Category: Climate change

We’re creating a legal framework for Kent Wildlife Trust as they implement their ash dieback policy.

Ash dieback, a fungal disease from East Asia, is causing huge problems across Britain. But, while a single focus on health and safety might suggest that all diseased trees should be cut down, there is a real benefit in leaving as many of the trees as possible in situ from an ecological point of view.

Adopting this policy, however, brought its own set of challenges so Kent Wildlife Trust approached us at Anthony Collins (AC) to help them define and mitigate the risks.

Taking a natural approach

A dying tree provides a home for all sorts of bugs, mushrooms and moss which was why Kent Wildlife Trust was keen to protect biodiversity and conserve various plant species in the area. They knew removing too many trees would be detrimental to the wider ecosystem.

But Kent Wildlife Trust had to show they had also considered the implications of leaving diseased trees in place.

We produced a report reviewing the main concerns and issues from multiple perspectives including potential liabilities for personal injury relating to known diseased and dying trees, legal risks over access rights on neighbouring landowners’ land and risks relating to public highways.

Going deeper

We also started drilling down into charity law and regulations. Kent Wildlife Trust must show its decisions are made in keeping with its charitable purpose and for the benefit of the public – by allowing people to still enjoy nature.    

We outlined their health and safety obligations to employees and volunteers but also any visitors to the area. In addition, we considered aspects of property law and planning.   

Sharing best practice

Kent Wildlife Trust is part of a network of other independently governed wildlife trusts all trying to cope with ash dieback across the country and we agreed our work could be shared amongst these other Wildlife Trusts to provide a collective defensible framework for dealing with the multiple levels of highly context-specific risks in question.

Each situation will be different according to the different types of land but the work we’ve done will help other trusts weigh the legal risks they need to consider against a standardised decision-making framework.

Our wide range of expertise enabled us to provide specialists in many different areas of law. We didn’t just approach the issue from a single point of view. Our projects team led the case, while other AC experts also provided advice on the local authority, commercial, health and safety, property, planning and charity governance aspects.

Looking to the future

Although ash dieback is not a problem that can be solved, Kent Wildlife Trust can now continue to make a positive environmental impact by leaving the trees in place, where feasible. Even in the face of something inherently harmful, they can continue to be committed to their nature conservation mission.    

And by addressing all the risks in the policy, we’ve given Kent Wildlife Trust the confidence to make informed decisions on a site-by-site basis, with the legal backup to face any challenges if needed.   

“Our role was to help Kent Wildlife Trust protect the biodiversity of the area as much as possible in the face of a devastating disease and to make sure their decisions are made in a way which considers the public and the charity, as well as the natural environment and wildlife.”  Natalie Barbosa, senior associate, Anthony Collins

When the Nene Rivers Trust secured vital funding, they turned to us for support in allocating money.

Securing funding might seem like the biggest challenge for environmental organisations. However, this is often only the first hurdle. Allocating this funding fairly can be just as complex and ensuring there is transparency around how the money is being used is crucial.

Nene Rivers Trust is based in Northamptonshire and aims to promote, conserve and improve the environment. A big part of achieving this mission is securing investment in the local area. Some of their latest funding has been awarded through the Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs), backed by King Charles, which helps landowners and farmers implement solutions.

About LENs

LENs accept submissions from anyone with an interest in a piece of land. This isn’t always the landowner, but can be those who own adjoining land, local councils, water companies or people living downstream from an affected area.

LENs analyse whether there are any other parties who have a common interest in the same piece of land. LENs then bring together those businesses and award funding to make improvements to the landscape of that area.

The improvements are made by way of measures and interventions. In Cumbria, for example, the measures are being undertaken by a group made up of Nestle, Eden Rivers Trust, Eden District Council, First Milk, the Environment Agency and the National Trust. They are addressing flooding, biodiversity, soil health and water quality.

Allocating funds

We supported Nene Rivers Trust by advising on the impact of the grant arrangements, as well as advising on how the funds from LENs, Anglian Water and Northamptonshire County Council should be allocated. The farmers could use this money for measures designed to improve the environment such as planting more trees.

Nene Rivers Trust agreed with the farmers on what the measures are and these were captured in the documents. It was then the Trust’s responsibility to check the improvements were underway and report back to the funders on the progress to ensure the successful delivery of the project and manage the risk of any funding clawback.

An AC area of expertise

We work with other river and canal trusts who need support getting the most out of funding, so we were well placed to provide support and help Nene Rivers Trust make the most impact possible. The AC team are also committed to applying expertise to solve challenges surrounding the climate crisis.

“I’m an environmentalist myself so projects like this align with my personal values, as well as those of Anthony Collins. The issues surrounding biodiversity are something we are very aware of as a team. Our knowledge can really help our clients achieve their goals around improving the environment.”
Natalie Barbosa, senior associate, Anthony Collins

To fight climate change and reach net-zero, we must embrace new legislation.

