18 Jan 2023

A new research study published by Forest Research finds Great Britain’s trees and woodlands contribute over £400 million annually in terms of flood defence benefits. Trees and woodlands have long been known to play a vital role in flood resilience, but scientists are now able to establish the financial contribution they make in protecting communities […]

18 Jan 2023

Environment secretary Thérèse Coffey has announced a ban from October 2023 in England on a range of single-use plastic items, mostly relating to food. These included plates, trays, bowls, cutlery and certain types of polystyrene cups and food containers. England uses 2.7 billion items of single-use cutlery — most of which are plastic — and […]

18 Jan 2023

A partnership between the Environment Agency, RSPB, and Natural England, the project will provide essential space for nature to replace areas lost elsewhere in Poole Harbour due to sea level rise. The granting of planning permission by Dorset Council means this ambitious scheme to compensate for the impacts of climate change can proceed, and a […]

18 Jan 2023

Environment Agency chief executive Sir James Bevan has called an article in The Times, headlined Beach sewage inspections to be scaled back, “factually inaccurate and misleading”. He was responding to a request for information from the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee, on the article’s claims that the Environment Agency has taken a decision […]

18 Jan 2023

Covered in The Guardian Visits to parks, community gardens and other urban green spaces may lower city dwellers’ use of drugs for anxiety, insomnia, depression, high blood pressure, and asthma, research has found. Researchers in Finland found that visiting such areas three to four times a week cuts people’s chances of turning to drugs for […]

18 Jan 2023

From Environment Agency Sewage discharge equivalent of 2 Olympic sized swimming pools lasting 23 hours killed. Anglian Water has been fined more than half a million pounds. They failed to stop raw sewage being discharged into a river for 23 hours, killing 5,000 fish. Around 6 million litres of raw sewage, the equivalent of more […]

12 Jan 2023

New approach to sustainable drainage set to reduce flood risk and clean up rivers, Defra has announced. A range of organisations have welcomed the move to more sustainable drainage for new developments in England. The recommendation to make sustainable drainage systems mandatory to new developments in England is the result of the Government’s review. Defra have […]

12 Jan 2023

A new project working group, led by UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR), is examining the relationship between hydrogen production, water availability, emerging technologies, and the role water utilities can play in the hydrogen value chain across the UK and Ireland. Dan Green, of Wessex Water and UKWIR’s programme lead for its carbon ‘big question’ commented: […]