Eco Chamber

When Labour entered government it pushed for a “reset” within the water sector promising tougher enforcement and major reforms.

The idea of a “powerful” single water regulator for England was mooted, that would replace Ofwat, parts of the Environment Agency and Natural England, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI).

The head of the DWI, Marcus Rink, this month sat down with ENDS Report’s senior reporter, Shosha Adie to discuss why the so-called super regulator may not be all that super.

Plus, this week ECO Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons also discusses the potential environmental consequences of the government’s new National Planning Policy Framework with special guest Pamela Chesterman, an environmental lawyer at Irwin Mitchel LLP.

Chesterman is optimistic about the new national planning blueprint but has concerns that in the short-term current local plans could now be considered “outdated” with a flood of planning applications likely.

PLUS

Hinkley Point C is now open to environmental information requests.
Billions more have been raised on customers’ water bills.
The Office for Environmental Protection’s new agenda under an environment of “real-term cuts”.

The ECO Chamber is brought to you by the journalists of ENDS Report.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past few weeks, environmentalists have been celebrating the release of six young sea eagles into Exmoor National Park.

Their release means more than 50 have now taken flight across England since their reintroduction on the Isle of Wight in 2019.

However, a recent investigation by the wildlife watchdog Natural England has found that some sea eagles, found dead, had ingested enough rat poison for it to have contributed towards their demise.

Dorset has been a particular hotspot for the poisoned birds.

On this week’s episode, podcast host James Agyepong-Parsons asks, why?

With special guest Bob Elliot, the CEO of the legal campaign outfit Wild Justice, the pair discuss the importance of raptor reintroductions and the reality of what it takes to launch a successful wildlife crime investigation.

Alongside sea eagles, ospreys in England are also making a comeback.

The RSPB Campfield Marsh reserve in Cumbria has become the latest home to a pair of breeding ospreys, marking an end to their century-long absence from the bird charity’s reserves.

Elliot explains why the return of large birds of prey is so crucial for England’s natural environment to recover.

The team also looks at recently released data giving an update on England’s ailing water bodies.

PLUS

The Clacton by-election

The UK’s ‘largest ever’ pollution legal claim…

And the airport runway, running away in the courts…

The ECO Chamber is brought to you by the journalists of ENDS Report.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Environment Agency has declared droughts across half of England, as parts of the country are experiencing the longest dry period in 30 years.

At the same time, wildfires have raged across the UK. Most recently, this has included the Dunwich Heath wildfire in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths protected area, which saw more than 150 hectares of rare coastal lowland heath burned.

On this week’s episode, the National Trust’s senior national specialist on climate adaptation, Keith Jones, tells the Eco Chamber what’s been lost, and what needs to happen next.

Jones explains how the National Trust is taking action now, but as a nation, he doesn’t believe the UK has the capacity to respond to a catastrophic wildfire event such as those seen in Europe this summer.
The podcast team also gets to grips with the recently assigned portfolios of DEFRA’s new ministers.

PLUS

The deaths of England’s sea eagles tied to rat poison
The bat nightmare of Lochmaben
And the river Ouse’s new charter

The ECO Chamber is brought to you by the journalists of ENDS Report.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since taking office as prime minister, Andy Burnham has made a swathe of ministerial changes across Westminster, including within DEFRA.

Dame Angela Eagle has succeeded Emma Reynolds as the new environment secretary and new faces have entered the department’s fold.

They include Suffolk Coastal MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, who has joined DEFRA as a junior minister and water industry veteran Lee Pitcher, the Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme MP.

Pitcher is one of more than 50 new parliamentary private secretaries appointed across government.

But one name absent from DEFRA’s ranks is Mary Creagh, the MP for Coventry East and the first nature minister who served under both environment secretaries Emma Reynolds and Steve Reed.

Across her career, Creagh has acted as both shadow secretary for DEFRA and later as chair for the Environmental Audit Committee.

On this week’s episode, the team discusses what her absence could mean for the department and asks why Natural England is worried about the implications of a recent High Court ruling on gamebirds.

PLUS

The Environment Agency’s campaign to clamp down on waste crime
The Sea Use Framework sunk by the government.
And the former Southern Water chief executive charged with ‘conspiracy to defraud’

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After weeks of political machinations, Sir Keir Starmer is out and Andy Burnham is in at No.10 Downing Street. While details have remained elusive on the former Manchester mayor’s environmental policies, as he picks his cabinet we can start to understand what type of government he intends to run.

Dame Angela Eagle, the new DEFRA secretary, is not new to the department, having served as farming minister from September 2025 to June this year. But how green is she beyond that? Ed Miliband has been moved from his post as energy secretary to head up the Foreign Office, leaving Burnham “policy guru” Miatta Fahnbulleh heading up the government’s net zero policy. Where might that leave the controversial decision sitting on the DESNZ desk over oil and gas extraction in the North Sea?

On this week’s ECO Chamber, podcast host Tess Colley and ENDS Report’s senior reporter Shosha Adie, come together to get to grips with these questions.

PLUS:

Why nature campaigners in Dartmoor have said the government has ‘caved into conspiracy theories’ over pony grazing controls
Who is Natural England’s new chief executive?
And news that Thames Water creditors are battling to prevent nationalisation as Burnham arrives in No.10

The ECO Chamber is brought to you by journalists at ENDS Report.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.