by Damien Gayle Environment correspondent on (#6X2N0)
Doug Paulley and Kevin Jordan say their lives being ruined, and lack of effective strategy infringes their human rightsTwo men who say they are being failed by the UK's flawed response to climate breakdown are taking their case to Europe's top human rights court.Doug Paulley and Kevin Jordan say their lives have been ruined by the rising temperatures and extreme weather caused by the climate crisis, and that the government's response fails to respect their human rights. Continue reading...
by Nina Lakhani Climate justice reporter on (#6X2GJ)
Layoffs and funding cuts to Fema and Noaa will impact how they predict and respond to disasters, warns professor Samantha MontanoThe Trump administration's sweeping cuts to disaster management will cost lives in the US, with hollowed-out agencies unable to accurately predict, prepare for or respond to extreme weather events, earthquakes and pandemics, a leading expert has warned.Samantha Montano, professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and author of Disasterology: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis, said the death toll from disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes and water pollution will rise in the US unless Trump backtracks on mass layoffs and funding cuts to key agencies. That includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), whose work relies heavily on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), which is also being dismantled. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent on (#6X2D9)
Exclusive: Surprise challenger Zack Polanski says party can learn from success of Nigel Farage and Reform UKA leading Green has launched a surprise campaign to oust Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay as party leaders, saying the party needs to be less timid and transform itself into a radical, mass-membership eco-populism" movement.Zack Polanski, who has been deputy leader since 2022 and serves as a London assembly member, will challenge Denyer and Ramsay this summer despite them taking the party to its best-ever general election result last year, winning four seats. Continue reading...
Seventh season of hit slow TV' show followed annual trek of moose (or elk) heading to summer pasturesFor thousands of years, moose have crossed rivers, navigated thawing forests and quietly followed ancient trails toward their summer pastures in northern Sweden.A 24-hour live stream gave millions of viewers front-row seats to watch every unhurried step of the journey. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Treasury threat an example of scare tactics' to help force through private sector deal, sources suggestWhitehall officials have been at loggerheads over the fate of Thames Water since the Treasury told the environment department that it would have to meet the cost of a multibillion pound temporary nationalisation.Britain's biggest water company recently came within days of running out of money. Thames is in a desperate race to find a buyer willing to inject cash, with the US private equity firm KKR in pole position. Continue reading...
A feasibility report using historical maps and ecological data is raising excitement: It would be a slow process'On the eve of the gold rush, California was teeming with grizzly bears - as many as 10,000 of them. They were so popular that the Bear Flag Republic - a short-lived attempt by a group of US settlers to break away from Mexico in 1846 - used the animals as their mascot; an image that still adorns California's flag.But by the mid-1920s, the bears were all gone. The last documented sighting of a grizzly bear in California was in the spring of 1924 in Sequoia national park, a lonesome bear wandering among the trees. Continue reading...
Territory's voluntary move comes as Trump administration makes good on pledge to end lawsuits against oil and gasPuerto Rico has voluntarily dismissed its 2024 climate lawsuit against big oil, a Friday legal filing shows, just two days after the US justice department sued two states over planned litigation against oil companies for their role in the climate crisis.Puerto Rico's lawsuit, filed in July, alleged that the oil and gas giants had misled the public about the climate dangers associated with their products. It came as part of a wave of litigation filed by dozens of US states, cities and municipalities in recent years. Continue reading...
White House orders closure of USGS water science centers, which shares data with weather service for flood warningsThe Trump administration has ordered the closure of 25 scientific centers that monitor US waters for flooding and drought, and manage supply levels to ensure communities around the country don't run out of water.The United States Geological Service (USGS) water science centers' employees and equipment track levels and quality in ground and surface water with thousands of gauges. The data it produces plays a critical role across the economy to protect human life, protect property, maintain water supplies and help clean up chemical or oil spills. Continue reading...
Environmentalists worry that the post-Brexit legislation will allow the destruction of rare and fragile ecosystemsWalk along the gin-clear River Itchen in Hampshire and you might see otters, salmon, kingfishers and clouds of mayflies, all supported by the unique ecosystem of the chalk stream.The UK has no tropical rainforests or tigers; its wildlife is arguably more modest in appearance. But its chalk streams are some of the rarest habitats in the world - there are only 200, and England boasts 85% of them. If you look properly, they are as biodiverse and beautiful as any rainforest. Continue reading...
