Environment | The Guardian

Government and water companies are devising emergency plans for worst water shortage in decadesWater companies and the government are drawing up emergency plans for a drought next year more extreme than we have seen in decades.Executives at one major water company told the Guardian they were extremely concerned about the prospect of a winter with lower than average rainfall, which the Met Office's long-term forecast says is likely. They said if this happened, the water shortfall would mean taking drastic water use curtailment measures going beyond hosepipe bans". Continue reading...

Experts say the proposed legislation is full of problems, including excessive ministerial discretion and relaxing like-for-like offset rules

The increasing ferocity and frequency of tropical storms imposes an unbearable burden on countries including JamaicaThe geographically uneven risks from increasingly extreme and dangerous weather grow ever starker. As Jamaica and other Caribbean countries clear up after Hurricane Melissa, and Typhoon Kalmaegi heads west after killing nearly 200 people in the Philippines and Vietnam, the case for more international support to countries facing the most destructive impacts from global heating has never been stronger.Last week's five-day rainfall in Jamaica was made twice as likely by higher temperatures, according to initial findings from climate attribution studies. The current death toll across the Caribbean is at least 75. The economic and social costs are hard to quantify in a region that is still recovering from 2024's Hurricane Beryl. Crucial infrastructure has been destroyed before the loans used to build it have even been paid off. Andrew Holness, Jamaica's prime minister, estimates that the damage there is roughly equivalent to one-third of the country's gross domestic product.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Environment secretary says global tipping points are possible as he rejects far-right climate defeatism'Tackling the climate emergency is one of the key issues that could turn the tide against hard-right populists across the world, the UK's energy secretary has said.Speaking on the eve of the UN's climate summit, Ed Miliband said it was the cause progressives could rally around, because most people recognise populist parties have got it wrong. Continue reading...

Damage from Typhoon Halong underscored the vulnerability of villages in western Alaska to climate crisisDarrel John watched the final evacuees depart his village on the western coast of Alaska in helicopters and small planes and walked home, avoiding the debris piled on the boardwalks over the swampy land.He is one of seven residents who chose to remain in Kwigillingok after the remnants of Typhoon Halong devastated the village last month, uprooting homes and floating many of them miles away, some with residents inside. One person was killed and two remain missing. Continue reading...

Sprinklers could save 500-year-old tree that had branches cut off without authorisation in April, says expertThe restaurant chain Toby Carvery is being urged to pay for life support for an ancient oak tree that its owner had chainsawed last spring to widespread public dismay.Experts say the trunk of the 500-year-old tree, on the edge of a Toby Carvery car park in Whitewebbs Park, Enfield, has shown signs of regrowth, despite its branches being sawn off by the restaurant's contractors in April. Continue reading...

As the Coalition tears itself to shreds, the Albanese government must keep progressing its net zero policies

It may be a midlife crisis, says the man behind seven-metre installations of the Earth, moon and Sun who has planted 365 trees in a 100-year project in SomersetLuke Jerram, whose art installations have travelled the world, is philosophical about his latest project bearing fruit beyond his time on Earth.Known for his Play Me I'm Yours street pianos project and his Museum of the Moon artwork - a seven-metre diameter sculpture of the moon featuring detailed Nasa imagery of the lunar surface - Jerram is now working on Echo Wood, a living, breathing installation made of native British trees. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Research shows oil, gas and coal firms' unprecedented access to Cop26-29, blocking urgent climate actionMore than 5,000 fossil fuel lobbyists were given access to the UN climate summits over the past four years, a period marked by a rise in catastrophic extreme weather, inadequate climate action and record oil and gas expansion, new research reveals.Lobbyists representing the interests of the oil, gas and coal industries - which are mostly responsible for climate breakdown - have been allowed to participate in the annual climate negotiations where states are meant to come in good faith and commit to ambitious policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

Dozens of US state and local leaders will be at talks in Brazil with president's team expected to send no representativesThe Trump administration appears to be sitting out this month's United Nations climate talks known as Cop30, telling the Guardian it will not deploy any high-level representatives to the negotiations.But dozens of US subnational leaders attend to promote their climate efforts. Continue reading...

