Eco Chamber

On 7 May, Labour lost control of the Welsh Senedd for the first time in history. In Scotland, it recorded its worst ever result at a Scottish Parliamentary election, and in England, Labour lost 1,496 councillors as Reform UK and the Green Party made huge gains. As the government sets out its legislative agenda in the King’s Speech this week, we ask what the political upheaval might mean for environmental policy.With resignations from Labour MPs and ministers including, Miatta Fahnbulleh the housing minister, Jess Phillips the safeguarding minister, Alex Davies-Jones the victims' minister, health minister Zubir Ahmed, and Tom Rutland, the parliamentary private secretary to DEFRA secretary Emma Reynolds, pressure is mounting on the prime minister to resign. If he does, could we see environmental policy zombified as the government tries to get to grips with the in-fighting?To find out, ECO Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons and ENDS Report editor Jamie Carpenter speak with special guest Isabella Gornall, the founder of the communications and lobbying agency Seahorse Environmental and former environmental advisor to Zac Goldsmith.

This week, the team takes stock of the resignation of South East Water’s non-executive chair, Chris Train, who resigned following a damning report over the company’s leadership by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee. But the MPs are not finished yet. On this week’s ECO Chamber, podcast host James Agyepong-Parsons and ENDS Report senior reporter Shosha Adie sit down to discuss why the committee also wants South East Water’s chief executive, David Hinton, to step down. The team also discusses news that the House of Lords will not be debating the subject of the natural environment in the wake of the King’s Speech. PLUS: The rise of pharmaceutical pollution in honey potentially caused by sewage sludge, the tens of thousands of tonnes of shredded waste dumped on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a former NRW board member rejected from running for Reform UK The ECO Chamber is brought to you by journalists at ENDS Report.

This week, the team takes stock of the thousands of people challenging  the giant poultry processor Avara Foods Limited, its subsidiary Freemans of Newent Limited, and the water company Welsh Water over pollution in the rivers Wye, Lugg, Usk and related tributaries. The Wye catchment area is home to 24 million chickens, and lawyers are set to argue that the problem revolves around pollution from this chicken manure running off into the protected river. On this week’s ECO Chamber, podcast host James Agyepong-Parsons and ENDS Report deputy editor Tess Colley sit down to discuss the legal challenge and what’s at stake. The team also discusses the findings of a new report suggesting that Natural England has decided to freeze its work on SSSI designations. PLUS: The Environmental Audit Committee’s PFAS risks warnings, new guidance on greenhouse gas emission assessments, and a fresh warning that the UK’s growing hazardous waste pile is growing and the country lacks the “long-term storage” needed for the future. The ECO Chamber is brought to you by journalists at ENDS Report.

Ahead of elections on 7 May, ENDS Report presents a podcast politics special in addition to your usual ECO Chamber episode. With polls suggesting Labour is facing crushing defeats across the country, we hear from a power house of special guests on what the implications could be for green policy if what is predicted comes to pass: Ben Goldsmith, co-founder of Nattergal and a former non-executive director of DEFRAPaul McNamee, director of the Labour Climate and Environment Forum and Kitty Thompson, head of campaigns at the Conservative Environment Network.  The trio join ECO Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons and ENDS Report news editor Pippa Neill.With a focus on England’s local elections, the team breaks down the implications of the latest polling suggesting that Reform UK is set to dominate and asks whether the government is likely to double down a narrative that nature is a blocker to environmental growth – or whether it may see cause to make peace with bats and newts?.The ECO Chamber is brought to you by journalists at ENDS Report.

The government has confirmed potentially far-reaching changes to England’s biodiversity net gain (BNG) policy. These include exemptions for development sites 0.2 hectare in size, targeted exemptions for residential brownfield development, and a delay to the inclusion of nationally important infrastructure under BNG’s remit. But what does it all mean in practice? On this week’s ECO Chamber, special guest, Dr Sophus zu Ermgassen, an ecological economist from the University of Oxford, joins host James Agyepong-Parsons and ENDS Report senior reporter Shosha Adie to discuss the changes to BNG.The team also discusses the government’s first choice for new leader of the Office for Environmental Protection: Dame Helen Ghosh.Who is she? PLUS: Clearance of the notorious Kidlington waste dump has begun; a treasure-map for soil health has been revealed to the public; and an aquatic nightmare-from-hell for the thousands of fish that died in gruesome fashion…

The Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has attacked Labour’s manifesto commitment to end new oil and gas licences as “reckless” and "catastrophic" in the middle of the global energy crisis.But with only 10% of the North Sea’s original reserves estimated to still be available for extraction, can it really help steer the country towards a more energy secure future? On this week’s ECO Chamber, special guest Ed Matthew, the UK director of the climate change think tank E3G joins ENDS Report’s deputy editor Tess Colley and ENDS’ senior reporter Shosha Adier, to unpick the Conservative’s rhetoric.Meanwhile, a group of MPs has urged DEFRA to consider a merger of England’s watchdogs for the environment: the Environment Agency and Natural England. PLUS: Scotland’s nature watchdog has a new plan and a new cash injection; DEFRA’s new Nature Investment Standard and a multi-million pound waste plastic packaging scandal busted.The ECO Chamber is brought to you by journalists at ENDS Report.

Bentham is home to firefighting foam factory, Angus Fire, and ENDS has previously exposed the sky-high PFAS levels in the soils and groundwater on its site. Now, first-of-its-kind blood testing carried out as part of the ITV Exposure documentary ‘In Our Blood: The Forever Chemicals Scandal’ has opened a new chapter in the story.On this week’s ECO Chamber, special guest Martha Elwell, director of the documentary, and Pippa Neill, the ENDS journalist behind this exposé join podcast host James Agyepong-Parsons to discuss the making of the film. The trio discuss the results of the blood testing, which found “alarming” levels of PFAS in the blood of a group of residents and former and current factory workers in Bentham.We also hear from the team about how the duty of care to residents in Bentham was handled, and why the story took them to the US. PLUS:  The government’s three-part waste crime action plan; the new land-use framework revealed; and the UK’s international climate fund cuts. 

Last year, a review into nuclear regulations recommended a “radical reset” to speed up the build out of new nuclear infrastructure, and proved controversial for some of its radical proposals for environmental regulation.With the government response now out, green groups have expressed relief that the government stepped back from the most extreme reforms, but some lawyers have warned that its proposals will still see a degradation of the environment.Environmental lawyer Alexa Culver joins the team this week to unpack everything you need to know about what the government has proposed.PLUS: The regulator chief executive who has announced their retirement; why Chris Packham has hit out at environmental NGOs; and what you need to know about new guidelines giving DEFRA regulators a  ‘mandate to prioritise outcomes over process’.The ECO Chamber is brought to you by journalists at ENDS Report.