Under pressure from housebuilders, the self-proclaimed ‘greenest government ever’ has scrapped nutrient neutrality rules on new developments. The government states that over 100,000 homes held up due to defective EU laws will be unblocked between now and 2030, delivering an estimated £18 billion boost to the economy. The change will be made through an amendment […]
The government has announced that thousands of hectares of peatlands – from the Great North Bog to the Norfolk Broads – are set to be restored with twelve new projects awarded funding to help tackle climate change and recover biodiversity. The Government is investing over £50 million in peat restoration, building on its pledge to […]
Defra has issued a press release to let the world know that Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey and Water Minister Rebecca Pow met stakeholders “to discuss actions to improve the River Deben” in Suffolk. Apparently part of the follow-up to the government’s Plan for Water, there was no significant progress reported, no additional funding and no action […]
The government has published the Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3), setting out the actions that government and others will take to adapt to the impacts of climate change from 2023 to 2028. According to the latest version, “the UK government is taking steps to address the impacts of climate change to protect communities, our economy […]
The latest progress report on reducing emissions from the Committee on Climate Change finds that the UK has lost leadership in climate action and almost all targets are being missed. Particular areas of criticism include insultation of homes, transport emissions, no coherent programme for behaviour change, and still no decision on hydrogen for home heating. […]
Ofgem will be legally required to consider the UK’s net-zero carbon emissions target in all decision making, after the UK Government backed down to widespread pressure. The legal mandate is included within an amendment to the Energy Bill. The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) has said it will amend the regulator’s existing […]
The government has published the list of 600 EU laws it plans to scrap by the end of the year in a much-reduced Brussels “bonfire”. In a significant retreat on its retained EU law bill, the government has slashed the number of environmental laws that would have automatically expired on 31 December from 1,700 to […]
The National Infrastructure Commission and Climate Change Committee have written jointly to government urging ministers to take steps to improve the resilience of key infrastructure services to the effects of climate change. Building on recent reports by both organisations, the advisory bodies set out five steps to accelerate national adaptation planning to protect key networks: Setting clear […]