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

From night walks with children to switching off streetlights and rewilding areas, naturalists are working to save Europe's dwindling populationsAn hour or so after sunset, green twinkles of possibility gleam beneath the hedgerows of Westbury-sub-Mendip in Somerset. Under an orange August moon, the last female glow-worms of the season are making one final push at finding a mate.For almost 20 years, Peter Bright and other volunteers have combed the village's shrubberies and grasslands, searching for the bioluminescent beetles as part of the UK glow-worm survey. Most years, they have counted between 100 and 150, rising to 248 in 2017.Ben Cooke, a National Trust ranger, places a glow-worm trap near Winspit Quarry in Dorset. Photograph: P Flude/Guardian Continue reading...

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres urges opening session in Brazil to bring about a paradigm shift'

The issue of how motoring taxes should change as we decarbonise the economy has been dodged for too long. Car salesmen need to get realIf you want a document to give you sleepless nights, the Office for Budget Responsibility's biennial Fiscal Risks and Sustainability report is a go-to publication. This is the one that looks to the horizon and covers everything from demographic trends to state pension promises to the climate crisis.The headline finding in this July's version was a true jaw-dropper. The UK's public finances are on an unsustainable long-term trajectory because government debt would rise to a remarkable 270% of GDP by the early 2070s - up from almost 100% today - if current policies were left unchanged. Continue reading...

Delegates from global giants and smaller nations expected to clash at Brazilian summit over how to tackle the climate crisis and who should payThe UN's Cop30 climate conference is under way, with negotiators, diplomats and leaders from around the world in Belem, Brazil, to discuss how to handle the climate crisis.Who are the big players, and what do they want? Continue reading...

Experts say 2023, 2024 and 2025 the three hottest years in 176 years of records, with 1.5C Paris agreement target now virtually impossible'

ASA action won approval of clean air campaigners, who said some seriously misleading myths' had been debunkedAdverts claiming that wood-burning stoves are very low emissions" have been banned by the Advertising Standards Agency for being misleading and not substantiated.The claims were made on the website of the Stove Industry Association, which represents the makers and sellers of stoves in the UK. Campaigners against air pollution said they were glad the ASA had debunked some seriously misleading myths". Continue reading...

Report says proven technology could benefit thousands in poor quality housing and help UK meet carbon reduction targetsFlooded disused coalmines could be a significant source of energy and provide cheap heat to thousands of homes, a new report argues.Mine water geothermal heat (MWGH) systems use the water in flooded coalmines, which is warmed by natural processes, to supply low-carbon heat. Heat exchangers and pumps recover the heat, which is distributed via district heating networks to homes and buildings, providing low-cost, long-term, stable energy. Continue reading...

Winds of Melissa's strength are now five times more frequent due to the climate crisis, research saysEvery aspect of Hurricane Melissa, the most powerful storm ever to hit Jamaica, was worsened by the climate crisis, a team of scientists has found.Melissa caused widespread devastation when it crunched into Jamaica as a category five hurricane on October 28, with winds up up to 185mph. Continue reading...

Lawyers challenge 4bn Project One development, saying emissions and health impacts vastly underestimatedThe deaths from pollution caused by Europe's biggest plastic plant, which is being built in Antwerp, will outstrip the number of permanent jobs it will create, lawyers will argue in a court challenge issued on Thursday.In documents submitted to the court, research suggests the air pollution from Ineos's 4bn petrochemical plant would cause 410 deaths once operational, compared with the 300 permanent jobs the company says will be created. Continue reading...

After it was found most offsets did not represent real carbon reductions, the money dried up. But successful schemes such as Kasigau in Kenya now face a stark futureSolomon Morris Makau checks the fallen tree for snakes before he wraps a tape measure around the trunk. The early morning sun is overwhelming in the dryland forests of the Kasigau corridor, which separates the east and west Tsavo national parks in southern Kenya. Two guards keep watch for elephants and lions. There is little sign of green among the sprawling acacias, which stand silently in their punishing wait for the end of the dry season. Despite the threat from puff adders, Makau and his team have a job to do: measure the trees and shrubs in this 50 sq metre area to calculate their growth and change in carbon stock.This one is lying dead," says Makau, of one of the trees pushed over by elephants - but tens of thousands around it are still alive, stretching out in the distance as far as the eye can see.Solomon Morris Makau, right, leads a team of environmental technicians in gathering bio data from natural vegetation Continue reading...

