The new government must use its landslide majority to mend the damage to jobs and fish populations caused by neglectIt is a lonely and unglamorous job, being His Majesty's official opposition, as Labour knows only too well. There were moments when, out of the spotlight, the party's spokespeople in parliament heroically defended the public interest on some of the most important issues of the day. One example was during the post-Brexit Fisheries Act, where Labour made a formidable case that history has proved right. The question now is whether Labour will use its landslide majority to fix the extraordinary neglect of our marine environment that it previously lacked the votes for.Back in 2020, when the fisheries bill was making its way through parliament, Labour's fisheries spokesperson, Luke Pollard, made the case that the prime objective of the bill should be sustainability: there should be a duty on ministers to take the advice of scientists when allocating fishing opportunities so as to avoid overfishing. He also argued that as the right to fish was a public asset, which ministers conceded during the course of the bill, preference should be given to the part of the fleet which had the highest levels of employment and the lowest environmental impact: the smaller boats, whose activities are limited naturally by the weather.Charles Clover is the co-founder of the Blue Marine Foundation Continue reading...

Exclusive: Campaigners claim move would offset City influence over infrastructure taskforce and better share benefitsThe government is being urged to install trade union members on the board of its new 7.3bn national wealth fund to help offset the influence of big banks and ensure that it is geared towards hitting green targets and bringing shared prosperity" to the UK population.

State-owned company halts initiative after warnings over opening up right to roam' laws to large numbers of visitorsA Norwegian tourism campaign aimed at promoting the country as a destination for outdoor activities has been suspended after warnings that opening up the country's right to roam" laws to mass tourism could lead to environmental destruction.Allemannsretten - which gives Norwegians the legal right to camp, swim, ski and walk freely in nature, regardless of who the landowner is - provides the basis of friluftslivet (outdoor life), seen as foundational to the mountainous country's culture. Continue reading...

Advocates against nets say sharks can easily swim underneath them and drone surveillance is more effective

Alex Baldock wants to keep gadgets out of landfill as UK's largest electricals retailer embraces repair and reuseThe UK government should slash VAT on refurbished electrical products to keep gadgets out of landfill, according to the boss of Currys.It has already been charged once on these products," said Alex Baldock, the head of the UK's largest electrical goods retailer. I would like to see a radical reduction or entire cut on these products." Continue reading...

I've discovered the perfect way to avoid the stress of travel, the mosquito bites and the overtourism. Plus, I can stay at home and tend my tomatoes while knowing I'm saving the planetI haven't been on holiday this summer, but don't start tuning the tiny violins. I derive an unusual satisfaction from working when others aren't (burning martyr is my preferred summer fragrance) and I don't like change, or strange pillows. Plus, what would Susan, the pigeon who lives on our roof, and my bounteous crop of five unripe tomatoes do without me?A summer holiday just doesn't appeal. Is that weird? It feels as if the climate crisis is killing the notion of summer as something to look forward to and holiday hotspots (literally) are losing their lustre, with Greek islands reaching fatal temperatures and Sicily stricken with catastrophic drought. Continue reading...

Ironically named Great Outdoors Initiative that would pave over acres of state parks sent steadfast allies over the edgeIn the end, it wasn't culture war feuding over restricting LGBTQ+ rights, thwarting Black voters or vilifying immigrants that finally broke Republicans' DeSantis fever in Florida.Nor was it his rightwing takeover of higher education, the banning of books from school libraries, his restriction of drag shows, or passive assent of neo-Nazis parading outside Disney World waving flags bearing the extremist governor's name that caused them to finally stand up to him. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Figures reveal just 16% of company-controlled sites of special scientific interest are in good conditionWater companies are allowing important natural landscapes they own to fall into disrepair, data shows, with only 16% of sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) under their control in good condition.The companies have been accused of polluting for profit" by not investing to improve the status of their SSSIs. Continue reading...

Photographer Paul Hilton shadowed Captain Robert Bergholz on his boat Restless to see how a local prawn trawler's day unfolds Continue reading...

Heat building up in country's centre and driving south-east is causing really unusual' heatwave that is breaking winter records

Environment minister's cultural site declaration draws accusations of torpedoing a $1bn NSW project but she insists it was vital to protect Aboriginal heritage

Many of the roughly 100,000 units are illegal and do not conform to codes, making them a hazard for fires and floodsJosh Alba had lived in an illegal basement apartment in Queens, New York, for almost five years. Despite the low ceilings, he savored his chance to afford housing without roommates. But his tenure there ended during Hurricane Ida.He'd been asleep on his couch as the rain started falling. He only woke up when his cat smacked him in the face, and he noticed water coming in from outside, rising to at least an inch on the floor. Continue reading...

