03 May 2023
The Guardian reports that a chemicals company is releasing large quantities of a “forever chemical” described as being “very persistent, mobile and toxic” into the River Wyre in Lancashire each year, and is not breaking any rules. Earlier this year, the Guardian and Watershed Investigations revealed that effluent coming from the site of AGC Chemicals Europe in Thornton-Cleveleys could […]
03 May 2023
Largest ever fine imposed for environmental offences in Devon and Cornwall as South West Water is told by court ‘incidents of pollution will no longer be tolerated’ South West Water (SWW) has been fined more than £2 million for a series of environmental offences across Devon and Cornwall spanning a period of four years. It […]
03 May 2023
CIRIA has launched a new tool for calculating the benefits of green and blue infrastructure CIRIABEST (CIRIA’S Benefits Estimation Tool) The tool and guidance make assessing the benefits of blue-green infrastructure easier, without the need for full scale economic inputs. CIRIABEST was first produced and released as a spreadsheet tool (‘BeST’) in 2015 and was […]
03 May 2023
The UK’s approach to international action on nature and climate to 2030 has been published through a Strategic Framework. The framework outlines the UK’s actions to address six global challenges on international environmental action. The Integrated Review (IR) Refresh makes clear that “the UK’s first thematic priority remains tackling climate change, environmental damage and biodiversity loss, given the […]
26 Apr 2023
The government has published new guidance on calculating the impact of flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes on the natural and historic environment. There is also a tool to calculate a monetary value of the impact. EHOV (Environment and Historic Environment Outcome Valuation) is an update to the 2010 Economic Valuation of Environmental Effects […]
26 Apr 2023
The Copernicus Climate Change Service has released its annual European State of the Climate (ESOTC) report, detailing the significant climate events of 2022 in Europe and across the globe. These data-driven insights show rising temperatures and intensifying extreme events, and give an overview of 2022’s climate in a long-term context. Separately, the World Meteorological Organization […]
26 Apr 2023
The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a new report ‘Regulating to achieve environmental outcomes’, in which it scrutinises whether Defra is using regulation effectively in pursuit of its environmental agenda. It found green improvements, including those relating to water, are being put at risk by shortcomings in Defra’s oversight of regulation. According to the report, […]
26 Apr 2023
South West Water has announced that its ongoing hosepipe ban now includes Cornwall and parts of Devon, and that restrictions could last until December. The company says that “our water resources across the region remain under pressure and as we go into the summer period we have taken the necessary action to safeguard supplies and […]
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