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The Pension Schemes Bill, bolstering protections for savers and furthering the government’s progress towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions, has cleared its first hurdle in the House of Lords. The Bill will be taken through the House of Commons later this year. Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, Guy Opperman commented: "With this Bill, we’re pushing ahead with our innovative and...

Mendip District Council in Somerset has unveiled plans to provide much-needed social housing across the district. The scheme, the first for two decades, promises to create jobs, boost skills and the local economy, while leaving a lasting legacy of social homes offering fair rents for residents. The Council has looked at Mendip-owned sites and identified numerous potential plots. Five of these could...

A group of University of Manchester academics are imploring policy-makers to use the UK’s post-pandemic recovery as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead a positive green revolution. The UK is slowly easing COVID-19 restrictions and has recently announced financial aid to stimulate economic recovery including a £3bn plan to cut emissions. Now a collaborative group of leading scientists are imploring governments the...

The EU’s budget proposal fails to honour the climate protection commitments made by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to energy think tank Agora Energiewende. The 1.85 trillion euro budget, which will be deliberated at the upcoming meeting of the European Council, only allocates 80 billion euros firmly to climate protection. If significant amendments are not made, Europe will face...

WEST Berkshire Council is today launching the UK’s first-ever local government green bond using the Community Municipal Investment (CMI) developed by ethical investment platform Abundance, to help the district build back greener after the pandemic. CMIs allow councils to offer a regulated investment directly to their residents for the first time. The West Berkshire investment launching today is the first of...

A NEW report titled 'Examining Material Evidence - The Carbon Fingerprint', commissioned by Veolia and published by Imperial College, highlights the importance of plastic as a material compared to alternatives when examining the carbon emissions. The report analysed over 70 life-cycle assessments to evaluate the environmental impacts of packaging alternatives over their life-time, including impacts from mining, manufacturing, logistics, usage...

GOVERNMENT is installing less than two per cent of heat pumps needed to decarbonise the nation’s homes, policy think tank outlines. Heat pumps combined with high energy efficiency standards should be central to a national strategy to revolutionise home heating and radically reduce the UK’s carbon consumption, according to a new IPPR report. IPPR estimates that at least 12 million homes...

EAST Hampshire District Council (EHDC) has pledged to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2050 as part of a new strategy to tackle the climate emergency. The Climate and Environment Strategy 2020-2025 was approved by EHDC’s Cabinet on 9 July, after having declared a climate emergency in July 2019. In February this year, residents and community groups from across the...

Suffolk County Council aims to lead the way with a range of activities and policy changes to support its ambition of being a ‘net zero’ authority by 2030. At its meeting on 14 July 2020, the council’s Cabinet will review an extensive programme of recommendations which will support the organisation’s ambition of emitting as few carbon emissions as possible. The plans...

OFGEM is launching an investigation into whether United Gas and Power breached rules around billing, meter reading and communications. The Leeds-based business energy supplier was acting on behalf of Hudson Energy Supply UK Ltd in respect of some customers during the period covered by the investigation, therefore the investigation will also relate to this company. Hudson Energy Supply UK is responsible...