Quarterly Comment by Trinity Chambers: Trinity Chambers, Newcastle

Abstract

Paris has rules. The landmark Paris Agreement on climate change now has an accompanying 'rulebook'. The rules, agreed at the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, set out in clear terms how parties to the Paris Agreement can implement, track and progressively enhance their contributions to tackling climate change.In a promising move, the European Union has resolved to take action to restrict single-use plastic products. A meeting of the European Parliament and Permanent Representatives Committee agreed the Council's position on a proposal for a new directive which will ban the use of certain single-use plastics for which an alternative exists. This embryonic development has all the hallmarks of becoming law in the very near future.In the UK, the government issued a new Clean Air Strategy in January 2019. The new strategy hit headlines with, in particular, a bold new goal to reduce particulate matter from the burning of wood and coal in open fires and domestic stoves, together with an assault on the emissions of ammonia from farming. The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies particulates as the most damaging to humans. It hails the move as a global example for other countries to follow. There have been concerns raised about the lack of teeth in the strategy to enforce limits and restrictions. This welcome strategy comes after the government's repeated defeat in the courts over its failures on clean air.There have, over the last quarter, been a number of cases that concern fracking. This issue details the legal challenges that have taken place involving fracking, and the judicial reasoning in each.