Critics say proposal to fold department into a new mega ministry' will dilute accountability and put nature protections at riskNew Zealand's government is seeking to abolish its dedicated environment ministry to cut down on bureaucracy, a move critics say could dilute environmental protections.Under the plan, the department would be folded into a new mega-ministry" that will cover housing, urban development, transport, local government and the environment. Continue reading...
The government will hand over $10.8bn this financial year under the scheme that makes it cheaper for miners and other industries to use diesel and petrol
Without federal climate regulation, fossil fuel industry may be more vulnerable to local lawsuitsThe Trump administration's repeal of a foundational climate determination could clear a path for new litigation and policies targeting big oil, legal experts say.Earlier this month, Donald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule revoking the endangerment finding", a 2009 determination that established that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The move eliminated federal limits on climate-warming emissions from motor vehicles, and is expected to extend to all other pollution sources. Continue reading...
by Rachel Stevenson in Newlyn. Photographs by Lucy La on (#73TDX)
Taster days and training are offering teenagers an escape from a future of part-time, seasonal work - and giving a boost to a declining industryIt's mid-morning on a rare calm day in Newlyn, Cornwall. Will Roberts is back at the quayside with a catch of mackerel to unload, having set off from the harbour before dawn. At 22, he is something of a rarity here, one of a handful of young fishers running his own small commercial boat from the port.It's a magical feeling when you set out in the dark, with no one else around, and see the Milky Way in the sky above you," he says. I couldn't imagine working in an office or somewhere indoors, and not be surrounded by all of this."Potential recruits learn more about career opportunities at sea at a taster day for young people in Newlyn Continue reading...
With the rhetoric not matching the reality, future Olympics hosts need to forge clearer sustainable standardsBy the end of the 21st century, only eight of the 21 cities that have hosted the Winter Olympics are projected to be cold enough to reliably host the Games due to climate change. Challenges faced by Milano Cortina 2026 organisers such as producing artificial snow, establishing transport links between remote locations and building new infrastructure are likely to become more omnipresent at future editions.In response to a petition asking the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to prevent fossil fuel companies from sponsoring winter sports, the IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, said the governing body is having conversations in order to be better" in its approach to climate change. A New Weather Institute report estimated that the fossil fuel giant Eni, carmaker Stellantis and ITA Airways sponsoring Milano Cortina 2026 will induce an additional 40% to the Games' carbon footprint, enough to melt 3.2 square km of snow cover and 20 million tonnes of glacier ice. Continue reading...
As the drama shows, private firms no longer able to pollute the coast of England of Wales just switched to rivers insteadThere is a moment in Channel 4's drama Dirty Business when Julie Maughan holds the body of her dead child and lets out an anguished cry. It is as brutal as it is compelling.Her eight-year-old daughter Heather had just died in hospital, two weeks after playing in the sea on the beach at Dawlish Warren in Devon, where she contracted E coli O157, a bug which comes from raw sewage. She became ill with diarrhoea and blood loss. Transferred to Bristol children's hospital, her parents agreed to switch off her life-support machine after she suffered kidney failure and brain damage. Continue reading...
OpenAI CEO also downplayed concerns about how much water datacenters require at AI summit in IndiaThe OpenAI boss, Sam Altman, has tried to ease concerns about how much power is used by artificial intelligence models by comparing it to the amount of energy required by human development.People talk about how much energy it takes to train an AI model - but it also takes a lot of energy to train a human," Altman told the Indian Express recently while in India for the AI Impact summit. It takes about 20 years of life - and all the food you consume during that time - before you become smart." Continue reading...
Judgment in city of Boulder's lawsuit against Suncor Energy USA and ExxonMobil could affect wave of climate litigationThe US supreme court has decided to hear arguments in a climate accountability lawsuit, marking the first time the high court has weighed in on such a case. The decision could potentially hinder the wave of climate litigation the US has seen in recent years.It's not a good sign," said Pat Parenteau, a professor of environmental law at Vermont Law and Graduate School. Continue reading...
Company admits three pollution events that killed fish and insects in Pools Brook country park near ChesterfieldA water company has been fined more than 700,000 for repeatedly releasing sewage into a stream.Yorkshire Water was issued with the penalty after pleading guilty to three offences of sewage pollution in Pools Brook country park near Chesterfield. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#73SG1)
Weakened food security could tip into unrest after a cyber-attack, extreme weather or conflict, analysis findsOne shock could spark social unrest and even food riots in the UK, according to dozens of the country's top food experts, because chronic issues have left the food system a tinderbox".The group first identified a series of issues that are making access to food vulnerable in the UK, including the climate crisis, low incomes, poor farming policy and fragile just-in-time supply chains. These have left the UK dangerously exposed, the researchers said. Continue reading...
