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Bills could rise after water suppliers in England said they were ready to spend £10bn on tackling sewage spills.
The privately owned companies have apologised for the amount of contaminated water being discharged into rivers and seas, amid mounting public anger over the practice. Some campaigners have cautiously welcomed the move, but others say firms are shifting the cost on to billpayers. The industry paid out £1.4bn to shareholders in 2022. Musician and environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey called it a "half apology" that was another attempt to extract more money from customers. "What I am actually hearing is no apology for the fact we have paid them for a service we haven't got, they are now suggesting we pay them a second time for a service we haven't had," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "We should have an apology for the suggestion they are going to put bills up by £10bn for their incompetence and their greed. This is nothing to celebrate." Companies are sometimes allowed to spill sewage into open water following heavy rainfall to prevent the system becoming overloaded and backing up into people's homes. But campaigners have long said these spills are happening too often. In 2022, raw sewage was dumped into rivers and seas for 1.75 million hours - or 825 times a day on average. Water UK, the body which represents England's nine water and sewage companies, apologised on behalf of the industry for not "acting quickly enough". Ruth Kelly, the organisation's chair, told BBC News: "We're sorry about the upset and the anger from the fact that there have been overspills of untreated sewage onto beaches and into rivers over the past few years. "We're sorry that we didn't act sooner, but we get it." For example, in 2022 the CSO at Wimborne STW, spilled 33 times for a total of 403 hours, or about 17 days non-stop. The one upstream of Wimborne spilled 30 times for a total of 252 hours, or about 10 days non-stop.
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This paper sets out how the government will enhance our country’s energy security, seize the economic opportunities of the transition, and deliver on our net zero commitments. To meet this ambition, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will deliver: 1. Energy security: setting the UK on a path to greater energy independence. 2. Consumer security: bringing bills down, and keeping them affordable, and making wholesale electricity prices among the cheapest in Europe. 3. Climate security: supporting industry to move away from expensive and dirty fossil fuels. 4. Economic security: playing our part in reducing inflation and boosting growth, delivering high skilled jobs for the future.
The government was forced to publish this "Powering up Britain" strategy after the High Court judged last July that its current plan was not detailed enough to show how the UK would meet its goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Academics and green groups are unconvinced it will make enough difference. Dr Chris Jones, an expert in climate change at the University of Manchester, said: "This latest government energy strategy is a weak response to the UK's zero carbon energy needs. "The regressive measures on fossil fuels won't make any real impact on our bills and energy security, but they are enough to downgrade the UK's role as a leader in tackling climate change." Friends of the Earth - who were part of the team who brought the legal case against the last plan - said they may have to go back to the High Court. The Plan is based on nuclear and (unproven) Carbon Capture use and Storage and Hydrogen; plus the usual suspects of moving away from gas for heating; improved energy efficiency; renewables (but no change in policy on on-shore wind farms despite being cheapest source of electricity); decarbonising transport; speeding up planning (see below); mobilising green finance. Resolution hailed as ‘win for climate justice of epic United Nations adopts landmark resolution on climate justice proportions’ should make it easier to hold countries accountable for failures
A UN resolution was adopted on Wednesday that should make it easier to hold polluting countries legally accountable for failing to tackle the climate emergency, in a vote which was hailed as a historic victory for climate justice. The UN general assembly adopted by consensus the resolution spearheaded by Vanuatu, a tiny Pacific island nation vulnerable to extreme climate effects, and youth activists to secure a legal opinion from the international court of justice (ICJ) to clarify states’ obligations to tackle the climate crisis – and specify any consequences countries should face for inaction. “Today we have witnessed a win for climate justice of epic proportions,” said Ishmael Kalsakau, prime minister of Vanuatu. “Today’s historic resolution is the beginning of a new era in multilateral climate cooperation, one that is more fully focused on upholding the rule of international law and an era that places human rights and intergenerational equity at the forefront of climate decision-making.” The resolution, which was co-sponsored by more than 120 countries including the UK, but not the US, will help establish a legal litmus test of sorts for the global climate justice movement seeking to hold countries to account for climate failures in the courts. It comes on the day the Biden administration opened an auction to drill 73m acres of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas – and just days after the self-acclaimed “climate president” approved a massive, multi-decade-long oil and gas drilling project in Alaska, which will create one of the largest “carbon bombs” on US soil. While the opinion from the world’s highest court will not be binding in domestic courts, establishing international legal rules can be influential on judges and governments. It also represents the first attempt to establish climate action obligations under international law, which advocates hope will strengthen climate-related litigation by helping vulnerable states and advocates hold countries accountable for their action and inaction. The resolution emerged out of mounting frustration at the mismatch between the global community’s rhetoric and action on climate change, amid escalating losses for countries such as Vanuatu, which face an existential threat due to sea-level rise. The frustration spurned a social movement led by Vanuatu law students turned youth activists, and work on the resolution was led by Indigenous lawyers in the Pacific. In essence, the ICJ advisory will help establish whether there is legal obligation for countries to do what they have committed to in non-binding treaties such as the 2015 Paris climate accord, and whether failure to do so can be challenged through litigation. This report provides the Committee’s biennial report of progress in preparing for climate change as required under the Climate Change Act. It provides an assessment of progress at the end of two National Adaptation Programmes, the statutory programme required from Government to help prepare the country for climate change. The second National Adaptation Programme covered the period of 2018 – 2023 and the third is due to be published in summer 2023.
3 key messages:
Delight for campaigners as BCP Council Urge Dorset Pension Fund to Divest from Fossil Fuels23/3/2023 On Tuesday night, BCP Councillors used their last meeting before May’s elections to ask the Dorset Pension Fund, to move ‘all remaining energy investments in the pension fund to sustainable energy investments by the end of 2024’. Effectively this means, stop funding fossil fuels, go invest in renewables.
Campaigners from Dorset Action on Pensions who have supported the efforts are delighted with the outcome. They pay tribute and thanks to the BCP Councillors who brought the motion and to the Council for their commendable decision. Cllr Dr Felicity Rice who instigated the matter said ‘The support for this motion demonstrates how public opinion has dramatically changed in the last couple of years. It is now essential that the Dorset Pension Fund moves our investments away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible, so that they do not risk our employees’ investments becoming worthless, and stuck in oil and gas that is not going to be used. I also find it crazy that we have been using BCP residents’ money to invest in fossil fuels, which will cause flooding and coastal erosion to many areas in Dorset that those same residents know and love. The sooner money is moved away from fossil fuels, the better.’ Cllr Chris Rigby who seconded the motion highlighted the further benefits ‘BCP council has committed to being carbon neutral by 2030, and this includes the carbon footprint of its investments. Therefore, this is an easy way for BCP council to reduce its carbon footprint in a fairly simple and very low-cost way’. The decision by BCP reflects a growing trend in fossil fuel divestment. This month insurance giant Aviva announced they would move £2.5 billion away from fossil fuels, and in October 18 University Pension Funds pledged to divest £18 bn worth of fossil fuel investments. The fourth and final instalment of the sixth assessment report (AR6) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body of the world’s leading climate scientists, is the synthesis report, so called because it draws together the key findings of the preceding three main sections. Together, they make a comprehensive review of global knowledge of the climate.
The report reiterates that humans are responsible for all global heating over the past 200 years leading to a current temperature rise of 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels, which has led to more frequent and hazardous weather events that have caused increasing destruction to people and the planet. The report reminds us that every increment of warming will come with more extreme weather events. The report outlines that the 1.5°C limit is still achievable and outlines the critical action required across sectors and by everyone at all levels. The report focuses on the critical need for action that considers climate justice and focuses on climate resilient development. It outlines that by sharing best practices, technology, effective policy measures, and mobilising sufficient finance, any community can decrease or prevent the usage of carbon-intensive consumption methods. The biggest gains in well-being can be achieved by prioritizing climate risk reduction for low-income and marginalized communities. The government is “minded” to withdraw support from local enterprise partnerships (leps) and transfer their responsibilities to local authorities from 2024.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a consultation as part of the Budget this afternoon. There are 38 leps across England and they are responsible for local economic development and play a central role in determining the economic priorities and undertaking activities to drive growth and the creation of local jobs. However, whilst addressing the House of Commons, Jeremy Hunt confirmed that the government is “minded” to withdraw support for leps from April of next year. He said: “The government is committed to empowering democratically elected local leaders at every opportunity. To this end, the government intends for the functions of local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) to be delivered by local government in the future. “Therefore, the government is minded to withdraw central government support for leps from April 2024. DLUHC and the Department for Business and Trade will now consult on these proposals, before confirming a decision. The government will publish an updated policy position to confirm next steps by the summer.” Three of Britain's biggest conservation charities are joining forces to try to halt the destruction of UK nature.