Defra sources say some licensed culls will continue until 2026 but it is highly unlikely any new ones will be grantedBadger culling will end in England by 2029, the government has said.Some culls under existing licences will continue until 2026, according to sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), but it is highly unlikely any new ones will be granted. Continue reading...

Etienne Stott among Extinction Rebellion protesters to call for citizens' assembly to tackle climate crisisAn Olympic gold medal-winning canoeist will be among climate activists protesting in Windsor this weekend to demand the Labour government takes climate action seriously.Extinction Rebellion, which is organising the three-day event, which began on Friday, said it had been disappointed by the new administration's lack of action on reducing fossil fuel emissions. Continue reading...

Sydney passes 30C on Friday while Brisbane expected to reach mid-30s during weekend

Discovery of Apis florea in Malta raises fears of devastating impact on native bee populationsThe red dwarf honeybee has established a colony in Europe for the first time, scientists have found.The bee, Apis florea, is native to Asia and its discovery has raised alarm among local beekeepers and conservationists, who fear the potentially devastating impact on native bee populations. Continue reading...

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

Campaigners hail Labour's proactive approach' after series of policy U-turns under Conservatives

Before biomass firm is promised a penny extra from billpayers, Ed Miliband should commission a review of its business modelA finding that you submitted dodgy data to the regulator on where your wood pellets come from sounds like very bad news if, like the biomass power generator Drax, you are the lucky recipient of 500m-plus of subsidies every year and are trying to keep the handouts flowing beyond their scheduled end date of 2027.But shares in Drax did not collapse on Thursday. City analysts judged that the end of Ofgem's investigation represented an excellent development for the company - a clear positive", said RBC, and a positive read-across" for the chances of getting a new contract with the government, thought Jefferies. Continue reading...

Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz sat down with CNN's Dana Bash in a pre-recorded interview that airs Thursday night. Plus: peacocks in Scotland

After the polar blast of a few weeks back, we have opened our eyes to the luminous full bloom of premature spring

A drone image of two humpback whales bubble-net feeding' by Western Australian photographer Scott Portelli has taken out the top prize in the 2024 Australian Geographic nature photographer of the year competition. This is a cooperative hunting strategy used by humpbacks that allows as many of them as possible to feed in a short time. It is widely believed the whales developed this feeding method after they were hunted to near extinction. The image was chosen from 1,856 entries and the exhibition is now on at the South Australian Museum until 3 November

City-wide initiative gives restaurants free solar panels to support the community' during storms and power outagesAs a restaurant owner in New Orleans, Shaka Gerel is no stranger to hurricanes.Afrodisiac, the Jamaican Creole fusion food truck he started with his wife Caron, served jerk chicken and crawfish etouffee, rain or shine, for years. When particularly bad storms took out the city's power, the couple sometimes used their bright purple truck's generator to offer their neighbors a place to charge their phones or refill on ice. Continue reading...

Government says it will not challenge reviews of approval given to controversial Jackdaw and Rosebank fields

Tribes fought for decades to restore the Klamath to its natural state and protect the salmon that spawn thereSalmon will swim freely through a major watershed near the California-Oregon border for the first time in more than a century, as the largest dam-removal project in US history nears completion this week.Workers breached the final dams on a key section of the Klamath River on Wednesday, clearing the way for the river to run unobstructed. Continue reading...

Energy regulator's investigation found inadequate data governance' over sourcing of wood to fuel power station

North Atlantic populations are at a historic low, and this year 33 of the country's rivers were closed during the fishing season as salmon farming and the climate crisis threaten the fish's futureWhat is Norway without the fjords and the mountains?" asks Ann-Britt Bogen from her candlelit kitchen, the wild Gaula River flowing by outside the window, the hillside covered by low-lying cloud. For centuries, the river, which runs 153km (95 miles) from the mountains near the Swedish border to Trondheim fjord, has attracted salmon - and fishers - year after year.But this spring the salmon, particularly the medium and larger-sized fish, did not come back from the ocean, raising such alarm over the collapse of the salmon population that the river, along with dozens of others in central and southern Norway, was abruptly closed for the first time. Continue reading...

