12 Jun 2025

Image description: Wide shot of the houses of Parliament. Image by Dominika Gregušová / Pexels.   The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard evidence in person earlier this week from senior executives at Ofwat, Water UK, CCW, DEFRA and the Environment Agency as part of its current inquiry into water sector regulation. In […]

12 Jun 2025

Image description: Dry, cracked earth. Image by Yusuf Gündüz.   National Drought Group to meet monthly  The Environment Agency (EA) convened a National Drought Group meeting, following the driest spring since 1893. EA director of water, Helen Wakeham, announced the group, which is formed of the Met Office, government, regulators, water companies, farmers, and experts, […]

12 Jun 2025

Image description: sewage outfalls emptying into the ocean. Image by Tom Fisk.   Unfair bonuses banned The government has confirmed “unfair bonuses” have been banned for six water companies with immediate effect, following new measures from the Water (Special Measures) Act coming into force. The government said that in the past 10 years, executives at […]

12 Jun 2025

Image description: Two sheep looking toward a camera. Image by Pixabay.   Conservationists have launched a campaign to revoke the Lake District’s Unesco world heritage status, claiming that the illustrious title leads to sheep farming being overly prioritised, to the detriment of the natural environment. In a letter to Unesco, Ecologist Lee Schofield argues that […]

10 Jun 2025

Photo of Nice, France at night   The 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) opened on Monday 9th June, kicking off a week of high-level dialogue and action. Focused on advancing SDG 14 – to conserve and sustainably use the ocean, seas and marine resources – the conference brings together world leaders, scientists, and marine […]

10 Jun 2025

Photo: Fishing boat by Paul Einerhand   The UK Government has announced a major proposal to ban bottom trawling in 41 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) across English waters. If implemented, it would expand existing ban on bottom trawling from 18,000 km² to 30,000 km², of the UK’s offshore areas, covering nearly a quarter of the […]

10 Jun 2025

Photo of shells by Anthony   A crisis breaching planetary boundaries A groundbreaking study by researchers from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, NOAA, and Oregon State University has found that ocean acidification—driven by escalating CO₂ absorption—has crossed a key “planetary boundary.” By 2020, acidification levels in approximately 60% of the ocean at depths near 200 m had […]

10 Jun 2025

Photo of beach in Adelaide, Australia   South Australia’s coastline is grappling with an unprecedented environmental disaster as a toxic algal bloom, exacerbated by marine heatwaves, continues to decimate marine life and disrupt local fisheries. A bloom of unprecedented scale Since March, the harmful algal bloom (HAB), primarily composed of Karenia mikimotoi, has spread across […]