Environment | The Guardian

Blitzkrieg has hit protections in place for land, oceans, forests and wildlife, and will worsen the climate crisis

Guardian reporters map out how Trump is eviscerating efforts to protect the natural world - from drill, baby, drill' to mass firings

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

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...

Only one in two Liberal party voters are in favour of lifting the national ban, according to the National Climate Action Survey

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...

Exclusive: Stuart Bonds could hand the Nationals the seat of Hunter thanks to a preference deal and last minute' change to how-to-vote cards

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...

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...

Wild weather, elections and rabbit jumping are all part of some of the month's best images in Australia for April Continue reading...

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...

Exclusive: Conservation advocates say assessment shows controversial NT project shouldn't get past the starting gun'

Former PM claims net zero policies losing public support and says there should be greater focus on carbon capture

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...

World now in era of repressive regimes' impunity, climate inaction and unchecked corporate power, says reportThe first 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency have supercharged" a global rollback of human rights, pushing the world towards an authoritarian era defined by impunity and unchecked corporate power, Amnesty International warns today.In its annual report on the state of human rights in 150 countries, the organisation said the immediate ramifications of Trump's second term had been the undermining of decades of progress and the emboldening of authoritarian leaders. Continue reading...

Trump team's slashes to US health department threaten popular program that combats elder hunger and isolationThe Trump administration's slashes to the Department of Health and Human Services is threatening Meals on Wheels, the popular program dedicated to combatting senior hunger and isolation. Despite decades of bipartisan support, Meals on Wheels now faces attacks from Republicans whose budget blueprint paves the way for deep cuts to nutrition and other social safety-net programs as a way to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.It's a move anti-hunger advocates and policy experts warn could have disastrous ramifications for the millions of older Americans who rely on the program to eat each day. Continue reading...

Advocates say workers risk their health and fear speaking out about conditions amid Trump's immigration crackdownOn a sunny day in February three workers swept up the piles of ash left behind on an Altadena driveway from when the Eaton fire raged through the Los Angeles neighborhood the month before.The flames of the blaze had consumed nearly every home on the street, leaving only brick chimneys and charred vehicles. Red signs at the entrances of properties warned in English: Unsafe, do not enter or occupy ... entry may result in death or injury." Hazards such as lead paint, asbestos and batteries were strewn amongst the ashes, but few workers cleaning the neighborhood that day wore masks or other personal protective equipment (PPE). Continue reading...

Campaigners say targets for woodland creation are unlikely to be met because 95% of grants are for plantingThe government is failing to support the natural regeneration of trees in England owing to an overwhelming focus on planting, campaigners have said.Recent figures show only 5% of Forestry Commission grants for woodland creation have been spent on the natural regeneration of trees, while the remaining 95% is spent on tree planting. Continue reading...

In an age of growing hostility to migrants, there are 10 times more barriers on borders than when the Berlin Wall fell. But as well as the human cost, animals are unintended victimsThe lynxes of the Biaowiea forest once freely prowled through 1,420 sq km (548 sq miles) of ancient woodland. Then, in 2022, the habitat was abruptly sliced in two. Poland built a 115-mile (186km) wall across its border with Belarus to stop refugees and migrants entering the EU. About 15 lynxes were left stranded on the Polish side of the forest, forced into a genetic bottleneck.The 5.5-metre high barrier, which is topped with wire and cameras, also dissects the forest's population of bison, wolves and elk. Researchers monitored 10 sites along the border, walking along sections and counting signs of humans and wildlife. Continue reading...

In Kansas, Panasonic and two community colleges scaled up training fast. But jobs in the EV industry could be affected by Trump's war on clean energyIn a Kansas City classroom, 20 students were learning how basic circuit boards work. They fiddled with knobs, switches, levers and wires; if they got the connections right, tiny light bulbs glowed.The students, recruited for the opportunity by Panasonic, were participants in an eight-week apprenticeship course that involved classes at the community college and on-the-job training. When they're done, they will be among the first workers at the company's new electric vehicle battery factory in nearby De Soto, Kansas. The $4bn manufacturing plant - touted as the largest EV battery factory in the world - is expected to open in early summer and eventually employ roughly 4,000 people. Panasonic also paid for the students' tuition, as well as the instructor's salary. Continue reading...

