Severn Trent Water has avoided a financial penalty from Ofwat despite “serious failings” in wastewater and sewage management, after committing to wastewater treatment works expansions and nature-based interventions such as wetlands and catchment measures. The company’s programme includes increasing capacity at existing wastewater facilities and deploying natural attenuation and storage solutions to reduce storm overflow discharges. For civil and environmental engineers, the case signals regulatory weight behind early engagement, demonstrable upgrade plans and integrated grey–green infrastructure rather than purely end-of-pipe compliance.

More than 60% of known hydrothermal vent mollusc species – 125 of 201 assessed – are now classed as threatened on the IUCN Red List due to prospective deep-sea mining for copper, cobalt, zinc and polymetallic nodules. IUCN is urging a moratorium ahead of the International Seabed Authority’s 13–31 July meeting in Jamaica, citing evidence from a 3,000‑tonne nodule removal test at 4,280 m in the Clarion‑Clipperton Zone that cut macrofaunal density by 37% and species richness by 32% within two years. For project planners and ESG teams, the findings signal rising regulatory and reputational risk for vent-proximal licences, while marine protected areas like the Mariana Arc of Fire currently shield some species such as Provanna exquisita.

Google.org has awarded a £1M grant to the FloodAction Coalition to build a UK-wide water resilience intelligence platform targeting both fluvial flooding and drought risk. The system is expected to aggregate hydrological, land-use and socio-economic data to identify priority catchments where nature-based solutions—such as floodplain reconnection, wetland restoration and upstream storage—offer the greatest cost–benefit. For civil and geotechnical teams, the platform should provide more granular evidence to justify green infrastructure schemes in business cases and long-term asset management plans.