Kemi Badenoch's plan to scrap the Climate Change Act is reckless. Ed Miliband offers a bolder, fairer vision. The future must be built on renewablesLet's scrap Britain's successful climate law so we can burn more gas, lose investment and have higher bills. Crazy as it might seem, that is the message of KemiBadenoch's new energy strategy. The Conservative leader proposes to repeal the 2008 Climate Change Act in favour of a plan to maximise oil and gas extraction", and remove all legally binding carbon targets. It's pitched as pragmatism. But it's a lurch into ideological self-harm.Britain's energy problem isn't its climate legislation, which is admired globally, backed by industry and supported by the public. It's that this country remains too dependent on volatile fossil fuels. Emissions targets are not the reason for high bills. It is gas prices, which skyrocketed after Russia invaded Ukraine. They set UK electricity prices. In Europe, they don't - that's why bills are lower there. Rather, Mrs Badenoch is choosing to follow DonaldTrump in rolling back climate goals and seeingelectricity prices in the US rise, not fall.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...

Tory leader also claims the party was close to bankruptcy when she took over last year

Latest disposal by punk' beer company follows 37m loss and closure of 10 pubsBrewDog has sold a Highlands rewilding estate it bought with great fanfare in 2020 after posting losses last year of 37m on its beer businesses.The company paid 8.8m for Kinrara near Aviemore and pledged it would plant millions of trees on 50 sq km of land, initially telling customers the project would be partly funded by sales of its Lost Forest beer. Continue reading...

Photographer Jem Cresswell spent five years documenting the southern hemisphere's humpback whales in the waters surrounding the Tonga Trench for his new book Giants, out now Continue reading...

Swinging wildly from confident to confused, and permanently dishevelled, this most relatable of cuckoos blunders through life as best it can

The battle inside No 10 about whether the PM should attend an absolutely crucial climate summit in Brazil is ludicrous. He must assert himself - and goNo sooner has Keir Starmer reshuffled his cabinet, pronounced on Reform's racist policies and made his party conference speech, than another key decision comes hurtling towards him. But this one concerns the future of the world. The issue is whether the prime minister attends the UN climate summit in Brazil next month.You may think this would not require too much thought. Two years ago, Starmer attacked Rishi Sunak for not going to a much less significant climate meeting and said that, were he prime minister, he would definitely attend.Michael Jacobs is professor of political economy at the University of Sheffield and a visiting senior fellow at the thinktank ODI Global Continue reading...

Barack Obama, Prince William and Tanzanian president among many to mark death of primatologist at age of 91World leaders, friends and former colleagues have been paying tribute to the primatologist Jane Goodall, who died in California on Wednesday, aged 91.Goodall devoted her life to studying chimpanzees and other great apes, and became a global champion for primates and for conservation, helping to challenge the idea that the primates were vegetarian and that only humans could use tools. She died in her sleep from natural causes while on a speaking tour in Los Angeles, according to her institute, leading to an outpouring of dedications from around the world. Continue reading...

Experts are finding new and more humane ways to protect the last 74 southern resident killer whalesNestled between the US state of Washington and Vancouver Island, the San Juan Islands are a vibrant haven for North American wildlife. Here, all of the world's remaining 74 southern resident sub-species of orcas find sanctuary, surfacing daily from the depths of the Salish Sea.Out at sea watching the whales is Dr Deborah Giles, an orca scientist, with her colleague, Eba. Eba is a brown and white rescue dog with a remarkable nose. Found as a cold, wet, five-month-old puppy on the streets of Sacramento, she has been detecting whale scat - or faeces - since the age of four. Continue reading...

The theme of this year's Women By Women exhibition, Rooted in Resistance, is to showcase images of women defending their land and communities from destruction - by powerful people and corporations or the climate crisis. The pictures, taken by female photographers from Nepal, Cambodia, Brazil and Nigeria, will be on show at the Oxo Gallery in London from 9 to 12 October Continue reading...

Tory leader says she would replace it with cheap energy' strategy, ending decades-long consensus on climateKemi Badenoch has vowed to repeal the Climate Change Act if the Conservatives win the next election, doing away with controls on greenhouse gas emissions and dismantling what has been the cornerstone of green and energy policy for successive governments.The Conservative party leader was already committed to scrapping the UK's net zero target but repeal of the Climate Change Act would go much further. It would remove the need to meet carbon budgets" - ceilings, set for five-year periods, on the amount of greenhouse gas that can be emitted - and disband the Climate Change Committee, the watchdog that advises on how policies affect the UK's carbon footprint. Continue reading...