Nature organisations say legislation would remove safeguards for nature and put protected sites at riskKeir Starmer's planning bill has been criticised by the environment watchdog, which has warned that the draft of the legislation would remove safeguards for nature and put protected sites at risk.Currently, laws that protect habitats and nature are derived from EU legislation. Since the UK left the bloc, it has been able to weaken these laws that protect specific species and habitats. Continue reading...
Warm weather means strawberries, aubergines and tomatoes have come weeks earlier than expectedA glut of early strawberries, aubergines and tomatoes has hit Britain with the dry, warm weather eliminating the usual hungry gap", growers say.It has been a sunny, very dry spring, with the warmest start to May on record and temperatures predicted to reach up to 30C at the earliest point on record, forecasters have said. Continue reading...
by Vittoria Torsello in Lecce, Sarah Collins in Athen on (#6X0ZY)
From the turtle-nesting beaches of Italy to Greek island bird havens, across the Mediterranean campaigners are fighting to protect habitats from tourists seeking a picture-perfect holidayIn the summer months in Puglia, southern Italy, the battle for the beaches begins before dawn. Armed with tractors, beach owners flatten every imperfection from the sand, dragging it to sift out anything large enough to be considered waste. As the sun rises, tourists flood the coastline, often unaware of what lies hidden beneath their feet.Two feet below the surface, delicate eggs laid by loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) are waiting to hatch. For the turtles, the beach is not a beauty spot but a habitat. Continue reading...
DoJ says Clean Air Act creates program to oversee air pollution and displaces' states' ability to regulate itThe US justice department on Wednesday filed lawsuits against Hawaii and Michigan over their planned legal action against fossil fuel companies for harms caused by the climate crisis, claiming the state actions conflict with federal government authority and Donald Trump's energy dominance agenda.The suits, which legal experts say are unprecedented, mark the latest of the Trump administration's attacks on environmental work and raise concern over states' abilities to retain the power to take climate action without federal opposition. Continue reading...
Study using citizen data finds three-quarters of nearly 500 species in decline, with steepest trend in areas where they once thrivedBird populations across North America are falling most quickly in areas where they are most abundant, according to new research, prompting fears of ecological collapse in previously protected areas.Analysis of nearly 500 bird species across North America has found that three-quarters are declining across their ranges, with two-thirds of the total shrinking significantly. Continue reading...
Campaigners warn move could worsen access to nature for millions already living more than a 10-minute walk from park or playing fieldHousing developers will be able to build on once-protected green spaces without having to replace the loss of nature in the nearby area, the Guardian understands.New nature areas, parks and community gardens created to offset the removal of green spaces to make way for housing developments may not even have to be in the same county, under the new planning and infrastructure bill, sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said on Thursday. Continue reading...
by Josh Toussaint-Strauss Jem Talbot Elena Morresi Al on (#6X0CR)
Most countries have no fossil fuel reserves, but no country in the world is without renewable energy resources. For a country such as Iceland, the world leader in renewables, this statement is clear to see. The island nation has made good use of its volcanoes and glaciers, which help provide 100% of its electricity and almost all its heat energy. But what about other countries that don't have Iceland's unique geology to rely on. Josh Toussaint-Strauss finds out how the world has managed to reach the impressive milestone of more than 40% of global electricity demand coming from clean power sources, and how other countries such as the UK are making this energy transition happen, despite a distinct lack of volcanoes
Police and military personnel were seen helping people evacuate the highway connecting Jerusalem to Tel Aviv as wildfires raged. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared the situation a national emergency as the fire threatened to reach the city. Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue agency said they treated about 23 people, 13 of whom were taken to hospital
by Eleni Courea Political correspondent on (#6WZZ9)
Government to press ahead with net zero plans as Keir Starmer rejects Tony Blair's criticisms of climate policyAlmost all new homes in England will be fitted with solar panels during construction within two years, the government will announce after Keir Starmer rejected Tony Blair's criticism of net zero policies.Housebuilders will be legally required to install solar panels on the roofs of new properties by 2027 under the plans. Continue reading...
