US legal proceedings that the environmental group has described as a "meritless SLAPP". Texas-based company Energy Transfer accused Greenpeace of defamation and orchestrating criminal behaviour in relation

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has answered questions posed by the Irish High Court as the interpretation of Article 4(4)–(6) of Directive 2011/92 and the obligations arising where information received from third parties during the planning process raises doubt as to the potential environ

Lawyers have criticised an alleged lack of transparency in the public local inquiry into Northern Ireland's proposed Dalradian gold mine. The inquiry was due to run from January to March 2025 but was suspended after sitting for just three days due to procedural failings by the Department for Infrast

The EU has launched a consultation on revision to state aid rules in order to bring them in line with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention. The European Commission has prepared draft amendments to the state aid Implementing Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 and to the state aid Best Practices Code (B

A new users' group for the Planning and Environment Court has been established on a pilot basis. The Planning and Environment Court was established last year as a specialised division within the High Court in a bid to speed up complex judicial reviews.

New EU rules on deforestation have been postponed for a year under pressure from businesses and farmers. The landmark EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) aims to ensure that certain goods on the EU market do not contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in the EU and elsewhere in the world.

Wolves are set to have their protected status in the EU downgraded with effect from next March. A proposal to downgrade the status of wolves from "strictly protected" to "protected" has been approved by the standing committee of the Bern Convention, which governs the conservation of European wildlif

Three independent experts have been appointed to conduct a review of environmental governance in Northern Ireland, including considering options for an independent environment protection agency.

Northern Ireland's High Court has quashed a council's decision to grant planning permission for major expansion work at a defunct oil terminal following a legal challenge supported by The PILS Project.

An environmental activist has issued pre-action protocol letters against Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) for an alleged failure to tackle the "ecological crisis" at Lough Neagh. Leon Brooks accuses the department of failing to publish an environmen

A public consultation has been launched ahead of a wide-ranging review of Irish wildlife legislation. The upcoming review will include the Wildlife Act 1976, the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000, the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 and related regulations.

Tughans lawyer Maria O'Loan writes on the significance of a major environmental judgment from the Northern Ireland courts, in which she led the legal team advising the successful appellants. The Court of Appeal’s decision in Re No Gas Caverns and Friends of the Earth’s application has im

Environmental campaigners in Northern Ireland have succeeded in overturning a High Court ruling which paved the way for controversial plans to construct gas caverns under the seabed at Larne Lough. The Court of Appeal yesterday ruled in favour of Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland and community g

The EU Nature Restoration Law (NRL) has received final approval and will become law within weeks after a last-minute breakthrough. The first-of-its-kind regulation on nature restoration aims to put measures in place to restore at least 20 per cent of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030, and al

Ministers have approved plans to streamline the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) licencing system, including by providing definite timeframes for licencing decisions. The Environmental Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 will also provide more options for the EPA to efficiently regu