Welcome to our November newsletter!

With COP30 in Belém in full swing, some of the attention in the last two days has turned to forests. Aside from discussions on whether the UK will contribute into the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (which would pay countries to conserve tropical rainforests), another missing piece is the UK’s Forest Risk Commodity Act. Our recent webinar explored how this promised and overdue legislation might compare with the similar EU Deforestation Regulation. 

Another big issue at this COP is finance to support a fair transition. Looking closer to home, this week we have released a paper looking at the EU’s Social Climate Fund, set up to alleviate some of the impacts on households of the new phase of Emissions Trading Scheme (now delayed until 2028), to see if the UK should decide to adopt something similar. Part of the argument for this is the benefit in better communicating publicly how ETS revenues link to public benefits – e.g. reducing consumer energy bills and helping the most vulnerable in society.

In our ongoing work tracking UK-EU divergence, questions still remain over the potential for regression on nature protection in the UK’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill as it enters its final stage of ping pong between the Lords and Commons to approve any final amendments. Elsewhere, we’re now looking ahead to the new water legislation that the UK Government has promised this winter following the Cunliffe Commission report. Please get in touch if you are interested in suggesting what we can take from the rest of Europe – specifically the EU – as we look at how we can inform this forthcoming legislation.

Divergence Monitor

News: European Parliament approves new Soil Monitoring Law

On 23 October the European Parliament approved the new EU Soil Monitoring Law, the EU’s first piece of comprehensive legislation on soil health and a long-awaited milestone towards addressing Europe’s depleted soils. Over sixty percent of European soils are in an unhealthy condition and research shows that their condition is degrading further due to unsustainable land management, contamination and overexploitation. Read our analysis of how this compares with UK soil policy.

News: Will they or won't they? UK-EU reset talks nudge forward

EU member states gave their agreement late last week to the European Commission to formally begin negotiations on linking the UK and EU’s greenhouse emissions trading systems (ETS) and for an agreement on a common sanitary and phytosanitary area (SPS). These are key parts of a wider UK-EU ‘reset’ in relations that led to the production of a Common Understanding in May 2025.

Event Recap: UK FRC: What's next for deforestation in the UK?

On 28 October 2025, IEEP UK hosted a webinar exploring the future of the UK’s proposed Forest Risk Commodity (FRC) regulation and the potential for alignment with the EU’s Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR). Coming shortly after the announcement of simplifications to the EUDR, this timely discussion assessed the state of play and what alignment – or divergence – could mean for the UK’s role in tackling global deforestation.

You can read the key takeaways from the session, or watch the full recording of the webinar, by following the link below. 

In the Media: EU raises concerns that Planning Bill could jeopardise UK trade deal

IEEP UK was quoted in an article in The Guardian which reports that the EU has raised concerns that the UK’s planning proposals may constitute regression from the existing nature protections that the UK committed to when leaving the EU. These commitments were part of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and it is reported that the EU fears the new Planning and Infrastructure Bill would affect the level playing field, and risk the proposal to link electricity markets which was tabled at the 19 May UK-EU Reset agreement.

Other IEEP UK News

Briefing: The EU Social Climate Fund: Green Transition, Energy & Transport Poverty and Lessons for the UK

The EU's Social Climate Fund (SCF) has been created to cushion the impacts of ETS2 on the most vulnerable groups. While the SCF alone cannot be relied upon to curb energy and transport poverty, if leveraged wisely it can be used to promote green investments with long-term socioeconomic benefits.

This briefing provides an overview of the role of the SCF in alleviating energy and transport poverty in the EU, assessing key strengths, criticisms, and lessons for the UK. It also considers the potential for leveraging environmental revenues to promote the green transition.

In memoriam: Caroline Jackson

IEEP UK is sad to learn of the passing of Caroline Jackson at the end of October. As well as serving as an MEP for 25 years between 1984 and 2009 – and Chair of the European Parliament's Environment, Public Health and Food Committee from 1999 to 2024 – Caroline was an IEEP board member and Chair for many years. Her leadership and commitment to environmentalism in Europe, and wide-ranging contributions to policy, will be much missed.

IEEP UK Events and Webinars

IEEP UK Annual Conference

In next month's newsletter, we'll be announcing the date for our Annual Conference, which this year ties in with the 50th anniversary of the founding of IEEP. Stay tuned for further details.

What we've been reading this month...

• Independent panel's final report recommends independent environmental regulator be established for NI (DAERA)

• COP30: Could Brazil's Tropical Forest Forever Fund help tackle climate change? (Carbon Brief)

• COP30 insight tracker (E3G)

• Risky Business: EU timber imports linked to the destruction of Borneo's forests (Earthsight)

• And we look forward to an upcoming webinar on the 20th November hosted by WRAP: Designing EPR Schemes for Textiles