Residents of Woodgate estate in West Sussex enjoy its open spaces and wildlife but conservationists say it has set worrying precedent

Greta Thunberg arrested and taken into custody after six of the flotilla's boats were boarded

Nominee companies - paid to be listed as shareholders on behalf of unnamed investors - could be reducing accountability over financial support of industry

Pontiff laments that some ridicule those who speak of global warming', days after Trump's claims of con job'Pope Leo XIV has taken aim at people who ridicule those who speak of global warming" as he embraced Pope Francis's environmental legacy and made it his own in some of his strongest and most extensive comments on the subject to date.Leo presided over the 10th-anniversary celebration of Francis's landmark ecological encyclical, Laudato Si (Praised Be), at a global gathering south of Rome. The encyclical cast care for the planet as an urgent and existential moral concern and launched a global grassroots movement to advocate for caring for God's creation and the peoples most harmed by its exploitation. Continue reading...

Hours before the shutdown, NPS staff began preparations to close down some parts of popular US public landsOn Tuesday evening, in the final hours before the US government shutdown, the National Park Service (NPS) began preparations to close down parts of popular public lands across the country - while trails and other open-access areas remain open.The guidance for park leaders in advance of the federal shutdown had been uncertain as the impasse loomed, raising fears that the parks could be forced to stay open without anyone to staff them. Continue reading...

Lucy Powell and Bridget Phillipson put their cases to party members at Labour's conference on WednesdayAt the Labour conference Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has just started his speech.Responding to the news that he will announce a total ban on fracking (see 9.19am), Asad Rehman, chief executive of Friends of the Earth, said:

Our wildlife series Young Country Diary is looking for articles written by children, about their autumn encounters with natureOnce again, the Young Country Diary series is open for submissions! Every three months, as the UK enters a new season, we ask you to send us an article written by a child aged 8-14.The article needs to be about a recent encounter they've had with nature - whether it's a bug under some leaves, a rutting stag or a garden bird. Continue reading...

The 30ft-high wall between the US and Mexico will cut through one of the last unbroken grasslands in the west, leaving residents alarmed over the potential impact on wildlife and water useOn a late summer day in September, the sound of cicadas pierced the profound silence in the sprawling grasslands and gently rolling hills of the San Rafael Valley in southern Arizona. But before long, the shrill buzzing gave way to the rumble of heavy machinery sculpting an unpaved road leading to the US-Mexico border.In the distance, a deer darted across the road and disappeared into a thicket of oak trees. A few miles later, a fenced-in worker camp came into view, next to a construction site full of trucks, bulldozers and cranes. Continue reading...

An alum of Noma in Copenhagen, Dan Giusti is on a mission to transform institutional cooking - but getting fellow chefs to buy in hasn't been easyAt the Dream Mott Haven charter school this summer, more than a hundred food-service professionals lined up in the cafeteria to enjoy a school lunch prepared by the culinary team from Brigaid.Some attendees giggled like schoolchildren as they carried fire-engine-red trays filled with plates of scratch-made pernil, fried plantains and arroz con gandules through the lunchroom, taking seats at the long cafeteria tables and commiserating with strangers like the first day of school. A kale caesar side salad and diced fresh watermelon ensured that the meal met US Department of Agriculture nutrition guidelines; according to a panel discussion before lunch, it also met strict budgetary guidelines - with ingredients totaling a mere $2.71 per meal. Continue reading...

Investigation shows extent of green land lost across UK and mainland Europe to development from 2018 to 2023

Crisafulli government wants coal plants to run longer - reversing previous Queensland Labor government's plans to end reliance on coal power by 2035

Brown bear's nearly 100,000 votes leads him to victory despite suffering for most of season with broken jawThe merely chubby have been winnowed away," a naturalist intoned. We are left with a clash of titans."After a record-breaking week of public voting, Katmai national park and preserve in Alaska has announced the winner of its biggest Fat Bear Week yet". Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese pledges to continue talks with rival, as sources say previous climate summits have been co-hosted

The National Climate Risk Assessment is attacked in the Daily Telegraph, while wind turbines became a frightening obstacle for firefighting planes and solar panels a source of mountains of landfill waste

Ukrainian president says Russian shelling is preventing work to restore links to grid and that one of the plant's diesel generators has failed

Species' population has almost halved in a generation and urgent action is needed to protect it, analysis findsThey are an iconic part of Britain's natural world, inspiring myths, fairytales and at least one of its most-loved children's book characters. But the number of toads hopping through British grasslands, forests and gardens has almost halved in a generation.Vast numbers of toads are being lost every year," said Silviu Petrovan, a senior researcher at the University of Cambridge, who was lead author on the study showing just how uncommon the common toad is becoming. Continue reading...

