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A Treasury-commissioned report will next week renew pressure on the chancellor to tax housebuilding on virgin countryside in an attempt to encourage developers to repair dilapidated homes. Kate Barker's study [...]

The country's trees are facing the biggest threat to their survival since the disaster of Dutch elm disease after the discovery that 'sudden oak death' has infected three in Cornwall. [...]

The government will fail to meet important targets unless next week's pre-Budget report allocates at least Pounds 1.7bn for environmental spending, a report by the Policy Study Institute says today. [...]

Ministers in the UK announced Dec 18, 2000, that new restrictions covering the UK's three major airports would result in aircraft noise reductions. Noise limits for planes leaving airports during the day are to be cut by 3 decibels to 94 decibels, with an 87 decibels limit for night flights, representing a cut of 2 decibels. The airports covered are Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted and will see lower night noise limits imposed between 11.30pm and 6am. A higher night time limit will be imposed between 11pm and 11.30pm, and again at 6am and 7am. The aircraft industry has raised concerns about the new limits, which are to be introduced in February 2001. It is thought that older Boeing 747s and Airbus A340s will not be able to meet the new standards.

The directors of Entrust, Britain's only private regulatory body has changed the constitution so that were Entrust to be closed down, there would be GB[pound] 2mn to be disposed of as the directors see fit. Entrust monitors the GB[pound] 350mn given to environmental groups by waste companies as part of the landfill tax and is also in trouble for avoiding detailed auditing.

The Environment Agency and green organisations have attacked proposals by the deputy prime minister John Prescott to allocate GB[pound] 51mn on flood defences as being too little. Geoff Spence, the head of water management at the agency, said the figure required would almost certainly be in excess of GB[pound] 51mn. In last year's spending review the agency asked for GB[pound] 100mn per annum, but only received an additional GB[pound] 30mn, despite a Department of the Environment estimate which calculated that an extra GB[pound] 4.5bn would need to be spent on flood defences over the next 50 years. The green pressure group Friends of the Earth has also attacked the amount allocated as being insufficient. Experts argue that if climate change continues the government and business communities will need to spend billions of extra pounds per annum to prevent flood damage, because if no action is taken the results could be even more catastrophic. According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI) it would cost a minimum of GB[pound] 10bn if the Thames catchment area was severely flooded, while flooding of the upper half of the river Trent and Severn regions would cost around GB[pound] 5bn.

Civil servants were accused by members of parliament of covering up the dangers of waste-burning incinerators. They are accused of suppressing information about a plan to tackle the predicted rise in deaths and related-illnesses caused by chemicals released by incineration. Even Michael Meacher, the environment minister, was unaware of this information. The disclosure came after the Department of Health revealed that 88 people die and 168 people are admitted to hospital for lung related diseases caused by the country's 12 incinerators. The number of deaths could rise to 100 if the number of incinerators is tripled.

Michael Meacher, the UK environment minister, announced 11 January 2000 that the recycling of rubbish in the UK is at a pathetically low level. The minister, promised to focus government strategy on promoting recycling and move away from a strategy focusing on landfill.

British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) has gained UK government clearance to disperse technetium-99 and other radioactive materials into the Irish Sea. Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, revealed on 19 November 1999 that the discharge limits adhered to the UK's requirement, linked to a plan to reduce discharges that will ensure virtually no radioactivity within the marine environment.

British environmental policy, on recycling and energy saving, is examined in detail.

Britain's Labour government is committed to fulfilling its pre-election promise to give people a right to clean drinking water. It will shortly publish a consultation paper on its proposals for ensuring that the water abstraction licensing system properly protects the environment. Meanwhile water industry watchdog Ofwat has set each water company a target to reduce the amount of water lost through leakage from pipes. The Government wants to ensure that water prices reflect the benefits of past and future efficiency savings and has published proposals for making the charging system for water fairer.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair declared in summer 1997 that environmental considerations must be integrated into all the Government's decisions, but sustainable development has yet to be brought into the heart of all policy. Legislation to enlarge the Welsh Development Agency makes no reference to sustainable development, while the bill to establish Regional Development Agencies provides for those agencies to contribute to sustainable development only when it it is relevant to their area. The Budget in Mar. 1998 will reveal the Treasury's attitude to sustainable development.

