The Environment Act 2021

ClientEarth evaluates the Environment Act 2021, noting that as a framework law, its success depends on future targets and rules. The organization criticizes the Act for failing to align air quality targets with WHO guidelines and for creating a loophole in deforestation laws by only restricting commodities produced illegally under local laws, which may fail to protect the Amazon rainforest.

• The Environment Act 2021 serves as a framework law, meaning its ultimate effectiveness depends on the development and enforcement of subsequent targets, policies, and detailed rules.
• ClientEarth criticizes the government for rejecting amendments that would have aligned the Act's new legally binding targets for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, noting that current UK legal limits are four times weaker than the September 2021 WHO guidelines.
• The Act establishes the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), a watchdog led by Dame Glenys Stacey intended to hold public bodies accountable and monitor environmental targets post-Brexit, though ClientEarth notes a lack of guaranteed authoritative enforcement processes in the Act.
• The framework for forest risk commodities is deemed insufficient because it only restricts commodities produced 'illegally' under the laws of the producer country, ignoring the fact that approximately one-third of global tropical deforestation is legal under local laws.
• The deforestation provisions are specifically criticized for their inability to prevent the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, as Brazilian legal reforms may legalise millions of hectares of deforestation, thereby remaining compliant with the Act's 'illegal' production restriction.
• The Act is criticized for lacking requirements to ensure UK supply chains are not linked to human rights violations, specifically those affecting forest defenders and Indigenous Peoples.

APA

ClientEarth (2021). The Environment Act 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/0e1bpm5n/clientearth-environment-act-briefing-2021.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. The Environment Act 2021. 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/0e1bpm5n/clientearth-environment-act-briefing-2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=The Environment Act 2021 |date=November 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/0e1bpm5n/clientearth-environment-act-briefing-2021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2021environment, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{The Environment Act 2021}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = nov, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/0e1bpm5n/clientearth-environment-act-briefing-2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }