Energy & Environment

Improving Europe’s railway systems would lead to substantial economic and environmental benefits, argues Izaskun Bilbao Barandica.

As chairman of the Environment Agency, Chris Smith had even more reason than most Brits to curse the weather last winter.

The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) has been “instrumental” in making Britain “one of the best places for green investment anywhere in the world”, prime minister David Cameron said today.

Defra have confirmed that the 5p plastic bag charge will be introduced in England in October 2015.

John Hirst, chief executive of the Met Office, is leaving the civil service in September after seven years in the role.

The Crown Commercial Service has started purchasing energy tariffs for all government departments, launching a project last week to invite bids for a 15-year deal from renewable energy generators.

More than 100 civil servants in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have got their boots muddy in a series of farm visits aimed at improving their understanding of farming.

AECOM’s Associate Director of Sustainability, Michael Henderson, considers the environmental and economic benefits of effective water management in urban areas.

With the environment department badly hit in the Spending Review, many of its agencies saw hefty cuts. Joshua Chambers speaks to Dave Webster, chief executive of Natural England, on how the quango wielded its secateurs.

Extreme rain, storms and tides have combined to overwhelm our flood defences – but defences can only ever be a backstop. Stuart Watson explores how public agencies could work together to minimise the danger of floods.

Paul Leinster faces growing threats, a declining budget, and objectives that don’t always line up – but the Environment Agency chief seems thoroughly at home. Matt Ross meets a man coping with complexity

Paul Leinster faces growing threats, a declining budget, and objectives that don’t always line up – but the Environment Agency chief seems thoroughly at home. Matt Ross meets a man coping with complexity

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has created a new director general-level role, in an effort to rebalance the department’s workload.

Our sun warms the planet and gives us life, but it also threatens to blitz our IT, communications and power systems. Joshua Chambers investigates the danger of solar storms, and talks to the officials working to counter the risks

America’s fracking revolution has driven down energy prices and given the economy a boost – but could the same happen here? CSW asked the Institute of Directors’ Corin Taylor and energy expert Professor Jim Watson of the University of Sussex to address the question: will fracking be good for the UK?

The delivery of “crucial” infrastructure projects is to be coordinated by "commercial experts" - not civil servants - Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury announced today, when setting out  the government’s £100bn infrastructure plan.

The government must move faster in developing policy measures to help meet its greenhouse gas emission targets, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has warned in a report published today.

The coalition’s Green Investment Bank has been tasked with boosting private investment in the green economy – a high-potential sector constrained by limited finance. Winnie Agbonlahor meets chief executive Shaun Kingsbury.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) spent years engulfed in painful criticism. Mark Grimshaw, who came in as chief executive two years ago determined to turn things around, tells Winnie Agbonlahor how he’s smartened up its act

The Department of Energy and Climate Change is set to become the second Whitehall body to buy in policy development work from outside government, its permanent secretary Stephen Lovegrove has revealed in an interview with CSW.

New DECC chief Stephen Lovegrove has, to his evident relief, missed all the big battles over the direction of our energy policies – but he does face huge challenges in putting those policies into practice. Matt Ross meets him

Scotland narrowly missed its first annual target for carbon emission reductions, falling short by just two per cent due to exceptionally cold winter months, according to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC).

The business department’s permanent secretary Martin Donnelly tells Suzannah Brecknell how his department is working to bring businesses and government together, creating strategies designed to kick start Britain's economic growth

Bronwyn Hill

Permanent Secretary, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs