Why we need more trees in the UK
Mike Childs, Paul de Zylva and Nick Rau22 Jun 20226.52 MB PDF file
More trees are needed to cool our cities, to make farming resilient, to restore nature, and to replace the UK's imports of timber which are having a devastating impact on wildlife-rich forests overseas. Can it be done, and done fairly? And how many more trees are needed?
5 government plans to watch in 2022
20 May 2022External link
In mid-May Prince Charles presented the Queen's Speech to Parliament, formally setting out the government’s vision for the year ahead. Find out which of their proposals worry us most and what we're planning to do about them.
Is the government's levelling up plan any good?
Sandra Bell10 May 2022
The UK government has made levelling up a priority. Senior Sustainability Analyst Sandra Bell sets out 5 tests to assess the strength of the government’s approach and whether it will help the poorest communities. As the government's programme progresses, including draft legislation following the Queen’s Speech, Friends of the Earth will use these tests to report on progress.
Friends of the Earth vs UK Export Finance: case documents
Alexandra Musset13 Apr 2022
Read and use the case papers for our legal challenge to the UK government over its backing of a climate-wrecking gas megaproject in Mozambique. That backing included providing over $1 billion of taxpayer money to finance the project.
Justice moves centre-stage in IPCC climate report
Mike Childs24 Mar 2022
Latest IPCC report shows equity and justice are essential to successful climate action
Energy NPS Consultation response
Rebecca Murray24 Mar 2022246 kB PDF file
Read Friends of the Earth's consultation response to Draft National Policy Statements for energy infrastructure.
NSIP Reform Consultation December 2021
Rebecca Murray24 Mar 2022297 kB PDF file
Read Friends of the Earth's consultation responses to the National Significant Infrastructure Planning (NSIP) process and its interactions.
Government's latest changes to planning rules are far from reassuring
Rebecca Murray21 Mar 2022
Read the latest update on planning reforms from Rebecca Murray our Senior Planner. While it’s a small victory that government has agreed to drop plans for a complete overhaul of the planning system, they have failed again to bring planning reforms in line with the country's climate and nature goals. The government should provide the right legal framework and national guidance to make our climate and nature commitments a reality.
Friends of the Earth vs UK Export Finance: Litigation Briefing
17 Mar 2022
Read the legal briefing on the divisional court judgement for Friends of the Earth versus UK Export Finance (and others).
The future of heating
Mike Childs21 Feb 2022
Meeting climate targets through electric heating backed by renewably-produced hydrogen.
Road to zero carbon: council action on green jobs and skills
25 Jan 20222.08 MB PDF file
A report for Friends of the Earth, Ashden and others on what councils can do to boost green skills in their areas, including for disadvantaged communities.
Is flooding in Northern Ireland getting worse?
Mike Childs11 Jan 2022
This briefing examines why so many more homes are threatened by flood water, where they are and what we can do to manage flood risk.
Environment Act won’t halt deforestation or protect human rights
Clare Oxborrow06 Jan 2022
Commodity supply chains are trashing forests and trampling human rights. Clare Oxborrow explains why the government’s new Environment Act will fail to protect communities and why it must take effective action to regulate UK companies.
The future of Drax: old, inefficient, damaging and expensive
09 Dec 2021
Drax power station in Selby, Yorkshire is old, inefficient, environmentally damaging and will need £billions of subsidies to survive. We argue it should start preparing for closure and its workers retrained for decent jobs elsewhere.
When will the government act to halt plastic pollution?
Camilla Zerr01 Dec 2021
Camilla Zerr, Plastics campaigner reflects on the current crisis and government’s slow progress in facing up to the plastics reduction challenge.