During a period of deep personal turmoil, Marjolein Martinot took her camera down to the riverside in southern France - and began to feel connected again Continue reading...

Copernicus data shows month was 1.4C above estimated 1850-1900 average used to define pre-industrial levelIt has been an exceptionally dry spring in north-western Europe and the second warmest May ever globally, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).Countries across Europe, including the UK, have been hit by drought conditions in recent months, with water shortages feared unless significant rain comes this summer, and crop failures beginning to be reported by farmers. Continue reading...

Move comes after efforts at UN ocean summit to establish marine protected areas in international watersBritain will take action to ratify the high seas treaty by the end of this year, a landmark agreement that will protect marine life in some of the oceans' most remote waters, ministers have announced.The move follows a surge in support and ratifications for the treaty at the UN oceans conference in Nice, France. Emmanuel Macron, the French president and co-host of the conference, told delegates on Monday that enough countries had either ratified or formally committed to ratifying the agreement and therefore it could come into force as early as January 2026. Continue reading...

Charities and MPs say bill, which has passed its third Commons reading, risks causing environmental harmDowning Street and the Treasury intervened to stop any concessions in the planning bill, after pro-housing MPs voiced anger over a Labour rebel amendment that attempted to strengthen nature protections.The Guardian has been told that ministers drew up amendments to the bill last week in an attempt to head off the anger of wildlife charities and rebel Labour MPs amid a backlash against the bill. Continue reading...

A bold state investment signals nuclear revival, but unresolved issues around cost, waste and safety demand urgent ministerial clarityThe government's decision to invest 14.2bn in nuclear energy, on top of existing funds, marks a return to significant state funding of nuclear power after Hinkley Point C, financed by the private sector, was dogged by delays and cost overruns. It is also a decisive shift in energy policy. Ministers have high hopes of a nuclear energy renaissance. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, described the prospect of a new reactor in Suffolk, Sizewell C, combined with new money for modular reactor development and fusion research, as agoldenage". This was a striking choice of words from the greenest voice in the cabinet.The Climate Change Committee's latest advice to thegovernment took a more restrained view of nuclear,which drew industry ire. Mr Miliband's commitment to renewable energy is not in doubt. Thegovernment has made good progress on wind andsolar - although the cancellation of an offshore wind project was a stepbackwards. Nuclear is meant tocomplement support for renewables and speed up the transition away from gas. That, at least, is the theory, and Labour's bet reflects a broader shift across Europe. The other part of the calculation made by ministers including Rachel Reeves - whose departmentmade the announcement - is jobs. SizewellC is expected to employ 10,000 people, including 1,500 apprentices.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...

Daisy Cooper says doctor and presenter David Bull once appeared on TalkTV with his ear bandaged after the assassination attempt against TrumpReeves is now taking questions.The first comes from a delegate who says the proposed welfare cuts are wrong. Will the government think again? Continue reading...

FTSE 100 firm beats two US-owned companies as government pushes nuclear power with Sizewell C investment

Investment is pouring into companies promising to geoengineer a rapid change in the pH of our waters - but critics are concerned at the speed at which unproven methods are being adoptedIn October 2024, a US company called Ebb Carbon announced the world's largest marine carbon removal deal to date, signing a multimillion-dollar agreement with Microsoft to try to help fix a very real problem in the world's seas: ocean acidification.Ebb plans to use a method called electrochemical ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) to mimic the natural process of ocean alkalisation - in other words, it wants to add huge amounts of alkaline materials to ocean waters that scientists now know are acidifying at an alarming rate. Continue reading...

As the Earth heats up, the amount of algae in our waterways is rapidly increasing, transforming the colour of lakes and killing entire ecosystemsBefore the elephants collapsed, they walked in aimless circles. Some fell head first, dying where they stood moments earlier; their carcasses scattered near watering holes across the Okavango delta. The unexplained deaths in May 2020 alarmed conservationists. By July, at least 350 elephants had died and nobody knew why.The animals all had their tusks, so poaching was unlikely. A lot of them had obviously died relatively suddenly: they had dropped on to their sternums, which was indicating a sudden loss of muscle function or neural capacity," says Niall McCann, director of the conservation group National Park Rescue. Continue reading...