They say they want to use their collective voice to call on everyone to act now to protect the natural world. Between them, The National Trust, WWF and RSPB have 8.5 million members. "We've come together because whilst we have spectacular nature here in the UK, it is in crisis," said Tanya Steele, the chief executive of WWF, which has 1.5m members. The "Save Our Wild Isles" campaign aims to use Sir David Attenborough's new five-part series focusing on UK nature to help catalyse action. The RSPB and WWF are credited as co-producers of the series, but the BBC says they had no editorial input on the programme. "We need to use the love which people have for nature and amplify it to make sure everyone plays a part to make a difference," said Hilary McGrady, the director general of the National Trust, which has 5.8m members. The charities want individuals, businesses, public bodies and our politicians to participate. "It will take every single one of us to play our part," said Rebecca Munro, the executive director of the RSPB, which has 1.2m members. Charities can't do this on their own, she told the BBC. "It needs to be individuals. It needs to be communities coming together. It needs to be businesses, and it needs to be our leaders." The campaign urges us all to "Go Wild Once a Week". That could mean making space for nature in our local neighbourhood by planting wildflowers in a window box or green space, eating less meat or getting involved in a community project or urging our leaders to take action for nature's recovery. A YouGov poll commissioned for the new campaign found that 76% of people are worried about the condition of nature in the UK. But the poll also reveals we have no idea how bad things are. Just 5% of people rated the UK as one of the worst countries for protecting nature, while 55% said they thought the UK was doing as well as the rest of the world or better. The truth is the UK is in the bottom 10% of countries globally for protecting nature, according to the Living Planet Index produced by the Natural History Museum. Scotland has become the first country in the world to stop its hospitals using the anaesthetic desflurane because of the threat it poses to the environment.
NHS data suggests the gas, used to keep people unconscious during surgery, has a global warming potential 2,500 times greater than carbon dioxide. Banning it in Scotland - from its peak use in 2017 - would cut emissions equal to powering 1,700 homes a year. UK hospitals have already cut down. In the last few years, more than 40 hospital trusts in England and a number of hospitals in Wales have stopped using it. NHS England will introduce a similar ban from 2024, which - like Scotland - prohibits its use for anything but exceptional circumstances. Banning it across NHS hospitals in England would cut harmful emissions equivalent to those caused by powering 11,000 homes every year, according to NHS analysis of desflurane use in 2020. Other countries, including many in Europe, are likely to make similar moves in the next few years. Environmental groups have been concerned that mining processes could disturb animal breeding grounds, create noise pollution and be toxic for marine life. The International Seabed Authority that oversees licensing told the BBC that "any future activity in the deep seabed will be subject to strict environmental regulations and oversight to ensure that they are carried out sustainably and responsibly". Campaigners fear government will drop onshore windfarm promise in England. Fears that the government is quietly planning to renege on promises to lift the ban on onshore windfarms in England have prompted a large group of green campaigners, business leaders and prominent figures to protest to ministers.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the chef and environmental campaigner, has led a letter to secretaries of state, signed by conservation groups, academics and business people who are concerned that the pledges to free up planning restrictions are being quietly subverted. The effective ban was put in place in 2015 by tightening planning restrictions in the National Planning Policy Framework. To end the ban, the relevant planning regulations should be scrapped or clearly reformed. The letter warns: “The proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework which are currently under consultation are entirely inadequate to bring about the required change in policy. The decision to replace [paragraph 158] Footnote 54 with some marginally revised wording, in the form of new Footnotes 62 & 63, looks to be almost identical in effect, and inevitably means the effective ban will remain in place.” The footnotes refer to a clause in the framework that effectively excludes onshore windfarms. The signatories called for the removal of these footnotes, to place onshore wind planning applications on the same planning basis as other onshore infrastructure projects. |
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