A warming tundra has seen unexpected shifts, raising the alarm about fragile ecosystems and those who rely on themScientists studying Arctic plants say the ecosystems that host life in some of the most inhospitable reaches of the planet are changing in unexpected ways in an early warning sign" for a region upended by climate change.In four decades, 54 researchers tracked more than 2,000 plant communities across 45 sites from the Canadian high Arctic to Alaska and Scandinavia. They discovered dramatic shifts in temperatures and growing seasons produced no clear winners or losers. Some regions witnessed large increases in shrubs and grasses and declines in flowering plants - which struggle to grow under the shade created by taller plants. Continue reading...
The celebrated presenter warns of modern day colonialism at sea' as he highlights the destruction caused by overfishing and bottom trawlingWhen David Attenborough's Blue Planet II documentary aired eight years ago, its impact was so strong it was credited with bringing about a revolution in the way people use plastics. Now film-makers are hoping he can do the same for other destructive environmental practices that the world's best-known living naturalist describes as draining the life from our oceans".The industrial fishing method of bottom trawling is the focus of a large part of Attenborough's latest film, Ocean, which airs in cinemas from 8 May, the naturalist's 99th birthday. In a remarkably no-holds-barred narrative, he says these vessels tear the seabed with such force the trails of destruction can be seen from space". He also condemns what he calls modern day colonialism at sea", where huge trawlers, operating off the coasts of countries reliant on fish for food and livelihoods, are blamed for dwindling local catches. Continue reading...
The broadcaster behaves like Starmer's government: suppress the left, cave to your critics, and undermine your own survivalIt's no longer even pretending. Last week, the BBC, already the UK's most prolific censor, instructed the presenter Evan Davis to drop the podcast he hosted in his own time about heat pumps. It was a gentle, wry look at the machines, with no obvious political content. But the BBC, Davis says, saw it as steering into areas of public controversy". It should cease forthwith.So are BBC presenters banned from saying anything controversial? Far from it. Take an article published earlier this year by Justin Webb in the Times. It praised the political genius" of Donald Trump, suggested that Democrats are now seen as the extremists, and claimed that Trump is widely regarded as making [America] normal again". The BBC was fine with that, and complaints about it were rejected. Continue reading...
Labour politicians warn former PM had boosted Tory and Reform climate sceptics on the eve of local electionsTony Blair has been forced by Downing Street to row back from his criticism of the government's net zero strategy after furious Labour politicians warned he had given a boost to Tory and Reform sceptics on the eve of the local elections.Climate experts also accused the former prime minister of granting political cover to fossil fuel interests and weakening momentum behind the UK's legally binding target to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Continue reading...
Sir Tony Blair's ill-conceived contribution to the climate debate was a political gift to Nigel Farage. But public support for the green transition remains strongThe Climate Change Committee's latest report on the UK's response to unprecedented environmental challenges makes for grim reading. Recalling the extreme weather swings of the last few years - which delivered both the wettest 18 months on record and the largest number of wildfires - the report's authors deplore the current inadequacy of provision to protectthe nation against risks which are now a lethal reality. The threat represented by flooding, said the chair of the committee's adaptation group, Lady Brown, is not tomorrow's problem. It's today's problem. And if we don't do something about it, it will become tomorrow's disaster."An assessment so scathing, from such a source, deserved to be at the centre of political discussion ahead of Thursday's local elections. Instead, Wednesday's front pages were dominated by a considerably less useful contribution to the climate debate. In a foreword to a report from his eponymous Tony Blair Institute (TBI), Sir Tony Blair suggested that governments should dial down efforts to limit the use of fossil fuels in the short term, or risk alienating voters allegedly put off by the irrationality" and cost of green policies. Politicians' focus, he insisted, should shift to investing speculatively in technologies for the future such as carbon capture and storage.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...
Anthony Albanese has delivered steady, gradual reform - but a minority government might force Labor to push through bolder solutionsAustralians know the government they elect on 3 May will have to navigate multiple crises.At home, a cost-of-living crisis is making daily life miserable for millions. Sky-high housing costs are locking younger Australians out of a life their parents took for granted. Continue reading...
