22 Jul 2017

Secretary of State Michael Gove sets out his vision on the future of our natural environment Safeguarding our future  RE: This is a remarkable speech by Michael Gove and he has gone out of his way to distance himself from some of his baggage which was remembered in detail when he was appointed. There was never […]

22 Jul 2017

  Check this carefully because there are at least four links to new Government information on plastics and microbeads. Also this is just one element of the Green Brexit speech give at WWF HQ. Defra ‘Environment Secretary Michael Gove pledged action to reduce plastic waste choking our oceans as he set out his ambition for […]

22 Jul 2017

North Sea cod recover: MSC A recovery from near total collapse has led North Sea cod stocks to be labelled as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council for the first time in 20 years. Guardian: Fish and chip lovers can now enjoy North Sea cod with a clear conscience, after the fishery was awarded sustainable […]

22 Jul 2017

Thanks to Robin Churchill & Daniel Owen for passing this on. A detailed and thoughtful legal assessment of UK’s position on the London Convention and Brexit; lots of links. Brexit and fisheries access – Some reflections on the UK’s denunciation of the 1964 London Fisheries Convention Valentin Schatz: ‘On 2 July 2017 the government of […]

22 Jul 2017

The engagement summary highlights the feedback from our Spring engagement for the development of marine plans for the North West, North East, South West and South East areas. It summarises how the engagement was received by stakeholders and the results of their views on user stories, issues, common policies to address them and the digital […]

22 Jul 2017

At one level this will probably be the driest report of the year but it is loaded with information on all sorts of Defra related activities. Not least of these is how the Department is structuring to deal with Brexit and generally approaching this. The tweet I picked it up on was highlighting the Department’s […]

18 Jul 2017

This report presents the summary and recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change’s 2017 Report to Parliament and the Adaptation Sub-Committee’s 2017 Report to Parliament. It finds that: Two new plans covering emissions reductions and actions to prepare for climate change are needed to meet the UK’s climate change objectives The plans to be developed by the new […]

18 Jul 2017

Thanks to Nathan Richardson for the heads up on this. This consultation covers a very wide range of natural resources issues suggesting that Wales may potentially go it alone in a number of areas including on abstraction reform in the absence of a Water Bill plus stronger measures around SUDS (see Chapter 6).