Environment | The Guardian

Downsizing at Climeworks comes amid economic uncertainty and reduced momentum' for climate techA Swiss startup that has led the way in sucking carbon out of the air has announced plans to cut its workforce by more than 10% amid economic uncertainty and reduced momentum" for climate tech.The downsizing at Climeworks, the company that built the world's first direct air capture facilities, comes one week after journalists in Iceland revealed its two flagship plants have captured far less carbon than their advertised capacity. A spokesperson said the timing of the redundancies was unrelated. Continue reading...

Familia Torres has been making wine in Catalonia since 1870, but says it may have to move to higher altitudes in 30 years' timeA leading European winemaker has warned it may have to abandon its ancestral lands in Catalonia in 30 years' time because climate change could make traditional growing areas too dry and hot.Familia Torres is already installing irrigation at its vineyards in Spain and California and is planting vines on land at higher altitudes as it tries to adapt to more extreme conditions. Continue reading...

Rebekah Shaman, of Protect Brockwell Park, took action against Lambeth council over number of large-scale eventsA campaigner who argued that music festivals held in a south London park unfairly cut off large sections of the space and made it a mud bath" has won a court case that could result in events being banned there this summer.The Protect Brockwell Park (PBP) group, which includes the actor Mark Rylance, complained about walls being erected in the park, and noise and environmental damage, leading to a tense debate about the use of public space, nimbyism and the importance of summer cultural events. Continue reading...

Parks, trees and green spaces are critical to kids' health and wellbeing, but in many cities, residents have unequal accessOn a recent Saturday morning at Washington Elementary Stem magnet school in Pasadena, California, a group of volunteers and staffers from Amigos de los Rios hauled soil for a new pollinator garden of native plants that support local habitats such as those for butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. They also filled up 37 planter beds that will grow fresh veggies such as carrots and sweet potatoes for students to eat.Before the local non-profit began this work, the Title I school - which is primarily attended by Latino and Black students from low-income households - had been largely paved, lacked trees and had one wooden playhouse that kids would patiently wait their turn to play inside to take refuge from the sun. Continue reading...

Firm prosecuted after unapproved material in tanks led to flakes and powder entering drinking water of 1.3m peopleAnglian Water has been fined a record 1.42m for contaminating the water supply.The company, which covers the east of England, received the fine at Northampton crown court after a prosecution brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) for failures that affected 1.3 million people. Continue reading...

Some have speculated there is a link, but it's too soon to say, one expert says, with toxicology results expected to reveal more soon

Researchers call for investment in circular solutions' as consumption rises faster than growth in populationGlobal recycling rates are failing to keep pace with a culture focused on infinite economic growth and consumerism, with the proportion of recycled materials re-entering supply chains falling for the eighth year running, according to a new report.Only 6.9% of the 106bn tonnes of materials used annually by the global economy came from recycled sources, a 2.2 percentage point drop since 2015, researchers from the Circle Economy thinktank found. Continue reading...

Murray Watt is also considering ditching the nature positive' title for Labor's overhaul of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act

The best of this week's wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

In Melbourne, 14C was the forecast maximum for Saturday, with a high chance of showers, the BoM says

For 1,500 years, Mexico's Mixtec people have extracted ink from the rare purpura snail to dye yarn. But they fear the species - and their rich tradition - may soon be lost for ever

West Coast Game Park Safari, popular attraction that has more than 450 animals, accused of multiple violationsA dead tiger, left in a freezer for months. Starving lions and leopards. Animals dying without medical attention. One full-time staffer feeding over 300 animals. According to police and USDA inspection reports, that's the state of affairs at Oregon's West Coast Game Park Safari.State police served multiple search warrants at the south Oregon property on Thursday as part of a lengthy" criminal investigation. The park is a regional attraction, with over 450 animals across 75 species, and has been in operation since 1969. USDA reports in recent years have noted consistent violations. Continue reading...

Report says proposals threaten to affect most vulnerable', who would be helped by more time to seek adviceA group of influential MPs has urged the government to delay controversial planned changes to inheritance tax for farmers to allow for better formulation of tax policy" and to protect vulnerable farmers by giving them more time to seek advice.The environment, food and rural affairs (Efra) committee has called on the government to hold off announcing its overhaul of agricultural property relief and business property relief until October 2026, before bringing them into effect from April 2027. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Firm close to insolvency says using 3bn loan to pay substantial' bonuses is vital to retain senior managersMinisters plan to use new powers to block bosses from Thames Water taking bonuses worth hundreds of thousands of pounds as the company fights for survival, the Guardian can reveal.Britain's biggest water company admitted this week that senior managers are in line for substantial" bonuses linked to an emergency 3bn loan. Continue reading...

