Jamie Carpenter

I spent the weekend with Reform UK – what I saw should make environmentalists sit up

The government has tabled last-minute amendments to its controversial Planning and Infrastructure Bill, including changes intended to allow Natural England to “streamline” its role, “freeing it up to make sensible choices on when to provide advice to local authorities”.

The group of “persistent poor performers” with environmental permits in compliance bands D, E or F for two or more consecutive years has reached the highest number since 2016, while the number of sites in the worst ‘F’ compliance band has doubled in the last year, according to latest Environment Agency data.

The progress towards adoption of a ‘simplification’ package aimed at watering down flagship EU sustainability reporting rules has prompted one member state to halt its own draft legislation intended to transpose the regulations, while others continue to move forward with their own transposition plans – for now.

Germany’s ruling coalition has set out plans to legislate early next year to replace its existing clean heating law with a new, broader, building modernisation law, days after an attempt by the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to torpedo the contested act was rejected.

The group which secured a landmark legal win on downstream greenhouse gas emissions has launched a judicial review over methane pollution from onshore oil and gas sites, arguing that current government policy is not fit for purpose.

In volume but also quality, this year’s crop of nominees took the Power List to new heights. This is the story of how we sifted through 2026’s record number of entries and, with help from our expert panel, whittled them down to our final list of the UK's 100 most influential environmental professionals.

The former farming minister Dame Angela Eagle has replaced Emma Reynolds as DEFRA secretary in new prime minister Andy Burnham's first cabinet reshuffle, which saw a purge of Starmer loyalists and Ed Miliband miss out on the chancellor job.

New prime minister Andy Burnham has announced his new top team. Big beasts – including Rachel Reeves, David Lammy and Steve Reed have left the government – and new secretaries of state have been appointed to key ministries.

The new DEFRA secretary Dame Angela Eagle has pledged to fix the water system, restore nature and back Britain’s farmers in her first public comments following her appointment to the role in Andy Burnham's cabinet reshuffle.