Exclusive: David Hinton, who faces calls to resign, will receive payout regardless of performance if he stays until July 2030 South East Water could lose operating licence after outages

In today's newsletter: Numerous studies have found evidence of microplastics in the human body and warned of the risks to our health. But in the race to research this new field scientists may have drastically overstated the dangersGood morning. Microplastics are everywhere. They have been found at the top of Mount Everest and in the deepest ocean trenches. They are in our food, our water and the air we breathe.For a while, research suggested they were inside us too. Studies reported microplastics in our cells, brains, placentas and testicles.Iran | Donald Trump has said he has been assured the killing of protesters in Iran has been halted, adding that he would watch it and see" about threatened US military action, as tensions appeared to ease on Wednesday night.Greenland | Donald Trump reiterated on Wednesday that the US needs Greenland and that Denmark cannot be relied upon to protect the island, even as he said that something will work out" with respect to the future governance of the Danish overseas territory.UK news | Three Palestine Action-affiliated prisoners have announced the end of their hunger strike after the government decided not to award a 2bn contract to the Israeli arms company subsidiary Elbit Systems UK - with another four who had paused their protest choosing not to continue.Digital ID | The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has insisted that she is pretty relaxed" about what form of digital ID people use to prove their right to work in the UK, amid criticism of the government's latest U-turn.Ukraine | Anti-corruption investigators have accused the former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko of plotting to bribe MPs, including some from Volodymyr Zelenskyy's party, in a bid to undermine him. Continue reading...

In countries such as South Sudan, the great herds have all but disappeared. But further south, conservation success mean increasing human-wildlife conflictIt is late on a January afternoon in the middle of South Sudan's dry season, and the landscape, pricked with stubby acacias, is hazy with smoke from people burning the grasslands to encourage new growth. Even from the perspective of a single-engine ultralight aircraft, we are warned it will be hard to spot the last elephant in Badingilo national park, a protected area covering nearly 9,000 sq km (3,475 sq miles).Technology helps - the 20-year-old bull elephant wears a GPS collar that pings coordinates every hour. The animal's behaviour patterns also help; Badingilo's last elephant is so lonely that it moves with a herd of giraffes. Continue reading...

Pressure mounting for use of glyphosate, listed by WHO since 2015 as probable carcinogen, to be heavily restrictedChildren are potentially being exposed to the controversial weedkiller glyphosate at playgrounds across the UK, campaigners have said after testing playgrounds in London and the home counties.The World Health Organization has listed glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen since 2015. However, campaigners say local authorities in the UK are still using thousands of litres of glyphosate-based herbicides in public green spaces. Continue reading...

There was a time when nobody picked up after their dogs - and it would have been considered disgusting to do so. What caused the change in attitude?A PE teacher from Cardiff called Tony is frozen solid after being caught in an avalanche in 1979. There he remains until global heating sees to his thawing and he pops up in the present day, exactly as he was back then. Comedy ensues. This is make-believe, by the way; it's the premise of Mike Bubbins' BBC series Mammoth. In the masterful opening scenes, to the sound of Gerry Rafferty's Get It Right Next Time, we see Tony being scornful, angry, frightened and disgusted by four things that didn't happen before his big freeze.He scoffs at a bloke carrying a baby in a sling, gives a charity chugger very short shrift, and jumps out of his skin when a youth on a hoverboard zips past him. But it was Tony's disgust at a woman picking up her German shepherd's poo that got me thinking. When did picking up dog poo become the thing to do? Or, put another way, when did just leaving it there become the thing not to do? When did we start becoming disgusted at those who didn't pick it up rather than those who did? This is a pretty seismic cultural shift, I'm sure you'll agree. Continue reading...