Ministers must resist pressure to relax environmental standards in the rush for new housingAlmost two decades after the last Labour government announced a zero carbon homes standard, and with the breaking of temperature records around the world now so normal as to seem routine, it ought to be uncontroversial that new buildings should be as environmentally friendly as possible. Given everything we know about global heating, and the law obliging the UK to reach net zero by 2050, it is disturbing that even the basics of promotingenergysecurity and efficiency continue tobe questioned.But that is the situation Britain faces, as the government lays the ground for a housebuilding spree that it hopes will last for the rest of this parliament (as planning is devolved, the target of 1.5m new homes is for England only). Much of the blame for this discouraging state of affairs lies with the Tories, who delayed progress towards sustainability by scrapping environmental rules, leading to a disgraceful proliferation of new developments where the houses do not even have solarpanels on the roofs. Continue reading...

As avian numbers plunge, activists demand action to save birds from crashing into high-rise blocksThe wren's legs were tucked delicately underneath its diminutive body, slumped on its side as if asleep. If it wasn't lying on the bare concrete of a Texas street, there would be few clues that it had endured a crunching, violent death.The bird had flown headfirst into the Bank of America building, a 72-storey modernist skyscraper in the heart of Dallas. Its corpse was catalogued by volunteers who seek to document the toll of birds that strike the glass, metal and concrete structures festooned with bewildering lights that form the skylines of our cities. Continue reading...

Egg-laying monotremes have no nipples, so young rub their beaks against milk patch' to get milk from mother's skin

Former independent MP accuses division of throwing good money after bad only to see our native wildlife suffer'

Organisation receives $2.3m from the Victorian government but has projected operation costs of $10.8m this year

Pfas are a group of thousands of chemicals that are used for their non-stick and water-resistant properties. They are often refered to as 'forever chemicals' because they can take thousands of years to break down. Pfas are being found in so many everyday items that it's starting to feel like they are everywhere - non-stick frying pans, waterproof mascaras, stain-resistant clothing, packaging for takeaway food items. Pfas are even in our food, our drinking water and in the rain. Josh Toussaint-Strauss talks to Leana Hosea and Rachel Salvidge of Watershed investigations, a nonprofit that works to expose the causes behind Pfas contamination. Together they discuss what the spread of Pfas means for our health and the environment, and what can be done to get rid of them or at least limit our exposure. Continue reading...

The EPA is attempting actions that violate the law, some say, and Biden administration's progress can't be fully undoneThe Trump administration has announced it would attempt to kill some of the strong new Pfas forever chemical" drinking water limits set in April 2024.While the moves would deliver a clear win for the US chemical and water utility industries, it is less clear whether the action will be successful, what it means longterm for the safety of the US's drinking water, and its impact on progress in addressing forever chemical pollution. Continue reading...

Hanford made the plutonium for US atomic bombs, and its radioactive waste must be dealt with. Enter Elon MuskIn the bustling rural city of Richland, in south-eastern Washington, the signs of a nuclear past are all around.A small museum explains its role in the Manhattan Project and its singular mission - [to] develop the world's first atomic bomb before the enemy might do the same". The city's high school sports team is still known as the Bombers, with a logo that consists of the letter R set with a mushroom cloud. Continue reading...

Winning images from the 2025 Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Environmental Photography award, selected from 10,000 images submitted globally. The contest aims to reward photographers who put their creativity to good use in raising awareness of the importance of environmental protection

The craze for Korean culture has brought fame to the women of the sea', but not always to their benefit. Now they want to reclaim their stories to inspire a new generationThere is an episode in the Netflix drama When Life Gives You Tangerines where a woman dives into the sea and brings back a catch of abalone (sea snails), which she says will feed her family. The woman is a haenyeo. Haenyeo, or women of the sea", have been recorded as far back as the 17th century and are unique to the island of Jeju in South Korea, where they fish sustainably, diving time and again on a single breath to bring back shellfish and seaweed.Yet the scene, set in the 1960s, simply wouldn't happen today, says Myeonghyo Go, a haenyeo who lives in the village of Iho-dong on Jeju. The seaweeds here are disappearing, and seaweed is the food for abalone. Because we don't have the seaweeds, we don't have abalone," she says. Continue reading...

Even it now admits that brick by brick, these proposals will wreck habitats. This could be Starmer's most damaging mistake yetThe precedent is uncanny, and the failure to learn from it downright mystifying. Keir Starmer is rushing gladly towards the catastrophe Boris Johnson inflicted on himself in 2020. Had he set out to stymie Labour's chances of re-election, he couldn't be doing it better.In 2020, Johnson promised a whole new planning system" for England, which, he claimed, would promote economic growth". He said he wanted to see 300,000 new homes built every year. He sought to build, build, build", but falsely claimed that his plans were thwarted by newts, which he used as shorthand for environmental protections. He would sweep these protections away. Continue reading...