Ceiling values for each of the eight main pollutants responsible for air pollution in the UK have been established as part of the Government's National Air Quality Strategy. The strategy tackles the three main sources of the pollutants, vehicle fumes, energy generation and industrial processes. Cleaner fuels and cleaner exhaust systems will help reduce pollution from vehicle fumes but a range of more environmentally sustainable travel choices is needed to discourage car use. Pollution from energy generation is being tackled under the European Union Acidification Strategy.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair will launch a crusade to save the global environment on Jun. 23, 1997, during a keynote speech at a United Nations session to review progress since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Blair was frustrated by Europe's failure at the G8 summit in Denver, CO, to force the US into setting targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2010. Blair will stress that the UK is prepared to take radical steps to cut carbon dioxide emission levels by 20% of their 1990 levels by 2010, and call on the industrialised West to follow its example.

The new UK government has promised to give environmental protection a high priority, and for this reason is likely to accept the recommendations contained in a report entitled 'Biodiversity: The UK Steering Group Report.' This document is based around action plans for 116 very important species and 14 types of habitat which will ensure that each species and habitat is protected. The government's share of implementing this programme would cost only around 1 pound sterling per adult Briton a year, but it seems unlikely that the government will make any new money available to meet this cost.

Anti-roads protests such as those at Twyford Down, Newbury and Fairmile, England, might be avoided if environmentalists were confident that environmental issues in general and sustainability in particular were treated sufficiently seriously by the Government. The physical surroundings and conditions of a town must be balanced against the wealth-creating and broader needs of society. Construction options such as tunnelling or bunding can be used to increase the environmental friendliness of the urban bypasses which have made a major contribution to Britain's economic well-being.

There is a debate over land usage in rural areas of the UK. There are conflicting interests involved, with those earning a living from farming sometimes in conflict with those who seek to take refuge from urban life in the countryside. The example of a couple who run a farm in the Lake District illustrates some of the realities of UK rural life. The couple are aware that UK government policy has a major impact on farms especially as they farm within a national park

A Countryside Commission proposal for creating a National Forest in the heart of England received enthusiastic Government support in the run-up to the 1992 Earth Summit on global warming but, at the beginning of 1995, less than 1,000 acres of new trees have been planted. Most of the land in the 194-square mile National Forest area around Leicester, England, is privately owned and the the Government has made just 1 million pounds sterling available in grants to encourage farmers to tender for planting trees. The area also has abundant coal reserves and the Government has given commercial companies the go-ahead to expand open-cast pits.

Former director of the Woman's Environmental Network Bernadette Vallely is proud of her United Nations Global 500 award for environmental achievement but is saddened by the lack of environmental action taken by the UK government, host of World Environment Day on Jun. 3, 1994. Another award winner, economist Paul Ekins, believes that politicians are becoming aware of the obligations that society owes to future generations. Architect and Global 500 award winner Brenda Vale argues that people must accept that the appearance of existing buildings must change if their thermal performance is to be improved.

Agenda 21 which the UK signed at the 1992 Earth Summit is based on the idea that people should work in partnership with local authorities and communities to develop a blueprint for their future. Local Agenda 21s are being established throughout Britain. Four councils, shortly to rise to 12, are working with the United Nations Assn.'s Sustainable Communities Project which aims to balance social and environmental concerns. The WorldWide Fund for Nature will shortly launch 100 Neighbourhood Agenda 21 projects. Nevertheless, the UK generally lags behind Europe in improving the quality of city life.

The UK government's Sustainable Development Strategy document published on Jan 25, 1994, repeats much of the rhetoric of its Sep 1990 white paper on the environment, including the notion that environmental policies are not cheap. Government ministers seem to believe that jobs and the environment are not compatible, despite evidence to the contrary in Japan and Germany. With one exception, the decision to increase petrol excise duty yearly, the Government has not made use of market mechanisms to protect the environment. The Government lacks both courage and vision to grasp the challenge of sustainable development.

Issues concerning the management of traffic congestion in the UK are discussed. It is emphasized that there is a need for imaginative ways of replacing travel by car.

The UK government has delayed dealing with sensitive environmental issues until after the general election on Jun 7, 2001. It is likely that decisions have already been made, but these will not be revealed for fear of alienating voters.

The UK government's use of the tax system to encourage environmentally-friendly behaviour is discussed. The latest initiative is the climate change levy, a surcharge on all supplies of energy from fossil fuels.

British environmental policy, and the views of minister, John Prescott, are examined in detail.