Move to narrow classification of Pfas and weaken regulation is politically and/or economically motivated'A group of 20 internationally renowned scientists have issued a strong warning against attempts to narrow the definition of forever chemicals" in what they describe as a politically or economically motivated effort to weaken regulation of the potentially harmful chemicals.Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (Pfas) are a large group of synthetic chemicals used for their oil-, water- and stain-resistant properties in a range of consumer and industrial products from waterproof clothing and non-stick cookware to firefighting foams and electronics. Continue reading...

Exclusive: In the first legal challenge to the plan, top climate lawyers claim the government relies too heavily on forestry and failed to consult the publicHundreds of top environment lawyers are suing the New Zealand government over what they say is its dangerously inadequate" plan to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050.It is the first time the country's emissions reduction plan has faced litigation, and the lawyers believe it is the first case globally that challenges the use of forestry to offset emissions. Continue reading...

Less than 1% of our country's seas are highly protected and the damaging practice of bottom-trawling must be restrictedIt's a remarkable feat that a small, isolated island nation of just five million people has managed to stake a claim to one of the largest ocean territories in the world.New Zealand's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) spans more than 4m square kilometres - an area 15 times the size of our landmass.Rt Hon Helen Clark is a former prime minister of New Zealand, and former administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb is chief executive of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) New Zealand. Continue reading...

Findings highlight how misinformation about battery safety prevents drivers from investing in low-emission cars

Ed Miliband promises to get Britain off the fossil fuel rollercoaster' with new plant expected to create 10,000 jobsThe biggest nuclear programme in a generation will get Britain off the fossil fuel rollercoaster", the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has said, announcing 14.2bn to build a new nuclear power station and a drive to build small modular reactors.The multibillion-pound investment at Sizewell C on the Suffolk coast, which has been long expected, will create 10,000 jobs and power the equivalent of 6m homes. Continue reading...

Only 7% of Britain's woodlands in good condition, while number of birds fell by 15% over last five yearsThe variety of wildlife in the UK's woodlands continues to decline as the habitats deteriorate, according to a new report.The Woodland Trust found that the progressively worsening ecological condition of woodlands is making them a less effective habitat for the wildlife living in them. Continue reading...

Chair of troubled firm admits 21 senior managers were paid 50% of base salary on 30 AprilThe environment secretary has been asked if he will claw back controversial bonus payments to Thames Water senior executives after it emerged some bonuses had already been paid out.Last month, Steve Reed vowed to block bonuses that Thames Water proposed to pay to managers at the beleaguered company. The firm's chair has been forced to admit that bonuses have already been paid to executives out of a 3bn emergency loan paid by creditors for the purpose of rescuing Thames from financial collapse. Continue reading...

Speaking at summit in France, Antonio Guterres calls for bold pledges to stop deep sea becoming wild west'Nations must move from plunder to protection" in order to save the world's seas from crisis, the UN chief, Antonio Guterres, told the ocean summit on Monday.All countries must come forward with bold pledges" including a biodiversity target to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030, to tackle plastic pollution, overfishing and for greater governance of the high seas, he said at the opening ceremony. Guterres also stressed the importance of multilateralism and warned, in an apparent swipe at the US, which was not present at the conference: The deep sea cannot become the wild west." Continue reading...

Party joins MPs across political spectrum in supporting bird conservation amendment similar to one blocked by Labour

US power sector would be world's sixth largest emitter of planet-heating greenhouse gas if it were a country - studyDonald Trump's administration is set to claim planet-heating pollution spewing from US power plants is so globally insignificant it should be spared any sort of climate regulation.But, in fact, the volume of these emissions is stark - if the US power sector were a country, it would be the sixth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. Continue reading...

Israeli forces have taken command of a vessel that tried to circumvent its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, sending the boat and its crew of 12 - including the activist Greta Thunberg - to a port in Israel, according to officials. The UK-flagged Madleen, operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was trying to deliver a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza on Monday to raise international awareness to the humanitarian crisis there. However, the boat was boarded by Israeli forces before it could reach the shore, the FFC said. The foreign ministry confirmed that the vessel was under Israeli control

Chances are, wherever you live, if there's greenery around there will be owls there tooIt is dusk, a short walk from the big Ikea in Croydon, and a barn owl is emerging from its nest to hunt. In the fading light, the male owl sits on a fence post to survey the rough grass below. He has a busy evening ahead: he is responsible for feeding a roosting female for the next few weeks while she cares for their chicks. The owl hops to another fence post. Suddenly, he dives into the grass below, emerging a minute later with an unlucky rodent, and flies back into the nest.I still get really excited," says Tomos Brangwyn, a local enthusiast who monitors the site, lowering his binoculars. He'll do that most of the night. It's a great sign that there's a female in there that we haven't seen for a while, as she's on the eggs," he says. Continue reading...

