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Professor Howarth's extensive research has had considerable and cumulative impact on the design, enforcement and practical operation of UK environmental law, particularly (but not exclusively) in relation to water and fisheries. His specific contribution has been in influencing national policy on enforcement and sentencing. In particular, two key ideas developed and advanced in his research - `modernisation' and `purposiveness' - have provided an important alternative to the previously dominant, traditional, reactive approach of criminalising environmentally unacceptable behaviour. Howarth's research has impacted in three direct ways. First, it has `significantly influenced' the work of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), making a material contribution to improvements in the legislative framework and operation of UK environmental law. Second, it has had a `direct and significant' impact on the work of Fish Legal, a key environmental NGO, with which Howarth has developed a close, ongoing relationship and which has found his advice `invaluable'. Finally, it forms part of the canon widely relied on by professional legal and environmental practitioners in their day to day work. The impact of Howarth's research has been furthered through an extensive range of high level consultancy and policy-oriented advisory activities, which have allowed him to feed in the insights of his research at a high level. These include acting as a specialist legal consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and as a legal advisor to the Northern Ireland Environment Department.
Nanotechnology is one of the world's fastest developing industrial sectors; as well as the economic significance of nanomaterials, they have potentially serious implications for health and the environment. Impact from research on governance and legal regulation of nanotechnology by a Cardiff Law School research team operating within the ESRC-Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) has: shaped UK government nanotech strategy; decisively influenced industry and industrial standards; and reached across other States and international organisations. Research by the team has: demonstrated that existing regulation dealt poorly with nanotechnologies and the health/environmental risks they might pose; identified regulatory gaps; recommended the introduction of nano-specific guidance/standards; evaluated the need for a nanotech moratorium; and analysed social responsibility and performance of nanotechnology companies. This research has now been codified in the first British Standards Institution (BSI) Publicly Available Specification (PAS) on nanotechnology.
The four Environment Agencies in England & Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland have introduced, or are planning to introduce, new strategies for regulating low risk treatment sites and activities. These strategies are based on Black and Baldwin's research. Implementation is planned for 2011-13 onwards. The Irish Environmental Protection Agency has led the way in 2012-13, having already implemented GRID/GRAF in a specific low risk area (domestic waste water).
The Green Guide to Specification is an environmental profiling system that enables designers and constructors to select building materials and components which have the lowest environmental impact. Designed and developed at Oxford Brookes University, the Green Guide methodology provides the construction industry with reliable environmental evaluations based on quantitative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data. Now in its 4th edition and part of the BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes programmes, Green Guide has been used to reduce environmental impacts for over 230,000 recorded construction projects, with a further 1.07 million projects registered awaiting certification worldwide. In 2009, the Green Guide was adopted as the official design standard for all construction materials used in the London 2012 Olympics.
The impact relates to research carried out by Professor John Peysner, and subsequently with Dr Angus Nurse, into three linked areas of access to justice: (a) the cost of litigation, in particular fixed fees, budgeting and contingency fees; (b) the financing of claims, in particular Contingency Legal Aid Funds and Third Party Financing; and (c) forms of dispute resolution and redress. Litigation is of major importance in underpinning civil society, and as a global business, and changes in the costs and financing of it will potentially impact on all practising lawyers. The research has had impact on practice developments, government policy, and statutory and procedural rules of court, particularly in connection with the influential Lord Justice Jackson's Review of Litigation Costs(2009). The impact has been at a national and international level.