Greek authorities have started collecting hundreds of thousands of dead fish that poured into a tourist port in the central coastal city of Volos this week after being displaced from their usual freshwater habitats during flooding last year. 'It spans kilometres,' a city council member, Stelios Limnios, told Reuters. 'It's not just along the coast, but also in the centre of the Pagasetic Gulf,' he said, referring to the waters off Volos, where the coast is lined with holiday homes. There have been warnings that the rotting fish could create an environmental disaster for other species in the area

A day after agreement was ratified at the Pacific Island Forum, the country's climate minister says root cause of climate change' must be addressed

Research for South Western Railway finds passengers who listened to natural soundscapes reported 35% reduction in stress levelsAt the end of summer even adults suffer that back to school" feeling as they resume stressful commutes on packed trains. But instead of listening to a podcast or music, opting for a nature soundtrack of birdsong or waterfalls could be the key to a zen" commute, according to a study.The research, undertaken by South Western Railway (SWR) on one of its trains and analysed by Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford, measured the impact of listening to nature soundscapes on passengers' stress levels and relaxation. Continue reading...

Researchers warn Asia will become an increasingly dangerous place to live until fossil fuels are replacedThe hyper-violent" Typhoon Gaemi was made fiercer and more likely to strike by the climate crisis, scientists have found. They said Asia will become an increasingly dangerous place to live until fossil fuels are replaced".The typhoon hit the Philippines, Taiwan and Hunan province in China in late July, with floods and landslides destroying homes, killing at least 100 people and affecting millions. Winds reaching 145mph (233 km/h) sank two large ships, while floods in Manila were as deep as a one-storey building. Continue reading...

Authorities in Volos say affected area spans kilometres and could cause environmental disaster for other speciesGreek authorities have started collecting hundreds of thousands of dead fish that poured into a tourist port in the central city of Volos this week after being displaced from their usual freshwater habitats during flooding last year.The floating carcasses created a silvery blanket across the port and a stench that alarmed residents and authorities who raced to scoop them up before the odour reached nearby restaurants and hotels. Continue reading...

Glaciologist says he's totally fine' after video of rapper tasting water goes viral and viewers warn of contaminationChris Ludacris" Bridges sparked concern from some social media followers when he knelt on an Alaska glacier, dipped an empty water bottle into a blue, pristine pool of water and drank it.Video of the rapper-turned-actor tasting the glacial water and proclaiming: Oh my God!" got millions of views on TikTok and Instagram. Some viewers expressed concern that he was endangering his life by drinking the untreated water, warning it might be contaminated with the parasite giardia. Continue reading...

Selected from almost 60,000 entries from 117 countries and territories, the winners of the 60th competition will be announced on 8 October. The 100 winning images will be on display at the Natural History Museum in London from 11 October Continue reading...

Lobbyists from Airlines for America argued against European Commission draft rules to report cocktail of pollutants, freedom of information requests showUS airlines lobbied against plans to monitor the damage wrought by planet-heating pollutants pumped out of planes in a previously undisclosed meeting with the European Commission, the Guardian can reveal.Lobbyists from Airlines for America and some of its member companies met representatives of the European Commission's climate team in May in a meeting that is not logged on the participants' pages in the EU transparency register. The commission said the meeting took place at a technical level and that it is under no obligation to publish details of meetings at lower levels of its hierarchy. Continue reading...

Waters around vessel attacked by Houthi rebels last week appear to be free of oil, EU mission Red Sea saysThe area around a Greek-flagged tanker attacked last week by Yemen's Houthi rebels appears to be free of oil, the EU mission in the Red Sea has said.The tanker came under fire last week off Yemen's port city of Hodeidah. The Houthis, who control Yemen's most populous regions, said they were behind the attack. Continue reading...

Extinct in central Europe for 300 years, 36 northern bald ibis are following an ultralight aircraft on their long-forgotten migration route from Austria to SpainThe northern bald ibis was extinct in central Europe for 300 years. Now, it has returned - and scientist foster parents" aboard a tiny plane are teaching the birds to fly their long-forgotten migration routes.Thirty-six of these endangered birds are now following an ultralight aircraft 1,740 miles (2,800km ) from Austria to Spain, on a trip that could take up to 50 days to complete. Continue reading...

The country needs more gas in the short term because of our sluggish transition to renewables - but at worst the shortfall may lead to some rationing

Windell Curole built a vast levee to protect his district from disappearing into the ocean - despite federal resistance to his plan. Had he listened to officials, he says, we wouldn't have a community'On 29 August 2021, as Hurricane Ida made landfall on Louisiana's Gulf coast, 69-year-old Windell Curole sought refuge with others at the three-story Lady of the Sea hospital in Galliano, located 90 minutes south-west of New Orleans.As Curole looked out the window, watching Ida's rain hammer the grass, a question tormented him: would the levees that encircled his community be tall enough to hold back the water that was surging toward them? Continue reading...

