Energy & Environment

Wet weather and temporary adjustments to agri-environment agreements

Heavy rainfall has a devastating and long-term impact on farming. This disruption not only affects livelihoods but also has wider implications for food security and the economy too. We're introducing temporary adjustments and easements within the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), the SFI Pilot, Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Environmental Stewardship (ES) to support farmers and land managers dealing with the impacts of severe weather in England.

Updated: Tue May 14 2024

Into the Woods: Spring Bluebells

Introducing "Into the woods" our new blog series where staff members share their adventures in England's woodlands. Join us this month to look at spring bluebells at Marbury Country Park.

Updated: Mon May 13 2024

The Sustainable Farming Incentive: stats to know

Today, we updated the data showing the uptake of actions in Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and the uptake of options in Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Environmental Stewardship (CS). In this post, I'll share an overview of the data for the Sustainable Farming Offer in 2023. I'll also include some findings from research we conducted with around 500 SFI agreement holders, advisers and stakeholders.

Updated: Mon May 13 2024

Changes to permitted development rights

We want to make it easier for farmers to strengthen their businesses. To that end, several changes to permitted development rights are coming into effect from 21 May.

Updated: Fri May 10 2024

Inaccurate claims in the OEP Report reviewing the implementation of River Basin Management Planning in England

Today the Office for Environmental Protection published a report on legal targets to improve water health. The report claims that report claims that "the EA has calculated a cost of £51 billion to achieve the targets... but there is only confirmed funding of £6.2 billion up to 2027". This is incorrect. In October 2023, the water industry announced a planned £96 billion of investment between 2025 and 2030 to deliver significant environmental improvements, including tackling nutrient pollution and reducing the use of storm overflows. Ofwat is currently considering these proposals.

Updated: Fri May 10 2024

Working in partnership to enhance approaches to surface water risk management

In recent years, record rainfall events nationally and internationally have served to underline the threat of surface water flooding, particularly to our cities and urban areas, writes Caroline Douglass, Environment Agency Executive Director of Flood and Coastal Risk Management. Examples ...

Updated: Fri May 10 2024

Coverage of Bluetongue virus risk

There has been widespread coverage of our announcement that there is a very high probability of a new introduction of bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3) into livestock in Great Britain this year. This was reported by publications including BBC ...

Updated: Wed May 08 2024

Operation Angola - we need your help

Emma Viner, Enforcement and Investigations Manager, writes about just one of the many waste crime investigations the Environment Agency is dealing with. Waste crime is a major issue across the country which is often not fully understood. The Environmental Services ...

Updated: Wed May 08 2024

Landscape Recovery: The Waveney and Little Ouse Recovery Project

Our project, the Waveney and Little Ouse Landscape Recovery Project, sits on the headwaters of the 2 rivers, covering over 1,600 hectares between the towns of Diss on the Waveney and Thetford on the Little Ouse. The project seeks an opportunity to realise the invaluable services our floodplains provide. In this post, I'll share an overview of our work.

Updated: Mon Apr 29 2024

Avian Influenza in US cattle

In today's blog we look at media coverage of highly pathogenic avian influenza in dairy cattle in the United States.

Updated: Fri Apr 26 2024

Our response to the Rock Review: one year on

Our response to the Rock Review set out our commitments in light of its recommendations. It is now one year since we published our response. And, of the 75 commitments, we have completed or are working on 64. In this post, we'll summarise the progress we have made over the last year. We also shine a light on the role of the Farm Tenancy Forum and the collaborative approach of one farm in Oxfordshire.

Updated: Wed Apr 24 2024

Apply now for a water screening study

From today, small groups of farmers in England can apply for a Local Resource Option (LRO) screening study. An LRO is a water resources scheme that improves the resilience or supply of water in a local area. LRO screening studies are one way farmers and growers can better understand their options to improve the supply or resilience of water. In this post, I'll share the background, explain how the studies work and include links to learn more and apply.

Updated: Mon Apr 22 2024

Coverage of the UK-wide ban on wet wipes containing plastic

There has been coverage, including in the Telegraph, Sky News, The Independent, Daily Mail, The Times and The Mirror of the publication of the government response to our consultation on a ban on plastic-containing wet wipes. Today's announcement sets out the next steps to ban the sale and supply of wet wipes containing plastic across the UK.

Updated: Mon Apr 22 2024

Tackling plastics in woodland creation

This Earth Day (22 April), Woodland Officer Katie explains some of the partnership work the Forestry Commission is involved in to help reduce the use of plastic associated with tree planting and creating woodlands.

Updated: Mon Apr 22 2024