09 May 2023

A motion from the Scottish Conservatives calling on the Scottish Government to “reconsider” its Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMA) proposals has failed to garner majority support. Three members of the governing SNP party rebelled in a debate over the Scottish Government’s controversial proposals for HPMAs, held on 3rd May. The commitment to introducing HPMAs, in which […]

03 May 2023

The National Infrastructure Commission and Climate Change Committee have written jointly to government urging ministers to take steps to improve the resilience of key infrastructure services to the effects of climate change. Building on recent reports by both organisations, the advisory bodies set out five steps to accelerate national adaptation planning to protect key networks: Setting clear […]

03 May 2023

The government has announced that its target to reduce storm overflows will be enshrined in law. The Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, published in August 2022, set out stringent targets to protect people and the environment, backed up by up to £56 billion capital investment – the largest infrastructure programme in water company history. But opposition […]

03 May 2023

Despite progress in some EU Member States to reduce their use, pesticide pollution still poses significant risks to human health and the environment, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing published today. To reverse this, much more needs to be done to achieve the EU’s zero pollution targets to reduce by 50% the use and risk […]

03 May 2023

Living well doesn’t have to cost the earth, or lives. Imagine a future where you are healthier, communities thrive, there’s better air quality and nature flourishes. CIWEM has published an advice note for members on how various changes in everyday life can achieve different emissions reductions. In as little as 11 minutes discover how you can do […]

03 May 2023

The Guardian reports that a chemicals company is releasing large quantities of a “forever chemical” described as being “very persistent, mobile and toxic” into the River Wyre in Lancashire each year, and is not breaking any rules. Earlier this year, the Guardian and Watershed Investigations revealed that effluent coming from the site of AGC Chemicals Europe in Thornton-Cleveleys could […]

03 May 2023

Largest ever fine imposed for environmental offences in Devon and Cornwall as South West Water is told by court ‘incidents of pollution will no longer be tolerated’ South West Water (SWW) has been fined more than £2 million for a series of environmental offences across Devon and Cornwall spanning a period of four years. It […]

03 May 2023

CIRIA has launched a new tool for calculating the benefits of green and blue infrastructure CIRIABEST (CIRIA’S Benefits Estimation Tool) The tool and guidance make assessing the benefits of blue-green infrastructure easier, without the need for full scale economic inputs. CIRIABEST was first produced and released as a spreadsheet tool (‘BeST’) in 2015 and was […]