‘The system is a farce’: The murky world of failed bathing water applications

Latest news

MAPPED: The storm overflows that spilled sewage 301,091 times in 2022

Storm overflows in England discharged untreated sewage into rivers and the sea 301,091 times in 2022, official data published this week has revealed. Click through to explore the data using our interactive map

‘Indefensible frequency’: Sewage spilled into England's rivers for 200 years equivalent last year

‘Wilfully misleading’: EA considering enforcement action after new sewage spill data shows poor performance

Greenhouse gas emissions increased by 0.7% in 2022, new data shows

Natural England nutrient credit schemes opens in Teesside to unlock development

Government unveils plans for ‘radical shift’ in UK energy make-up

‘Green Day or Groundhog Day’: Government's net zero plans under fire

Green Finance Strategy 2023: 15 things you need to know

DEFRA’s nature policy has a ‘concerning lack of detail’ on climate impact, warns watchdog

DEFRA ‘pretty clear’ on what REUL law to repeal as it moves to consider reforms

‘Lost decade’: No UK sector is prepared for climate change, warns watchdog

Analysis

Why the case against Bristol Airport’s expansion is a bellwether for the future of climate litigation

Interview: London’s deputy mayor on why City Hall won’t be cowed by ULEZ backlash

DEFRA ‘haemorrhaging staff’ and work not getting done, say insiders

Leaked: The failure to regulate England’s most dangerous sites - including Buncefield

Nutrient neutrality: Can local mitigation schemes finally unblock the housing logjam?

What are the biodiversity net gain ‘elephant traps’ lying in wait?

‘The unethical environmental lawyer’: Does the legal profession need to rethink its green ethics?

Spring Budget: 8 things you need to know

WATCH NOW: Natural England and DEFRA strikers on why they are on the picket line

‘Useless legacy’: DEFRA shelves plans for major arms-length body shake-up

Pinch points and bear traps: Why can’t DEFRA shake off the stench of the sewage scandal?

The Land Use Framework: 6 things you need to know

ECO CHAMBER podcast

ECO CHAMBER PODCAST: DRS disaster, dormice killings and surfing on sewage

Watchdog walkouts, COMAH crisis, and inside Attenborough's Wild Isles

Dark waters, shrew-eating spiders, and DEFRA's 'useless legacy'

Shell sued, wood-burning worries, and DEFRA's dirty data

Trash talk, acronym overload, and DEFRA’s sunset clause strife

Divide and REUL, beaver breakout, and DEFRA’s ‘culture of delay’

AN ENDS REPORT FILM

SEVERN: The poisoning
of Britain’s Amazon

Now available to view

Video

WATCH THE TRAILER > SEVERN: The poisoning of Britain’s Amazon

WATCH > ‘We go out less and less’ | SEVERN: The poisoning of Britain’s Amazon

WATCH > ‘Sweating the assets’ | SEVERN: The poisoning of Britain’s Amazon

WATCH > ‘The estuary has changed’ | SEVERN: The poisoning of Britain’s Amazon

WATCH > ‘Such a sad state of affairs’ | SEVERN: The poisoning of Britain’s Amazon

Interviews

Interview: George Monbiot on taking the fight to Big Farmer

Interview: Peter Kellett on a 'perilous time for environmental law'

Interview: ClientEarth’s new boss on the next chapter in environmental litigation

Watchdog unleashed: Natalie Prosser on how the OEP is already having an impact

Interview: NFU president Minette Batters on why we’re all complicit in farm pollution

Interview: The chair of Scotland’s new green watchdog talks about plans for investigations and maintaining independence

Case studies

How a first-of-its-kind tidal energy project gained planning permission

How a developer created its first ‘biodiversity bank’ ahead of net gain requirements

How one council programmed wind and solar power into its local plan

How Network Rail secured the first organisational licence for great crested newts

'It's like writing a book': How a seaweed farm successfully won millions of pounds of BEIS funding

How a Cornish project may provide a solution to disruption fears as the UK phases out gas boilers

The Debrief: How do you solve a problem like Japanese knotweed?

The debrief: How a beaver reintroduction project transformed a polluted protected site in Cheshire

The debrief: How the Greater Manchester Authority mapped the natural habitat on its doorstep

The debrief: How a restoration project removed 150 tonnes of plastic from a Lake District river

Data & insight

MAPPED: The UK sites where PFAS has been detected

Scorecard summary: Where the EA is meeting its objectives - and where it is falling short

MAPPED: How clean is the water at England’s beaches and other bathing areas?

MAPPED: The sites that recorded the most permit breaches in 2021

MAPPED: The investment zone bids submitted so far - and the areas refusing to take part in the scheme

MAPPED: Truss’s ‘attack on nature’ - where investment zones and protected sites collide

Watchdog walkouts,
COMAH crisis, and inside
Attenborough’s Wild Isles

The ECO Chamber podcast, Episode 33

SPECIAL REPORT Clean Cities Index

The ENDS Clean Cities Index 2022: Overall rankings

Which is the cleanest city in England? Which scores best for air pollution? Where are the most eco-friendly residents? View the Clean Cities Index in full to find out.

Clean Cities Index 2022: England’s 10 dirtiest cities revealed

MAPPED: The sewage pollution hotspots in England's major towns and cities

MAPPED: England's brownfield sites

MAPPED: The best major towns and cities in England for green spaces

MAPPED: 20 years of English pollution incidents

Legal comment

Legal comment: Why Dartmoor’s wild camping case will have wider implications for the countryside

Why directors can be personally held to account for environmental harm caused by their companies

Legal comment: Why EU nature conservation laws have survived Brexit - for now

Legal comment: Why a quashed appeal for wind farm planning permission will bring uncertainty for developers

Legal comment: The practicalities of cases where property rights meet environmental regulations

Legal comment: Nutrient neutrality in the courts - the limits of precaution

SPECIAL REPORTS

RISK REVIEW: Key policy changes and deadlines, PLUS standard rules shake-up, chemicals divergence and more

The policy changes and compliance deadlines that need to be on your radar in the next three months

The ENDS Briefing: biodiversity net gain

Why Exeter has topped the ENDS Clean Cities Index 2022

Power List 2022: the UK's 100 most influential environmental professionals

Environment Bill briefing

Power List

Power List 2022: the UK's 100 most influential environmental professionals

Power List 2022: The unsung heroes making a difference

Power List 2022: The campaigners who are shaping green policy and legislation

Power List 2022: The most influential environmental consultants

Power List 2022: The environmental professionals leading the way in the public sector

Power List 2022: The most impactful environmental lawyers

Power List 2022: The private sector pioneers

Fines Monitor

SEARCH: The ENDS Report 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

ENDS TV

Toxic timebomb:
Tackling the UK’s
PFAS problem

Watch on demand

Join this webinar, where we examine the increasing focus on the environmental impacts of PFAS in the UK, and its implications. We discuss how firms in the US have been exposed to huge liabilities for causing PFAS pollution, explore the tighter regulatory controls that could be put in place in the UK, and what this means for environmental professionals