Murray Watt tells UN conference in France a review of Australia's marine parks will lay the foundation' for increasing ocean protections

Vast areas of land are now dominated by one species - purple moor-grass - and good luck with seeing a bird or insect there. How do we revive these habitats?Deserts are spreading across great tracts of Britain, yet few people seem to have noticed, and fewer still appear to care. It is one of those astonishing situations I keep encountering: in which vast, systemic problems - in this case, I believe, covering thousands of square kilometres - hide in plain sight.I realise that many people, on reading that first sentence, will suspect I've finally flipped. Where, pray, are those rolling sand dunes or sere stony wastes? But there are many kinds of desert, and not all of them are dry. In fact, those spreading across Britain are clustered in the wettest places. Yet they harbour fewer species than some dry deserts do, and are just as hostile to humans. Another useful term is terrestrial dead zones. Continue reading...

In seas around the world pH levels are falling - and scientists are increasingly frustrated that the problem is not being taken seriously enoughRead more: Ticking timebomb': sea acidity has reached critical levels, threatening entire ecosystems - studyOn a clear day at Plymouth marina you can see across the harbour out past Drake's Island - named after the city's most famous son, Francis Drake - to the Channel. It's quite often possible to see an abundance of marine vessels, from navy ships and passenger ferries to small fishing boats and yachts. What you might not spot from this distance is a large yellow buoy bobbing up and down in the water about six miles off the coast.This data buoy - L4 - is one of a number belonging to Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), a research centre in Devon dedicated to marine science. On a pleasantly calm May morning, Prof James Fishwick, PML's head of marine technology and autonomy, is on top of the buoy checking it for weather and other damage. This particular buoy is one of the most sophisticated in the world," he says as he climbs the ladder to the top. It's decked out with instruments and sensors able to measure everything from temperature, to salinity, dissolved oxygen, light and acidity levels." Continue reading...

Environmental groups welcome government proposals to clamp down on destructive fishing practiceEnvironmental groups have welcomed government proposals to ban the destructive fishing practice known as bottom trawling in half of England's protected seas.The plan, to be announced on Monday by the environment secretary, Steve Reed, came before a UN summit in Nice to tackle the ocean's failing health. It follows pressure from conservationists and the release of a David Attenborough film featuring rare underwater footage of the devastation to the seabed caused by bottom trawling in British waters. Continue reading...

The Last Dive tells how a relationship with a giant Pacific manta ray turned a big game fish hunter into a conservationistLocated about 500km off the southern coast of Baja California lies a group of ancient volcanic islands known as the Revillagigedo Archipelago. Home to large pelagic species including whale sharks and scalloped hammerheads, the rugged volcanic peaks were also once the site of an unlikely friendship.It began in December 1988 when Terry Kennedy, a now 83-year-old American sailor with a storied past, met a six-meter-wide giant Pacific manta ray off San Benedicto island's rugged shore. He would go on to name him Willy. When I saw him beside the boat, as massive as he was, I just had to get in the water just to see him," says Kennedy. I threw a tank on and jumped over, but I didn't see him anywhere. He couldn't have vanished that quick. And then I looked straight down and he was coming up underneath me. He was about four feet away and rising so I had no way to get off his back." Continue reading...

Pioneering broadcaster recalls incident during discussion with royal about latest documentary, OceanSir David Attenborough almost drowned when testing a scuba-diving helmet for his 1957 dive on the Great Barrier Reef, the broadcasting veteran has revealed in a discussion with Prince William.Discussing his latest documentary, Ocean, the pioneering film-maker described the incident to the Prince of Wales. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Ransom note' requests would leave Environment Agency unable to prosecute company or managementLenders vying to take over Thames Water have demanded that the struggling company and its management be granted immunity from prosecution for serious environmental crimes as a condition of acquiring it, the Guardian can reveal.Creditors want the environment secretary, Steve Reed, to grant the water company extraordinary clemency from a series of strict rules covering everything from sewage spills to failure to upgrade its water treatment works. Continue reading...