Bill would force major polluters to pay into fund for flood defences and home insulation - but has little chance of becoming lawFossil fuel companies and their shareholders and owners of superyachts and private jets should have to pay into a fund for flood defences and home insulation, according to a private member's bill to be launched on Thursday.The bill is part of a broader movement by campaigners to make polluters pay", demanding that oil and gas companies, and those who benefit from fossil fuels, should take on more of the direct responsibility for tackling the climate crisis, rather than funding such measures from general taxation. Continue reading...

A video shows the large flightless takah bird in hot pursuit of the tuatara - but the tables soon turnTwo of New Zealand's most rare and beloved animals - a large flightless takah bird and an ancient tuatara reptile - have been captured chasing and nipping at one another during a bush-floor melee.Nick Fisentzidis, a department of conservation ranger on the pest-free Tiritiri Matangi Island near Auckland, saw the takah attack the tuatara and quickly grabbed his phone to capture the rare footage. Continue reading...

EDO boss says Crisafulli government decision means many won't even know their rights, let alone have the chance to exercise them'

Civil society groups call on government to address risk of neocolonial exploitation in its supply chain strategyThe risk of neocolonial exploitation in the global rush for critical minerals must be addressed by the government as it formulates its official supply chain strategy, say civil society campaigners.They have said the scrabble for access is being greenwashed as wealthier economies around the world attempt to line up a host of minerals that are essential to the manufacture of hi-tech products, including cobalt, lithium and nickel. Continue reading...

Dare accepted the 10,000 prize for her latest novel, And So I Roar, the follow-up to her bestselling debut The Girl with the Louding VoiceNigerian writer Abi Dare has won the inaugural Climate fiction prize for her novel And So I Roar, the follow-up to her bestselling debut The Girl with the Louding Voice.Dare was announced as the winner of the 10,000 prize at a ceremony in London on Wednesday evening. Continue reading...

Government to analyse potential benefits of new generation of reactorsDenmark is reconsidering its 40-year ban on nuclear power in a major policy shift for the renewables-heavy country.The Danish government will analyse the potential benefits of a new generation of nuclear power technologies after banning traditional nuclear reactors in 1985, its energy minister said. Continue reading...

Government vetoes cross-party effort to protect threatened waterways from push to rip up environmental red tapeA cross-party attempt to protect England's rare and threatened chalk streams in the government's planning bill was rejected by Labour on Wednesday.The attempt to give the globally rare ecosystems the strongest protections as irreplaceable habitats failed after all the Labour MPs on the parliamentary committee examining the draft law rejected an amendment containing the extra provision. Continue reading...

Predicted dry, warm weather likely to increase pressure on rivers, whose flows are already far below normalExceptionally low river flows are predicted across the UK this summer as a drought becomes more likely, scientists have said.An update from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) says dry, warm weather is expected over the next three months, putting pressure on water resources. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Virgin Atlantic and Renault among companies that continued to publish misleading environmental claimsCompanies have continued to post misleading greenwashing adverts after being censured by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), according to an investigation.Greenpeace UK's investigative journalism unit, Unearthed, reports that Virgin Atlantic, Renault and Aqua Pura are among companies that continued to publish unfounded claims about the environmental credentials of their products after being told to remove such adverts by the advertising watchdog. Continue reading...

Research shows companies aligned' with strategies to meet climate goals have risen from 3% in 2019 to 23% in 2025European companies are increasingly lobbying for strong climate action, research has found, in a profound shift" that analysts say challenges the narrative that businesses see green rules as a threat to profits.The share of companies whose corporate lobbying is aligned" with pathways to meet global climate goals rose from 3% in 2019 to 23% in 2025, according to an analysis of 200 of the largest European companies by InfluenceMap, while the share of companies who were deemed misaligned" fell from 34% to 14%. Continue reading...

Chemical plant linked to air pollution and cancer risks in majority-Black region exploring all options for the future'A controversial chemical plant in the centre of Louisiana's Cancer Alley" region has indefinitely suspended all production following dire financial results, the facility's operators announced on Tuesday.The Denka Performance Elastomer plant in St John parish has long been associated with chronic air pollution issues and was the subject of a years-long Guardian reporting series examining the disproportionate cancer risk rates experienced by the majority-Black fence-line communities that surround the facility. Continue reading...

In a letter, Milieudefensie says it wants to stop firm developing new oil and gas projects to curb crisis'Climate campaigners in the Netherlands have promised to take Shell to court for a second time to force the energy company to stop developing new oil and gas projects.In a letter to Shell, the Dutch climate non-profit Milieudefensie vowed to take legal action because the company has 700 oil and gas projects in development that will continue to drive up carbon emissions despite efforts to slow global heating. Continue reading...

