The government announced that the Environment Agency would be given powers to apply for anti-social behaviour orders to tackle environmental crime such as vandalism, noise nuisance, and fly-tipping.
Source: Press release 20 December 2005, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Dec
A report examined the progress which the Scottish Executive and its partners had made in delivering a wide range of work that was helping to secure environmental justice.
Source: Review of Progress on Environmental Justice, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Dec
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published its autumn performance report for 2005, showing progress towards achieving its public service agreement targets.
Source: Autumn Performance Report 2005, Cm 6692, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Dec
An annual report examined the performance of the Scottish Executive in 2004-05 against its environmental targets.
Source: Scottish Executive Environmental Performance Annual Report 2004/05, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SE press release
Date: 2005-Dec
The government responded to a report by a committee of peers on the economics of climate change.
Source: Government Response to The Economics of Climate Change, Third Report (Session 2005-06), HL 71, House of Lords Economic Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | Peers report
Date: 2005-Nov
A report examined the impact of the environment on public health - in particular the effects of flooding and climate change, poor air quality, chemicals, inequalities, and outdoor recreation.
Source: Better Environment, Healthier People, Environment Agency (08459 333111)
Links: Report | HPA press release
Date: 2005-Nov
A private member's Bill on climate change was given a second reading with government support. The Bill would require an annual report to be laid before Parliament on the efforts being made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: Mark Lazarowicz MP, Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 11 November 2005, columns 583-647, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | DTI press release
Date: 2005-Nov
A report examined the links between environmental regulation and competitiveness. It called for an independent inquiry to analyze the evidence and draw conclusions on the design and implementation of environmental regulations.
Source: A Competitive Environment, Green Alliance (020 7233 7433)
Links: Report | Green Alliance press release
Date: 2005-Nov
A report by a committee of MPs examined the environmental performance of central government departments.
Source: Greening Government: The 2004 Sustainable Development in Government Report, First Report (Session 2005-06), HC 698, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Nov
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on environmental measures in the 2005 Budget.
Source: Government Response to the Committee's Seventh Report of Session 2004-05 on Pre-Budget 2004 and Budget 2005: Tax, Appraisal and Environment, Second Special Report (Session 2005-06), HC 528, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2005-Oct
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on climate change.
Source: Climate Change: Government Response to the Committee's Report, Second Special Report (Session 2005-06), HC 533, House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2005-Oct
A report by a committee of peers said that energy and climate policy appeared to be based on dubious assumptions about the roles of renewable energy and energy efficiency; and that the costs of achieving policy objectives had been poorly documented.
Source: The Economics of Climate Change, Second Report (Session 2005-06), HL 12, House of Lords Economic Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | FOE press release
Date: 2005-Jul
The Welsh Assembly government began consultation on environmental strategy in Wales.
Source: Our Environment - Our Future - Your Views, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Consultation document (pdf links) | WAG press release
Date: 2005-Jul
A private member's Bill was introduced which would set a legally binding target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3 per cent every year.
Source: Michael Meacher MP, Climate Change Bill, TSO
Links: Transport 2000 press release | Friends of the Earth press release
Date: 2005-Jul
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published its annual report for 2004-05.
Source: Departmental Report 2005, Cm 6537, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Report (pdf links) | DEFRA press release
Date: 2005-Jun
A research report examined the impact of negative and positive environmental features on communities. The most deprived populations were three times more likely to be living near to industrial pollution sites; and people in the most deprived areas were almost five times more likely to be living near to derelict land than people who lived in the least deprived areas. But there was no direct consistent correlation between deprivation and proximity to landfill, quarries and open-cast sites.
Source: John Fairburn, Gordon Walker and Graham Smith, Investigating Environmental Justice in Scotland: Links between measures of environmental quality and social deprivation, Scottish and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (0131 557 2140)
Links: Report (pdf link) | SE press release
Date: 2005-May
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the environmental aspects of its strategy for increasing housing supply.
Source: Government Response to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee Report Housing: Building a Sustainable Future, Cm 6575, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response (pdf) | MPs report
Date: 2005-May
The Green Party published its 2005 general election manifesto.
Source: The Real Choice for Real Change, Green Party of England and Wales (020 7272 4474)
Links: Manifesto (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Apr
A report by a committee of MPs criticized the relative absence of new environmental measures in the 2004 Pre-Budget Report and the 2005 Budget.
Source: Pre-Budget 2004 and Budget 2005: Tax, Appraisal, and the Environment, Seventh Report (Session 2004-05), HC 261, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | CPRE press release
Date: 2005-Apr
The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act was given Royal assent. The Act contained a range of measures to improve the quality of the local environment, by giving local authorities and the Environment Agency additional powers to deal with problems such as fly-tipped waste, litter, nuisance alleys, fly-posting and graffiti, abandoned and nuisance vehicles, and noise.
Source: Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | DEFRA press release | LGA press release
Date: 2005-Apr
A report by a committee of MPs said that ignorance by individuals of their role in contributing damage to the environment, such as unsustainable use of natural resources and climate change, was "inexcusable and frankly dangerous".
Source: Environmental Education: Follow-up to Learning the Sustainability Lesson, Fifth Report (Session 2004-05), HC 84, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Apr
The opposition Conservative party published its manifesto plans on environmental issues. It promised action on climate change and urban sprawl.
Source: Action for the Environment, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Manifesto (pdf)
Date: 2005-Apr
The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill was given a third reading. The Bill contained a package of measures to give local authorities and the Environment Agency more powers to deal with fly-tippers and litter droppers.
Source: Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 21 February 2005, columns 31-123, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | HOC Library research paper (pdf)
Date: 2005-Feb
The United Kingdom ratified the United Nations' Aarhus Convention, covering the public's involvement in three areas of environmental democracy - access to environmental information, participation in environmental decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters.
Source: Press release 24 February 2005, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (020 7238 6000)
Links: DEFRA press release | FOE press release
Date: 2005-Feb
A think-tank report said that the government should commit to reduce United Kingdom emissions of carbon dioxide by 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, in order to do its fair share to prevent dangerous climate change.
Source: Simon Retallack, Setting a Long Term Climate Objective, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Links: Summary | IPPR press release
Date: 2005-Feb
A think-tank report sought to identify the potential of local authority environmental services to engender real change within communities. It showed councils how they could join up a range of policy initiatives on neighbourhood management, 'streetscene' and liveability for maximum effect.
Source: Environmental Services: At the heart of every community, Association of Public Service Excellence (0161 772 1810)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Jan
A report by a committee of MPs said that the environmental impacts of the proposed increase in housebuilding deserved much greater consideration than they had yet received from government. There was a serious risk that, as matters stood, the principal beneficiaries of housing growth would be property development companies, while the principal loser would be the environment.
Source: Housing: Building a Sustainable Future, First Report (Session 2004-05), HC 135, House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | CPRE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jan
The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill was given a second reading. The Bill contained a package of measures to give local authorities and the Environment Agency more powers to deal with fly-tippers and litter droppers.
Source: Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 10 January 2005, columns 40-131, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | HOC Library research paper (pdf) | DEFRA press release | LGA press release
Date: 2005-Jan
A report examined the local impacts of housing, environment and regeneration policy since 1997.
Source: Caroline Paskell and Anne Power, 'The Future's Changed': Local impacts of housing, environment and regeneration policy since 1997, CASEreport 29, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion/London School of Economics (020 7955 6679)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jan