European Union: Environmental Law

The Irish Government has published the General Scheme of the Maritime Area Planning (Marine Protected Areas) (Amendment) Bill 2026, which would integrate marine protected area designation into Ireland's existing maritime spatial planning framework. This legislative proposal aims to protect 30% of Irish waters by 2030 while establishing new compliance obligations for public bodies and consultation mechanisms for stakeholders with maritime interests.

The OECD has released two groundbreaking test guidelines specifically designed for nanomaterials, addressing critical gaps in standardized testing methods for dustiness determination and environmental fate assessment. These new protocols provide regulatory frameworks for measuring how nano-objects behave under various conditions, supporting decision-making processes across OECD member countries. The guidelines build upon existing OECD testing standards while introducing specialized methodologies tailored to

Carbon credits are tradable certificates that represent the reduction or offsetting of CO₂ emissions. They were introduced as part of international strategies aimed at combating climate change and promoting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.