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

Minister to announce consultation that will exclude certain areas from housing, solar panels and onshore windValuable farmland will be protected from housing, solar panels and onshore wind under a new land use framework, the government has announced.The environment secretary, Steve Reed, will announce a consultation into how the limited land in England should be used and where is best to farm, restore nature or build infrastructure. Continue reading...

Tiny plastic pollution more than 50% higher in placentas from preterm births than in those from full-term birthsA study has found microplastic and nanoplastic pollution to be significantly higher in placentas from premature births than in those from full-term births.The levels were much higher than previously detected in blood, suggesting the tiny plastic particles were accumulating in the placenta. But the higher average levels found in the shorter pregnancies were a big surprise" for the researchers, as longer terms could be expected to lead to more accumulation. Continue reading...

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Officials are making clean-energy moves in California, New York and beyond, and Republican states will be integral tooAs the Trump administration rolls back decades-old environmental protections and pulls Biden-era incentives for renewable energy, state-level advocates and officials are preparing to fill the void in climate action.Some state leaders are preparing to legally challenge the president's environmental rollbacks, while others are testifying against them in Congress. Meanwhile, advocates are pushing for states to meet their ambitious climate goals using methods and technologies that don't require federal support. Continue reading...

Road outside high court blocked in protest at draconian' sentences given to 16 Just Stop Oil political prisoners'Hundreds of protesters have blocked the road outside the high court in London, where the appeals of 16 jailed climate activists are being heard, in condemnation of the corruption of democracy and the rule of law".As England's most senior judge heard arguments in the appeal of the sentences of the Just Stop Oil activists, who are serving a combined 41 years in jail, their supporters sat on the road in silence holding placards proclaiming them political prisoners". Continue reading...

While the US president seems hellbent on securing Greenland, local experts advise that achieving control of its potentially lucrative shipping route will be no mean featIf shipping boss Niels Clemensen were to offer any advice to Donald Trump or anyone else trying to get a foothold in Greenland, it would be this: Come up here and see what you are actually dealing with."Sitting on the top floor of his beamed office in Nuuk harbour, where snow is being flung around by strong winds in the mid-morning darkness outside and shards of ice pass by in the fast-flowing water, the chief executive of Greenland's only shipping company, Royal Arctic Line, says: What you normally see as easy [setting up operations] in the US or Europe is not the same up here." As well as the cold, ice and extremely rough seas, the world's biggest island does not have a big road network or trains, meaning everything has to be transported either by sea or air. I'm not saying that it's not possible. But it's going to cost a lot of money." Continue reading...

Court says UK government green light for Rosebank and Jackdaw permits does not take into account CO emissionsThe decision to greenlight a giant new oilfield off Shetland has been ruled unlawful by the courts, in a major win for climate action that scientists say is urgently needed.The proposed Rosebank development - the UK's biggest untapped oilfield - had been given the go-ahead in 2023 under the previous government. Continue reading...

Our rivers, our wildlife, the air we breathe: the government is sacrificing all to the insatiable god of GDP - and mocking our objectionsI can scarcely believe I'm writing this, but it's hard to dodge the conclusion. After 14 years of environmental vandalism, it might have seemed impossible for Labour to offer anything but improvement. But on green issues, this government is worse than the Tories.The last prime minister to insist that growth should override every other consideration, and to fling insults at anyone who disagreed, was Liz Truss. She called those of us seeking to defend the living world an anti-growth coalition", voices of decline" and enemies of enterprise" who don't understand aspiration". Continue reading...

Populations have been falling for decades, even in tracts of forest undamaged by humans. Experts have spent two decades trying to understand what is going onSomething was happening to the birds at Tiputini. The biodiversity research centre, buried deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon, has always been special. It is astonishingly remote: a tiny scattering of research cabins in 1.7m hectares (4.2m acres) of virgin forest. For scientists, it comes about as close as you can to observing rainforest wildlife in a world untouched by human industry.Almost every year since his arrival in 2000, ecologist John G Blake had been there to count the birds. Rising before the sun, he would record the density and variety of the dawn chorus. Slowly walking the perimeter of the plots, he noted every species he saw. And for one day every year, he and other researchers would cast huge mist" nets that caught flying birds in their weave, where they would be counted, untangled and freed. Continue reading...

Solution to stop River Severn fish being sucked into cooling systems taking too long to resolve, EDF saysThe owner of Hinkley Point C in Somerset has warned that the much-delayed construction of Britain's first new nuclear power plant in a generation could face further hold-ups because of a row over its impact on local fish.The nuclear developer, EDF Energy, warned that the lengthy process" to agree to a solution with local communities to protect fish in the River Severn had the potential to delay the operation of the power station". Continue reading...

