Environmental Law Update | April 2025

The most significant development to put on your radar this month is the publication of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. This contains some of the most substantial changes to nature laws that we have seen in decades.

Nature and biodiversity  

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill 

The long-awaited Planning and Infrastructure Bill (the “Bill”) was published on 11 March 2024. A link to the Bill can be found here. 

Part 3 of the Bill (‘development and nature recovery’) contains significant changes to nature laws. It moves towards a strategic approach to nature recovery, introducing a Natural England-led system for addressing development impacts on certain ‘environmental features’ (i.e. European Sites or Ramsar Sites, SSSIs and protected species). For specific developments, a developer can ‘opt in’ (or be compelled by Natural England) to pay a ‘nature restoration levy’ to fund the delivery of ‘environmental delivery plans’ (“EDPs”). EDPs will be developed by Natural England (or another body if appointed) and approved by the Secretary of State, and are intended to set out the conservation measures needed to address the impact of specified development on one or more ‘environmental features’. 

For more information on the Bill, as well as a discussion on whether it will lead to a better system, please see the recording of a webinar by Freeths’ Planning and Environment Team, available here. 

The Environmental Law team also held a webinar on the Development and Nature Recovery working paper which preceded the Bill – the recording for that webinar is available here. 

To track the progress of the Bill through Parliament, please see this link here.

The Second Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) 

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (“LNRSs”) were introduced by the Environment Act 2021, requiring ‘responsible authorities’ (appointed by Defra) to produce a LNRS for each strategy area, which together cover the whole of England. Each LNRS must include a statement of biodiversity priorities for the strategy area and a local habitat map identifying opportunities for recovering or enhancing biodiversity and proposals for potential measures to meet these priorities.

There are 48 strategy areas. The first LNRS to be published was for the West of England and was published in November 2024. On 5 March 2025, the second LNRS was published by North Northamptonshire Council.  Further details can be found here.

UK National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan published 

The UK’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (“NBSAP”) for 2030 was published in February 2025. The UK NBSAP commits the UK to achieving all 23 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework ("GBF") targets domestically. It draws together commitments made by the UK, UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, setting out shared priorities in (1) protecting and restoring nature, (2) sustainable use and resource management, and (3) mainstreaming and finance.

Publication of Defra’s biodiversity net gain statutory credits: annual report 2024 to 2025

On 14 March 2025, Defra published its first annual report on Biodiversity Net Gain ("BNG") which summarises the income received from the statutory BNG credits system for the previous year, how this income was spent, and the projected biodiversity value of the measures funded by it. 

The total payments received from statutory credits from February 2024 to February 2025 was £247,416. There were gradual increases in sales throughout the year, with significant sales in July, September, and December. 

The full report is available here.

Water 

Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 

The Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 24 February 2025. The Act introduces measures to increase the sentencing powers of the courts in offences by water and sewerage undertakers, lowering the standard of proof for some civil offences, and enables Ofwat to make rules on pay and governance in the water industry.

The Independent Water Commission – Call for Evidence 

The Independent Water Commission was launched by the UK and Welsh Governments in October 2024 to provide recommendations on how to tackle systemic issues in the water sector, to restore rivers, lakes and seas, meet future challenges and drive economic growth. On 28 February 2025, the Commission launched a call for evidence to help inform its recommendations. 

The call for evidence is open until 23 April 2025. It can be accessed here.

Defra being investigated over potential Water Framework Directive ‘failures’

The OEP announced an investigation into Defra over alleged failures to comply with the Water Framework Directive (“WFD”) Regulations. The Regulations aim to protect the UK’s blue environment by setting targets to prevent deterioration and facilitate improvement. The investigation follows concerns raised by the OEP in a report published in May 2024 that key targets within the WFD were likely to be missed due to the poor implementation of plans, a conclusion which Defra broadly agreed with.  

More information is available here.

Waste 

Digital waste tracking delayed 

A consultation response in October 2023 confirmed the introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking across the UK. Digital waste tracking will replace the current system of waste transfer notes and hazardous waste consignment notes.  

Digital waste tracking was originally planned to be mandatory from April 2025. However, in February 2025 Defra published a stakeholder letter, which announced a delay in the scheme, with the Government now ‘endeavouring’ to have a digital service for waste tracking in place from April 2026. Further updates should be available in May 2025.

Chicken manure confirmed as ‘waste’

The High Court has confirmed that chicken manure can be classified as ‘waste’ in law. This was in the context of a new Mineral and Waste Local Plan adopted by Herefordshire Council in March 2024 which introduced a new agricultural waste policy, including stricter rules for managing livestock manure. The National Farmers Union (the “NFU”) argued that manure from agricultural developments such as poultry units should not be classified as waste under the general definition in the Waste Framework Directive and so should not be included in the Council’s plan. However, the Court disagreed.  

The full judgment is available here.

Sustainability 

SBTi revised Corporate Net-zero Standard 

The Science Based Targets Initiative (the “SBTi”) has opened a consultation into its revised Corporate Net-zero Standard. The updated standards contain proposed revisions including new options for tackling scope 3 emissions, and options to scale carbon removals and mobilise climate finance. It hopes the consultation will help enable the standard to remain both ‘rigorous and practical’.  

The consultation is open until 1 June 2025 and is available here.

European Commission Omnibus package

The European Commission published the first of two Omnibus packages to simplify its sustainability regulations. The Omnibus proposes amendments to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, following the Commission’s ‘Competitiveness Compass’, which sets out its vision for enhanced EU competitiveness. The amendments aim to make ‘sustainability reporting more accessible and efficient’, ‘simplify due diligence’ and ‘strengthen the carbon border adjustment mechanism for a fairer trade’. The proposals will be reviewed by the European Parliament and Council. 

For further information see here.