Energy secretary insists there is no contradiction between net zero and economic growth' in hearing at Commons committeeThe hearing has stopped for a short break. Heather Hallett, the chair, tells Badenoch that her evidence will be finished by lunchtime.Keith is now asking Badenoch about the fourth report produced by the Race Disparity Unit. It was produced in December 2021.Relevant health departments and agencies should review and action existing requests for health data, and undertake an independent strategic review of the dissemination of healthcare data and the publication of statistics and analysis.Government is not necessarily great at delivering these systems. They tend to be big boondoggles for the private sector, but there are private sector companies that can deliver this. There need to be caveats around that. Continue reading...

Discovery of H5N9 came alongside detection of the more common H5N1 on the farm, leading to 119,000 birds' deathsThe first outbreak of a rare bird flu in poultry has been detected on a duck farm in California, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Monday.Authorities said the discovery of H5N9 bird flu in poultry came alongside the detection of the more common H5N1 strain on the same farm in Merced county, California, and that almost 119,000 birds on the farm had been killed since early December. Continue reading...

Marathon Petroleum said a massive fire at its Louisiana refinery caused no offsite impacts'. Reporting by the Guardian and Forensic Architecture raised doubts about this claim

Project providing subsidies to install solar batteries and electric appliances part of Labor deal with crossbenchersSuburb-wide electrification trials are set to be rolled out across the country under an intervention designed to help spark the household transition from gas.The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, has formally directed the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) to consider funding more pilots like Electrify 2515, a community-led initiative to electrify 500 homes in one postcode in Wollongong, NSW. Continue reading...

Complaint says Chemours factory dramatized in Hollywood movie Dark Waters continues to pollute West Virginia riverThe chemical giant Chemours's notorious West Virginia PFAS plant is regularly polluting nearby water with high levels of toxic forever chemicals", a new lawsuit alleges.It represents the latest salvo in a decades-old fight over pollution from the plant, called Washington Works, which continues despite public health advocates winning significant legal battles. Continue reading...

This week the EU will argue the UK's ban on catching the tiny fish, celebrated by conservationists, amounts to discrimination against Danish fishersWe did it!" These were the words uttered by the RSPB last year when, after 25 years of campaigning, the UK government banned fishing for sandeels in the North Sea and Scotland. The small eel-like fish might not seem a likely species to inspire a decades-long fight - but they are the treasured food of one of Britain's rarest and most threatened seabirds, the puffin, as well as many other UK seabirds and marine species.The celebrations, however, were short-lived. The EU threw its weight behind Denmark - the country with by far the biggest sandeel fishing fleet - and challenged the ban, meaning that this week, the humble sandeel will become the focus of the first courtroom trade battle between the UK and the EU since Brexit. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Chemical in treatment for pet fleas and ticks is found in nests of blue and great tits, killing chicksSongbird chicks are being killed by high levels of pesticides in the pet fur used by their parents to line their nests, a study has found.Researchers surveying nests for the harmful chemical found in pet flea treatments found that it was present in every single nest. The scientists from the University of Sussex are now calling for the government to urgently reassess the environmental risk of pesticides used in flea and tick treatments and consider restricting their use. Continue reading...

Scientists unsure what prompted juvenile whale to leave icy southern waters for warmer shallows, but it may be a case of mis-navigation'

In today's newsletter: The Los Angeles wildfires highlighted the immense challenges faced by the insurance industry amid the escalating risks of the climate crisis. Are there any potential solutions for homeowners?Good morning. If the Los Angeles wildfires are bracing evidence of the general threat posed by the climate crisis, they have also brought home a specific problem: how can you make the insurance system work when the risks are so high?That is not a question limited to California, or to the United States: the insurance industry has rated the climate crisis as the biggest threat to its future four years in a row, a very concrete riposte to those politicians who continue to question the reality of global heating. It is impossible to know whether a specific weather event like storm Eowyn in the UK has been caused by climate change - but we know that they, and the damage they leave in their wake, are only going to get more frequent.Israel-Gaza war | Donald Trump's proposal that large numbers of Palestinians should leave Gaza to just clean out" the whole strip has been rejected by US allies in the region. Trump's intervention came as a deal was reached to allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza and release a civilian hostage who Israel said should have been freed already.Heathrow | Rachel Reeves has given her heaviest hint yet that she will back a third runway at Heathrow airport, arguing that she is willing to make difficult decisions while pursuing economic growth. Campaigners have warned that the move would be a severe setback for the UK's climate commitments.Southport attack | Prevent's assessment of the danger posed by Axel Rudakubana followed policy at the time, an official review will find - but it will criticise the scheme for rejecting extra help to tackle his interest in violence. The review of the way three referrals were handled before Rudakubana committed an atrocity in Southport is due to be published this week.AI | Ministers have shut down or dropped at least half a dozen artificial intelligence prototypes intended for the welfare system, the Guardian has learned, in a sign of the headwinds facing Keir Starmer's effort to increase government efficiency.Belarus | Alexander Lukashenko is set to win a seventh five-year term as Belarusian president with 87.6% of the vote in Sunday's election, according to an exit poll. The US and the EU said in the run-up to the election that it could not be free or fair because independent media are banned and all leading opposition figures have been jailed or forced to flee abroad. Continue reading...

