Writing The Mint magazine, Justin Taberham examines the prospects for the UK water sector. Near daily media interest and criticism of water companies’ pollution performance has lately been often stimulated by public reporting or legal action against them. In addition, debt loadings for some companies are at unsustainably high levels and investors have had to […]
Defra has published draft versions of the biodiversity gain plan template and guidance documents for developers and for local planning authorities. These will aid preparation for the commencement of BNG, which is now due to start from January 2024.
From Make Water Famous A study in England has found that freshwater macro-invertebrate richness has increased over the past 30 years, indicating a positive trend in biodiversity. Aquatic macro-invertebrates are insects in their nymph and larval stages, that spend at least part of their lives in water. They play a large role in freshwater ecosystems […]
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is calling on the UK Government to overhaul its drinking water standards after a new analysis reveals more than a third of water courses tested in England and Wales contain medium or high-risk levels of PFAS. This group, more commonly known as forever chemicals, is linked to a range […]
The Wildlife Trusts, RSPB, Woodland Trust and National Trust have published a set of principles for ensuring ‘nature markets’ truly deliver for nature, climate and people. With an estimated £6 billion annual funding gap for UK nature recovery across land and sea, the UK Government has set an ambitious target to grow annual private investment […]
Ofwat has published key facts from water companies’ business plans 2025-2030, with information on proposed increases in investment and customer bills. The regulator is currently scrutinising these plans, including looking at water companies’ ambition for customers and the environment and the affordability of plans for customers. The proposals could see bills increase significantly by 2030, […]
Climate risk assessments that take account of threats like heatwaves, droughts, floods and wildfires are increasingly being used to inform and improve national adaptation policies according to the latest European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment of national adaptation actions published this week. The EEA briefing ‘Is Europe on track towards climate resilience? Status of reported national adaptation actions […]
The BBC reports how hundreds of deliberately leaky dams made of wood have been installed along a stretch of river as an innovative measure to prevent flooding. Researchers from the University of Worcester said the dams could have a dramatic impact on flooding in places including Bewdley and Ludlow. During Storm Dennis, the dams along […]