16 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Tejj The world is “living beyond our hydrological means”, the UN Secretary General has warned, saying overconsumption, pollution and climate change are driving freshwater use beyond the rate at which it can be replenished. António Guterres told ministers at the opening of the ministerial segment of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New […]

14 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Adobe Stock The regulatory system in England and Wales is the primary obstacle to restoring marine habitats at scale, according to a new report from the Blue Marine Foundation. Coastal Comeback argues that a licensing regime designed to control industrial development is being applied, largely unchanged, to projects whose purpose is ecological recovery, and sets […]

14 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Adobe Stock Bottom trawling is damaging the seabirds, dolphins and porpoises that many UK marine protected areas were created to safeguard, and should be banned across those sites, according to a new report from the campaign group Oceana UK. The report, Trawled and Mauled, argues that protection existing on paper is not being delivered […]

14 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Adobe Stock A new fund for the recovery of Wales’s marine and coastal ecosystems has opened a call for ideas, asking organisations across the country what work is needed and where the gaps lie. MARINE Fund Cymru, which stands for Marine Resilience and Improvement of Natural Ecosystems, is managed by the Wales Council for […]

14 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Adobe Stock Ocean science is expanding and drawing more collaboration and funding, yet remains too poorly resourced to meet the challenges facing the sea. That is the assessment of the third Global Ocean Science Report, whose executive summary was released on 30 June at a session of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in Paris. The report […]

14 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Adobe Stock The UK has ratified the High Seas Treaty, the international agreement that for the first time allows marine protected areas to be created in the ocean beyond national borders. The Foreign Secretary signed the document required for ratification, which was formally deposited with the United Nations in New York on 10 July, completing […]

14 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Adobe Stock A North Sea industry body has written to every Labour MP calling for more domestic oil and gas production, timing its appeal to the arrival of Andy Burnham, who is expected to become prime minister within days. The letter from Offshore Energies UK, co-signed by a range of business organisations and the GMB […]

09 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Darren Tolley   Severn Trent Water has been found in breach of its wastewater obligations, though Ofwat has decided against a financial penalty. The regulator concluded the company failed in its duties to provide drainage and manage the contents of its sewers, and had historically breached licence requirements to maintain adequate processes and systems. […]