Energy & Environment

Agency update urges communities to prepare for flooding

Agency urges people to ‘remain vigilant, check their flood risk and plan to stay safe’ amid warnings of more rain to come

BEIS moratorium comes after energy watchdog says it cannot rule out earthquakes due to shale gas extraction

Treasury to publish report in 2020 setting out how costs of net-zero carbon emissions target should be distributed

MPs applaud departmental drive to secure longer-term funding to tackle poor maintenance

Fears remain over the independence of proposed Office for Environmental Protection

NAO finds £32.7m of public spending so far, but BEIS says full calculation of costs to back shale gas extraction would not yet be "meaningful"

Lond-awaited energy white paper finally on its way, business secretary tells MPs

Johnson will chair panel to spearhead cross-departmental approach on environmental protection

Agency chief says staff are “under no illusion about the scale of the challenge”

From the storm of no-deal Brexit preparation to the headwinds of regulatory reform, Tamara Finkelstein walked into a squall when she took on the top job at Defra. But she tells Beckie Smith she is determined to create a more hospitable environment

Lobby group warns department’s solar-power rollout stats are a hindrance to net-zero ambitions

Requiring households to have up to six refuse bins will be expensive to deliver and tough to enforce, committee warns

Sir Ian Boyd gives warning days before his departure as Defra chief scientist

Former civil servant Steve O'Neil takes a fresh look at the appliance of science at the heart of government

Henderson will succeed Sir Ian Boyd in October

Government climate change policies need "strong leadership and coordination at the centre", Committee on Climate Change says

Former director general for EU exit has been interim permanent secretary since April

After working on some of the first “green investment” schemes in the 1990s, Emma Howard Boyd has relished the chance to get closer to the action as chair of the Environment Agency. But, she tells Mark Smulian, she’s still keeping a keen eye on the money, as the agency strives to protect communities and businesses as well as people and plants

Registered pharmacies will be allowed to sell straws to people who need them for medical purposes after concern from disability rights groups

Job spec states that the candidate will be required to lead the shift from a policy department to a greater operational focus

International development committee says a major shift in aid spending is needed to match the "existential threat" of climate change

An explosives expert and the first woman to lead the Met Office, Penelope Endersby’s arrival at the much-loved weather service was a breath of fresh air. She tells Beckie Smith about being a mentor, climate change, and stepping out of the shadows

Deadline is achievable but requires a concerted push, including government backing for carbon capture and storage technologies, committee says