environmental protection | In Principle

Construction of a waste incineration plant is a complex undertaking. The investor must meet a number of regulatory requirements and obtain the relevant administrative decisions, including the building permit and the environmental decision preceding it. These can be obtained only if the project complies with the local zoning plan. In this context, it is often questioned whether an incineration plant can be built on land zoned for manufacturing.

The EU legislative process related to adoption of key legal acts under the “Fit for 55” package is coming to an end. One of its elements is gradual integration of the maritime transport sector into the EU greenhouse gas emissions trading system (EU ETS).

According to a report published in 2021 by the European Environment Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency, 13.5% of total transport greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union originate from ships. Transforming maritime transport into a sustainable and environment-friendly sector requires actions on many levels. One of them is to enable ships moored in port to use shore-side electricity.

Environmental inspectors in Poland are stepping up inspections of stores for compliance with the Combatting Food Waste Act. In doing so, they point to shortcomings regarding not only the proper distribution of the fee for wasted food and the implementation of educational campaigns, but especially the understanding of the definition of food waste. In many cases, the inspectors are wrong, as the administrative courts have begun to recognise.

The issue of the compatibility of a planned undertaking with the local zoning plan is complex, and some aspects of it have long raised questions. The problem is of great practical importance, and the approach of land-use authorities and the courts in a particular case often determines whether a development or certain activities can be carried out in a given area. This is particularly evident in the case of waste management projects.

In the face of the climate crisis, the interest in sustainability issues is growing. This increasingly brings the issue of greenwashing to the fore. “Greenwashing” refers to creation of a false impression among the public regarding the supposedly green practices applied by a business or the environmental benefits of its goods and services. Typically greenwashing is used to raise the attractiveness of goods or services in the eyes of prospective buyers, and thus to increase sales and attract customers. But sometimes the spread of misleading ecological messages is simply due to ignorance.

In November 2022, the leaves were falling from the trees to the rhythm of ESG. First, the European Parliament and then the Council of the European Union approved the draft Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Then the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group submitted the first set of draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards to the European Commission.

PFAS is a collective name for some 5,000 chemical compounds widely used in industry and everyday items. They have a harmful effect on the environment and human health. Recently, they have been the subject of intense research by the European Chemicals Agency and the US Environmental Protection Agency. This is reflected in the growing number of regulations restricting their use. However, awareness of the harmfulness of these compounds seems to remain low, as evidenced by the small number of court cases in this area.

10 December 2022 marked forty years since the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which culminated years of negotiations within the United Nations, was opened for signature. With rapidly changing geopolitical conditions, the development of technologies enabling the extraction of minerals from the seabed, the climate crisis, and the disappearance of biodiversity, the convention must meet the demands of the next decades of the 21st century.

An end to the mass discarding of packaging and waste. Instead, recycling, refillable packaging, a deposit on plastic bottles and limits on disposable bags. Such changes are proposed in a new draft regulation of the European Commission. The changes are to be implemented gradually.

The proposed Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is now on the EU legislative agenda. It would amend the existing reporting rules established by the Non-Financial Reporting Directive, which are a weakness of the current system. Ultimately, the new directive is intended to contribute to a fully sustainable European market.

In a few days, the Act of 22 July 2022 Amending Certain Acts to Combat Environmental Offences will enter into force. It changes the rules of liability for commission of offences by corporate entities. Prosecutors in Poland will no longer have to obtain a conviction of a natural person affiliated with a corporate entity before pursuing criminal charges against the corporate entity. This removes the main practical obstacle which has made it extremely rate for law enforcement to seek to hold companies criminally liable. As a result of the changes, we expect a larger number of criminal proceedings against companies. Environmental compliance is a solution for reducing this risk.