Less than a year after four dams were removed from the river, life has blossomed along its banks, presenting new challenges and joys of recoveryBill Cross pulled his truck to the side of a dusty mountain road and jumped out to scan a stretch of rapids rippling through the hillsides below.As an expert and a guide, Cross had spent more than 40 years boating the Klamath River, etching its turns, drops and eddies into his memory. But this run was brand new. On a warm day in mid-May, he would be one of the very first to raft it with high spring flows. Continue reading...

Campaigners say designation promotes unsustainable sheep farming at expense of nature recovery and local communitiesConservationists have launched a campaign to revoke the Lake District's Unesco world heritage status, arguing that it promotes unsustainable sheep farming at the expense of nature recovery and local communities.In a letter to Unesco, the ecologist Lee Schofield argues that the designation promotes a false perception of farming, is not economically sustainable, is working against crucial efforts to restore the natural environment and mitigate the impacts of climate change, does not help sustain farming livelihoods, is not wanted by local people and is contributing to damaging overtourism." Continue reading...

NGO says Afghan capital's 7 million people face existential crisis that world needs urgently to addressKabul could become the first modern city to completely run out of water, experts have warned.Water levels within Kabul's aquifers have dropped by up to 30 metres over the past decade owing to rapid urbanisation and climate breakdown, according to a report by the NGO Mercy Corps. Continue reading...

Environmental lawyer Cormac Cullinan lauded for his work to establish continent's legal status to protect its interestsCormac Cullinan has a dream. A dream, he says, that will change how humanity sees, understands and relates to Antarctica". The vast frozen continent - home to emperor and Adelie penguins, leopard and Ross seals, and feeding grounds for orcas, beaked whales and albatrosses - should be recognised as an autonomous legal entity at least equivalent to a country", says the environmental lawyer.And this week that dream became one step closer to reality as judges awarded Cullinan the Shackleton medal for the protection of the polar regions. Continue reading...

A little-known provision would open thousands of nearby acres to a foreign mining company, risking acid drainageThe story is co-published with Public Domain, an investigative newsroom that covers public lands, wildlife and governmentA little-known provision of Donald Trump's big, beautiful bill" would open thousands of acres of public lands at the edge of Minnesota's Boundary Waters wilderness to a foreign-owned mining company. Continue reading...

Exclusive: emissions from power-hungry warehouses at Lincolnshire facility expected to be 850,000 tonnes a yearA vast new datacentre to feed Britain's rising demand for artificial intelligence could cause more greenhouse gas emissions than five international airports.Elsham datacentre in Lincolnshire is on course to cost 10bn and its 15 power-hungry computer warehouses are projected to release five times the carbon dioxide of Birmingham airport, including from take-offs and landings. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Friends of the Earth tells Keir Starmer any major green cuts by Rachel Reeves will be challengedIf the decisions the UK government makes in its upcoming spending review are not in line with the net zero climate target it risks being taken to court again, campaigners have said.Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, will set out her spending review for the rest of this parliament on Wednesday. Amid continuing economic uncertainty and Labour's promise to boost defence spending, many departments are facing deep cuts to dearly held commitments. Continue reading...

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

As delegates prepare for the global gathering, the president is caught between opposing sides in a row over bottom trawling in France's marine protected areasOn his trawler in Saint-Malo, one of France's most important ports for scallops and crabs, Laurent Mevel is fixing his nets. We really want to protect the seas," says the 60-year-old fisher. But we've got crews, we've got employees.If you don't fish any more, the fish will come from Ireland, from Scotland. Now the fish you buy from shops comes by plane. And costs less." Continue reading...

