Day: 11 May 2026

British International Investment targets £15 billion of capital for developing economies as it launches climate initiative as part of new five-year strategy

Stuart Mitchell

British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, today said it is aiming to drive £15 billion of new capital into developing countries as it unveiled its new five-year strategy. A central pillar of the new strategy, launched by Minister for Development Jenny Chapman, is a focus on accelerating the flow of private capital to developing countries. Of the £15 billion, BII will contribute up to £8 billion, with the balance coming from private institutions. For every £1 of public money, BII expects to crowd-in around…

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New Network Rail deal to run depots, offices and stations from wind power

Stuart Mitchell

Network Rail has taken another major step towards powering all its offices, depots and managed stations with renewable electricity after signing a deal with leading renewable energy company RWE to supply around 65% of its non-traction electricity from one of its offshore wind farms. The Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CoPPA), Network Rail’s second within a year, will deliver 300 GWh of renewable electricity annually over five years. Under the deal, power will be supplied from RWE’s Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm, located 15 miles off the coast of North…

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Global push for reuse stalls as fragmented policies hold back progress of tackling plastic pollution, new report finds

Stuart Mitchell

Reuse systems, as a model to reduce plastic pollution, are beginning to emerge across the world but remain constrained by fragmented policies, weak financial incentives and gaps in infrastructure, according to a trio of new reports released today.  The research, launched by the Global Plastics Policy Centre at the Revolution Plastics Institute at the University of Portsmouth, provides the first comparative analysis of reuse policy across Europe, South America and Southeast Asia.   Drawing on multi-year policy analysis, stakeholder interviews and comparative research, the reports examine how governments are supporting reuse and what must happen next for systems to…

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Britons united on mental health, but politics lags behind, polling finds

Stuart Mitchell

Britons are far more united on mental health than the political debate suggests, according to polling published today by the Wellcome Trust and More in Common. The findings form the backdrop to the launch of Head On, a new campaign backed by more than 20 organisations, public figures, including Alastair Campbell, and people with lived experience, calling on political leaders to turn that public consensus into action. The message is clear: on one of the country’s biggest health challenges, the public is ahead of Westminster and three quarters of Britons…

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Regions with the highest air pollution receive the lowest funding, finds Clean Air Fund report

Stuart Mitchell

New research from the Clean Air Fund finds that regions with the highest levels of air pollution receive the least amount of philanthropic outdoor air quality funding, despite the disproportionate impact of dirty air on people in global south countries.  Between 2019 and 2023, funding was heavily skewed towards North America, which received 35% of total outdoor air quality funding. Meanwhile, Africa and Latin America received only 1% and 2% of funding, respectively.  The report, ‘Philanthropic Foundation Funding for Clean Air’, shows that:   Philanthropic funding to tackle air pollution is stagnating, despite harmful air pollution being the largest environmental threat to human health. Although $478 million…

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