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The Environment Agency has launched a four-week consultation to determine areas of water stress in England, and how best to protect the environment and safeguard supplies. Climate change, population growth and the need to improve resilience to droughts are all putting pressure on water supplies in areas of England. This consultation will provide up-to-date evidence on water resources so that water...

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published a strategy to further drive down levels of fuel poverty in England. Sustainable Warmth, the updated Fuel Poverty Strategy for England, sets out how the government aims to tackle fuel poverty, while at the same time decarbonising buildings, so that 'those in fuel poverty are not left behind on...

A new £10 million Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund will provide grants between £10,000 and £100,000 to environmental groups, local authorities, businesses and other organisations to help them develop nature projects in England to a point where they can attract private investment. This seeks to create a pipeline of projects for the private sector to invest in, and develop new funding...

A new consultation seeks views on a potential approach to cluster sequencing for carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS). The Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan announced a commitment to deploy two carbon capture clusters by the mid-2020s and a further two clusters by 2030. This consultation builds on that announcement and the December update on CCUS business models, to set out a...

In response to concerns raised by the Environmental Audit Committee, BEIS Minister Lord Callanan has admitted that only 20,000 vouchers towards the cost of installing energy efficient improvements have been issued to homeowners or residential landlords as part of the Green Homes Grant scheme. At the current rate, the committee states, it would take over 10 years to meet the...

Today the Welsh Government has set out its legal commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 but has announced to be pushing to “get there sooner”. This announcement follows a recommendation report by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) published in December, which revealed that the net zero emissions deadline was now possible with ambitious policy that ties in with...

Businesses in energy-intensive sectors in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including pharmaceuticals, steel, paper and food and drink, will be able to apply for grants worth up to £14 million to help cut their carbon emissions through the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund. In the second competition window announced by the government, the minimum grant has been lowered to £100,000 for...

The Heat Pump Association, which represents around 95% of the heat pump manufacturing market share, has surveyed its members to estimate the supply of heat pumps in 2021. According to the survey, manufactures have placed orders with their supply chains to deliver a total of 67,000 units this year. This is reported to equate to a nearly double the number of...

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed by Welsh Government and the Sizewell C Consortium. The Welsh Government has announced that the MoU could potentially see an investment of up to £900 million in the Welsh nuclear supply chain and up to 4,700 jobs supported across Wales, if the power station is given the go-ahead. The Sizewell C Consortium is...

Plans seeking to ensure all buildings in Scotland are warmer, more efficient and reach zero emissions by 2045 have been launched for consultation. The Heat in Buildings strategy sets out a vision to transform more than 1 million homes and an estimated 50,000 non-domestic buildings to be using low and zero emissions heating systems by 2030, in line with Scotland’s...