Call me a middle-class bobo', but inspired street art has nothing in common with sprayed-on assertions of me, me, me'Among the layers of life in Paris that energise me, I might list: peeling back the city's music scene all the way to figuring out where, and when, the musicians go to jam together; the unassuming flair of even a basic brasserie; the way one can pivot, in the span of a week, from an art gallery opening to a friend's concert to another friend's restaurant to discover his Corsican-influenced menu, and end it by lingering on a terrace, remaking the world" with others who challenge you - calmly - to see something a different way.Among the things about this city that exhaust me are the people who cram their way into the Metro without letting you step out first (seriously, what neurons are misfiring in the heads of these people?), and the sheer prevalence of tags. It's when you leave Paris for a bit and come back that you realise how many tags there are. How swaths of a city that is otherwise arrestingly beautiful look as if a giant toddler high on methamphetamines stumbled through them, scribbling on everything in sight with a giant Sharpie. Continue reading...

Activists on Rainbow Warrior in waters north of New Zealand claim Spanish vessel hauled in and killed three mako sharks in 30 minutes

Sanctions, including for Thames Water CEO, announced as part of new government powers under Water ActBonuses for 10 water company executives in England, including the boss of Thames Water, will be banned with immediate effect over serious sewage pollution, as part of new powers brought in by the Labour government.The top executives of six water companies who have overseen the most serious pollution events will not receive performance rewards this year, the environment secretary, Steve Reed, said. Continue reading...

Cutting off the animals' horns more effective than traditional protection methods such as rangers and costs less, say expertsCutting the horns off rhinos causes a large reduction in poaching, according to a new study, which raises questions about the effectiveness of expensive anti-poaching techniques used to protect the African mammals.Poaching for horn is a significant threat to the world's five rhino species. The substance, which is similar to human fingernails, is commonly used for traditional medicine in China, Vietnam and other Asian countries. Dealers in the hidden market will pay tens of thousands of dollars for the horns, which are falsely believed to be effective at treating fevers, pain and a low sex drive in traditional medicine. Continue reading...

Parliament backs scheme for relatives of 123 men who died in worst disaster in Norway's waters since second world warForty-five years after the Alexander L Kielland oil rig capsized in the North Sea, Norway's parliament has voted to set up a compensation scheme for relatives of the 123 men who died in the worst disaster in Norwegian waters since the second world war.This is a historic day, the end of more than four decades of fighting for justice," said Mimir Kristjansson, an MP from the leftwing Red party. The chair of the victims' committee, Anders Helliksen, said the state had finally accepted its responsibility". Continue reading...

I envy people with strong opinions about this flower or that. They seem to know what they're doing in life, what any of it means

Region is experiencing an unusually warm spring, raising concerns of fierce wildfire season amid limited resourcesUnusually warm springtime temperatures have contributed to rapid reductions in snowpacks across the western US that rival the fastest rates on record, increasing concerns around wildfire season.The rapid snowmelt, in addition to reduced staffing and budget constraints initiated by the Trump administration, has set the stage for a particularly dangerous season across the west, according to an analysis of publicly available data by the Guardian and interviews with experts in the region. Continue reading...

John Morales told viewers he may be unable to warn viewers of hurricane dangers due to weather agency cutsA leading TV weatherman in Florida has warned viewers on air that he may not be able to properly inform them of incoming hurricanes because of cuts by the Trump administration to federal weather forecasting.John Morales, a veteran meteorologist at NBC 6 South Florida, told viewers on Monday night that Donald Trump's cuts to climate and weather agencies mean that forecasters will be flying blind" into what is expected to be an active hurricane season. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Tony Juniper, who will oversee nature restoration fund, says claims not fully backed by evidence'The government's leading environmental adviser has said ministers are wrong to suggest nature is blocking development.Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, is to oversee a national nature restoration fund, paid into by developers, which will enable builders to sidestep environmental obligations at a particular site - even if it is a landscape protected for its wildlife. Continue reading...

Clive Lewis says he will vote against planning bill amid concerns it will let developers build over precious habitats

Source confirms decision that will help meet net zero targets and pledge to cut energy bills by 300

Researchers at Aussie Ark have found 10 Tasmanian devil joeys during the first pouch check of the endangered marsupial's 2025 breeding season, which runs from February to June each year. Continue reading...

Environment committee also wants to outlaw dredging and mining due to destructive effects on seabed and marine lifeMinisters must ban bottom trawling for fish in marine protected areas, an influential group of MPs has said, because the destructive practice is devastating the seabed and marine life.The UK parliament's environmental audit committee called for a ban to encompass dredging and mining as well as the bottom trawling of fish in the 900,000 sq km covered by nearly 180 marine protected areas. Continue reading...