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Officially in our fifth week of lockdown and the novelty is, if we're honest, starting to wear off. We’ve started to not only accept but actively adjust to the new norms and whilst no-one wants this to last longer than it needs to, talk is starting, with seriousness, of whether we want to return to the same world as before. Politicians...

Greene King has become the first pub company in the UK to achieve the Carbon Trust’s Zero Waste to Landfill Standard. It has achieved this by diverting all its waste from landfill across all waste streams generated by its 1,700 managed pubs – from food waste to kitchen equipment. The announcement comes on Stop Food Waste Day and after Greene King...

BUSINESSES can play a critical role in getting reaching the 'COVID-Zero', where there are no preventable deaths, no more lockdown or disruption, according to a Wellcome Foundation director. In a recent blog post, Mark Henderson, Director of Communications at Wellcome, which supports researchers, policy makers and the public in tackling today’s health challenges, encourages businesses help finance a coronavirus vaccine. Mr...

A new online learning platform to help boost the nation’s skills while people are staying at home has been launched by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson. Free courses are available through a new online platform hosted on the gov.uk website, called The Skills Toolkit. The new platform gives people access to 'free, high-quality digital and numeracy courses to help build up their skills, progress...

GERMANY and Britain have said that efforts to revive the global economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic must ensure a ‘green recovery' that helps the world tackle climate change. The 11th Petersberg Climate Dialogue took place on 27 and 28 April as a video conference. At the invitation of Germany's Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze, ministers from some 35...

A NEW £1.2 million project, led by the University of Stirling, is aiming to “deliver critical step change” to help resolve conflicts between the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Using hydropower as a model, the study will provide evidence and tools to identify, forecast, prevent and mitigate issues caused by the competing objectives of the Goals (SDGs) – and, ultimately,...

DRAX is estimating that it is to take a £60 million hit from the impact of COVID-19 as its Customers business feels the decreasing demand. The company has outlined that its Customers business, which supplies power, gas and energy services to the C&I and SME markets, has seen a “significant” reduction in demand, with the SME market expected to be...

LONDONERS are using a lot more extra energy during the lockdown than the rest of the country, according to new data by Bulb. Households in the capital have seen an approximately 40% spike in their energy use, against a 27% jump nationally. The figures suggest that Londoners are more prone to work from home, with extra computers and lightbulbs guzzling an...

DURHAM has been hailed as the UK's greenest city in Solar Centre's research based on 10 green criteria including waste management, air quality, carbon emissions and green spaces. Durham topped the study that compared 59 cities, with Swansea ranked as second and Newcastle Upon Tyne as third. Councillor John Clare, climate change champion for Durham County Council, commented on the news:...

MOST of Scotland has been warned of drought conditions as we approach summer, with water levels in the north east now at “a historic low”, Scottish Environment Protection Agency alerts after a record-breaking dry April. So far, April has been extremely dry across most of Scotland, affecting river flows, which are widely quite low, and ground conditions, which are now...