Tag: DEFRA

Thousands of hectares of UK peatlands set to be restored to help tackle climate change

Stuart Mitchell

Thousands of hectares of peatlands – from the Great North Bog to the Norfolk Broads – are set to be restored with twelve new projects awarded funding to help tackle climate change and recover biodiversity. The Government is investing over £50 million in peat restoration, building on its pledge to restore approximately 35,000 hectares of peatland in England by the end of this Parliament, and leave the environment in a better state for future generations. Peatlands are an iconic feature of England’s landscape – often referred to as ‘our national…

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BSI and Defra launch Nature Investment Standards Programme

Stuart Mitchell

BSI, in its role as the UK National Standards Body, recently announces the launch of a Nature Investment Standards Programme in partnership with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), starting with a discovery phase. This is one of a suite of interventions the UK government is putting in place as part of its forthcoming Green Finance Strategy and Nature Markets Framework to boost market confidence and increase private sector investment into nature recovery and nature-friendly farming. This will ultimately help to accelerate progress on environmental goals such…

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Sale of horticultural peat to be banned in move to protect England’s precious peatlands

Stuart Mitchell

All sales of peat to amateur gardeners in England will be banned by 2024, the UK Government has announced. Peatlands are the UK’s largest carbon store but only approximately 13% of our peatlands are in a near-natural state. This degradation has occurred due to drainage for agricultural use, overgrazing and burning, as well as extraction for use in growing media. Bagged retail growing media accounts for 70% of the peat sold in the UK and is frequently misused, for example being used as a soil improver rather than a medium…

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Water sector to plunge £2.8 billion into the green recovery

Stuart Mitchell

The water sector is set to invest £2.8 billion in environmental projects to help the country build back greener. Ofwat, in collaboration with Defra, the Environment Agency, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, and CCW, wrote to water companies last year and challenged them to identify ways to support the country’s green economic recovery from COVID-19. Companies were asked to bring forward new proposals and accelerating existing ones to deliver an innovative and more resilient future for customers, society and the environment. Following that, Ofwat sets out plans to support £850 million…

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FareShare awarded £16m grant from DEFRA to help feed vulnerable people this winter

Stuart Mitchell

A new grant of £16m has been awarded by the government to FareShare, to help meet an increased demand for food this winter from those most in need. “We welcome the Government’s further financial support on behalf of the 11,000 frontline charities we provide food to in England, who in turn created over 3 million meals a week to help their clients at the height of the first lockdown. Both through this winter, and through the undoubtedly tough economic conditions set to impact the country this coming year, it is…

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