Chancellor expected to unveil new building projects and revise planning rules to stimulate UK economyRachel Reeves has given her strongest hint yet that she will back a third runway at Heathrow airport, arguing that she is willing to make difficult decisions while pursuing economic growth.The chancellor is poised to make a significant speech this week where she will outline her plans to boost the British economy by radically altering planning rules and accelerating building projects. Continue reading...

It was striking that the White House memo included toilets and shower heads as a presidential priority,' said one expertFrom crusading against showers he feels don't sufficiently wash his hair to reversing protections for a small fish he calls worthless", Donald Trump's personal fixations have helped shape his first environmental priorities as US president.While withdrawing the US from the Paris climate accords and declaring an energy emergency" were among Trump's most noteworthy executive orders on his first day in office, both were further down a list of priorities put out by the White House than measures to improve consumer choice in vehicles, shower heads, toilets, washing machines, lightbulbs and dishwashers". Continue reading...

Private developers offer politicians a simple solution for bulldozing through this crisis - build more. But it won't workBuild baby, build. That's about the intellectual limit of the government's housing strategy. Millions are under-housed, so let's bulldoze" the planning system and build more homes. But it's not nearly so simple.As soon as anyone challenges the policy, the government brands them a nimby - another of the crude truncations that pass for debate on this issue: nimbys versus yimbys. So before I go further, let me state that I want to see lots of new social and genuinely affordable housing built as part of a massive programme to solve the worst housing crisis of any wealthy country. I've been making similar calls for years, not least in the report I co-authored for the Labour party in 2019: Land for the Many. I oppose Labour's current approach for a different reason. It will fail.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Chancellor says runway would mean fewer planes circling London, and points to moves towards sustainable flyingRachel Reeves has indicated her support for building a third runway at Heathrow airport, arguing that it would have environmental benefits such as fewer planes circling London.Ahead of a major speech on economic growth this coming week, the chancellor made the case for Heathrow expansion and said there was huge investment" in more sustainable aviation. Continue reading...

Analysis by campaign group finds utility company had highest rate of no-flow' samples of any water and sewerage firm in 2024The water firm Anglian Water passed thousands of pollution tests at its sewage plants that were never carried out.Operational data reveals how more than 6,000 pollution tests from 2015 to 2024 could not be carried out under a controversial self-monitoring regime because it was reported there was no outflow of treated sewage from the plants. Continue reading...

Weather will aid firefighters, but heavy downpours on charred hillsides could bring the threat of poisonous runoffRain on the way to parched southern California on Saturday will aid firefighters mopping up multiple wildfires. But heavy downpours on charred hillsides could bring the threat of new troubles like toxic ash runoff.Los Angeles county crews spent much of the week removing vegetation, shoring up slopes and reinforcing roads in devastated areas of the Palisades and Eaton fires, which reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble and ash after breaking out during powerful winds on 7 January. Continue reading...

Steve Reed says plans for 1km curved structure to protect bats from high-speed railway are batshit crazy'A bat shelter costing more than 100m near HS2 has been described by the environment secretary as batshit crazy".

Environmentalists say new course could be delayed until 2030 because it is viewed as Conservative party initiativeLeading environmentalists have called on the government to introduce a natural history GCSE immediately, amid fears it could be postponed until 2030.The previous Conservative administration had supported creating the GCSE, which would teach pupils how to observe, identify and classify plants and animals. Continue reading...