The Belgian ceremony attracts beekeepers from the Netherlands, France and Germany keen to boost dark bee numbers and stop the spread of the hybrid honeybeeEvery summer, 1,000 virgin queens descend on the Belgian town of Chimay. During the wedding flight", a male attaches to the female. His endophallus (penis equivalent) is torn off and he falls to the ground and dies. Mission accomplished.Beekeepers come and pick up their fertilised queens in small colourful hives, driving them back home, sometimes more than 300km away. They will use the genetic material gathered in south Belgium to build new colonies in the Netherlands, France and Germany. Continue reading...
Millions of gallons of raw sewage have been pouring into the water through a ruptured pipe since last monthDonald Trump approved a federal emergency declaration Saturday related to a sewer main break north of Washington DC that threatens to put a stink on the US's 250th anniversary celebrations in the US capital this summer.The president's action authorizes Fema to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population and to provide appropriate assistance to save lives, to protect property, public health and safety, and to lessen the threat of catastrophe," a release from the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Project Giving Back, set up in 2022 to help charities exhibit show gardens, says this year will be its lastChelsea flower show is looking for new charity sponsors after the mystery philanthropic couple who have spent more than 23m on show gardens end their support.Project Giving Back was set up by two anonymous donors in 2022, and since then it has paid for 63 gardens at the most prestigious horticultural event in the world, held each summer at the Royal Hospital gardens in south-west London. Continue reading...
Subspecies driven to extinction by hungry whalers returns after back breeding' programme using partial descendantsGiant tortoises, the life-giving engineers of remote small island ecosystems, are plodding over the Galapagos island of Floreana for the first time in more than 180 years.The Floreana giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger niger), a subspecies of the giant tortoise once found across the Galapagos, was driven to extinction in the 1840s by whalers who removed thousands from the volcanic island to provide a living larder during their hunting voyages. Continue reading...
Environmental groups warn that weakening air toxics and mercury standards will lead to higher health-related costsThe Trump administration announced on Friday it would roll back air regulations for power plants limiting mercury and hazardous air toxics at an event in Kentucky, a move it says will boost baseload energy but that public health groups say will harm public health for the most vulnerable groups in the US.Donald Trump's EPA has said that easing the pollution standards for coal plants would alleviate costs for utilities that run older coal plants at a time when demand for power is soaring amid the expansion of datacenters used for artificial intelligence. Continue reading...
Geoengineering does little to defuse most of the risks that really matter for people - and it runs the risk of making some harms worsePlanetary-scale solar geoengineering interventions involve the deliberate injection of either natural or artificial particulates into the stratosphere - stratospheric aerosol injection, or SAI - with a view to offset some of the global heating caused by greenhouse gases. If implemented, the technology would create a metaphorical thermostat for the planet. Such a thermostat is advocated on the grounds that controlling global temperature reduces the harms associated with the climate crisis.I wish to challenge this assertion. Continue reading...
A man in Catania, Sicily, trained his dog to dump rubbish bags by the roadside in an attempt to outsmart anti-fly-tipping cameras, municipal police have said. The 'canine courier' was caught on newly installed surveillance footage, prompting officers to post the clip on the city's official Facebook page with a pointed message: 'Inventiveness can never become an alibi for incivility.' The owner has since been identified and fined.Illegal dumping is a chronic problem across Italy, particularly in the south. Authorities recorded more than 9,300 waste-related offences in 2023 - a 66% increase on the previous year - as councils increasingly turn to camera traps and smart monitoring systems to catch offenders in the act
City of Catania calls ruse to avoid CCTV cameras installed to stop fly-tipping as cunning as it is doubly wrong'A man in Catania, Sicily, trained his dog to dump bags of rubbish by the roadside in an attempt to evade surveillance cameras installed to combat fly-tipping, municipal police have said.The episode was detailed in a post on the city of Catania's official Facebook page. Accompanying a video of the dog was a remark from the police that inventiveness can never become an alibi for incivility". Continue reading...
Krakow's ban on burning solid fuels plus subsidies for cleaner heating has led to clearer air and better healthAs a child, Marcel Mazur had to hold his breath in parts of Krakow thick with so much smoke you could see and smell it". Now, as an allergy specialist at Jagiellonian University Medical College who treats patients struggling to breathe, he knows all too well the damage those toxic gases do inside the human body.It's not that we have this feeling that nothing can be done. But it's difficult," Mazur said. Continue reading...