Solar storms as intense as a 1921 superstorm have the potential to cause a nightmare scenario - and we are unpreparedOn 14 May 1921, a powerful solar storm - called the New York Railroad storm - caused the northern lights to illuminate New York City's night sky. On Broadway, crowds lingered, enjoying flaring skies" that remained undimmed by city lights. The following morning, excess electric currents shut down the New York Central Railroad's signal and switching system in Manhattan, stopping trains. A fire broke out in a railroad control tower that was located at Park Avenue and 57th Street. Smoke filled the air. Along a stretch of Park Avenue, residents were coughing and choking from the suffocating vapors which spread for blocks".When a solar storm's electrically charged particles envelop Earth, they cause geomagnetic storms that generate electric fields in the ground, inducing electric currents in power grids. Solar storms as intense as the 1921 superstorm have the potential to cause a nightmare scenario in which modern power grids, communication systems, and other infrastructures collapse for months. Such a collapse of power grids would likely also lead to nuclear power plant accidents, whose radioactive emissions would aggravate the overall catastrophe.Mark Leyse is a nuclear power safety advocate Continue reading...

Chinese national, 27, reportedly returned to Japan's highest mountain days after first rescue to retrieve his phoneA university student has been rescued from the slopes of Mount Fuji twice in the space of a week - the second time during an attempt to retrieve his mobile phone.The hapless climber, a 27-year-old Chinese national who has not been named, was airlifted from Japan's highest mountain last week, only to be the subject of a second search four days later. Continue reading...

These days they call him Ian the renewable energy is expensive potato

My fear growing up was gun violence. But a bigger threat to my body may have come from an invisible villainEveryone experiences a moment that shapes who they are - a moment when childhood innocence is lost, and the burdens and traumas of the world become clearer.For me, that moment occurred in elementary school when my friend discovered a gun in Denning Park in Englewood, New Jersey. For days, I worried about what might be lurking behind the trees and in the shadows. This anxiety lingered through high school; I even wrote in my local newspaper that I couldn't remember anything more frightening for a young girl in elementary school". Continue reading...

Integrity organisation claims Australians for Natural Gas overstates role of gas in economy and failed to disclose directors' links to industry on website

From bad airline service to the once election-deciding future of the NBN, Labor and the Coalition have been notably silent on some key policy areas

Conservationists fear fallout from president's proclamation on fishing in federally protected area of Pacific OceanEnvironmental conservation groups are expressing major concerns over Donald Trump's recent proclamation to reverse fishing regulations across the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine national monument, a federally protected area in the central Pacific Ocean spanning nearly 500,000 sq miles.As one of the most pristine tropical marine environments in the world, the monument is now at risk following Trump's decision last week to unleash American commercial fishing in the area with far-reaching environmental consequences. Continue reading...

Environment groups say Thursday order ignores effort to adopt rules to prevent harmful mining of ocean floorEnvironmental groups are decrying an executive order signed by Donald Trump to expedite deep-sea mining for minerals, saying it could irreparably harm marine ecosystems and ignores an ongoing process to adopt international rules for the practice.Trump's Thursday order directed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fast-track permits for companies to mine the ocean floor in both US and international waters. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Local authorities have spent less than 40m out of 170m collected since offsetting scheme began in 2016

There is a cynical, anti-space' ideology emerging, especially on some parts of the left. But this is misguidedJohn F Kennedy once called space-faring the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which Man has ever embarked". We go to space because, he said - like George Mallory said of his reason to conquer Everest - it is there."While it is truer to say that the race for space between Washington and Moscow was driven as much by cold war competition as by humanity's pioneering spirit and the imperatives of scientific exploration, billions of ordinary people around the world recognized as much at the time and still were able to marvel at our species' accomplishments in the heavens regardless of the flag under which they were achieved, from Sputnik to the moon landing. Continue reading...