As chancellor Rachel Reeves' plan to expand London airports gains traction, the party is accused of back-pedalling on its green commitmentsLabour is being warned it is hurtling towards a powder keg" confrontation with environmentalists, green groups and a swathe of its own supporters in the next few weeks, amid its claims that blockers" are standing in the way of economic growth.A flurry of pro-growth measures have been announced by ministers in recent days as part of a government fightback against claims that the economy is stalling. Continue reading...

The chancellor's attempt to get rich landowners to pay their fair share was correct in principle. But this measure has missed the markRachel Reeves needs to rid herself of troublesome farmers. It's become obvious, if it wasn't at the time of the budget, that they are not going to go away.Their shouts of protest are getting louder and the petition against proposals to tax inherited farms is growing longer. Continue reading...

Speech calling for unity against populist right' interrupted by two women opposed to Drax power plant subsidiesWes Streeting was heckled by climate protesters during a speech calling on progressives to stand up to the populist right".Two women shouted at the health secretary as he addressed the Fabian Society, urging the centre-left to take on the miserablist, declinist vision" being offered by figures such as the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage. Continue reading...

University of Cambridge research suggests living collections have collectively reached peak capacityBotanic gardens around the world are failing to conserve the rarest and most threatened species growing in their living collections because they are running out of space, according to research from the University of Cambridge.Researchers analysed a century's worth of records from 50 botanic gardens and arboreta, collectively growing half-a-million plants, to see how the world's living plant collections have changed since 1921. Continue reading...

Ethical trade body could offer solutions' in advising government on protecting workers, says Eleanor HarrisonFairtrade could help tackle exploitation in UK factories and farms - as well as those in developing countries - the incoming boss of the ethical trade body has said.Eleanor Harrison, who in March takes the reins of the group behind the Fairtrade mark which appears on products in shops, has said it could offer solutions" in advising the UK government on protecting workers. Continue reading...

Gigantic wall of ice moves slowly from Antarctica on potential collision course with wildlife breeding groundThe world's largest iceberg - a behemoth more than twice the size of London - is drifting toward a remote island where scientists say it could run aground and threaten penguins and seals.The gigantic wall of ice is moving slowly from Antarctica on a potential collision course with South Georgia, a crucial wildlife breeding ground. Continue reading...

Ministers avoid internal party row by promising potential rebels they will have input into environmental legislationMinisters have seen off a bill that would have made the UK's climate and environment targets legally binding, after promising Labour backbenchers that they would have input into environmental legislation.The deal avoids an internal row over the bill, which was introduced by the Liberal Democrat MP Roz Savage but had support from dozens of Labour MPs. Continue reading...

Rachel Reeves flies back from Davos to lead a revival of the aviation perennial. Labour hated the idea before, but growth won't grow itself, will it?How can people say we can't build anything in this country any more? Listen: our parliament is literally falling down, has caught fire 45 times in the past decade alone, and is going to take tens of billions of investment just to get it in the same postcode as fit-for-purpose - a fact which has now been kicked down the road for actual decades by successive cohorts of MPs who can't handle being the ones to face reality, even though they are actually walking around in it every day. So don't you dare tell me we don't build things. We build the best damn metaphors in the world.Another thing we might be building, perhaps in our own inimitable style, is a third runway at Heathrow. This is the heavy hint dropped by chancellor Rachel Reeves at Davos this week, which - if realised - could open the gate to the Labour Upside Down. Half of the cabinet hate it, half of them love it. Imagine Tony Blair but in asphalt.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Former councillor Andrew Boswell accuses PM of wanting to lock people out of planning processAn activist singled out by Keir Starmer as an environmental zealot" who must be stopped from making vexatious" legal claims that thwart growth, has accused the prime minister of trying to lock people out of the planning process.Andrew Boswell, a 68-year-old former Green councillor, insisted his two-year legal fight over the expansion of the A47 in Norfolk was worth it, despite it ending in defeat in the supreme court last year. Continue reading...

