Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

A UK government department, DEFRA is responsible for policy and regulations on enviornmental, food and rural issues.

Effective protection of the environment requires activity on many wide-ranging different fronts - for example, from acting to limit global environmental threats (such as global warming) to safeguarding individuals from the effects of poor air quality or toxic chemicals.

Actions to protect the environment also produce benefits such as housing (through improved energy efficiency of buildings), social progress (through action to combat fuel poverty) and economic growth (through more efficient use of resources, such as re-use, recycling and recovery of waste).