Climate change and biodiversity are issues that affect everyone. But, by working together, we can make changes before it’s too late. At Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS), we’re doing everything we can to make a difference, helping our clients embrace ways to preserve ecology and protect humanity.

 

On its way through Parliament, the Environment Bill’s purpose was to improve air and water quality, reduce waste and increase biodiversity and resource efficiency. Now passed, the Environment Act has introduced a new concept to UK legal landscape: conservation covenants. Conservation covenants can be used to preserve wildlife, habitat or heritage assets to create positive and lasting change – even if the land is sold on. The covenants preserve local land for future generations and allow nature to flourish.

 

Unchartered territory

As Kent Wildlife Trust’s lawyers, we provide legal support on a range of projects that benefit the local community, including the opening of their new country park and visitor centre. When they asked for support preparing for the conservation covenants legislation, ACS were unfazed by entering unchartered legal territory.

 

The reason conservation covenants have such potential to protect land permanently is that, unlike the public law used for greenbelt land, they use private law remedies that cannot be overridden. This means whatever land or asset they preserve, can be preserved in perpetuity.  Although the legislation has already been in force for many years in Scotland and in countries like New Zealand, the concept is wholly new to the rest of the UK.

 

Putting a conservation covenant in place can be used by those who care for the future of the environment to achieve outcomes such as protecting ancient woodlands, promoting biodiversity, conserving plant species, cleaning water or storing carbon. For example, the covenant might state that the butterfly and bee population in the area needs to increase by 1% per annum or could prohibit activities like burning peat for grouse shooting – which releases carbon into the atmosphere.

 

Ultimately, by working directly with third party landowners, conservation covenants can be used to create biodiverse and resilient areas at the scale needed to tackle the climate crisis.

 

Preparing for change

Recognising how vital this new law will be, the Trust decided they wanted to reach out to farmers in their area and ask whether they would adopt conservation covenants. Helping the Trust on this journey has also meant the ACS team developed expertise in this area before the law was even in place.

 

The ACS team reached out to different jurisdictions to discuss their approach and carried out research to decide what agreement would be most suitable. We also drafted a conservation covenant for Kent Wildlife Trust so they were prepared for when the legislation passed.

 

“When it’s a totally new area of law, other firms might be wary about it. But we’re not afraid to be ahead of the pack. This hadn’t even come into law and we’d already drafted an agreement to help prepare one of our clients.”
Natalie Barbosa, senior associate, Anthony Collins Solicitors

To tackle the climate crisis, we’re committed to becoming a net carbon zero business by 2030.

From raging fires to life-threatening floods, it’s impossible to ignore the effect climate change is having on our planet. We can’t push it aside and say we’ll solve it in the future. Together, we need to act now by thinking and behaving as sustainably as possible.

 

At Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS), many of our clients own huge parts of the UK infrastructure, including local authorities, housing associations and schools. We’re here to advise them on everything they can do to help avert the climate emergency.

 

Addressing today’s challenges

Even if an organisation or local authority recognises today’s challenges, that doesn’t mean the policies they write necessarily filter down through the organisation and become part of daily life. That’s where we come in. We bring our experience of emerging good practice to deliver on the sustainability agenda.

 

“We can help you take that declaration or policy and actually make it meaningful on a day-to-day basis. Our whole raft of expertise means we can help you embed your approaches to sustainability.”
Natalia Barbosa, senior associate, Anthony Collins Solicitors

 

Ready for any challenge

When it comes to making the planet greener, our team is ready to help across a range of areas. Whether that’s helping a wildlife trust prepare for new legislation that will boost biodiversity or supporting the development of a community-owned solar farm.

 

We also work closely with local authorities who share our vision of achieving net-zero. Our experts are helping councils to decarbonise public buildings and make the most of vital government funding, as well as advising them as they generate green energy and procure district heat networks.

 

Read our green economy case studies

 

Our climate pledge

Our team is aware that, if we don’t take radical action, we are not going to survive as a species. As a business, we want to lead by example. We’re committing to our own climate pledge and placing ourselves in the vanguard of organisations delivering on the climate sustainability agenda.

 

It’s not enough to advise our clients on delivering their own green agenda and sustainability pledges. We want to lead by example. That’s why we’ve made a pledge to be a carbon net-zero business by 2030 – a full 20 years ahead of the mandated 2050 deadline for the UK.

 

“Our first steps have been to enable paper-lite working and dramatically reduce printing and paper usage.  In the coming year, we will be creating a plan that looks across the business to quantify and systematically reduce our carbon footprint.”
Andrew Gilyead, chief operating officer, Anthony Collins Solicitors

 

In the future, we will monitor progress towards net carbon zero each year, and publish the results in our annual social impact report.