Agency to focus rules for fine particulate matter and ozone only on cost to industry, aligning with Trump approachThe Environmental Protection Agency says it will stop calculating how much money is saved in healthcare costs avoided and deaths prevented from air pollution rules that curb two deadly pollutants.The change means the EPA will focus rules for fine particulate matter and ozone only on the cost to industry, part of a broader realignment under Donald Trump toward a business-friendly approach that has included the rollback of multiple policies meant to safeguard human health and the environment and slow climate change. Continue reading...

Fine of 10% of annual turnover among other potential penalties as environment secretary calls for Ofwat reviewSouth East Water could lose its operating licence after residents across Kent and Sussex faced up to a week without water.The environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, has called for the regulator to review the company's operating licence. If it were to lose it, the company would fall into a special administration regime until a new buyer was found. Continue reading...

Government hails step towards clean power in Great Britain by 2030 - but the auction shows trade-offs are now needed

Data leads scientists to declare 2015 Paris agreement to keep global heating below 1.5C dead in the water'Last year was the third hottest on record, scientists have said, with mounting fossil fuel pollution behind exceptional" temperatures.The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said 2025 had continued a three-year streak of extraordinary global temperatures" during which surface air temperatures averaged 1.48C above preindustrial levels. Continue reading...

St Michael's Mount launches major operation to clear up devastation caused by 112mph windsThe tidal island of St Michael's Mount in the far south-west of Britain is usually a place of peace and quiet.But it has become a hive of noisy activity as gardeners equipped with chainsaws and wood chippers get to grips with the devastating damage caused by Storm Goretti. Continue reading...

Bob Debus says operations at Glenbog state forest on south coast show native forest logging is untenable

Subsidies awarded to eight new projects help keep UK on track to decarbonise by 2030

The only way that Britain's energy bills can come down is if we are no longer reliant on fossil fuels. Today marks a big step towards that goal

Study from research firm finds that US greenhouse gas emissions grew faster than economic activity last yearIn a reversal from previous years' pollution reductions, the United States spewed 2.4% more heat-trapping gases from the burning of fossil fuels in 2025 than in the year before, researchers calculated in a study released on Tuesday.The increase in greenhouse gas emissions is attributable to a combination of a cool winter, the explosive growth of datacenters and cryptocurrency mining, and higher natural gas prices, according to the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm. Environmental policy rollbacks by Donald Trump's administration were not significant factors in the increase because they were only put in place this year, the study authors said. Heat-trapping gases from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas are the major cause of worsening global warming, scientists say. Continue reading...

ACF analysis finds amount of habitat approved by Albanese government for land-clearing hit a 15-year high last year

If enacted, Utah and Oklahoma measures would restrict litigation against oil companies over role in climate crisisUS lawmakers in two red states are attempting to shield the fossil fuel industry from climate liability.In Oklahoma, a newly introduced bill would bar most civil lawsuits against oil companies over their role in the climate crisis, unless plaintiffs allege violations of specific environmental or labor laws. A similar proposal in Utah would block lawsuits over climate-warming emissions, unless a court finds the defendant violated a statute or permit. Continue reading...

Eastern region on high alert as authorities try to track animal tearing through villages in Jharkhand after apparently becoming separated from herdForest officials in India are on the hunt for an elephant that has killed more than 20 people in a days-long rampage through the eastern state of Jharkhand.Since the beginning of January, 22 people have been killed by a single-tusked elephant that has been tearing through forests and villages in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. Continue reading...

After a four-year wait, the abundant fruiting of the rimu tree could inspire the world's heaviest parrots to boost their populationIt has been four long years, but the world's heaviest parrots, the kkp, are finally about to get it on again. The mass fruiting of a native New Zealand tree has triggered breeding season - a rare event conservationists hope will lead to a record number of chicks for the critically endangered bird.Kkp, the world's only nocturnal and flightless parrot, were once abundant across New Zealand. But their population plummeted after the introduction of predators such as cats and stoats, and by the 1900s they were nearly extinct. Continue reading...