Despite a deep conviction planet Earth is heading in the wrong direction, voters are trusting Labor to navigate the wormholes

Efficiency employees reportedly told to avoid climate change' and similar terms in their work in latest clampdownThe US Department of Energy has told employees in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) to avoid using the words climate change" in what seems to be the latest incident in a crackdown on discussing the climate crisis in the US government.Please ensure that every member of your team is aware that this is the latest list of words to avoid - and continue to be conscientious about avoiding any terminology that you know to be misaligned with the Administration's perspectives and priorities," says an email from an agency acting director seen by the Guardian. Continue reading...

Investors in talks about supporting up to 15 government-backed nature restoration projects in ScotlandPrivate investors are in talks about spending tens of millions of pounds on government-backed nature restoration projects in Scotland, the country's conservation agency has said.NatureScot said its so-called nature investment partnerships were on course to raise more than 100m for up to 15 projects, as it sought to fend off detailed criticisms of its fundraising efforts by an economics thinktank. Continue reading...

An image of a magnificent frigatebird silhouetted against a total solar eclipse by Canadian photographer Liron Gertsman was chosen from more than 25,000 images as the grand prize-winner in 2025's largest bird photography competition. Young bird photographer of the year was awarded to Tomasz Michalski Continue reading...

Poll finds One Nation's primary vote has doubled to 13% since the May federal election

In the name of pragmatism', green measures are being ditched, net zero derided. Be very clear: without slashing emissions we are in deep, deep troubleThe hope that followed the signing of the Paris climate agreement in 2016 has long gone as the global community has failed utterly to rein in emissions, which - barring a small pandemic-induced blip in 2020 - have headed remorselessly upwards ever since. And there is little sign of this changing anytime soon. Indeed, as global heating has accelerated over the past few years, instead of trying harder, the world is turning its back on measures to tackle the climate crisis.In the UK, Labour is considering the approval of two major new oilfields in the North Sea - Rosebank and Jackdaw - with both Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves reported to be backing the proposals, which would lock in reliance on fossil fuels at the expense of renewables. Alongside this, instead of the government introducing measures to reduce aviation emissions, such as a frequent-flyer levy and the taxing of aviation fuels, a Heathrow expansion has been greenlit and, just last week, a second runway at Gatwick. Continue reading...

Gas derived from farm waste can meet only 18% of current gas demand by 2050, despite claims of fossil fuel lobbyists, study findsGas derived from farm waste will never be an alternative to the widespread adoption of heat pumps, research shows, despite the claims of fossil fuel lobbyists.Biomethane, which comes mainly from digesting" manure, sewage and other organic waste, has been touted as a low-carbon substitute for fossil fuel gas, for use in home heating. Proponents say it would be less disruptive than ripping out the UK's current gas infrastructure and installing heat pumps. Continue reading...

The billionaire's last three cases are part of a growing global list from fossil fuel companies against government decisions to reduce carbon emissions

Capitals from London to Tokyo need urgent action to protect people from deadly high temperatures, analysts sayThe world's biggest capital cities are now sweltering under 25% more extremely hot days each year than in the 1990s, an analysis has found. Without urgent action to protect millions of people from high temperatures, more and more will suffer in the dangerous conditions, analysts said.From Washington DC and Madrid to Tokyo and Beijing, the analysis shows a marked rise in hot days as the climate crisis intensifies. Overall, the assessment by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), found the number of days above 35C in 43 of the world's most populous capital cities rose from an average of 1,062 a year from 1994-2003 to 1,335 from 2015-2024. Continue reading...

White House allocating 13.1m acres of public land to coal mining, which has been on rapid decline over past 30 yearsThe White House will open 13.1m acres (5.3m hectares) of public land to coal mining while providing $625m for coal-fired power plants, the Trump administration has announced.The efforts came as part of a suite of initiatives from the Department of the Interior, Department of Energy, and Environmental Protection Agency, aimed at reviving the flagging coal sector. Coal, the most polluting and costly fossil fuel, has been on a rapid decline over the past 30 years, with the US halving its production between 2008 and 2023, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Continue reading...

A fire has burned through a third of Namibia's vast Etosha national park, one of Africa's largest game reserves. The site in the north of the largely desert country is home to 114 mammal species, notably the critically endangered black rhinoceros, and is a popular tourist attraction.The fire, which has been burning since 22 September, has caused extensive ecological damage and razed about 34% of the park, according to the environment ministry.After an emergency cabinet meeting, the government announced that a further 500 soldiers would be deployed to assist troops, police, local people and firefighters at the scene

The day I moved into my apartment, the birds appeared on the balcony. Now they sit on my arm every time I come outside

Exclusive: Turkey's climate minister says country is working on innovative solutions' as Labor privately downplays expectations impasse can be broken

In the worst case, entanglements could cause drowning, one expert says, but whales can also suffer long-term effects from the nets

From California to North Carolina, high schools and colleges are offering classes in fire science, search and rescue, and ecological sustainabilityThis story is from the Hechinger ReportGavin Abundis watched as firefighter Adrian Chairez demonstrated how he uses pulleys and harnesses to rappel down buildings. You've probably seen it in the movies where they're going down Mission: Impossible style," Chairez said with a laugh one day this past winter as he prepared to step off a tower. We get to do that." Continue reading...

