UCL CPD: Environmental Governance and Regulation

About the Course
This course examines the core structures of environmental governance and different approaches to the regulation of environmental protection. The course focuses on the United Kingdom, a jurisdiction with a developed system of environmental governance and regulation, but one that is having to adapt to new environmental challenges.

Environmental governance and regulation are approaches through detailed examination of key substantive areas of environmental law, including environmental impact assessment, waste, water, nature conservation and air pollution, examining especially the law in England and Wales.

The aims of this course are to equip participants with an appreciation of key areas of contemporary English environmental law, and to develop critical facilities in the evaluation of substantive rules and different regulatory approaches.

 At the end of the course participants should have:

• A knowledge of the core areas and substantive principles of UK environmental law
• An appreciation of the different regulatory instruments available and the advantages and disadvantages of each
• An understanding of the governance arrangements for delivering environmental law and policy outcomes. 

The course will be delivered by Professors Maria Lee and Richard Macrory, accompanied by expert practitioners in some classes. It is an integral part of the Faculty’s LLM course, but external participants who attend this option can be awarded a Certificate of Attendance from the Faculty of Laws.

Download the course brochure

Course Outline: (subject to change)

• Government structures and development of environmental law
• Regulatory techniques and approaches 1: command and control and economic instruments 
  • Waste
  • Air quality management
  • Water protection
• Regulatory techniques and approaches 2: public participation 
  • Land use planning and environmental protection 
• Nature conservation 
• Regulation of Climate Change in the UK
•  Integrated pollution control and integrated permitting (IPPC)
•  Implementation and enforcement of environmental regulation in the UK
•  The role of private legal remedies in UK environmental law

About the teachers:

Professor Richard Macrory (Course Convenor) is a barrister and director of the UCL Centre for Law and the Environment. Professor Macrory is legal correspondent to ENDS Report, and has been a board member of the Environment Agency, England and Wales and a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. In 2006 he led the Cabinet Office Review on Regulatory Sanctions.

Professor Maria Lee joined the UCL Faculty in 2007 from King’s College, and specializes in environmental law and tort law. She is the author of EU Environmental Law: Challenges, Change and Decision-Making (2005); Environmental Protection, Law and Policy Text and Materials (2007, with Jane Holder) and EU Regulation of GMOs: Law and Decision Making for a  New Technology  (2008). Maria is a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Protection and the London Sustainable Development Commission. She was also a member of the Lancet Commission on climate change and health, which reported in 2009.

Professors Macrory and Lee will be accompanied by expert practitioners in some of the
classes.