Conditions ease, with no emergency warnings in place for first time since Thursday, but communities urged to remain alert

Joyce says the pair were saving taxpayers' money and I've got no problems with that at all'

Historic' moment in biggest coal-consuming countries could bring decline in global emissions, analysis saysCoal power generation fell in China and India for the first time since the 1970s last year, in a historic" moment that could bring a decline in global emissions, according to analysis.The simultaneous fall in coal-powered electricity in the world's biggest coal-consuming countries had not happened since 1973, according to analysts at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, and was driven by a record roll-out of clean energy projects. Continue reading...

Seven out of 10 targets have little likelihood of being met by 2030, Office for Environmental Protection saysThe government will not meet its targets to save wildlife in England and Northern Ireland and is failing on almost all environmental measures, the Office for Environmental Protection watchdog has said.In a damning report, the OEP has found that seven of the 10 targets set in the Environment Act 2021 have little likelihood of being met by 2030, which is the deadline set in law. Continue reading...

Orsted and other wind developers have faced repeated disruptions to multibillion-dollar projects under TrumpA federal judge on Monday cleared the Danish offshore wind developer Orsted to resume work on its nearly finished Revolution Wind project, which Donald Trump's administration halted along with four other projects last month.The ruling by US district judge Royce Lamberth is a legal setback for Trump, who has sought to block expansion of offshore wind in federal waters. Continue reading...

Exclusive: ClimatePartner analysis shows how move would risk plunging Earth further into climate catastropheUS plans to exploit Venezuela's oil reserves could by 2050 consume more than a tenth of the world's remaining carbon budget to limit global heating to 1.5C, according to an exclusive analysis.The calculation highlights how any moves to further exploit the South American nation's oil reserves - the largest in the world, at least on paper - would put increasing pressure on climate goals, and risk plunging the Earth further into climate catastrophe. Continue reading...

South East Water blames cold weather and Storm Goretti for problems, with schools and libraries closed for dayA major incident has been declared after 30,000 homes in Kent and Sussex were left without water.People in areas including Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and Maidstone have been without water for as long as five days. Continue reading...

President's memo stating US shall withdraw' from UNFCCC marks first time any country has tried to exit the agreementThe Trump administration's long-anticipated decision this week to pull the US from the world's most important climate treaty may have been illegal, some experts say.In my legal opinion, he does not have the authority," Harold Hongju Koh, former head lawyer for the US state department, told the Guardian. Continue reading...

Foreign Office and MoD among only four departments with declining morale in annual Whitehall monitor reportCivil service morale rose slightly after Labour took power in 2024, with the biggest jumps in satisfaction in the energy and health departments, an annual Whitehall monitor report will show.The survey from the Institute for Government (IfG) thinktank, due to be published this week, found that morale rose from 60.7 to 61.2% on the civil service employee engagement index. Continue reading...

Volunteers found thousands of dead bats at Melbourne's Brimbank park, wildlife expert says

Charity plans to make stately homes more welcoming by inviting visitors to use furniture and reading roomsThere was a time, not so long ago, when a visit to a National Trust stately home could be a staid affair and sitting on the furniture tended to be discouraged, with pine cones or teasels often placed on chairs to remind people not to perch.This year, one of the aims of the conservation charity will be to make people feel more at ease in its grand houses and, where practical, allow them to sit on historic chairs and use libraries and reading rooms rather than simply peer into them. Continue reading...

Flood warnings in place as BoM forecasts more rain while thousands remain without power

Almost a dozen emergency warnings remain in place across Victoria, with state premier saying we are not through the worst of this by a long way'

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Exclusive: Chris Bowen says key to next UN climate summit will be engagement, engagement, engagement' with countries such as Saudi Arabia

Richest 1% took 10 days while wealthiest 0.1% needed just three days to exhaust annual carbon budget, study showsThe world's richest 1% have used up their fair share of carbon emissions just 10 days into 2026, analysis has found.Meanwhile, the richest 0.1% took just three days to exhaust their annual carbon budget, according to the research by Oxfam. Continue reading...