Government announces tougher measures to tackle unlicensed sites as prolific waste criminal' is ordered to pay 1.4mA new 33-strong drone unit is being deployed to investigate the scourge of illegal waste dumping across England, the government has announced.The improvements to the investigation of illegal waste dumping - which costs the UK economy 1bn a year - come as the ringleader of a major waste crime gang was ordered to pay 1.4m after being convicted at Birmingham crown court. Continue reading...
Government plans legislation giving landowners and tenants rights to cull deer to protect crops and propertyIt will be much easier to shoot deer in England under government plans that aim to curb the damage the animals are doing to the country's woodlands.Emma Reynolds, the environment secretary, plans to bring forward new legislation to give landowners and tenants legal rights to shoot deer to protect crops and property. Continue reading...
Forecasters predict more snow in Sierra Nevada mountains as climate crisis increases threat of dangerous conditionsAvalanche risks remain high in the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern California this week, following the deadliest snowslide the region has seen in modern times.The climate crisis has set the stage for more dangerous conditions, with sharper swings between dry periods and severe storms, according to experts, who have long warned that extremes will amplify as the world warms. Continue reading...
President's move, which also seeks immunity' for makers, faces backlash from health advocates and Maha coalitionDonald Trump has signed an executive order protecting production of glyphosate-based herbicides, such as Roundup, which some bodies and studies have linked to cancer and which are the subject of widespread US litigation.The president's move, which also seeks to provide immunity" for makers of the herbicides, was strongly criticized by health and environmental advocates including some figures in the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) coalition.This story is co-published with the New Lede, a journalism project of the Environmental Working Group Continue reading...
Arctesthes avatar moth, which won nearly half of the votes, was discovered in 2012 and is critically endangeredA tiny critically endangered moth, named after the Avatar films because of the proposed mining activity threatening its primary habitat, has been crowned New Zealand's bug of the year.The Avatar moth won by a wide margin, earning 5,192 of the more than 11,000 total votes cast. It won 2,269 more votes than the runner-up, the mahoenui giant wt, one of the world's largest insects. Other contenders included the wonderfully spiky hellraiser mite, the country's heaviest spider - the black tunnelweb - and a giant earthworm that glows in the dark. Continue reading...
The deregulation agenda being pushed by Germany's chancellor and Italy's prime minister is economically and ethically flawedWhen the European Union launched its green deal in 2019, putting into law the goal of climate neutrality by the middle of the century, it showed strategic foresight as well as global leadership. Russia's war in Ukraine has starkly underlined the extent to which the continent's energy security - and its future prosperity - is dependent on the transition away from fossil fuels. Lately, however, EU leaders' environmental approach appears to be echoing the youthful St Augustine's plea on chastity: make us greener, but not yet.The recent European Industry Summit in Antwerp made unusually big headlines thanks to Sir Jim Ratcliffe's xenophobic outburst over immigration. But it was also notable for fierce attacks on one of the most important pillars of EU environmental policy. The bloc's emissions trading system (ETS) - which makes polluters pay for the C02 they emit - has achieved dramatic results in driving down overall emissions since 2005 and encouraging green innovation. Worryingly, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, appeared to sympathise with demands from Sir Jim and other CEOs for a radical relaxation of the rules. Continue reading...
Law defines animals including horses, donkeys and mules as pets and is backed by opposition partiesItaly could soon ban horse meat as part of a law that would define equine animals including horses, donkeys and mules as pets, making it illegal to kill them.The bill has been drafted by Michela Vittoria Brambilla, a politician with Noi Moderati, a member of Giorgia Meloni's ruling coalition, and is backed by opposition parties. Continue reading...
by Constance Malleret in Rio de Janeiro. Photographs on (#73P5E)
A bill banning the sale and use of plastic and metallic glitter has yet to go through in Brazil as the capital's sandy shores bear cost of carnival's shineWhether it is embellishing elaborate costumes, delicately applied as eye makeup, or smeared across bare skin, glitter is everywhere at Rio de Janeiro's carnival in Brazil. The world's largest party, which ended on Wednesday, leaves a trail of sparkles in its wake.At one bloco last weekend, a huge sound truck and dancers in leopard print led thousands of revellers down the promenade at Flamengo beach. Among them was Bruno Fernandes, who had jazzed up an otherwise minimalist outfit of navy swimming briefs by smearing silver glitter over his body. Continue reading...
by Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent on (#73P34)
Exclusive: Cross-party group deeply concerned' power plant may have misled ministers and regulators over source of wood pelletsEd Miliband is under pressure from MPs to suspend subsidies worth 2m a day paid to the owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire after court documents cast doubt on the company's sustainability claims.A cross-party group of 14 MPs and peers have called on the energy minister to halt the subsidies for Britain's biggest power plant while the financial watchdog investigates the company's claims about how it sources the millions of tonnes of wood pellets burned to generate electricity. Continue reading...
