While COP30 still feels far away, this summer’s key environmental events are already shaping the global climate conversation. From ocean protection to climate finance, these moments are essential for building the momentum and public pressure needed to ensure COP30 delivers where previous summits have fallen short. 

To understand where global priorities are shifting, and where major commitments might be made ahead of COP30, Seahorse is tracking five of the most impactful environmental events this summer.

A week today, Rachel Reeves will deliver her first Spending Review as Chancellor.

While the Government has already set out plans for overall spending in the coming years (the ‘spending envelope'), this hugely important review will set detailed departmental budgets allocating funding over most of this parliament. As key Departments go to the wire securing their final settlement, Seahorse has been thinking about what this all means for climate and nature.

It’s been a fantastic year for the Seahorse team, working alongside brilliant clients to drive meaningful change. We’re proud to share that we’ve been shortlisted for Best Advocacy Strategy at the Purpose Awards 2025, as well as Communications Agency of the Year at the UK Green Business Awards 2025.

10 months into Government, Labour have suffered a shocking reversal of fortunes in Runcorn in Cheshire, as well as in council and mayoral results across the country. The party won only 6% of council seats up for election compared to 41% for Reform UK, and there have only been 17 previous parliamentary by-elections in which a majority as big as Labour's in Runcorn – around 35% – has previously been overturned. What does this mean for the politics of the three (or now four?) main parties and how will the results impact the shape of environmental policies? 

Attenborough’s acclaimed new film Ocean is a timely and powerful intervention as world leaders prepare for the UN Ocean Conference in Nice this month. However, it raises questions as to how visual storytelling can move beyond entertainment and deliver real policy change for the environment.

Against mounting political headwinds, Labour has remained committed to its ambitions for a world-leading low carbon economy. However, the clean power target that helps build the economy of the future requires significant scaling up of technologies and processes that are still heavily reliant on global supply chains and exposed to the risks that come with them. 

Across Government, Ministers are looking to expert-led taskforces to progress complex policies outside the normal processes. The goal is to bring in new voices and fresh ideas outside the orthodoxy of the often siloed civil service.  

With little progress having occurred over recent years, policy development on the circular economy seems a perfect fit for this approach. Indeed, the Government has created a new ‘Circular Economy Taskforce’; a group of experts covering industry, academia, and civil society, chaired by Andrew Morlet, former CEO of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.  

The environment sector has been talking about food a lot. This isn’t really a surprise. Food cuts across so many interests, priorities and sectors: health, climate change, nature loss, trade, agriculture, fishing and, of course, growth. As we get sicker, further deplete our struggling natural environment and farmers take to the streets to voice discontent, policymakers, businesses and campaigners are being much more explicit about how diverse interests interact and often compete with one another. And this is a good thing.  

The Government is only going to succeed in its pledge to lower bills as we decarbonise if it unlocks making it cheaper and easier to use and store green energy.

As a member of Gen Z, I’ve grown up alongside the rise of social media, which arguably, has come to define the 21st century. Facebook was founded in 2004, Twitter (now X) in 2006, and Instagram in 2010—these social media giants have shaped not only my experience but the way billions of people connect, share, and engage.  

Just a few years ago, water pollution was rarely mentioned in the media and wasn’t described as a public priority. Yet in a short space of time, it has come to dominate the political, public and media agenda. This shift couldn’t be better represented by the ‘March for Clean Water’ last Sunday. 15,000 people peacefully marched on the streets of London, all dressed in blue, with one simple ask for Government and industry – stop poisoning Britain’s rivers.

Like many people who attended UK secondary school in the 2010s, I first learnt about climate change in Geography, when I was taught about its causes and impacts on the natural environment.

With climate and nature rising the political agenda, it wasn’t surprising that this year’s Labour Party Conference agenda was filled with events discussing the key challenges and opportunities for the environment and energy transition. However, competition for political speakers was fierce with attendees having to choose between 3-4 clashing events spread across the Conference map. 

As this autumn’s conference season comes to an end, the Conservatives will hold the final get-together of the three largest parties in Birmingham from 29 September-2 October. For their first conference in opposition for 14 years, the Tories will focus on what direction the party heads in following defeat and which of the four remaining leadership candidates is best equipped to guide them.

Just over two months on from their landslide election victory, the Labour Party will gather in Liverpool for its Annual Conference from Sunday 22 – Wednesday 25 September. 

With much to discuss, and a huge number of events taking place over the conference period, where should you focus your time? This guide offers some suggestions

The Liberal Democrats are gearing up for their annual conference in Brighton from the 14^th-17^th September. It promises to be a pivotal moment for the party following the 2024 general election, where they secured 72 seats—their highest total ever. For the first time since 2015, they are the third-largest party in the House of Commons.  

Labour is over halfway through its first 100 days; the next 50 days include key milestones like Labour Party Conference and the Government’s debut Budget. Below, we examine delivery on energy and environment promises and highlight what’s left to look out for as we enter the sprint period to Christmas break. 

In the run up to the General Election, we published a weekly newsletter bringing our readers a concise summary of the latest environmental insights, milestones and campaign developments.

You can read them all here, and sign up to our mailing list here to receive our monthly newsletter which gives a glimpse into the minds of the Seahorse herd.

The European Parliament’s shift towards more climate-sceptic parties is pretty disheartening for climate campaigners, but after the initial punch to the gut, moments like these can be a good time to take stock of new dynamics.

The Welsh Government has delivered numerous ambitious environmental policies since devolution 25 years ago. However, with Welsh Ministers facing challenges from a centralised Westminster Government and a public backlash on key reforms, does Wales currently represent a leading light or a cautionary tale on the environment?