Simon Cole

Deforestation regulation is moving rapidly from policy into operational reality. The EUDR will begin applying in Northern Ireland and across the EU at the end of 2026, while the UK Government has set out its intended approach for a broadly aligned Great Britain regime. This is an important step forward. But it is not the full answer. The new requirements will demand more evidence than many businesses have historically been used to providing, including geo-location data linked to sourcing.

Renewable energy sources have been getting a bad wrap over the past decade, with the spectacular South Australian state-wide blackout in 2016 highlighting energy security and being unfairly used to scapegoat renewables. There is political division over where our energy should come from and whether the cost of reducing emissions is an unreasonable burden to householders.

As our planet tilts its northern side toward the sun, some folk there, bathed in its warm, calming rays, seem unmollified. But hunkering down in an Australian Winter is fun — especially in subtropical Brisbane. Unfortunately, there’s a tendency to do the same thing with views on climate science these days — to name just one policy area. The war in the Middle East has a lot of people worried. Friends from Europe to the Galapagos tell me the world is falling apart.