Share

cover art for Eco Chamber

Eco Chamber

The biggest environmental stories of our time, brought to you by the ENDS Report


Latest episode

  • 143. High seas for bottom-trawling and Planning Bill amendments

    28:56||Season 2025, Ep. 143
    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 Alyx Elliott, campaigns director at Oceana UK as we analyse the consequences of a proposed extension to England's bottom trawling ban which would see it cover more UK marine protected areas. The team also looks at the government's proposed amendments to "instill further confidence" in its new Planning and Infrastucture Bill.PLUS: the "worst environmental crime scene" in Northern Ireland's history, a new cross-government nature strategy, and a former EA chair’s grudge against toxic farm sludge.

More episodes

View all episodes

  • 142. Less gain, more pain? Biodiversity net gain reform run-down

    29:24||Season 2025, Ep. 142
    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 Claire Petricca-Riding, head of environmental law at the legal firm Irwin Mitchell, as we get to grips with the government’s propsed reforms to how the biodiversity net gain regime should apply to small developments.The team also discusses the first findings of the Water Commission, and why it has recommended a review of the Water Framework Directive.Plus, Wales’ major new Environment Bill, the claim from DEFRA officials that PFAS updates are on their way, and what happened to a father and son who poked an EA officer in the eye….
  • 141. The DEFRA strategy left on the shelf after seven years of work

    25:31||Season 2025, Ep. 141
    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 CHEM Trust senior campaigner, Chloe Alexander, as we analyse the consequences of a ditched chemicals policy and the future of regulation in the UK.The team also discusses a new scoop on how three tonnes of uranium have been dumped into one of the most highly protected areas of the country.PLUS: DEFRA is set to begin reform of farming regulations, a new minister for nuclear energy has been appointed, and new data highlights to what extent protected species are really holding up planning applications.
  • 140. Internal SOS for DEFRA environment plan revealed plus Starmer’s Brexit ‘reset’

    26:33||Season 2025, Ep. 140
    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 Green Alliance senior fellow, Ruth Chambers, as we analyse the consequences of an internal government review finding that DEFRA’s Environmental Improvement Plan is way off target.The team also delves into the green potential policy implications of what is being described as a “reset” in UK-EU post-Brexit relations. PLUS, we have news on the banning of a PFAS subgroup of chemicals, Anglian Water’s record fine, and the Law Society’s new conveyancing guidance on climate risks.  
  • 139. Whose law is it anyway? Deep dive as Planning Bill comes under pressure

    43:07||Season 2025, Ep. 139
    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 RSK Wilding's legal counsel Alexa Culver as they breakdown the consequences of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and make sense of what the latest developments mean for the UK’s standing on the international stage. Plus, a new US-UK trade deal on agricultural products, a warning to water companies to prepare for ‘possible’ summer droughts and the departure of Dame Glenys Stacey of the Office for Environmental Protection.
  • 138. Farage declares war on ‘woke’ climate jobs, puffins party as sandeels saved

    20:21||Season 2025, Ep. 138
    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 discuss:The fall out of the local elections and Nigel Farage and Reform UK's plans for net zero.A landmark victory for sandeels as environmentalists make sense of the first major post-Brexit legal victory for the marine environment. Plus, the Office for Environmental Protection's advice on the Planning Bill, the top DEFRA civil servant to resign this summer, and DEFRA’s first - and much delayed - International Environmental Protection report.
  • 137. Natural England chief's 'epic misunderstanding' and historic landfill headache

    18:41||Season 2025, Ep. 137
    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 discuss:The accusations levelled against Natural England chief executive Marian Spain who has been described as having an “epic misunderstanding” of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and its potential negative impact on wildlife.And new analysis of how often historic landfills have flooded over the past 25 years and their potential impact on our health. Plus, we breakdown the National Audit Office's warning that DEFRA and its regulators are failing to manage the risks facing the water sector, the Liverpool Bay carbon capture project, and the salad plant accused of polluting a rare chalk stream…