Environmental politics

Government efforts to rescue the global economy from the coronavirus crisis must respect ‘future generations’ by addressing climate change and social justice, prime minister Boris Johnson has said

United Nations officials have given the green light to a proposal from the UK and Italian governments to postpone the COP26 climate talks to November 2021, a full year after they were scheduled to take place, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic

10 of the biggest stories from this week: EA denies claims it has been ‘paralysed’ by IT failures during lockdown; What the UK’s draft agreement tells us about the future of environmental standards; EA considering options after Bristol brook runs blood red

The UK government risks undermining its credibility on tackling climate change unless it accounts for the carbon footprint of imported goods and services, according to a group of MPs and representatives from industry and civil society

The government has asked the UN to consider delaying next year’s climate change negotiations, due to be held in November, by a full year in light of the coronavirus pandemic

Natural England plans to roll out its district licensing scheme for great crested newts to other species such as bats, but not everyone believes it can it work. James Fair reports

Dozens of green rules have been relaxed during the Covid-19 pandemic, with operators given additional leeway on their usual environmental obligations. But how much flexibility do the temporary changes really give businesses?

Industry lobbyists have been using the Covid-19 situation to renew calls for measures that their paymasters view as unhelpful to be scrapped or watered down. Just how vulnerable are key pieces of environmental policy and legislation?

With Brexit back on the political agenda, Simon Pickstone explores what the UK government’s newly published proposals for a trade deal with the EU would mean for green protections

With the UK’s draft text for a trade deal with the EU now published, ENDS takes you through its key environmental provisions, and how they relate to the EU’s aims for the talks