An aquarium in Galway has been hit by strong winds and flooding as Storm Eowyn sweeps Ireland and the UK. Footage shows water rising to the top of a staircase and streaming past the building as gusts blow flood water across the car park

International research team based findings on 300m records from MOT data to estimate failure rates of all carsBattery cars on Britain's roads are lasting as long as petrol and diesel cars, according to a study that has found a rapid improvement in electric vehicle reliability.An international team of researchers has estimated that an electric car will have a lifespan of 18.4 years, compared with 18.7 years for petrol cars and 16.8 years for diesels, according to a peer-reviewed study published on Friday in the journal Nature Energy. The findings were based on 300m records from compulsory annual MOT tests of roadworthiness. Continue reading...

A series investigating the country's vast environmental inequalities - and how climate change will make things worseThis content is supported, in part, through philanthropic funding to theguardian.org, a US-based foundation that partners with the Guardian on independent editorial projects. Support for this project comes from Open Society Foundations, Maine Community Foundation, Rockefeller Family Fund, and the Tides Foundation.All our journalism follows GNM's published editorial code. The Guardian is committed to open journalism, recognizing that the best understanding of the world is achieved when we collaborate, share knowledge, encourage debate, welcome challenge, and harness the expertise of specialists and their communities. You can read more about content funding at the Guardian here. Continue reading...

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

Corpse flower mania is sweeping the nation (inner-city Sydney)

Fridays for Future organiser warns conspiracy theories are increasingly taking hold despite effects of global heatingThe rise in extreme weather is not generating political support for climate action, Germany's best-known climate activist has warned, as conspiracy theories increasingly circle after disasters made worse by global heating.Like many, I did buy into the idea that big catastrophes would do something to politics," said Luisa Neubauer from Fridays for Future Germany. I bought into that - and I'm glad about it - because I was naively believing there was a democratic responsibility that would live through coalition changes and climate changes." Continue reading...

Birdwatch survey comes as concerns grow over infection risks posed by garden bird feedersPeople are being urged to spend an hour this weekend counting the birds in their garden, park or local green space for the world's largest survey of garden wildlife.More than 9m birds were counted last year by 600,000 participants in the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch, providing a vital snapshot of how wild birds are faring. Continue reading...

Biologist says the massive numbers of jellyfish and algae in Tasmania's Storm Bay are drivers of harm in the ocean'

First there was Moo Deng, then there was Pesto the Penguin - but have you met Sydney's Putricia, the corpse flower? To the scientific community, the Botanic Gardens of Sydney's corpse flower is known as Amorphophallus titanum, which translates to 'large, deformed penis'. But online, the rare endangered plant has taken a life of its own.It's the first time a corpse flower has bloomed in the Royal Botanic Garden in 15 years - and when they do blossom, they last just 24 to 48 hours

President claims to be putting people over fish' but critics say order could derail years of carefully crafted water policyIt didn't take long for Donald Trump to reignite the California water wars he waged in his first term.On his first day in office, Trump directed the secretary of commerce and the secretary of the interior to develop a new plan that will route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply". Continue reading...

Emergency use of Cruiser SB, a neonicotinoid pesticide highly toxic to bees, to be outlawed in UK in line with EUBee-killing pesticides have been banned for emergency use in the UK for the first time in five years after the government rejected an application from the National Farmers' Union and British Sugar.The neonicotinoid pesticide Cruiser SB, which is used on sugar beet, is highly toxic to bees and has the potential to kill off populations of the insect. It is banned in the EU but the UK has provisionally agreed to its emergency use every year since leaving the bloc. It combats a plant disease known as virus yellows by killing the aphid that spreads it. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Supporters of bill say Labour has already insisted on removal of clauses requiring UK to meet targets agreed at Cop and other summitsA landmark bill that would make the UK's climate and environment targets legally binding seems doomed after government whips ordered Labour MPs to oppose it following a breakdown in negotiations.Supporters of the climate and nature bill, introduced by the Liberal Democrat MP Roz Savage, say Labour insisted on the removal of clauses that would require the UK to meet the targets it agreed to at Cop and other international summits. Continue reading...

The original cotton totes have a disarmingly short' life cycle - so demand is high for a more environmentally friendly versionThis year's It bag isn't made by any of the usual designers. And if this bag could talk, it wouldn't say calf leather" so much as wash me at 40C". What's more, in an ideal world, you would never want to buy another again.The forever tote" is big business. Usually made from calico, an unbleached cotton designed to be reused, it's similar to the cotton bags you have balled up at the bottom of a drawer, except it's sturdy, with a reinforced base and handles, sometimes a pocket, often coloured (Yves Klein blue seems especially popular), and always conspicuously branded with logos. Demand is high. Continue reading...

