A new briefing from the European Environment Agency (EEA) argues that the cumulative impact of human activity should be better managed to avoid irreversible damage to ecosystems.

The Environment Agency is formally advertising the works in preparation for work to start dredging of the Somerset Levels which will begin next month as soon as it is safe and practical to do so.

Veolia has been awarded the contract by Shell Canada to design and supply a water treatment facility to recycle the water used for steam generation at Shell's Carmon Creek heavy oil project in Alberta, Canada.

The CEOs of Aviva, Direct Line Group, Axa, Lloyds Banking Group and Ageas, along with the Claims Director of RSA and the Association of British Insurers have restated their commitment to voluntarily maintaining the 2008 Statement of Principles on flood insurance until the guaranteed affordable flood insurance scheme, Flood Re, is delivered in 2015.

Construction and housebuilding group Galliford Try plc has reported record half year results this morning for the six months ended 31 December 2013.

Southern Water is investing around £470,000 in refurbishing reed beds at two of its wastewater treatment works.

Severn Trent Water is starting work on two major schemes costing around £6.5 million to protect properties against sewer flood in the face of changing weather patterns and increasingly heavy rainfall.

Novo Nordisk has become the first pharmaceutical company in the world to publish an environmental profit and loss account so that it can further integrate sustainability into its core business – the analysis shows that the environmental impacts of Novo Nordisk’s business cost €223m in 2011.

Construction and regeneration company Morgan Sindall Group plc has seen its profits fall by 34% for the year ended 31 December 2013 – but its forward order book has risen 8% to £2.4 billion.