Some wet years and recent winter storms have helped bring the state out of drought after years of insufficient rainfallCalifornia is completely drought-free for the first time in a quarter of a century, a significant development in a state that endured grueling years with insufficient rainfall.Over the last 25 years, drought conditions in California have intensified the state's wildfire crisis and created challenges in its massive agricultural sector. But a few wet years, and a recent spate of winter storms, helped bring the state out of drought. Continue reading...

Catherine says she feels deeply grateful in final instalment of Mother Nature series a year on from cancer treatmentThe power of nature has been a huge theme for the Princess of Wales in the year since her announcement that she was in remission from cancer.Now, on her 44th birthday, she has embraced it again, reflecting in a short video on how deeply grateful she is, how important it is to be at one with nature and its power to heal. Continue reading...

Plant Heritage says gardening trends mean many species in danger of disappearing as they are no longer offered for saleMore than half of garden plants previously grown in the UK are no longer offered for sale as flower fashions and modern gardening trends have reduced the diversity of blooms.Plant Heritage is asking the public to choose unusual plants for their gardens, and maybe even start their own national collections of rare blooms, in order to stop some cultivated plants from dying out. Continue reading...

We've already geoengineered the planet through the careless release of greenhouse gases. Now we need a plan to manage the risks we've set in motionA few months ago, Marjorie Taylor Greene, then a Georgia representative, held a hearing on her bill to ban research on geoengineering", which refers to technological climate interventions, such as using reflective particles to reflect away sunlight. The hearing represented something of a first - a Republican raising alarm bells about human activity altering the health of the planet. Of course, for centuries, people have burned fossil fuels to power and feed society, emitting greenhouse gases that now overheat the planet.Unfortunately, her hearing waved past an urgent debate that policymakers are confronting around the world: after centuries of accidental fossil-fuel geoengineering, should we deliberately explore interventions to cool the planet and give the energy transition breathing room?Craig Segall is the former deputy executive officer and assistant chief counsel of the California Air Resources Board. He is also former senior vice-president of Evergreen Action and a longtime climate advocate. He has academic seats at the University of Edinburgh, New York University, and the University of California at Berkeley The opinions in this piece are his own.Baroness Bryony Worthington was created a life peer in 2011, giving her a seat in the UK's House of Lords where she served as shadow energy minister She has over 25 years of experience working on climate, energy and environmental policy in the NGO and public sectors, and in the private sector. Continue reading...

Heatwave warnings in place for nearly all states and territories as Sydney braces for 43C forecast on Saturday

Oceans absorb 90% of global heating, making them a stark indicator of the relentless march of the climate crisisThe world's oceans absorbed colossal amounts of heat in 2025, setting yet another new record and fuelling more extreme weather, scientists have reported.More than 90% of the heat trapped by humanity's carbon pollution is taken up by the oceans. This makes ocean heat one of the starkest indicators of the relentless march of the climate crisis, which will only end when emissions fall to zero. Almost every year since the start of the millennium has set a new ocean heat record. Continue reading...

This week's best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Forecasts suggest that global heating could create a shortcut from Asia to North America, and new routes for trading, shipping - and attackAnother week, another freak weather phenomenon you've probably never heard of. If it's not the weather bomb" of extreme wind and snow that Britain is hunkering down for as I write, it's reports in the Guardian of reindeer in the Arctic struggling with the opposite problem: unnaturally warm weather leading to more rain that freezes to create a type of snow that they can't easily dig through with their hooves to reach food. In a habitat as harsh as the Arctic, where survival relies on fine adaptation, even small shifts in weather patterns have endlessly rippling consequences - and not just for reindeer.For decades now, politicians have been warning of the coming climate wars - conflicts triggered by drought, flood, fire and storms forcing people on to the move, or pushing them into competition with neighbours for dwindling natural resources. For anyone who vaguely imagined this happening far from temperate Europe's doorstep, in drought-stricken deserts or on Pacific islands sinking slowly into the sea, this week's seemingly unhinged White House talk about taking ownership of Greenland is a blunt wake-up call. As Britain's first sea lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, has been telling anyone prepared to listen, the unfreezing of the north due to the climate crisis has triggered a ferocious contest in the defrosting Arctic for some time over resources, territory and strategically critical access to the Atlantic. To understand how that threatens northern Europe, look down at the top of a globe rather than at a map.Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

