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The Latest Breaking News from Defra

Ukraine’s farms once fed billions but now its soil is starving

For decades, Ukraine was known as the breadbasket of the world. Before the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, it ranked among the top global producers and exporters of sunflower oil, maize and wheat. These helped feed more than 400 million people worldwide.

The Conversation

UK gov’t spends £312M upgrading to Windows 10 — the OS Microsoft just buried, instead of Windows 11

A new report includes details of spending totalling hundreds of millions of GBP to upgrade the UK's Defra department to Windows 10 PCs. The problem? Microsoft has ended official support for the OS.

Windows Central

Developers met ministers dozens of times over planning bill while ecologists were shut out

Exclusive: Leading ecologists say warnings over threat to wildlife have been ignored in drive to build 1.5m new homes

The Guardian - UK

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A UK government department spent hundreds of millions upgrading its systems to Windows 10 - just in time for its official end of life

Defra spent hundreds of millions upgrading to Windows 10, yet large portions of its ageing estate remain outdated and require rapid modernization.

TechRadar

A landfill tax could halt the vast amounts of healthy soil that are needlessly thrown away

UK government proposals to increase the cost of sending soil to landfill have received strong pushback from the construction industry. But there is a strong environmental case for protecting healthy soils in this way.

The Conversation

Toxin levels in fish lead to calls for UK-wide ban on mercury dental fillings

Exclusive: More than 98% of fish and mussels tested in English waters contain mercury above EU safety limits

The Guardian - UK

Regulators failing to tackle fly-tipping by organised crime groups, peers say

A House of Lords committee called for a root and branch review of serious and organised waste crime.

Evening Standard

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I’ve navigated log burner building regulations myself — this is what all homeowners need to make sure they know to obtain the necessary consent

It's crucial you get it right

Ideal Home

Defra identifies five key plant types to help make gardens ‘flood-ready’

IN FULL

The Independent UK

England sees second worst harvest on record, analysis shows

Provisional Government data suggests a much worse harvest than experts had so far predicted.

The Independent UK

21,000 new homes to be built despite concerns over UK beauty spot

Building work for 21,000 properties had been stalled since 2021

The Independent UK

More than 20,000 new homes approved to be built in Sussex after four-year delay

Building work for 21,000 new homes in Horsham, Crawley and Chichester has been halted since 2021 over environmental concerns for the Arun Valley.

Evening Standard

UK plastic waste exports to developing countries rose 84% in a year, data shows

Campaigners say increase in exports mostly to Malaysia and Indonesia is ‘unethical and irresponsible waste imperialism’

The Guardian - UK

Brexit has done nothing to stem sharp decline of UK fish populations, shows study

Experts call for urgent strategy to end overfishing as report shows just 41% of stocks of species such as cod and mackerel considered healthy

The Guardian - UK

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The Independent UK

Call to end overfishing to save British fish supper as key stocks face collapse

Half of UK’s top commercial fish stocks are either overfished to critically low levels or being overexploited, a report from Oceana UK warns.

The Guardian - UK

£500m Thames Water desalination plant has provided just seven days’ water over 15 years

Plant in Beckton has run only five times and has been beset by multiple problems since it was built

The Guardian - UK

Wild bird numbers continue to fall in UK with some species in ‘dramatic freefall’

Species index fell by 4% between 2019 and 2024 – although data shows woodland populations beginning to stabilise

The Independent UK

Aerated taps and showerheads to be required in new homes under proposed rules

The Government hopes the measures can help to unblock stalled developments and contribute to water-saving targets.

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Evening Standard

Government may have failed to comply with law over marine target, watchdog says

The Office for Environmental Protection said the marine environment in England and Northern Ireland remains in a highly degraded state.

The Guardian - UK

Bottom trawling to continue in English protected waters, government rules

Defra says blanket ban on ‘destructive’ fishing practice disproportionate as MPs urge minister to reconsider

Evening Standard

Thousands of farmers facing uncertainty over payments to protect nature

Farmers say they ‘feel abandoned’ and have been left in the dark about whether environmental payments will roll over.

The Independent UK

Warning Labour’s rewilding plans could trigger surge in UK wildfires

Labour proposes to ban winter burning from over half of England’s peatland

Evening Standard

Lower Thames Crossing first scheme with new environmental approach – minister

Other projects could also be made ‘faster’ by a drive to scrap and streamline environmental rules, Steve Reed said.

The Conversation

Three reasons plastic pollution treaty talks ended in disagreement and deadlock (but not collapse)

The latest round of negotiations for a UN global plastics treaty has ended without a deal. After more than three years of talks, deep divisions remain. Agreement is only marginally closer than before talks began. For many countries, campaigners and observer organisations, the outcome is deeply disappointing.

The Guardian - UK

Thames Water says new Abingdon reservoir could cost bill-payers up to £7.5bn

Price rise to three times original budget is a blow to government’s reservoir expansion plans

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