Bird snapped by Newhaven wildlife sanctuary ecologist is likely a juvenile on risky 1,500km journey away from parents, expert says

Many palm species in the city are receptive to embers, hard to extinguish - and probably helped spread the firesWhen the Los Angeles wildfires broke out on the morning of 7 January, some of the most dramatic images were of palm trees set ablaze along Sunset Boulevard. In the days that followed, burning palms became a symbol to illustrate what may be the costliest wildfires in history, which left at least 25 dead and destroyed thousands of structures.The trees are icons of the city. They also played a role in spreading the flames, researchers and fire officials say. Continue reading...

Mark Avery to stand down from role with Wild Justice but won't completely give up campaigning, he insistsIf government ministers and civil servants are grey squirrels, they may think they can rest easy - the predatory pine marten in the Westminster jungle is leaving them in peace.A campaigner who has created a landscape of fear" over the authorities' failure to protect nature is stepping back from Wild Justice to spend more time with the wildlife - and grandchildren - in his garden. Continue reading...

As the captain of a royal research ship, I break ice to get to British stations in the Antarctic. It's great fun - but getting stuck is always a riskI have been working for the British Antarctic Survey since I was 19. I started icebreaking on my first trip to the Antarctic and got hooked. Now I am the captain of the royal research ship Sir David Attenborough and I find icebreaking addictive.It's unique in a maritime career to have the ability, even as a junior officer, to do quite intricate ship handling and manoeuvring at all stages. Ships break the ice continually, 24/7 - so the whole bridge team gets to do it. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Treasury analysis shows ticket prices expected to go up across board with no plans for frequent flyers to shoulder more of the costRachel Reeves's bid to expand Heathrow airport could add 40 to the cost of an airline ticket, according to the Treasury's own analysis.The chancellor's proposal to minimise the carbon emissions of a bigger Heathrow include the use of sustainable aviation fuels, which experts say are expensive and unlikely to reach the scale needed for aviation expansion. Continue reading...

Report reveals solar power generated 11% of Europe's electricity, surpassing coal at 10%Europe made more electricity from sunshine than coal last year, a report has found, in what analysts called a milestone" for the clean energy transition.Solar panels generated 11% of the EU's electricity in 2024, while coal-burning power plants generated 10%, according to data from climate thinktank Ember. The role of fossil gas fell for the fifth year in a row to cover 16% of the electricity mix. Continue reading...

From LNG to drilling in Alaska, here's everything you need to know about Trump's energy and climate executive ordersThrough a flurry of executive orders, a newly inaugurated Donald Trump has made clear his support for the ascendancy of fossil fuels, the dismantling of support for cleaner energy and the United States' exit from the fight to contain the escalating climate crisis.We will drill, baby, drill," the president said in his inaugural address on Monday. We have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have - the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we are going to use it. We're going to use it." Continue reading...

Representatives of Heartland Institute linking up with MEPs to campaign against environmental policiesClimate science deniers from a US-based thinktank have been working with rightwing politicians in Europe to campaign against environmental policies, the Guardian can reveal.MEPs have been accused of rolling out the red carpet for climate deniers" to give them a platform in the European parliament, amid warnings of a revival of grotesque climate denialism". Continue reading...

Some areas of the Amazon experienced their worst drought in 120 years in 2024. Brazilian rivers such as the Negro fell to their lowest levels on record, affecting more than 140,000 families for months.

Climate crisis is making it harder for insurance companies to operate, with many pausing or withdrawing policiesHomeowners in the United States are facing an enormous financial crunch due to the climate crisis, with many struggling to find insurance or even dropping premiums that are soaring due to a mounting toll of wildfires, hurricanes and other disasters, new federal government data shows.The figures, the most comprehensive numbers ever released by the US treasury department on the issue, show insurance premiums are increasing quickly across the country, with people living amid the greatest climate-driven risks experiencing the steepest rises of all. In the four years to 2022, people living in the top 20% riskiest places for such perils paid, on average, 82% more than those in the 20% lowest climate risk zip codes. Continue reading...

Antonio Guterres issues warning at Davos, days after Donald Trump pulled US out of Paris climate agreement