This is our message to world leaders: make this the Cop of truth', before people lose faith

This stunning timelapse shows the 'biggest' supermoon of 2025 lighting up the sky over Sydney on Wednesday evening, shining brightly as it rose above Bondi beach. The moon is considered a supermoon when it is closer to the Earth than usual, making it look much larger. The drama is partly due to something called the moon illusion, which makes the moon appear larger when it is close to the horizon and we have other objects to gauge it against

President names Steve Pearce to lead agency that manages a quarter-billion acres, about 10% of land in USDonald Trump nominated a former lawmaker from New Mexico on Wednesday to oversee the management of vast public lands that are playing a central role in Republican attempts to ramp up fossil fuel production.The nominee for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), former representative Steve Pearce of New Mexico, must be confirmed by the Senate. The agency manages a quarter-billion acres - about 10% of land in the US. It's also responsible for 700m acres of underground minerals, including major reserves of oil, natural gas and coal. Continue reading...

Report calls for scaling-up of renewable energy and electrification of key sectors to limit peak of global heatingThere is still a chance for the world to avoid the worst ravages of climate breakdown and return to the goal of 1.5C if governments take concerted action on greenhouse gas emissions, a new assessment argues.The Climate Analytics report says governments' goals are inadequate and need to be rapidly revised, and calls for the rapid scaling-up of the use of renewable energy and electrification of key sectors including transport, heating and industry. Continue reading...

PM defies critics calling for a slowdown as he flies to Brazil, where he may have frosty reception after opting out of tropical forest fund

Decision is bitter blow to Brazil ahead of fund's launch at Cop30 - and an embarrassment to Prince William

Local councils are giving the green light to large-scale pig and poultry farms with patchy or non-existent climate dataPlans for intensive livestock megafarms" are omitting crucial climate impacts, it can be revealed.Campaigners last year celebrated a beginning of the end" to polluting factory farming, after the landmark Finch supreme court ruling on a Surrey oil well confirmed that applications for major developments should consider all significant direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

Ron Dailey, who got lost on hunting trip in Sierra national forest, resolved to walk to safety after his food ran outA hunter who spent nearly three weeks lost in the snowy California wilderness says he managed to get rescued after discerning you either try to walk out or you're going to sit here and die".The remarkable story of survival centers on Ron Dailey, whom authorities say went missing in the Sierra national forest in Fresno county after taking a solo hunting trip there on 13 October. Continue reading...

Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and major supermarkets want to double amount of beans Britons eat

Lawyers call for clarity over law as six are found guilty while being stopped from using defence used by fellow activistsSix environmental protesters were convicted after they were denied the ability to put a reasonable excuse" defence or climate facts before the jury, despite these being afforded to other activists acquitted for taking part in the same demonstration.After an eight-day trial at Southwark crown court in London, the six Just Stop Oil (JSO) activists were found guilty of public nuisance, which carries a maximum 10-year sentence, for climbing gantries on the M25 in 2022 to demand an end to new fossil fuel projects. They will be sentenced next month. Continue reading...

Researchers behind report cited by some in the Coalition say their work is based on various assumptions - largely involving cost to overseas customers, not Australians

Communities in the middle of new national forest to show how housebuilding can be delivered alongside natureA new set of forest towns will be built in the area between Oxford and Cambridge, nestled in the middle of a new national forest.After facing anger from nature groups over the deregulation in the upcoming planning bill, ministers are trying to demonstrate that mass housebuilding can be delivered in conjunction with new nature. The government has promised to plant millions of trees to boost England's nature. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Chancellor hopes to save up to 170 from average bill but industry insiders say move would be disastrous'

Eisbach wave in the Bavarian city had been a surfing magnet for decades but disappeared after a recent cleanupThe mother of all river waves" in a German canal that is often credited as the birthplace of freshwater surfing has mysteriously disappeared after decades of flowing smoothly, leaving enthusiasts dumbfounded.The famous stationary wave in the southern city of Munich is known as the Eisbach, or ice brook", for its frigid temperatures, and has become a pilgrimage site for surfers worldwide. Continue reading...

