New environmental watchdog launched

Following Royal Assent to the Environment Act 2021 on 10 November, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) was given legal status on 17 November. The OEP is a new independent body which will have important powers of assessing Government’s progress on meeting long term environmental goals and targets, reviewing the implementation of environmental law, and ensuring that government and other public bodies comply with their environmental legal duties.

Professor Richard Macrory, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Law and co-founder of the UCL Centre for Law and the Environment, has been appointed one of four non-executive directors of the OEP. Professor Macrory commented: “The Office of Environmental Protection has enormous potential in improving our system of environmental governance and the overall effectiveness of environmental law. I look forward to playing a constructive role in its development.”

For further details of OEP, visit their website.