21 Oct 2025

Photo by Red Morley   Last-minute changes to the government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill have sparked backlash from nature groups who have accused Chancellor Rachel Reeves of removing environmental protections to secure growth headlines ahead of her budget. The amendments are designed to make it easier for developers to side-step environmental laws for major projects […]

06 Nov 2024

Last week’s Budget was designed to “fix the foundations of our economy”, but views on how it will help fix the environment are mixed. Defra’s overall funding will rise slightly in real terms, although its day-to-day budget will see a small decrease, with officials warning that farming and flood defence budgets face £600 million in […]

13 Mar 2024

Last week’s Spring Budget was widely criticised for missed opportunities on energy efficiency and growing low-carbon industries. Key points from the useful summary by Carbon Brief UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt failed to mention the term “climate change” at all when setting out the government’s spring budget – the first since it was confirmed that 2023 was […]

22 Mar 2023

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has unveiled his Spring Budget, introducing fresh funding for carbon capture technologies, reclassifying nuclear as a “sustainable” energy option and extending energy efficiency relief for households, as a part of an ongoing effort to halve inflation, grow the economy and reduce debt. But last week’s Budget will do little to meet the […]

15 Mar 2021

James Murray Editor Business Green Blog ‘Last week delivered yet another impressive milestone for the world-leading UK offshore wind industry, but for the rest of the green economy it is a reminder of what might have been. Last Thursday was a pretty stellar day for the British wind industry. There was £95m for two massive port […]

10 Mar 2021

Last week’s Budget saw a range of announcements and initiatives, but has been widely criticised as being out-of-step with the UK’s net-zero carbon transition and insufficient to meet the government’s climate ambitions. See BBC for more. Key announcements included: A new Net-Zero Innovation Portfolio, which will provide £1bn funding for low-carbon technologies and systems. Funding will be […]

09 Dec 2020

Climate Change Committee: ‘We’ve just published our advice to Government on the Sixth Carbon Budget. The Budget, required under the Climate Change Act, provides Ministers with the Committee’s recommendation on the level of greenhouse gases the UK can emit during the period 2033-2037. Please visit our Sixth Carbon Budget page to view and download our […]

10 Mar 2020

Multiple links to various sources on this news   Guardian: Budget: cash for flood defences to be doubled Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce an increase in spending from £2.6bn to £5.2bn this week Toby Helm The increased spend will be the centrepiece of chancellor Rishi Sunak’s first budget. The government is to double spending on flood […]