Food prices have increased 22% in last four years and people are feeling the pinch. Readers share their strategies to copeBack in 2019, $100 worth of groceries may have lasted a week for a household of two. Today, that same $100 will probably only buy enough groceries to stretch for a couple of days.In the last four years, food prices have increased a whopping 22%, and consumers are feeling the pinch. Continue reading...

Toymaker hopes to bring down oil-based plastic it uses by paying up to 70% more for certified renewable resin to encourage productionLego plans to make half the plastic in its bricks from renewable or recycled material rather than fossil fuels by 2026, in its latest effort to ensure its toys are more environmentally friendly.The Danish company last year ditched efforts to make bricks entirely from recycled bottles because of cost and production issues. At the moment, 22% of the material in its colourful bricks is not made from fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Experts say trend is because of failure by successive governments to approve releases despite promisesBeaver bombing", covertly releasing beavers into the countryside, is increasing in England because successive governments have not fulfilled promises to permit some planned wild releases, conservationists are warning.Beavers now live freely on river systems across swaths of southern England, and conservationists are calling on Labour to allow official releases of free-living beavers and produce a national strategy to maximise the biodiversity and flood alleviation benefits delivered by the industrious mammals. Continue reading...

We want to hear from people across the US who have been affected by the volatility of the home insurance marketWe know the industry is in an enormous state of flux amid the climate crisis and increasingly severe wildfires, floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters. Companies have been raising premiums, cancelling or refusing to issue policies, and pulling out of entire markets. The Guardian US has reported on the crippling effects for homeowners in Florida, California, Louisiana and beyond.We want to hear from people from all parts of the country caught up in this. Have you lost your policy, and what did you do? Has the cost of insurance influenced where you chose to live or your decision to buy a home? Have you been forced to recover from a natural disaster without insurance? Tell us your story. Continue reading...

Records of Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz instill hope that progress under Biden could be extendedPublic health advocates are optimistic that a Kamala Harris win in the November presidential election in the US would lead to further regulation of PFAS toxic forever chemicals", on which the Biden administration has already taken unprecedented regulatory action.In part that is based on past actions. Last year, Harris's running mate, the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, signed bold legislation prohibiting the use of toxic PFAS across a range of common consumer goods from menstrual products to food packaging - a measure that is considered by public health advocates to be among the strongest bans in the world". Continue reading...

Reusable varieties unlikely to dent environmental impact of e-cigarette waste, even as they curb battery waste

Why have politicians outsourced the most important issue of our time to private agencies and individuals? We can't do it all - this way lies disasterThere are several services and assets I would like to see nationalised. But at the top of my list is neither water, nor trains, nor development land, much as I'd like to see them brought under national or local public ownership. Above all, I want to see the nationalisation of my own business: environmental persuasion. I love my job. But I'm not very good at it. None of us is.We face the greatest predicament humankind has confronted: the erosion and possible collapse of our life-support systems. Its speed and scale have taken even scientists by surprise. The potential impacts are greater than any recent pandemic, or any war we have suffered. Yet the effort to persuade people of the need for action has been left almost entirely to either the private or voluntary sectors. And it simply does not work. Continue reading...

The cameras that made the falcons a social media phenomenon are rolling again for a new breeding season, capturing a new female falcon incubating an egg atop Melbourne's Collins Street skyscraper. There are high hopes for this season after last year's eggs were unable to hatch after the female stopped incubating, likely due to a territorial dispute

Activists say Kennedy may have committed felony violation for allegedly driving with whale skull strapped to car roofHis independent White House campaign has fizzled, but the flow of bizarre stories of Robert F Kennedy Jr's unorthodox handling of the carcasses of wild mammals has experienced no similar suspension.An environmental group is calling for a federal investigation into the former presidential candidate for an episode in which he allegedly severed the head of a washed-up whale with a chainsaw - and drove home with it strapped to his car's roof. Continue reading...

Moisture from crops drives up already high humidity in areas where 55 million are under extreme heat alertsYou won't believe your ears, but corn is making the extreme heat the US midwest is battling feel more intense, according to experts.The moisture - or sweat" - that corn and other crops release in high temperatures is contributing to the humidity in the air in the midwest US, where 55 million people have been under alerts for extreme heat in recent days. The increase in moisture pushes up dew points, making it harder for water vapor to condensate - and for it to feel cooler. Continue reading...

More than 21,500 US deaths over last two decades were connected to heat, top medical journal findsAs record-breaking heatwaves continue across parts of the US, a new report shows that heat-related deaths in the country rose by 117% between 1999 and 2023.The report, released on Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama), found that from 1999 to 2023, there have been more than 21,500 heat-related deaths recorded in the US. Continue reading...