Mark and Focus desk
Institutions, regulation, policy frameworks, public administration, cooperation, and implementation capacity.
Primary analysis
From 17 September, every proposed Scottish data center above 50 megawatts requires an Environmental Impact Assessment. The direction converts an emerging set of energy, water, carbon and community concerns into evidence that must shape projects before consent.
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China’s HJ 1478-2026 standard narrows routine pollution-hazard checks toward higher-risk hidden infrastructure while making leak detection, fixed checklists, remediation ledgers and inspection cycles more specific for key regulated facilities.
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Conama has approved three linked national measures covering non-potable reuse of treated sewage, risk-tiered aquaculture licensing and updated effluent controls, joining water supply alternatives to pollution prevention and regulatory information.
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New guidance shows how England’s Nature Restoration Fund will let qualifying developers replace specified project-level mitigation with a levy, while Environmental Delivery Plans ration capacity and Natural England carries delivery and enforcement responsibility.
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Clearing 22,105 tonnes from an illegal Oxfordshire dump gives England a visible result. The harder task is preventing another site through intelligence, permit control, sanctions, asset recovery and prosecution.
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Ghana has begun drafting legislation for a Blue Economy Commission. Its value will depend on whether the bill clarifies who decides, how trade-offs are resolved and how existing regulators remain accountable.
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Three new EU studies show why aquaculture cannot be governed through one sustainability label.
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A US$10 million federal-state package will fund study and planning for the Detroit River’s remaining contaminated-sediment cleanup rather than completed remediation.
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The AI Environmental Transparency Initiative treats artificial intelligence as a physical system built on data centers, electricity, water, land, chips and mineral supply chains.
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The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is introducing mandatory digital waste tracking in two stages.
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