The views of British deputy prime minister, John Prescott, on the environment and other issues are examined in detail.

A dispute over the failure of talks on climate change between the French environment minister, Dominique Voynet, and British deputy prime minister, John Prescott, is examined in detail.

There is concern in the UK about the priority being given by the government to environmental policies. The government appears committed to environmental issues, but has been slow to implement specific measures. Some observers now feel that the government does not see the environment as a core element of its 'project.' Part of the blame for this lies with the environmental movement, with environmental issues having become too closely linked with Green ideology. It is now time for Prime Minister Tony Blair to recognize that the environment is a natural element of his goal of modernizing the country.

There have been a number of examples recently of how a very small number of wealthy people in the UK continue to exert a great deal of influence over how land is used. Heiress Mrs Charlotte Townshend, who owns Ilchester Estates, has decided not to permit English Heritage to have Chesil Beach on the south coast designated the 200th National Nature Reserve, apparently out of a desire to protect fox-hunting in the area. In a similar development, an ancient meadow at Dorney, near Windsor, England, has been dug up in order to create a rowing lake for pupils from Eton College.

UK Environment Minister Michael Meacher will announce legislation on Aug. 2, 1999, to protect England's 4,000 sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) and restore half of those that have already been damaged. The Government is also banning the use of lead shot for hunting water fowl and killing vermin on SSSIs from Sep. 1, 1999. The new legislation gives Government watchdog English Nature powers to force landlords to maintain their land in such a way as to maintain the wildlife interest and provides for annual payments to farmers for positive management of the land.

Environmental campaigners claim that the UK government is going back on its commitment to convert the A33, a four-lane road across Twyford Down near Winchester, England, into open grassland for public recreation. This commitment was made to balance out the loss of Twyford Down when the M3 was built in 1992. The old A33 has been removed, but there are plans for a 428-space park-and-ride car park on part of the site. Local community groups are now planning a High Court action to force the government to adhere to its commitment.

Charles, Prince of Wales, has voiced concerns about genetically modified (GM) foods. He is an organic farmer, and is able to pursue this interest with te help of funds from the government. The government is seeking to persuade the public to accept GM foods, and there are reasons to be concerned about the government's response to the debate on GM products. The previous government also assured the public that there was no need to be concerned about mad cow disease, while the new government has made an effort to be friendly to major multinational corporations.

Volunteers throughout the United Kingdom are recording events, such as when migratory birds arrive, which are signs that indicate the impact of global warming. The Department of the Environment will publish the results of these measurements. The government has raised the cost of fuel in a bid to tackle the greenouse effect, and this has led to protests. Most people are unaware of the seriousness of the problem, and unwilling to change their behavior. The graudal warming of the planet is not noticed because there has been no rapid change.

The UK government has failed to understand the real nature of public concern about genetically modified (GM) food. The government seems to believe that labelling of GM food is the best solution, as this allows people who wish to avoid eating GM food to do so. However, public concern about GM food goes further than personal health, as many people are also worried about the impact of GM crops on ecosystems. GM crops have the potential to bring a range of benefits, but it is important to proceed with caution and to invest extensively in research.

The UK government has selected 35 indicators as a measure of the progress of global warming. These include the arrival of the first swallow in spring, the number of possible skiing days in Scotland, the leafing dates of oak trees and the number of human cases of Lyme Disease, caused by a tick that is present in large numbers in warmer weather. Strong evidence is already beginning to emerge that global warming is having a significant impact on natural events such as the leafing of trees and the emergence of butterflies.

UK Chancellor Gordon Brown's pre-Budget Report on Nov. 3, 1998, included a long list of measures aimed at cutting emissions of greenhouse gases, but most are only under consideration. A lack of decisiveness surrounds the environmental measures in the pre-Budget Report, while the likely 50 pound sterling cut in car tax for fuel-efficient vehicles is puny by comparison with measures in other European countries. The pre-Budget Report states merely that the Government will consider Lord Marshall's accompanying report on an industrial energy tax 'very carefully.'

The UK government is reviewing several areas of environmental policy, such as climate change, renewable energy and electricity market competition. However, the government is finding it difficult to combine the carbon dioxide emission reduction targets of the Environment Department with the electricity price reduction targets of the Department of Trade and Industry, and its energy efficiency targets are not being met. The UK energy policy has focused heavily on competition and privatisation since 1983, but the policy on climate change is unlikely to be met without new initiatives.