Essential Environmental 2016/17

To cope with the vast array of environmental factors and challenges, there must be a comprehensive guide to UK and EU environmental protection law and pollution control legislation. The 38th edition of Essential Environment 2016/17 is just that and it’s available to purchase now. Accessible to users with widely varying knowledge and expertise this guide is an indispensable aid for any environmental professionals and is the only reference resource you will ever need. Companies are under increasing pressure and scrutiny to operate in a way that is responsible to the environment, from the search for sustainable energy to recent debates on fracking and the constant global threat of climate change. While regulators are under equal pressure to monitor and control environmentally threatening behaviour and practices. Even as individuals we have a duty to play our part - most recently the rejection of plastic bags and bottles to reduce the threat to our oceans and marine life.

Both air and water pollution had been identified as problems many hundreds of year before the Industrial Revolution and the consequential early pollution control measures it bought with it. Fast forward some 250 years and regulators are still struggling with regulations that keep abreast of developments and processes. Look no further than the Paris Agreement in December 2015, an agreement within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020. Or the increasingly likelihood that the Great Barrier Reef could be listed as ‘In Danger’ due to the coral bleaching epidemic. Closer to home, UK water firms are facing record pollution fines while the London Major plans to bring London’s increased ultra-low emissions zone into force early. Regulations and protection law have never been so important if we are to have a world that can survive and flourish in the long term.

Essential Environment 2016/17 takes readers through regulatory agencies such as the Environment Agency, England and the equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, as well as conservation bodies and local authorities. Hazardous substances and pollution prevention and control acts are extensively reviewed. Air emissions, including strategy and the concern over transboundary air pollution are discussed in-depth. Climate change and air quality discuss various earth summits and agreements and the focus on improving local air quality to protect public health. Pollution from transport and strategies to limit vehicle emissions are examined (and very relevant considering recent emission scandals). The quest to manage waste in a sustainable way is explored and covers strategies, landfill and hazardous waste to name just a few. An estimated one-third of our greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture and efforts to cut emissions levels must be balanced with the need to produce food. This debate is discussed along with agricultural codes of practice. Water pollution and protecting the marine environment is explored and many other topics await readers in this extensive guide published in partnership with Environment Protection UK and Environmental Protection Scotland.