During black summer, my daughters were too young to know what was happening. Now, amid another Australian heatwave, they deserve answersWhen the forecasts for this week started to roll in, my mind immediately drifted back to Australia's black summer.I had taken my daughters down to the pool in our estate in western Sydney, hoping for a brief reprieve from the relentless heat. The Gospers Mountain fire was raging in the Blue Mountains, but on that particular day the smoke didn't seem too bad. Continue reading...

At the Oxford farming conference there were signs the government has much to do to win back farmers' trustFew symbols were more potent than the wooden coffin bearing the inscription RIP British agriculture, 30th October 2024" that greeted Labour's environment minister at the annual Oxford farming conference.It marked the date of Rachel Reeves's first budget, when she announced plans to levy inheritance tax on farms. For the chancellor's cabinet colleague Emma Reynolds, it underlined the anger among Britain's farmers. Continue reading...

Citizen scientists help in University of Bonn study showing river carries up to 4,700 tonnes of macrolitter' annuallyThousands of tonnes of litter are pouring into the North Sea via the Rhine every year, poisoning the waters with heavy metals, microplastics and other chemicals, research has found.This litter can be detrimental to the environment and human health: tyres, for example, contain zinc and other heavy metals that can be toxic to ecosystems in high concentrations. Continue reading...

Experts decry move to leave UNFCCC as embarrassing' as president orders withdrawal from 66 international groupsDonald Trump has sparked outrage by announcing the US will exit the foundational international agreement to address the climate crisis, cementing the US's utter isolation from the global effort to confront dangerously escalating temperatures.In a presidential memorandum issued on Wednesday, Trump withdrew from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), along with 65 other organizations, agencies and commissions, calling them contrary to the interests of the United States". Continue reading...

Advocates suing to reverse administration's surcharge system that has led to passport checks and angry visitorsA new $100 fee for foreign tourists entering US national parks has triggered chaos and frustrating waits, with staff reporting long entry lines as citizenship checks are made and irate visitors regularly ditching plans to patronize some of America's most cherished landscapes.The new fee system, introduced by the Trump administration from 1 January, has caught many visitors and National Park Service (NPS) staff off-guard, with checks now having to be undertaken to assess nationality and tourists often turning away from entrances rather than pay the surcharge. The Guardian heard accounts of problems from several NPS staff, speaking anonymously, who work at different parks across the country. Continue reading...

The Venezuelan oil industry is a total bust' according to Donald Trump, something he has promised to fix' after attacking Caracas and seizing the country's leader. But with analysts estimating it could take up to 14 years and billions to fix, what is in it for the US president? Jillian Ambrose, the Guardian's energy correspondent, explains why Venezuela's dense, sticky oil is so valuable to Trump Continue reading...

Satat Sampada founders Harjeet Singh and Jyoti Awasthi say allegations are baseless, biased and misleading'Police have raided the home of one of India's leading environmental activists over claims his campaigning for a treaty to cut the use of fossil fuels was undermining the national interest.Investigators from India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) claim Harjeet Singh and his wife, Jyoti Awasthi, co-founders of Satat Sampada (Nature Forever), were paid almost 500,000 to advocate for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty (FFNPT). Continue reading...

The practice is much more widespread' than previously realised, researchers say, with serious environmental impactThe household burning of plastic for heating and cooking is widespread in developing countries, suggests a global study that raises concerns about its health and environmental impacts.The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, surveyed more than 1,000 respondents across 26 countries. Continue reading...