Joe Wilkinson

Millions of funding for projects to plant hundreds of thousands of trees

Hundreds of thousands of trees will be planted in communities across England thanks to funding through the Nature for Climate Fund. Over £12m will be allocated to the successful applicants to four funds supporting tree planting efforts for future generations. 260,000 trees will be planted outside of woodlands as part of the Local Authority Treescapes Fund with 139 local authorities awarded a share of the now £4.4 million pot across 42 projects. Projects will support a variety of ways to get trees in the ground, from natural regeneration and traditional planting to community engagement. Local residents, schools and environmental groups…

Environment Act becomes law

Legislation, the Environment Act, that will protect and enhance our environment for future generations has now passed into UK law. It will halt the decline in species by 2030, require new developments to improve or create habitats for nature, and tackle deforestation overseas. It aims to help us transition to a more circular economy, incentivising people to recycle more, encouraging businesses to create sustainable packaging, making household recycling easier and stopping the export of polluting plastic waste to developing countries. These changes will be driven by new legally binding environmental targets, and enforced by a new, independent Office for Environmental…

idverde’s top tips for greening up supermarket car parks

Companies bidding for major government contracts face green rules

New measures which require businesses bidding for major government contracts to commit to achieving net zero emissions come into force. The implementation of these rules will help deliver the manifesto promises made by this government to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The requirements will apply to any companies bidding for government contracts worth more than £5million a year, not just those who are successful. The UK is the first country in the world to put such a measure in place, underlining the government’s leadership in the fight to tackle climate change. The new requirements come into effect ahead…

Rewilding half a million acres of Scottish Highlands

An ambitious 30-year landscape-scale rewilding initiative to link up a majestic sweep of the Scottish Highlands as one vast nature recovery area connecting Loch Ness to Scotland’s west coast has been launched by charity Trees for Life, and joins a select group of prestigious European rewilding areas. The Affric Highlands initiative follows three years of consultation between Rewilding Europe, Trees for Life, and other local partners and stakeholders. It will restore nature across a network of landholdings potentially covering an area of over 500,000 acres stretching from Loch Ness across the central Highlands to Kintail in the west, and encompassing…

UK’s first Green Gilt raises £10 billion for green projects

Green projects across the country are set to benefit from funding from the UK’s first ever Green Gilt which will help drive progress to net zero and create jobs across the UK. £10bn was raised from the sale of the Gilt this morning: the largest inaugural green issuance by any sovereign, with the largest ever order book for a sovereign green transaction. This will be followed by a second issuance later in the year. Green Gilts will raise a minimum of £15bn for green government projects like zero-emissions buses, offshore wind and schemes to decarbonise homes and buildings in this…