Abandoned beaches, public health warning signs and seagulls eating human waste are now features of the popular coastline in New ZealandA tide of anger is rising in New Zealand's capital, Wellington, as the city's toilets continue to flush directly into the ocean more than two weeks after the catastrophic collapse of its wastewater treatment plant.Millions of litres of raw and partially screened sewage have been pouring into pristine reefs and a marine reserve along the south coast daily since 4 February, prompting a national inquiry, as the authorities struggle to get the decimated plant operational. Continue reading...
Some European leaders have criticised the organisation's murky funding and political mandate - key US politics stories from Wednesday 18 February at a glanceDozens of world leaders and national delegations will meet in Washington DC on Thursday for the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump's Board of Peace, as major European allies declined to join the group and criticised the organisation's murky funding and political mandate.The White House has indicated that the summit for the US president's new ad hoc council at the renamed Donald J Trump Institute of Peace will heavily function as a fundraising round, with Trump announcing on social media that countries have pledged more than $5bn toward rebuilding Gaza, which has been devastated in the war with Israel and remains in a humanitarian crisis. Continue reading...
Activist group says some members have been visited by agents, including by agency's terrorism taskforceEnvironmental group Extinction Rebellion said on Wednesday it was under federal US investigation and that some of its members had been visited by FBI agents, including from the agency's taskforce on extremism, in the last year.Asked for comment, the FBI said it could neither confirm nor deny conducting specific investigations, citing justice department policy. Continue reading...
A fried snack sustained protesters, and the aid continues amid fear and promises that ICE will leave the cityThe images coming out of Minneapolis over the past two months have looked like something from a Hollywood dystopian horror film: masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents armed with guns, pepper spray, and teargas coming to blows with everyday citizens bearing phones, whistles, signs and, perhaps most surprisingly, food to feed their fellow protesters.For Fatoun Ali and other Somali community members, sambusa was the weapon of choice. Last December, before prejudiced threats turned to bloodshed in the streets, they deployed this tasty east African staple - a fried, flaky, triangular-shaped pastry typically filled with ground meat, vegetables and spices (similar to south Asian samosas) - to combat the xenophobic rhetoric rapidly spreading across the Twin Cities. She estimates they bought and handed out hundreds of the simple snacks near community hubs, all in hopes of introducing others to the largest Somali diaspora community outside Africa. Continue reading...
While most hybrids are said to use one to two litres of fuel per 100km, a study claims they need six litres on averagePlug-in hybrid electric cars (PHEVs) use much more fuel on the road than officially stated by their manufacturers, a large-scale analysis of about a million vehicles of this type has shown.The Fraunhofer Institute carried out what is thought to be the most comprehensive study of its kind to date, using the data transmitted wirelessly by PHEVs from a variety of manufacturers while they were on the road. Continue reading...
Lawsuit from health and environmental justice groups challenges the EPA's rollback of the endangerment finding'More than a dozen health and environmental justice non-profits have sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its revocation of the legal determination that underpins US federal climate regulations.Filed in Washington DC circuit court, the lawsuit challenges the EPA's rollback of the endangerment finding", which states that the buildup of heat-trapping pollution in the atmosphere endangers public health and welfare and has allowed the EPA to limit those emissions from vehicles, power plants and other industrial sources since 2009. The rollback was widely seen as a major setback to US efforts to combat the climate crisis. Continue reading...