Parliamentary group launched alongside campaign for play sufficiency duty' that matches those in Wales and Scotland

US agriculture secretary says country is moving away from both methods of production, illegal in UK and EUChlorine-washed chicken and hormone-fed beef may not be essential for a US-UK trade deal, Donald Trump's agriculture secretary has indicated.Speaking to journalists at a press conference in London, Brooke Rollins said the market was moving away from the two controversial methods of production, which are illegal in the UK and the EU. Continue reading...

Enfield's Ergin Erbil under pressure to recuse himself from decisions over football club's property plansThe leader of Enfield council is under pressure to recuse himself from decisions over the property plans of Tottenham Hotspur, after accepting match tickets days before the felling of an ancient oak by a company financially linked to the football club.Labour's Ergin Erbil has been the public voice of the council's outrage at the felling on 3 April of a 500-year-old ancient oak by contractors for Mitchells & Butlers Retail (MBR), the pub chain that runs a Toby Carvery on land leased from the London borough. Continue reading...

Bioplastics, heralded for supposedly breaking down more quickly, can cause similar health problems to other plasticsStarch-based bioplastic that is said to be biodegradable and sustainable is potentially as toxic as petroleum-based plastic, and can cause similar health problems, new peer-reviewed research finds.Bioplastics have been heralded as the future of plastic because they break down quicker than petroleum-based plastic, and they are often made from plant-based material such as corn starch, rice starch or sugar. Continue reading...

It broke my heart to see a seal so injured by a 1 plastic toy. Now I campaign to ban them - and it has changed my lifeThere was an incident seven years ago that changed my life. I saw an adult grey seal with a plastic pink flying ring toy so deeply embedded in her neck that she was practically dead. It was stopping her from feeding because it was digging into her and she couldn't extend her neck - the wounds were horrific.It broke my heart. From that moment on, I became obsessed with seals and protecting them from the dangers of plastic flying rings. Continue reading...

The 1,274-hectare Bradford Pennine Gateway links eight nature sites and includes landscape that inspired sistersThe sweeping landscapes of the Pennines inspired the Bronte sisters, and now those lands are being protected as one of England's biggest nature reserves.A huge new national nature reserve, to be called the Bradford Pennine Gateway, is being announced by the government on Tuesday. It will give Bradford, one of Britain's largest and most nature-deprived cities, easier and more protected access to green space Continue reading...

Exclusive: Andrew Bowie says Kemi Badenoch could pull UK out of Paris climate agreementThe Conservative party's energy spokesperson has attacked leading climate scientists as biased and claimed Kemi Badenoch could take the UK out of the Paris climate agreement.Andrew Bowie, the acting shadow secretary for energy, told the Guardian that the target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 - passed into law by Theresa May - was arbitrary" and not based on science". Continue reading...

Wood barrels circle the world and can be used for more than a century. They tell a story, but they're imperiled by tariffsNo one at Tucson's Hamilton Distillers knows exactly what wood the cognac barrels holding whiskey are made of.Probably Spanish oak?" one employee ventures a guess. The age of the barrels is also a question mark. No one working here is old enough to vouch for that; the distillery believes they are anywhere from 100 to 125 years old, which is old in the grand scheme of barrels' lifespans, but not unusual. But it can say with certainty, using records of its vintages, that these barrels are on their fifth use - at least. Continue reading...

Karenia mikimotoi algae can suffocate fish, cause haemorrhaging and act as a neurotoxin, one expert says

Long-term reform is not going to be easy, but we have wasted 15 years and everyone has lost, especially the natural world

Cobalt Holdings aims to buy up supply of the metal from Glencore as slowing EV growth has pushed down pricesA cobalt trading company has said it will raise 174m in rare a stock market float in London, in a bet on demand for car batteries that defies investor nerves around the growth in electric cars.Cobalt Holdings said it will raise $230m (174m) in order to buy up a supply of the metal, a crucial element in electric car batteries, from the FTSE 100 mining company Glencore. The miner will invest $24m, taking a stake of about 10%, according to a statement to the London Stock Exchange on Monday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Campaigners call for energy profits levy to be made permanent to enable just transition' from fossil fuelsMaking permanent the UK's windfall tax on oil and gas producers would generate enough cash to enable North Sea workers to move to green jobs, research has found.Cutting current subsidies to fossil fuel producers would free up yet more funds to spend on the shift to a low-carbon economy, according to the report. Continue reading...

Wild Justice says bill would reduce environmental protections and calls on Angela Rayner to correct statement saying it will notA legal campaign group is planning a judicial review against the UK government's new planning bill, arguing it will result in a weakening of environmental protections which were fought for and created over decades.Wild Justice is calling on the housing minister, Angela Rayner, to correct a parliamentary statement in which she told MPs the bill, which applies mainly to England and Wales, would not reduce the level of protection. Her words were echoed in a letter to the Guardian from the nature minister, Mary Creagh, who stated it did not repeal habitat or species protections or give a licence to do harm. Continue reading...