The Law of Net Zero and Nature Positive

This book is the first that provides a comprehensive overview of the law of net zero and nature positive across England and Wales. It sets out the law on net zero and nature positive, including consideration of the principal domestic legislation, the Climate Change Act 2008 and the Environment Act 2021, and how legal obligations in respect of net zero and nature positive translate across different sectors of the economy.

The book’s editors are Nigel Pleming KC, Richard Wilmot-Smith KC, Stephen Tromans KC, Karim Ghaly KC, Camilla ter Haar and Stephanie David, all of 39 Essex Chambers.

Contributors include Alexander Burrell, Rebecca Cattermole, Grace Cheng, Stephanie David, Rebecca Drake, Hannah Fry, Ella Grodzinski, Ned Helme, Patrick Hennessey, Joe-han Ho, David Hopkins, Victoria Hutton, Philippa Jackson, Vivek Kapoor, Ruth Keating, Daniel Kozelko, Philippe Kuhn, Eleanor Leydon, Anna Lintner, Juan Lopez, Hannah McCarthy, Niraj Modha, Christopher Moss, Ashley Pratt, Celia Reynolds, David Sawtell, James Shaerf, Melissa Shipley, Marion Smith KC, Christopher Staker, Kelly Stricklin-Coutinho, Rachel Sullivan, Camilla ter Haar, Gethin Thomas and Jake Thorold.

The book opens with a foreword contributed by the Rt Hon Lord Dyson.

While the authors necessarily focus on the law in England and Wales, the book also provides an international context – reflecting the fact that climate change is ultimately a global phenomenon and that the international legal and policy context gives shape to domestic legal obligations.

The book considers biodiversity alongside climate change. This is important because human-induced climate change and biodiversity are inextricably linked. Given this interdependency, and the fact that nature itself is often forgotten, the book aims to bring together the legal obligations in respect of both net zero and nature positive so that practitioners, policy makers and others interested in this area have both objectives in mind as they seek to address these challenges of our generation.

The book spans areas including planning and the environment, property, environmental protest, public international law, commercial and financial services, fiscal measures and construction.

The Law of Net Zero and Nature Positive will be an invaluable resource for a wide range of private and public sector actors across the economy including the legal profession (barristers, solicitors, the judiciary, inhouse counsel), the policy sector, non-governmental organizations and academia.