Every week, the ENDS team enters the ECO Chamber to discuss the UK’s biggest green news stories and bring you up to speed on the latest developments in environmental policy.

This week, Eco Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons speaks with senior reporter Shosha Adie about a proposed golf course in the Scottish Highlands which one watchdog says has habitat-killing potential.

The proposed Couls Link Golf Course at Embo in East Sutherland is backed by billionaire Mike Keiser, business rival of US president Donald Trump. However, in a new setback for developers NatureScot has called for an outright objection to the scheme. What will this mean for the golf course plans?

PLUS: UK Butterfly populations continue their downward spiral, why the chancellor wants a new planning bill, and the legal action launched against a minister’s ‘irrational’ data centre EIA decision.

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Every week, the ENDS team enters the ECO Chamber to discuss the UK’s biggest green news stories and bring you up to speed on the latest developments in environmental policy.

For today’s episode we bring you an ENDS exclusive on the levels of toxic forever chemicals detected at English airports described as “alarmingly” high by experts.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of 10,000-strong man-made forever chemicals. They are found in all manner of consumer products, but particularly in firefighting foams.

ECO Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons speaks with ENDS Report’s news editor Pippa Neill about her investigation – and what the high levels of PFAS found at airports could mean for nearby drinking water supplies. 

PLUS: DEFRA appoints a new permanent secretary to replace Tamara Finkelstein, what happened at the failed global plastics treaty in Geneva, and the chicken megafarm farm rejected on climate grounds.

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Every week, the ENDS team enters the ECO Chamber to discuss the UK’s biggest green news stories and bring you up to speed on the latest developments in environmental policy.

In Scotland, the world’s largest wind farm has been approved.

SSE Renewable’s Berwick Bank offshore wind farm will be constructed 38km off the coast from St Abb's Head National Nature Reserve and close to Bass Rock, which is home to the world's largest island colony of northern gannets.

This week, Eco Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons speaks with RSPB Scotland’s head of policy and advocacy Aedán Smith about why the granting of planning permission for the wind farm was “a very dark day for seabirds”.

ENDS deputy editor Tess Colley also discusses the latest developments on the story of controversial plans for gas exploration in North Yorkshire, and why the Environment Agency has dropped its initial objections to the site. 

PLUS: A first-of-a-kind PFAS dataset has been published, the UK Health Security Agency has appointed a new leader, and a push to bring lynx back has its second wind… 

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Every week, the ENDS team enters the ECO Chamber to discuss the UK’s biggest green news stories and bring you up to speed on the latest developments in environmental policy.

The pillars of biodiversity net gain - a flagship nature policy - are under stress as the Office for Environmental Protection has warned the government against making any substantive changes to it without safeguards.

This week, Eco Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons speaks with net gain expert Natalie Duffus at the University of Oxford about the proposed changes, their potential impacts and the government’s next moves. 

ENDS Report news editor Pippa Neill also discusses an exclusive on the true cost of DEFRA’s digital waste tracking scheme. It was intended to help identify, tackle and prevent waste crime but why has its price tag tripled? 

PLUS: The so-called world’s biggest offshore wind farm has been given the green light in Scotland, the UN’s Global Plastics Treaty in Switzerland has begun, and Yorkshire Water has been fined almost £1m for a ‘catastrophic’ chlorine spill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every week, the ENDS team enters the ECO Chamber to discuss the UK’s biggest green news stories and bring you up to speed on the latest developments in environmental policy.

In the last week, former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn announced the launch of a new political party with water industry policy front and centre. And earlier this year, Reform UK – running on an anti-net zero mandate – took command of 10 councils in the May local elections.

What approach have these new councils been taking towards net zero policies since Reform took the reins, and what exactly does Corbyn plan to do with the water industry?

This week, Eco Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons, ENDS Report’s news editor Pippa Neill and WWF UK’s head of public affairs David Walsh explore the state of green policies in government and the threats they face at a time of political polarisation and upheaval.

PLUS : A £1.1bn promise to councils to help improve local recycling schemes, a new plan to tackle pet flea treatments, and the Environment Agency consults on reducing forever chemicals in the town with the UK’s highest known levels of PFAS.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every week, the ENDS team enters the ECO Chamber to discuss the UK’s biggest green news stories and bring you up to speed on the latest developments in environmental policy.

This week, ENDS Report’s senior reporter Shosha Adie explains the implications of a major review into the water sector.

Alongside Alistair Chisholm, policy director at CIWEM – The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management – the team also explores the government’s rationale behind its decision to scrap the water regulator Ofwat. 

PLUS: Scotland’s upcoming landfill ban, the Planning Bill amendments you need to know about and the government’s new food strategy. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every week, the ENDS team enters the ECO Chamber to discuss the UK’s biggest green news stories and bring you up to speed on the latest developments in environmental policy.

This week, ENDS Report’s deputy editor Tess Colley reveals her exclusive findings on the toxic sludge being spread on agricultural fields. 

After getting hold of reams of exclusive documents, her investigation has exposed how the government has sat on warnings from the Environment Agency about the threat sludge poses for three years. What were those warnings - and what can the UK learn from sludge scandals in the USA?

PLUS: The Office for Environmental Protection scrutinises other watchdogs’ scrutiny, news on who has been tipped as the Climate Change Committee’s new chairperson, and an update on lead shot.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every week, the ENDS team enters the ECO Chamber to discuss the UK’s biggest green news stories and bring you up to speed on the latest developments in environmental policy.

On this week’s bonus episode, ENDS’ senior journalist Shosha Adie hosts a dedicated panel on the chemical threats facing our rivers, which includes special guest Dr Robert Bradburne the Environment Agency's chief scientist.

This episode focuses on Bradburne’s thoughts on forever chemicals, artificial intelligence and the agency’s scientific priorities.

PLUS: Interviews with actor and activist Jim Murray, the festival’s organiser Claire Zambuni and water campaigner Ashley Smith of Windrush Against Sewage Pollution on the government’s performance, collaboration and the potential consequences of renationalising Thames Water.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every week, the ENDS team enters the ECO Chamber to discuss the UK’s biggest green news stories and bring you up to speed on the latest developments in environmental policy.

This week, ENDS journalists are joined by Amy Fairman, head of campaigns at River Action, to explain why her team has taken action against DEFRA over its revised guidance on the Farming Rules for Water.

Will farmers take kindly to being told what to do when it comes to the ‘needs of the soil and crop on the land’? Amy makes her case for why changes are needed. 

We also find out what a smaller-than-hoped-for budget means for the Office for Environmental Protection, and how the watchdog might fare with chairwoman Dame Glenys Stacey stepping down next year

PLUS: We bring you the latest on what the environment secretary thinks of the government’s anti-nature rhetoric, Natural England’s spending boost - and funding cuts as well, and a blueprint to phase out harmful wood-burners and incinerators.

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This week, ENDS journalists are joined by Richard Broadbent, an environmental lawyer and director at Freeths LLP, as they review Natural England’s potential new powers contained in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. 

Will it enable Natural England to build "an authoritarian empire," as some Conservative peers fear, or could it help unleash the regulator's full potential as a custodian of England’s natural world? 

We also find out what a new interim approach to risk management could mean for PFAS regulation in the UK. 

PLUS: We bring you the news on the latest record-breaking year for hen harriers missing or killed, an update on tree planting rates in England, and why a road upgrade scheme has been thrown out on climate change grounds.

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