Members of Congress in the US have been targeted by more than 230 organisations demanding a national moratorium on the approval and construction of new data centres. The organisations represent millions of people in all 50 states. The letter is explicit in the environmental and social threats posed by unbridled data centre construction.
A new group has been convened by the UK Government to ensure the UK has the skilled workforce it needs to deliver record levels of investment and reform. The Water Skills Strategic Group brings together senior leaders in government from and across the water sector and its supply chain. The group’s focus will be the delivery of the £104 billion investment – the largest since privatisation – which will create more than 30,000 new jobs, support the building of 1.5m new homes, and help restore the nation’s rivers, lakes and seas.
Ofwat is to be abolished and a new, single regulator to be established to cut water pollution in England’s rivers, lakes and seas, and protect families from massive bill hikes. The new regulator will take responsibility for water functions across Ofwat, the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, in an effort to end complexity.
The global economy could face a 50% loss in GDP between 2070 and 2090 unless immediate policy action on risks posed by the climate crisis is taken. This is the stark warning set out in ‘Planetary Solvency – finding our balance with nature’ by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) in collaboration with climate scientists.
Severe climate impacts can come from nowhere. Their effects can cascade across society, and create a bigger problem than the sum of their individual parts. These impacts are similar to those resulting from pandemics or traditional security threats. That is why we need to plan for climate like we plan for security – at the national level, supranational level and across continents.
The World Bank has approved a $200m concessional credit to support Uzbekistan in modernising its irrigation and drainage infrastructure and improving the quality of irrigation service delivery. The project aims to reduce water losses and increase the energy efficiency of irrigation systems across five regions of the country. The Government of Uzbekistan will provide $23.2m in co-financing.
Earth Day has real meaning for Apple. It is the point at which it surpassed a 60% reduction in its global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (compared with 2025 levels) – this is part of its Apple 2030 goal to become carbon neutral across its entire footprint.