Environment, carbon and sustainability | Home

Gove accuses Treasury of 'shortsightedness' over green watchdog plans

23 May 2018 12:30 BST

Environment secretary Michael Gove has accused chancellor Philip Hammond of attempting to sabotage his quest for a green Brexit, according to reports.

Environmental Politics

Latest Articles

Environment minister Thérèse Coffey steps down temporarily to recover from illness

23 May 2018 12:44 BST

Environment minister Thérèse Coffey has stepped down from her role temporarily while she recovers from an illness, the government has announced

Environmental Politics
Scoping report submitted for Heathrow’s third runway

23 May 2018 13:22 BST

A report setting out the potential environmental risks and impacts of expanding Heathrow airport has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate

Land, Ecology & Development
WSP appoints new natural capital lead from BirdLife International

23 May 2018 13:12 BST

Jenny Merriman has taken up the natural capital technical lead for engineering firm WSP after eight years at wildlife NGO BirdLife

Environment & Sustainability Management
EU Council issues final approval for circular economy package

23 May 2018 12:41 BST

EU member states yesterday approved a package of legislation setting binding targets on waste and recycling, which form a key part of the EU ambitions for a more circular economy.

Waste & Resources
Environment Agency warns of looming water resource crisis

23 May 2018 07:38 BST

England must reduce its water use and wastage or face “significant supply deficits by 2050”, the Environment Agency (EA) has warned

Water Management
In brief: Obesogens are ‘making us fatter’, hormone disruptor BPS use doubles

23 May 2018 12:52 BST

Also in the news, Obesogens are ‘prime contributor to obesity epidemic’, Hormone disruptor BPS’s use in thermal paper growing, London T-charge ‘cuts noxious emissions by a third’ and DEFRA releases corrections to abstraction tables

News
Clean Air Strategy: Sector reacts

22 May 2018 12:59 BST

The government has received a mixed response to the publication of its draft Clean Air Strategy this morning

Air Management
Clean Air Strategy: Government promises revolution in air quality management

22 May 2018 12:42 BST

New action on domestic fuels, construction machinery, shipping, dust from tyre wear and industrial emissions has been promised today by the government in a bid to improve air quality across the nation.

Air Management
Clean Air Strategy: Five things you need to know

22 May 2018 12:10 BST

Five things you need to know about the draft Clean Air Strategy published today, including details of new legislation for local authorities

Air Management
Firm pays up after failing in packaging obligations for 10 years

22 May 2018 12:23 BST

A Nottinghamshire paint and adhesives firm, which for ten years failed in its obligations to recover and recycle packaging, has agreed to pay £37,450 in an enforcement undertaking (EU).

Waste & Resources
Perry pledges consultation on form of new shale environmental regulator

22 May 2018 12:27 BST

The government will consult in the summer on whether a proposed environmental regulator for shale should be a standalone entity and be granted additional powers, clean growth minister Claire Perry has revealed

Energy
In brief: May sets clean growth ‘grand challenge’, Tesco cuts use of ‘best before’ labels

22 May 2018 12:18 BST

Also in the news, prime minister sets clean growth ‘grand challenge’, Tesco to cut use of ‘best before’ dates to reduce food waste, mayor presents environment strategy to London Assembly and regulation to ban microbeads in Scotland coming into force

News
Drax reveals ‘carbon negative’ biomass CO2 capture project

21 May 2018 13:07 BST

Drax is to fit a demonstration-scale carbon capture system to one of its biomass lines, the firm announced today

Energy
DEFRA opts to retain WEEE categories after far-reaching consultation

21 May 2018 12:47 BST

DEFRA said it will retain the existing 14 categories of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) after consulting on EU rules which aim to expand the regulations to cover all products.

Waste & Resources

More news & analysis

Big Issue

Featured articles

How developers can dig their way out of landfill tax trouble

Nicola Power: Developers reusing excavated soils at construction sites could be inadvertently caught out by new tax rules targeting illegal landfill operators. Careful planning can avoid hefty costs
Brexit’s green watchdog – rottweiler or poodle?

Paul Hatchwell: Environment secretary Michael Gove has committed to achieving a green Brexit, with a powerful new, independent oversight body. But his Environmental Principles and Governance Bill consultation risks falling well short of previously stated ambitions
Environmental watchdog and principles: five things you need to know

Five things we learned from yesterday’s DEFRA consultation on environmental governance after the UK leaves the EU, including that the proposed environment watchdog will not be in place by exit day and is not likely to have powers to take the government to court
Fines Monitor: live table

Click through to view a live table containing details of tens of millions of pounds of financial penalties issued by regulators in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for breaches of environmental regulations
Driven to abstraction: Why England's rare chalk streams are under threat

England is home to the bulk of the world’s chalk streams, but they are being threatened by drought, abstraction and pollution. Rachel Salvidge investigates
The waste watchman: Interview with WRAP chief Marcus Gover

A lack of funding has forced waste and resources charity WRAP into a round of redundancies, but its chief executive Marcus Gover tells Conor McGlone that it will remain influential despite its shrinking size
What disclosures reveal about the environment sector’s gender pay gap

An analysis of the gender pay gap reports published by the UK’s biggest employers of environmental professionals exposes the extent of the pay differences between men and women in the sector. James Parsons reports
How a treatment plant operator overturned a permit refusal

The operator of an incinerator bottom ash facility successfully appealed an Environment Agency decision to refuse it a permit. James Parsons explores what was learned
Infographic: Household energy efficiency progress slows

With a target to install energy efficiency measures in one million homes by 2020, the UK so far has installed 677,000, but installation rates have been slowing
Five reasons to attend the ENDS Natural Capital Conference

Five reasons to attend the ENDS Natural Capital Conference, including to hear best practice natural capital approaches from organisations that have pioneered the method

Document Watch

DEFRA: Corrections to the water abstraction tables for England

23 May 2018 16:08 BST
EA: Corporate report - State of the environment

23 May 2018 12:18 BST
The Environmental Protection (Microbeads) (Scotland) Regulations 2018

22 May 2018 14:47 BST
Air quality: Draft Clean Air Strategy 2018

22 May 2018 12:39 BST
Flood Risk Management in Scotland- 2018 Consultation on Potentially Vulnerable Areas

17 May 2018 12:03 BST
NAO: Investigation into the 2017 auction for low-carbon electricity generation contracts

16 May 2018 15:59 BST
Environmental Audit Committee: Green finance: mobilising investment in clean energy and sustainable development

16 May 2018 15:52 BST
BEIS: Standardised Reporting of Radioactive Discharges Direction 2018

16 May 2018 15:46 BST
HM Treasury: Vehicle Excise Duty for vans

15 May 2018 16:00 BST

Find policy documents

Search the UK's most comprehensive environmental policy database

Special Reports

Environmental consultancy market review 2017

26 June 2017

Big infrastructure, Brexit and changes to regulations were some of the hot topics at this year’s ENDS Report roundtable of environmental consultants
ENDS Environmental Impact Awards 2017

4 May 2017

ENDS inaugural Environmental Impact Awards recognised the achievements of 11 winners and several highly commended projects and teams
UK environmental law on the way to Brexit

29 March 2017

A guide for environmental professionals on key issues in UK environmental law and compliance during the Brexit negotiations, highlighting four ways in which the legal relationship between UK and EU law could begin to loosen even before the final date of departure.
An environmental union?

26 April 2016

The EU has a big influence in British environmental policy and standards, making environmental professionals relatively well informed about its workings. Does the UK environmental profession respect the EU and want Britain to remain, or has familiarity bred contempt? In association with Society for the Environment ENDS surveyed the profession to find out.