Scientists are only beginning to grasp the scale of the issue and understand what impact the tree frogs may have on the islands' rare wildlifeOn the way to her office at the Charles Darwin research station, biologist Miriam San Jose crouches down near a shallow pond shrouded by vegetation and reaches deep into the foliage, pulling out a small green plastic box recorder.She left it there overnight to capture the infamous croaks of a Fowler's snouted treefrog (Scinax quinquefasciatus), known to Galapagos scientists as an invasive threat, with repercussions researchers are only beginning to grasp. Continue reading...

Only 14% of farmers surveyed for Farmdex report had 10% or more profit margin amid drop in subsidies since BrexitA third of British farmers are making a loss or breaking even as they struggle with the loss of subsidies and looming inheritance tax changes, a report on post-Brexit farming has found.Only 14% of farmers surveyed for McCain Foods' inaugural Farmdex report said they made 10% or more profit in the past year. In fact, many are making no profit at all, with 35% of the farmers reporting making a loss or breaking even. Continue reading...

From sharks to rays, from island cliffs to the tribes of Africa's Omo Valley, Cristina Mittermeier's show A Greater Wisdom celebrates the beauty of our planet - and highlights the biggest threats it faces Continue reading...

Emissions policy brawl has become major threat to Sussan Ley's leadership ahead of key meeting at end of November

River Action bringing legal action against water regulator over who should foot bill for firms' past failures to investOfwat is unlawfully allowing water companies to charge customers twice to fund more than 100bn of investment to reduce sewage pollution, campaigners will allege in court on Tuesday.Lawyers for River Action say the bill increases being allowed by Ofwat - which amount to an average of 123 a year per household - mean customers will be paying again for improvements to achieve environmental compliance that should have been funded from their previous bills. Continue reading...

Rescued bats taken to RSPCA wildlife hospital in Brisbane's south-west with injuries including faces that were smashed and broken wings'

Pressure mounts on federal government to rethink controversial national interest' exemption for projects

The climate crisis is causing the permafrost to melt in Alaska, forcing the village of Nunapitchuk to relocateChildren splash gleefully in the river as adults cast fishing lines or head into the Alaska tundra to hunt. It's a scene that has characterized summer days for centuries among the Yup'ik people who have long lived in south-western Alaska, where the village of Nunapitchuk stands. But, with temperatures in Alaska warming nearly four times faster than most parts of the globe, that way of life is about to change.Homes in Nunapitchuk have been sinking into the permafrost, and residents have decided their only choice is to move the entire village to higher ground. Continue reading...

New report on funding to slash carbon emissions finds startlingly low engagement with the people affectedLess than 3% of international aid to slash carbon emissions is supporting a just transition" for workers and communities away from polluting industries, according to a new report.Released one week before the start of major United Nations climate negotiations in Belem, Brazil, the analysis from the climate and development non-profit ActionAid warns that the world's response to the climate crisis risks deepening inequality rather than addressing it. Continue reading...

The Nationals argue the 2050 emissions target is already causing financial pain and the rest of the world is walking away from it. Neither of these things is true

Labor announces solar sharer' program for households in NSW, south-east Queensland and South Australia

Decision to abandon policy could trigger revolt from moderate Liberals who are open to breaking Coalition if net zero not kept in some form

Old Faithful, measuring more than 4 metres, rehomed to Sunshine Coast facility after removal from far north Queensland waterhole

Texas-based fossil fuel company financed Atlas Network in attempt to derail UN-led climate treaty processExxon funded rightwing thinktanks to spread climate change denial across Latin America, according to hundreds of previously unpublished documents that reveal a coordinated campaign to make the global south less inclined" to support the UN-led climate treaty process.The documents, which include copies of the actual cheques Exxon sent, consist of internal documents and years of correspondence between the Texas-based fossil fuel company and Atlas Network, a US-based coalition of more than 500 free-market thinktanks and other partners worldwide. Continue reading...

Researchers to investigate whether environmental factors may have affected female animal's pigmentationAn amateur photographer in southern Spain has captured unprecedented images of a white Iberian lynx, prompting researchers to investigate whether environmental factors could be at play as wildlife watchers revelled in the rare sighting.Angel Hidalgo published the images on social media, describing the singular animal as the white ghost of the Mediterranean forest". Continue reading...