01 Aug 2023

Across England’s 189,700 miles of road, runoff surface water polluted with microplastics, trace metals, hydrocarbons and other organic pollutants enters our rivers every time it rains. CIWEM has been awarded a grant from the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund to illustrate the scale, nature and impact caused by this pollution, and offer potential solutions. The pollution […]

01 Aug 2023

The government has published indicative guide prices and information on calculating costs for developers buying statutory credits. They start at £42,000 per credit for a low distinctiveness habitat, up to £650,000 for high distinctiveness habitats (lakes). Defra notes that buying statutory biodiversity credits is a last resort option for developers unable to use on-site or off-site units […]

01 Aug 2023

Six new landscape scale projects will support nature recovery in England and improve habitats for wildlife. The projects will be supported with £7.4 million funding from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The projects will also help manage flood risk, improve access to nature, and protect endangered species. The nature recovery projects […]

01 Aug 2023

The UK Government and the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) have announced a joint commitment to undertake future oil and gas licensing rounds, with at least 100 new licenses and possibly many more expected to be awarded from autumn. This includes the possibility that licences could also be offered near to currently licensed areas where […]

01 Aug 2023

A vital system of ocean currents that governs weather patterns across the northern hemisphere could collapse by the middle of the century and potentially as early as two years’ time, according to a study warning that the ocean climate system is close to an irreversible tipping point. But other researchers have doubts about the accuracy […]

01 Aug 2023

A report published by the Marine Conservation Society has calculated the cost-benefit of banning bottom-contact fishing from the UK’s offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) designated to protect seabed features. The analysis shows that initially, costs outweigh the economic gains of banning bottom-contact fishing gear. Costs include the loss of earnings by fishers, and the setting […]