Environment News

Greenpeace has condemned Boris Johnson’s plans to ditch taxes on short-distance domestic flights after pledging to help the environment. A review today reveals No 10 is considering cutting Air Passenger Duty on domestic flights under plans to boost connectivity within the UK. Johnson said he wanted to “build back better” after the coronavirus crisis in a […]

SUNA ERDEM on how our clothing is contributing to the environmental scourge of microplastics, and what can be done about it. The Arctic is a forbidding place. The 24-hour winter darkness; sub zero temperatures;  treacherous floating ice sheets – it is barely accessible to all but the most dedicated scientist or explorer. Our clothes, however, […]

Measures in the government’s new environmental protection legislation could be used to ban people from driving cars, a Conservative MP has claimed. Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) said the so-called precautionary principle in the Environment Bill – where actions could be taken by the government to stop environmental damage – could restrict people’s […]

Former cabinet minister Chris Grayling is attempting to give hedgehogs increased protection to preserve their numbers. Grayling has tabled an amendment to the Environment Bill which would put a legal obligation on developers to search for hedgehogs and take action to reduce the risk to them. By adding hedgehogs to the list of protected animals […]

When David Attenborough finally stops making shows, they will have to reinvent the wildlife genre entirely, says Jean-Baptiste Gouyon.  At a recent event on the history of wildlife documentaries, I was asked a question that has popped up regularly in my 15 years of research: “Who, do you think, will replace David Attenborough?”  Now that Sir […]

The Green Party has accused the government of “ripping up” environmental protections in the UK after Brexit. Co-leader Jonathan Bartley said that it was “clear” that the UK leaving the European Union would leave weaker protections from the environment, and the formation of a new Office of Environmental Protection (OEP) watchdog will not alleviate those […]

I work in a hut that stands on a floodplain on the edge of the Broads and I often see marsh harriers from my desk: wings in a shallow dihedral, balanced on the edge of a stall, a bird of prey and a virtuoso of slowness. They’ve been extinct once, almost twice as a British […]

Analysis of the impact of a no-deal, or weak deal, has focused on the impact on trade. But, says DR MARK AVERY, it will also bring consequences for the environment. Four years after the Brexit vote, and almost nine months through the one-year transition period, we are still unclear as to the impacts of Brexit […]