With three years to go, experts agree that the city has set bold goals and faces steep challengesHosting the summer Olympics used to be a dream for many global cities, but it is now seen by many as more of a nightmare. There's the cost of hosting - $10bn and up, in recent years - the displacement of local residents, the environmental toll, and the risk of being left, like Rio de Janeiro or Athens, with major debt and crumbling Olympic stadiums.In the decade since Los Angeles secured its bid for the summer 2028 games, the city's leaders have promised they will do it differently, and that Los Angeles is prepared to deliver world-class Olympics and Paralympic games in its sunny, ideal weather", all while keeping costs, environmental damage, and community disruption to a minimum. Continue reading...

Mercedes-Benz and other big manufacturers want to overturn the EU's 2035 ban on petrol cars. This would be as disastrous for jobs as for the climateThere is something rather old-fashioned about the way Germany views its car industry. When the prime minister of Bavaria, Markus Soder, calls the car the destiny of Germany and the heart of its economy, and says that without the car, collapse is imminent", the vehicle he seems to be describing is one with a combustion engine, running on fossil fuels or their derivatives. This nostalgic attachment to the heavy-duty, polluting industries of the 20th century is now colliding with the urgent realities of the climate crisis.Earlier this month, heads of European automotive companies gathered in the Berlaymont building, the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, for a meeting with its president, Ursula von der Leyen. German car manufacturers came with two demands: to reverse the EU ban on the manufacture of new cars with CO2-emitting combustion engines that is due to come into force in 2035, and to loosen the annual quotas they have to meet for sales of electric vehicles between now and 2035.Tania Roettger is a journalist based in BerlinThis article was amended on 29 September 2025 to remove a potentially misleading reference to cleaner fuels" in the final paragraph Continue reading...

Vast tract of park that is home to 114 mammal species, including critically endangered black rhino, affectedNamibia has begun deploying hundreds of soldiers to fight a fire that has burned through a third of the vast Etosha national park, one of Africa's largest game reserves, officials said.The park in the north of the largely desert country is home to 114 species of mammals, notably the critically endangered black rhinoceros, and is a major tourist attraction. Continue reading...

Queensland premier says he won't protect whales at the expense of one single human'

Two years after the tree was cut down, the National Trust says it wants to turn a sense of loss into a sense of hope'Artists are being asked for ideas to create a nationally important" work from the wood of the illegally felled Sycamore Gap tree which, organisers hope, will be galvanising and inspiring.The National Trust has revealed details of a huge creative commission, offering the chance for artists, organisations or creative agencies to use half of the tree's timber to produce something incredible. Continue reading...

From supermarkets to restaurants, rising meat costs amid tight supply and strong demand are hitting Americans hardIf beef is what's for dinner, expect to pay more for it.The classic combination of tight supply and strong demand has pushed US cattle and beef prices to record highs, and there is little end in sight with farmers reluctant to expand their herds and selling off high-priced heifers to dig them out of debt. Continue reading...

Concerns over whether gas generators are making fair profits are prompting fresh proposals to reform the systemTravel 18 miles north of London and the grey bulk of a gas power plant comes into view near Rye House railway station in Hertfordshire.Rye House power station has generated electricity since 1993, making it Britain's longest-serving such power plant still in the market. But it also produces some of the most expensive electricity in the country. Continue reading...

Sentient Media reveals less than 4% of climate news stories mention animal agriculture as source of carbon emissionsFood and agriculture contribute one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions - second only to the burning of fossil fuels. And yet the vast majority of media coverage of the climate crisis overlooks this critical sector, according to a new data analysis from Sentient Media.The findings suggest that only about a quarter of climate articles in 11 major US outlets, including the Guardian, mention food and agriculture as a cause. And of the 940 articles analyzed, only 36 - or 3.8% - mentioned animal agriculture or meat production, by far the largest source of food-related emissions. Continue reading...

Humans have helped save the great apes from extinction, but are now the biggest threat to their survival as they compete for land in east Africa's Virunga mountains Photographs by Badru Katumba for the GuardianIt is sunrise on mount Muhabura, an inactive volcano on the Ugandan-Rwandan border, and Dr Benard Ssebide is in a rush to find a family of mountain gorillas before the tourists arrive. A mass of ferns, vines and thistles encroaches on the path, and the guides hack through brambles with machetes. Above, the forest whistles in the wind, glowing in the morning light.The higher you go, the more the mountain pushes back," Ssebide says, pausing for breath. Continue reading...