By repealing the EPA's determination that greenhouse gases threaten public health, the president is denying reality itselfThe climate crisis is killing people. These deaths are measurable, documented and ongoing. Concluding otherwise is just playing pretend. Studies explain the mechanics, but lived experience supplies the truth. The people who suffer the consequences see the fire rising and water closing in. They need their government's help.Despite that, the president of the United States stood at a microphone last Thursday and abdicated his duty to them. It has nothing to do with public health," he claimed about the climate crisis while announcing that the federal government would repeal the Environmental Protection Agency's endangerment finding", a determination that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare. This is all a scam, a giant scam."Jamil Smith is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Report records 65 unprovoked attacks - but annual drowning deaths in US alone exceed 4,000The number of people killed or bitten by sharks in unprovoked attacks globally increased significantly in 2025, a report published on Wednesday has found, while a single Florida county maintained its crown as the so-called shark bite capital of the world.The International Shark Attack File, compiled by the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida, recorded 65 unprovoked attacks worldwide, up from 47 during 2024, and an increase on the five-year average of 61. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Pensthorpe was believed to be home to just one individual but pair have been filmed grooming each otherNo one knows where they came from or how they ended up in Norfolk. But one thing is certain: now, there are two of them.Until last week, experts believed there was only one wild beaver living in Pensthorpe nature reserve, about 20 miles outside Norwich. But just in time for Valentine's Day, two were caught on camera going for a late-night swim together and grooming each other by the riverbank. Continue reading...
Less than a decade ago, the Balkan country had just one breeding pair of the eastern imperial species of raptor left. Now things are changing, thanks to the dogged work of conservationistsAt the start of every spring, before the trees in northern Serbia begin to leaf out, ornithologists drive across the plains of Vojvodina. They check old nesting sites of eastern imperial eagles, scan solitary trees along field margins, and search for signs of new nests.For years, the work of the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia (BPSSS) has been getting more demanding - and more rewarding. In 2017, Serbia was down to a single breeding pair. Last year, BPSSS recorded 19 breeding pairs, 10 of which successfully raised young. Continue reading...
Figures from Aviva also show number of homes being built in risky areas is risingOne in nine new homes in England built between 2022 and 2024 were constructed in areas that could now be at risk of flooding, according to new data.The figures show the number of homes being built in risky areas is on the rise - a previous analysis showed that between 2013 and 2022, one in 13 new homes were in potential flooding zones. Continue reading...
Thousands of lawsuits accuse the agrochemical maker of failing to warn people that its weedkiller could cause cancerThe agrochemical maker Bayer and attorneys for cancer patients announced a proposed $7.25bn settlement on Tuesday to resolve thousands of US lawsuits alleging the company failed to warn people that its popular weedkiller Roundup could cause cancer.The proposed settlement comes as the US supreme court is preparing to hear arguments on Bayer's assertion that the Environmental Protection Agency's approval of Roundup without a cancer warning should invalidate claims filed in state courts. That case would not be affected by the proposed settlement. Continue reading...
Users of Birdex get points for each bird they see and can compete with friends, with 200,000 sightings logged so farA new app has launched that aims to gamify birdwatching by allowing people to collect digital cards of UK bird species whenever they record seeing one.Users of Birdex accumulate points for each bird they see, with less common and rare species yielding the greatest rewards. It is possible to add friends and compete over bird sightings. The app has got birdwatchers talking online - though it has raised hackles among some for its use of AI-generated artwork. Continue reading...
by Ajit Niranjan Europe environment correspondent. on (#73MGK)
Aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across country with flooding under way or expected on Garonne, Maine and Loire riversFrance has issued red alerts for flooding in three departements as the aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across the country.Flood waters have inundated homes and isolated villages after the Garonne River overflowed its banks, with hydrologists warning that rain is falling on soils that have hit record-breaking levels of saturation. Continue reading...
by Karen McVeigh and Daniel Shailer in Shetland, Scot on (#73MGM)
Huge project by Norwegian-owned Scottish Sea Farms gets go-ahead amid concerns over the environmental cost of fish farming and threat to traditional way of lifeAt Collafirth, north Shetland, Sydney Johnson is unloading two-dozen bags of scallops by throwing them over his head like medicine balls to the pier above. Johnson, who has just finished a 10-hour shift on his boat, the Golden Shore, is concerned that plans for a new salmon farm will put fishers like him and his two sons out of business.They say it's just one farm," says Johnson. But it's one farm more. There's only so much water and we're at saturation point." Continue reading...
President says it is inappropriate for UK to be dealing with Gavin Newsom after Ed Miliband meets governor in LondonDonald Trump has vented his fury against a green energy deal between the British government and California's governor, Gavin Newsom, a likely future Democratic presidential candidate.The UK's got enough trouble without getting involved with Gavin Newscum," Trump said in an interview with Politico, using the derogatory nickname he reserves for Newsom. Gavin is a loser. Everything he's touched turns to garbage. His state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster." Continue reading...