The former PM has form when it comes to pushing corporate interests and meeting populists halfwayWhen Tony Blair came out this week to say current net zero policies were doomed to fail", there was something familiar in his arguments: phasing out fossil fuels wouldn't work because people perceived it as expensive, arduous and not their problem. Stop banging on about renewables; won't someone think of the things we don't know how to do, like carbon capture and such wizardry as is still locked in tech bros' imaginations? Basically, net zero had lost the room, according to the former prime minister. And if anyone knows where the room is, and how to get it back, it must be him.The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) issued a statement on Wednesday saying that, in fact, it believes the government's net zero policy is the right one". But this is a familiar trajectory for the former prime minister. He said something similar about woke", which sadly lost the room in 2022. Plant Labour's feet clearly near the centre of gravity of the British people," Blair advised Starmer. [They] want fair treatment for all and an end to prejudice, but distrust and dislike the cancel culture', woke' mentality." What exactly does woke" mean, if not an end to prejudice? Just how effective is cancel culture if Blair himself could work as a lobbyist for a Saudi oil firm in 2016, advise the government of Kazakhstan after it brutally suppressed public protests in 2011, and yet still walk among us as the voice of the progressive left? Memo to my fellow cancellers: we are bad at this.Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnistDo 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...
Former Labour PM accused of handing talking points' to Tories and Reform after saying net zero strategy falteringClimate experts and politicians have criticised Tony Blair for claiming any strategy that relied on rapidly phasing out fossil fuels was doomed to fail".The former prime minister's comments, published in a report from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), prompted an internal row within Labour, with some accusing him of playing into the hands of a narrative used by rightwing parties to delay climate action. Continue reading...
by Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent on (#6WZ76)
Norway's state energy company's $2.5bn project off coast of New York was almost a third finishedNorway's state energy company may take Donald Trump's administration to court after it ordered an unprecedented" halt to a $2.5bn (1.87bn) windfarm project off the coast of New York.Equinor is considering its legal options after the US interior secretary, Doug Burgum, ordered the company to immediately halt all construction activities" on an offshore windfarm last month. Continue reading...
Leaked documents indicate Harita, owner of key nickel mine in Indonesia, did not reveal water contaminationOne of Indonesia's largest nickel-mining companies, which supplies a mineral critical to the global electric car industry, did not tell the public that local drinking water was polluted, according to documents seen by the Guardian.Indonesia has become the world's biggest producer of nickel, used in the production of wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicle batteries. But observers have voiced concerns that regulatory oversight in the country has failed to keep up with the rush to develop mines to satisfy booming global demand. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent on (#6WYVY)
The scheme, part of policy blitz for local elections, will encourage councils and police forces to work togetherCouncils will be encouraged to work with police forces to seize and crush vehicles used by fly-tippers, in the latest phase of a government policy blitz before Thursday's local elections.Under a scheme being led by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), new legislation will impose jail sentences of up to five years for people who illicitly transport waste in England. Continue reading...
Tariffs and environmental cuts will make meeting challenging, says summit president Andre Correa do LagoCrucial United Nations climate talks this year will be a slightly uphill battle" due to economic turmoil and Donald Trump's removal of the US from the effort to tackle global heating, the chair of the upcoming summit has admitted.Governments from around the world will gather in Belem, Brazil, in November for the Cop30 meeting, where they will be expected to announce new plans to deal with the climate crisis and slash greenhouse gas emissions. Very few countries have done so yet, however, and the world remains well off track to remain within agreed temperature limits designed to avert the worst consequences of climate breakdown. Continue reading...
The assessment, mandated by Congress, is used by federal and local governments to prep for climate disastersDonald Trump's administration has dismissed all contributors to the US government's flagship study on how to prepare for climate change impacts, prompting strong criticism from experts over a senseless" move.The climate assessment is used by federal and local governments to understand how to prepare for climate crisis impacts including from extreme heat, hurricanes, flooding and drought. Continue reading...
by Stephen Starr on Mackinac Island, Michigan on (#6WYHS)
Climate experts say warming atmosphere from climate change could fuel severe freezing rain and ice storms like the one that hit the upper midwest last monthWinter has been slow to release its icy grip from the upper midwest this year, and in northern Michigan, its effects will be keenly felt for months, perhaps years.A devastating ice storm that hit late last month has left an estimated 3m acres of trees snapped in half or damaged from the weight of up to an inch-and-a-half of ice across the northern part of lower Michigan. Continue reading...
Environment | The Guardian