Following the recent UK referendum result, attention is now turning to the legal implications for specific policy areas.

While the overwhelming majority of the UK’s environmental legislation is derived from EU legislation and UK climate change and energy policy is largely influenced by the EU, surprisingly, environment and energy has been the subject of only limited discussion in the context of Brexit. Observers anticipate that most environmental laws will remain in place, initially at least, as the government seeks to avoid a legislative vacuum caused by the repeal of EU laws before new UK laws are in place. However, longer term trends remain unclear as the UK is likely to face challenges associated with its energy supply and the changing energy market.