Energy & Environment

How trees can stack up to help your farm business diversify

Peter Knox is a Business Development Advisor with the Forestry Commission. A key aim of his work is helping farmers become more resilient through incorporating trees into their farm businesses. Based in the Penrith Office, Peter oversees an exciting area for ...

Updated: Thu Feb 16 2023

Coverage on phosphorus pollution from agriculture

There has been coverage today in the Times - part of its Clean It Up campaign - regarding guidance for farmers to reduce and prevent agricultural pollution into waterways. The piece states that ministers have been accused of giving farmers ...

Updated: Wed Feb 15 2023

Natural England wildlife licensing statistics for 2022

By Stephanie Bird-Halton, National Delivery Director Many wild animals and plants are protected in law by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. As nature conservation adviser and regulator, one of Natural ...

Updated: Wed Feb 15 2023

Government response to the Times' Clean It Up Campaign

The Times has launched its Clean It Up campaign which calls for more action to tackle water pollution. We welcome the awareness it will raise of this critically important issue and scrutiny on the work being taken to tackle it.

Updated: Tue Feb 14 2023

Coverage from the Save Britain's Rivers campaign

There has been inaccurate coverage in the i this weekend following the launch of their Save Britain's Rivers campaign. The headline claim on Saturday that only 6% of Britain's rivers are on course to be healthy by 2027 is completely ...

Updated: Mon Feb 13 2023

Coverage on water company fines for pollution

As part of The Times Clean It Up campaign there are claims that water companies could "escape higher fines" for spilling sewage into rivers and seas. This is not the case. We have been clear that all options - including ...

Updated: Mon Feb 13 2023

New round of Farming Equipment and Technology Fund grants opening soon

The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund is part of the Farming Investment Fund. It offers grants for specific items of equipment to increase productivity, boost environmental sustainability and improve animal health and welfare. Today, we published the full list of items available through the fund. In this post, I'll explain what is available, when you can apply for a grant and provide links for you to find out more.

Updated: Mon Feb 13 2023

The Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot: learning together

Farmers across England are helping us to test the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) through the SFI pilot. In this post, I'll share a snapshot of what we've learned from pilot participants through on-farm and large-scale, regional face-to-face events.

Updated: Mon Feb 13 2023

Fishing industry nets new funding to train the next generation

There has been coverage in outlets including Business Live, the Yorkshire Post, Press and Journal and Fishing Daily following our announcement on the winners of the first round of the £100 million UK Seafood Fund's Skills and Training scheme. Winning ...

Updated: Fri Feb 10 2023

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Women have played a crucial role in science for as long as humans have been on earth. From the earliest use of herbs in healing, to the discovery of the structure of DNA[1], women scientists have always been pioneers. However, ...

Updated: Fri Feb 10 2023

The science behind our carbon offsetting

Jenny Connell has worked in the Environment Agency for 15 years. She is a Senior Specialist in the Environment Agency's net zero team - and here, she gives an insight into the science behind the EA's carbon offsetting strategy to mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Updated: Fri Feb 10 2023

Cleaning up rivers polluted by abandoned metal mines

The problems facing water are complex, with multiple sources of pollution affecting water quality. One of the lesser-known areas of the Environment Agency's work is cleaning up pollution from abandoned metal mines. Mining played a major part in Britain's rich industrial history, but this also left thousands of abandoned mines scattered across our landscape. Almost all these mines had closed by the early 1900s but they are still releasing harmful metals including lead, cadmium and copper. This is one of the top 10 issues for water quality in England as it harms fish and river insects. Abandoned mines are the largest source of metals to British rivers and seas (click here for more information). Pollution is localised to about 1,500km of rivers - mainly in the North East, Cumbria, Yorkshire & Cornwall.

Updated: Tue Feb 07 2023

Coverage on fur and foie gras

Today our media blog addresses speculative coverage on the governments position on fur and foie gras.

Updated: Tue Feb 07 2023

Helping to keep rivers flowing but not flooding

Debbie Thompson leads the Stour Field Team and has been with the Environment Agency for 15 years. Here, Debbie explains how the team works throughout the year to help protect communities from flooding and improve the environment for people and nature. The 14-strong field team can be seen working across this large chunk of east Kent on most days of the year.

Updated: Tue Feb 07 2023

Tree Health Pilot: our improvements and progress

The Tree Health Pilot is a 3-year scheme which tests different ways of slowing the spread of tree pests and diseases as well as building the resilience of trees across England. Using what we've learned so far from testing and feedback, we've made a number of improvements to better support land managers to deal with tree pests and diseases. In this post, I'd like to share a short summary of pilot and the changes we've made to the scheme.

Updated: Tue Feb 07 2023

Large Research and Development Partnerships: further innovation funding available

Later this month, the second round of the Large Research and Development Partnerships fund will open. From 20 February, agri-businesses, farmers, growers and foresters in England will be able to apply for a share of £8 million to improve productivity, sustainability and resilience. In this post, I'll give an overview of the competition and details of events for you to find out more.

Updated: Mon Feb 06 2023

Take part in our survey to help stop waste criminals faster

Waste crime can take on many different forms from the very visible dumping of waste to fraudulent producer responsibility claims, deliberate breaches of permits, metal theft and the growing issue of the waste industry being used to launder money. It's ...

Updated: Mon Feb 06 2023