A coalition of environmental and heritage charities, including the National Trust and RSPB, is urging the UK government to “reset” its pro-development revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework before final decisions this summer. The groups argue that proposed changes to housing delivery tests and presumption in favour of sustainable development could weaken protections for Sites of Special Scientific Interest and conservation areas. For civil and infrastructure schemes, this signals potential shifts in planning risk, environmental assessment scope and mitigation requirements on greenfield and sensitive sites.

Western Australia has completed a major overhaul of its digital environmental approvals system for mining and petroleum, with the final release of the Resources Online platform now live. Core environmental lodgements have been migrated from the legacy Environmental Assessment and Regulatory System, consolidating submissions, tracking and regulator interactions into a single online interface. Operators can now lodge and manage mining proposals, environmental plans and compliance reports digitally, which should shorten approval timelines and give project teams clearer visibility of assessment status and information requests.

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to rebuild between two and five nuclear reactors in the 2040s, rising to a total of 11–14 units by the 2050s as part of its long-term power mix strategy. The programme will focus on replacing ageing plants built mainly in the 1970s–80s with new-generation reactors designed for higher seismic resistance and improved passive safety systems. Civil and geotechnical teams can expect major foundation upgrades, tsunami and flood defences, and extensive seismic retrofitting at existing coastal sites.