Environmental Improvement Plan makes landfall – but Starmer M.I.A
This week the government published its long-awaited Environmental Improvement plan. The report is intended to lay out how the government will deliver on the Environment Act 2021’s legally-binding targets.The reception has been mixed – but why has the prime minister’s words on the day sparked debate?On this week’s podcast, ECO Chamber host, James Agyepong-Parsons, and ENDS Report deputy editor, Tess Colley, speak with Ruth Chambers, senior research fellow at the think-tank Green Alliance to find out. From nature targets to a promised PFAS action plan, the team discusses the implications and potential impact of the new EIP. The team also gets to grips with the ramifications of the new budget wherein policies on climate and nature were notably absent. PLUS: A former top ranking officer in the British Army has warned that the UK could become an ‘ungovernable state’ if climate change is not taken seriously; nature duty amendments in a new Devolution Bill have been quashed; and the UK takes a leaf out of the Trumpian handbook at an international meeting intended to uphold environmental democracy.
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27:11
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27:11
COP, out: Climate summit key takeaways as UK budget looms
Climate negotiations at COP30 in Belém, Brazil have come to an end. On this week’s podcast, ECO Chamber special guest Dr Timo Leiter from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and a veteran of eight international climate conferences, shares his insights on the latest summit. The ENDS Report team discusses the progress made – or not made – on trade measures, climate finance and adaptation,and limiting global warming to a 1.5C increase. Did the ambitions of the 190 countries at COP 30 succeed, and what was it like without the US at the table? The team also discusses the Planning and Infrastructure Bill as it nears the end of its journey through Parliament: the Commons’ latest rejection of two pro-nature amendments have meant last minute changes were put forward by the upper house… but did they succeed? PLUS: Conservationists and land managers have warned the government against changing England’s flagship biodiversity net gain policy, an environment minister has been accused of ‘impinging the independence’ of the Office for Environmental Protection, and in Northern Ireland an investigation has been launched into the regulation of sewage discharges into Belfast Lough.
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26:32
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26:32
Planning Bill ping-pongs as waste mountain piles up
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is nearing the end of its controversial passage in the House of Lords, with NGO lobby groups trying to come up with a compromise in a last minute huddle. Will they succeed?At the same time, a High Court challenge and a new report from the Environmental Audit Committee has added more fuel to the fire.The team also discusses the significance of an Oxfordshire plastic waste mountain illegally dumped on a floodplain near the river Cherwell – a tributary of the river Thames.Who’s responsible for its clean-up and what will happen next?PLUS: Leaks during climate negotiations at COP30 in Belém suggest the UK is allegedly thwarting talks, UK-EU negotiations move a step closer towards closer alignment on chemicals and pesticides, and England’s ban on plastic wet wipes…
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24:55
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24:55
Mitigation hierarchy hijinks in Planning Bill final furlong
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is nearing the end of its controversial passage in the House of Lords, but a new last-minute amendment has caused fresh consternation among environmental experts. On this week’s ECO Chamber, deputy editor Tess Colley and podcast host James Agyepong-Parsons get to grips with the bill’s latest changes alongside special guest Ben Kite, policy chair at the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management and group strategy director at the consultancy Ecological Planning & Research. The team also discusses a recent ENDS Report interview conducted with Marian Spain – the chief executive of Natural England – and her optimistic take on the bill, which she says is “pretty good”. PLUS: The sticking points at COP30 and the challenges for the UK’s own climate framework, news of a report written by members of a DEFRA committee which argues environmental policy ‘should be reshaped to focus on ecosystems not species’, and we bring you the regions set to benefit the most from a new £150m package to redevelop brownfield land.
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29:32
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EA comes out swinging as Lords slam waste crime 'incompetence’
Waste crime costs England's economy around £1 billion a year in damages, but a new inquiry has levelled accusations of “incompetency” at the Environment Agency in dealing with it. But the news has gone without comment from the regulator chief…In this week’s episode, ECO Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons and ENDS editor Jamie Carpenter discuss the story with Dr Anna Willetts – an environmental waste crime lawyer at Gunnercooke LLP and former president of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management.The team also discusses the final amendments to the controversial Planning and Infrastructure Bill being debated in the House of Lords, including new protections for wetlands and attempts to curb the scope of nascent Environmental Delivery Plans. PLUS: The government has published a carbon budget and growth delivery plan, major infrastructure projects may have a new permitting slip stream, and an ENDS exclusive reveals the English landfills suspended and closed since the mid-2010s.
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Every week, the ENDS team runs down the biggest green news stories, shines a spotlight on some pretty nasty chemicals, and takes a forensic look at one of the more deep-rooted environmental issues facing us today. Read more on the issues covered at www.endsreport.com or follow us on Twitter @TheENDSReport
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