03 Dec 2024

New figures from Wildlife and Countryside Link reveal an ongoing pollution problem from bee-killing pesticides in English rivers. 85% of rivers tested in 2023 – 2024 were found to have bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides present, with the proportion affected seeming to have risen slightly from previous years. Campaigners call on the Government to deliver a step […]

03 Dec 2024

A new paper from the London School of Economics highlights how biodiversity net gain (BNG) and natural flood management can be integrated. It highlights that BNG legislation in England presents a key opportunity to unlock funding and innovative solutions that boost urban flood risk management efforts and wider co-benefits.   Photo credit: Ellie Burgin   […]

03 Dec 2024

From Wicked Leeks Earlier this year, Wicked Leeks brought you the story of poo, pollution and profits: how the UK’s intensive poultry industry has become a runaway train that was killing our rivers. Since then, the slope has grown even more slippery. “We are at ‘peak poultry’,” says Ruth Westcott, a campaigner with Sustain, who has been […]

03 Dec 2024

The Water Sector Multi-capitals Network has launched the Principles of multi-capitals approaches to decision making. Despite variations in approaches towards multi-capitals accounting, the principles laid out in this paper will support consistency and alignment, and support better decisions to be made using multi-capital information. Multi-capital approaches should be comprehensive, trustworthy and useful. This paper will help […]

03 Dec 2024

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has launched an investigation into the government’s Statutory Guidance on applying the Farming Rules for Water (FRfW). These regulations aim to reduce and prevent water pollution from agriculture by requiring farmers to plan the application of organic manure and manufactured fertiliser so that it does not exceed the needs […]

03 Dec 2024

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published the estimates of the financial and societal value of natural resources to people in the UK. Key figures include that the total asset value of ecosystem services in the UK was around £1.8 trillion in 2022, an increase of 11% since 2018 and that health benefits from […]

27 Nov 2024

As the clean-up continues in areas hit by Storm Bert, forecasters, environment officials and politicians have been strongly criticised over the warnings issued before the storm and the fitness of flood defences to cope with increasingly common extreme weather (The Guardian).   Photo credit: Ray Bilcliff   The Environment Agency said that lessons learned from […]

27 Nov 2024

COP29 ended with a deal in which rich countries promised to raise $300bn a year by 2035 tripling climate finance support for developing countries. However, many poorer countries were left outraged by the deal, and the financial settlement also fails to consider the effect of inflation.   Photo credit: Markus Spiske   The UK government […]