27 Nov 2024

Defra has published bathing water results showing that 92% of English bathing waters meet water quality standards. The number of monitored bathing waters in England rated as poor and unfit for swimming has more than doubled, from 18 to 37. Out of the 450 sites regularly tested this summer for bacteria related to sewage discharges, […]

27 Nov 2024

The Environment Agency has published the outputs of a project exploring new approaches for examining the impact of droughts on English catchments and water supply systems, with the aim of increasing preparedness and understanding the range of interventions to take in different droughts.   Photo credit: Tom Fisk   Background This project explored new approaches […]

27 Nov 2024

Ofwat, the economic regulator for English and Welsh water companies, says it had used new powers to ensure that bonuses at the three companies were paid by shareholders and bondholders – rather than through customer bills – because the payments had not “adequately reflected overall company performance issues”. The companies are Thames, Yorkshire, and Dŵr […]

27 Nov 2024

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has drafted information and guidance on storm overflows, in collaboration with Ofwat and the Environment Agency. This covers existing policy and legislation, and it aims to support water and sewerage companies and the regulators in managing and regulating storm overflows in England. The associated consultation is […]

26 Nov 2024

Global shipping routes overlap 92% of large-whales habitats and are a leading threat to their survival, but protecting whales in the most dangerous collision hotspots would require action over just 2.6% of the ocean’s surface, potentially saving thousands of whales with minimal disruption to global trade. However, currently less than 7% of global hotspots for whale-ship collisions have protection measures in place.  […]

26 Nov 2024

The 43rd annual meeting of the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) – which includes the European Union, representatives from Denmark in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland, Iceland, Norway, the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation – concluded recently. NEAFC cited significant challenges in securing consensus among its members as the meeting came to a close, grappling […]

26 Nov 2024

“The UK Government is here to ensure that nature is high on the agenda at COP29. Half of the global economy depends on nature, and we must protect nature not only for its own sake but also for the sake of humans,” said the UK Government’s Nature Minister Mary Creagh, as she announced new funding […]

26 Nov 2024

Hundreds of polar researchers have issued an emergency statement titled “Making Antarctica Cool Again”, calling for urgent action to deal with the impacts of climate change in Antarctica. More than 450 researchers gathered in Hobart for the inaugural Australian Antarctic Research Conference, the first such event in more than a decade.     The conference highlighted […]