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

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 […]

01 Jul 2017

This is the same piece as above but it focuses on the marine litter and plastics elements. In particular the commitments UK Government has made to work with international bodies on this. I have added links to these programmes which are not the original. UK takes centre stage in global marine protection – the litter […]

28 Jun 2017

  Beware the press and I’ve been caught like this before but the scale of response from many different sources suggests this may be the case.  Michael Gove could use Brexit to shelve key plan to protect the environment, critics fear Officials tell The Independent they cannot guarantee strategy will be published this year, following delays. Green […]

28 Jun 2017

  Business Green on the Queen’s Speech The assertion of support for the Paris Agreement was welcome, the paucity of the government’s wider green programme was anything but First, the good news. The Queen’s unequivocal assertion that her government “will continue to support international action against climate change, including the implementation of the Paris Agreement” is hugely […]

19 Apr 2017

Two articles 1. European Commission warns UK over failure to protect blanket bog habitats This is in the Environment section along with a number of other items The Commission is urging the United Kingdom to stop burning blanket bog habitats within upland Natura 2000 sites in England and to take measures to restore the damaged habitats. Blanket bogs are […]

19 Apr 2017

Civil Service World ‘Untangling the UK’s complicated relationship with European environmental policies and subsidies could be the hardest part of leaving the EU. Mark Rowe reports: When Theresa May talked of a Brexit cliff-edge – the risk of the UK leaving the EU with no trade deal in place – staff at the Department for […]

13 Apr 2017

And so it begins. What was always going to be a difficult process starts very badly – the draft 25 year environment plan has been leaked. This is not going to be a comfortable time for Defra Ministers and officials since the reactions so far have been from complimentary. ClientEarth chief executive James Thornton told […]