Inadequate record keeping means councils do not know whether former waste sites contain toxic substancesMore than 100 old landfills in England that may be contaminated with toxic substances have flooded since 2000, potentially posing a serious safety risk, it can be revealed.Some of these former dumps containing possibly hazardous materials sit directly next to public parks and housing estates with hundreds of households, the analysis by the Greenpeace-funded journalism website Unearthed , in partnership with the Guardian, found. Continue reading...

Developed countries pressed to submit national plans well before Cop30 as time runs out to avoid 1.5C temperature riseRich countries are dragging their feet on producing new plans to combat the climate crisis, thereby putting the poor into greater danger, some of the world's most vulnerable nations have warned.All governments are supposed to publish new plans this year on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but so far only a small majority have done so, and some of the plans submitted have been inadequate to the scale of action needed. Continue reading...

Critical minerals, nuclear power and the weaponisation' of energy supplies were discussed at international conferenceThe UK and the International Energy Agency gathered ministers and high-level officials from 60 countries to Lancaster House in London for two days of talks on the future of energy security this week. The EU was out in force, the US sent a top official, but China stayed away. Here's what we learned. Continue reading...

Hurricane Katrina: Mississippi Remembers captures the grief and resilience of survivors in the Magnolia stateTwenty years ago this August, the United States Gulf coast was irrevocably changed when Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and costliest storms to ever hit the country, made landfall. Making landfall as a strong category 3, the storm, which was so vast it stretched the length of the Mississippi Gulf coast all the way into Alabama, hit the Mississippi-Louisiana coastal border before continuing northward.Since then, superstorms fueled by the climate crisis have become relatively commonplace in the country, but the impact of Katrina endures to this day. Immediately following the storm, the country and world were enthralled by tragic stories out of New Orleans, where the levees failed to a catastrophic effect and the local, state and federal responses were disastrous. But Mississippi, which received the maximum impact from the storm surge, was largely left out of the national narrative around Katrina. Continue reading...

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

Public confidence in the UK biomass industry is low - robust checks are needed to ensure every wood pellet its power plant burns is sustainable

The Herds project from the team behind Little Amal will travel 20,000km taking its message on environmental crisis across the worldHundreds of life-size animal puppets have begun a 20,000km (12,400 mile) journey from central Africa to the Arctic Circle as part of an ambitious project created by the team behind Little Amal, the giant puppet of a Syrian girl that travelled across the world.The public art initiative called The Herds, which has already visited Kinshasa and Lagos, will travel to 20 cities over four months to raise awareness of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Spending watchdog warns 6.5bn in funding may not offer value for public money amid sustainability concerns

NAO finds regulatory gaps have enabled overspending on infrastructure building while not improving sewage worksWater companies have been getting away with failures to improve sewage works and overspending because of regulatory problems, a damning report by the government's spending watchdog has found.Firms have overspent on infrastructure building, the National Audit Office (NAO) found, with some of these costs being added to consumers' bills. The Guardian this week reported Ofwat and the independent water commission are investigating water firms for spending up to 10 times as much on their sewage works and piping as comparable countries. Continue reading...

Employees of water firms who obstruct investigations into spills could face jail under new rules that come into force on FridayWater company bosses have entirely escaped punishment for covering up illegal sewage spills, government figures show, as ministers prepare to bring in a new law threatening them with up to two years in prison for doing so.Only three people have ever been prosecuted for obstructing the Environment Agency in its investigations into sewage spills, officials said, and none received even a fine. Continue reading...

Latest denial of disaster funding comes as Trump has repeatedly stated he wants to eliminate FemaDonald Trump has denied federal disaster relief funds to the people of Arkansas, which saw dozens of people die from a series of deadly tornadoes last month, as legislators plead for him to reconsider.More than 40 people have been found dead after a series of tornadoes and severe storms hit Arkansas and neighboring states Mississippi and Missouri in March, according to CNN. Continue reading...