Calls for a national referendum on renationalising England’s privatised water and sewerage companies have intensified after 20,000 people signed a petition launched by a campaigner from Channel 4’s “Dirty Business” series. The move targets companies responsible for combined sewer overflows, long-term leakage issues and high storm discharge volumes into rivers and coastal waters. Any shift to public ownership would directly affect funding models for major wastewater upgrades, long-life pipeline renewals and resilience works on ageing treatment works and trunk mains.

Argentina’s Congress has approved President Javier Milei’s reform of the 2010 Glacier Law by 137–111, allowing provinces rather than a national scientific body to define which of nearly 17,000 glaciers and 8,484 sq. km of periglacial zones can host mining, including high-altitude copper, lithium and gold projects. Supporters, including provincial leaders in Mendoza, San Juan, Catamarca and Salta, and miners such as Glencore, BHP, Rio Tinto, Lundin Mining and McEwen Mining, see scope to triple exports by 2030 and reach $165 billion by 2035. Environmental lawyers and scientists warn that opening periglacial areas—key to water regulation in arid Andean basins—could threaten supplies relied on by about 70% of Argentinians and introduce fragmented, politically driven permitting standards.

Engineers have launched the Association for Consultancy and Engineering’s Delivering Infrastructure 2050 manifesto, calling for long-term reform of Welsh transport, energy and water networks ahead of the 7 May Senedd elections. The document presses for a stable 25-year infrastructure pipeline, faster planning and consenting for major schemes, and clearer funding models for projects such as strategic road upgrades and grid reinforcement. For geotechnical and civil practitioners, the proposals signal potential continuity of workload but also tighter scrutiny on whole-life carbon, asset resilience and value-based procurement.