Climate

Fracking firms are pushing for earthquake limits to be relaxed and want local objections to be bypassed ahead of Liz Truss lifting the ban in England.The new prime minister is expected to confirm the U-turn as early as next week – but the industry body has told The Independent the move will only kickstart the industry if new rules are brought in to make fracking easier.They should include speeding up planning permission by allowing ministers, instead of local authorities, to approve projects as “nationally significant infrastructure”, it says. More

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Liz Truss’s new government has denied that it is abandoning its net zero target climate commitments despite bringing forward plans to legalise fracking. Levelling-Up Secretary Simon Clarke on Thursday morning confirmed that the government would […] More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Britain’s “uncontrolled” dumping of sewage in the English Channel and North Sea could breach the terms of Brexit deal, the EU has warned. French […] More

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Britain’s next prime minister must not give up on green energy investments while devising measures to ease the cost-of-living crisis, Boris Johnson will urge. In a bid to futureproof his legacy, the outgoing PM is […] More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight The Tory government’s new plan to tackle Britain’s sewage spill crisis with targets for water companies to make improvements by 2035 has been branded […] More

Liz Truss presided over cuts to Environment Agency funding which “doubled sewage discharge”, it has been claimed.According to Labour Party analysis, raw sewage discharge has more than doubled since 2016, when the Tory leadership hopeful was environment secretary.This rose from 1.47 per overflow six years ago to 29.3 in 2021, according to the analysis of official figures. More

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email The energy crisis is undermining the UK’s net zero climate plans as firms slam the brakes on vital CO2-cutting investments to pay soaring bills, business leaders are warning. Bosses are preparing to halt switching to […] More