Rare snowfall leads to 17 turtles stranded and suffering from condition before being brought to center for rehabbingAn arctic blast that brought rare snowfall to northern Florida last week left green sea turtles as far south as St Augustine suffering from a condition known as cold-stunning.Seventeen sea turtles that were found stranded along Florida's north-eastern Atlantic coast were brought to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, north of West Palm Beach, where they are rehabbing. Continue reading...

Emission targets could derail project as campaigners say net zero commitment cannot be met if expansion happens

As UK chancellor backs expansion at London's biggest airport, we assess the possible environmental impactsMore climate-heating carbon emissions, more people enduring noisy aircraft over their homes and, most likely, more air pollution - these would be the environmental impacts of building a third runway at Heathrow airport, a plan that has been backed by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves.Despite many years of lobbying for a third runway, there is no current proposal that can be analysed for its environmental impacts. However, the last proposal was extensively assessed by the Airports Commission (AC) in 2017 and remains relevant. Continue reading...

Jose Mari Olano says sorry after cameras appear to capture him scrolling through bottles of wines and spiritsA People's party (PP) politician in the city of Valencia has apologised after cameras appeared to capture him shopping online for wine and spirits as his fellow city councillors debated additional funding for areas affected by October's deadly floods.Nearly three months after flash floods ravaged part of the Valencia region, turning streets into rivers, sweeping away cars and killing more than 220 people, many continue to reel from the worst natural disaster to hit Spain this century. Continue reading...

Saket Soni, founder of Resilience Force, says skilled restoration workers, with a range of legal statuses, are doing the arduous task of repairing US cities affected by disastersTrump's immigration crackdown could cause chaos for communities trying to rebuild after devastating wildfires and floods, as the vast majority of skilled disaster-restoration workers are immigrants, a leading expert has warned.Republican and Democratic voters across the US are reeling from climate-fueled disasters, with thousands of homes and businesses destroyed and damaged by the ongoing fires in Los Angeles, as well as major hurricanes in Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Georgia last year. Continue reading...

If the courts let 16 climate activists' draconian sentences stand this week, we are no better than an authoritarian state

Labour is constantly torn between its self-image as a party of radical change and its fear of alienating voters with the wrong kind of radicalismWhen Keir Starmer became Labour leader he was unpractised in politics. For advice, he naturally turned to someone who had done his job before and with whom he had a good personal rapport: Ed Miliband.As Starmer grew in confidence he stayed friendly with Miliband, deferential to his status as a veteran of government and appreciative of his sincere enthusiasm for the energy and climate brief. But the new leader was also ruthlessly focused on winning power, and increasingly alert to toxicities in the Labour brand. He was persuaded that the journey to Downing Street could be completed only by jettisoning policy baggage and paying less heed to people associated with past failure. Continue reading...

Whale watchers capture rare footage of miles-long cluster of dolphins just having a great time'A miles-long cluster of dolphins has been filmed leaping and gliding across Carmel Bay off the central coast of California, forming an unusual super pod" of more than 1,500 of the marine creatures.They were on the horizon I feel like as far as I could see," said Capt Evan Brodsky, with Monterey Bay Whale Watch, who captured drone footage of Friday's huge gathering of Risso's dolphins. Continue reading...

Cold weather causes leak at Johnstown Flood Museum, which commemorates 1889 catastrophe that killed 2,209A museum dedicated to commemorating the victims of a 19th-century flood in Pennsylvania has temporarily closed due to flooding - caused on the inside of the facility by a water leak stemming from recent, extremely cold weather, officials said on Monday.Fortunately for its patrons, the Johnstown Flood Museum said on its social media accounts that nothing of historic significance was affected" by the interior inundation. Continue reading...

Research provides more evidence that food is a potentially overlooked exposure route to toxic forever chemicals'Produce grown in home gardens around a North Carolina PFAS plant contain dangerous levels of the chemicals, new research has found, providing more evidence that food is a potentially overlooked exposure route to the compounds, especially when grown near polluters.The study's authors say findings point to much of the contamination resulting from air emissions, which research increasingly suggests is an underestimated source of PFAS pollution. Continue reading...

Lib Dem Tim Farron seeks law to protect fund as Treasury tries to take control of 11mFines from water companies that pollute rivers must be ringfenced by law to be spent on restoring water quality in rivers, MPs will urge.The Treasury is trying to take control of 11m in fines from water companies, which was intended for small charities to restore rivers, in a move criticised by river restoration campaigners as appalling". Continue reading...

The Hollywood actor was stopped mid-scene as a man and a woman climbed on stage at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Hayley Walsh, 42, a lecturer from Nottingham, and Richard Weir, 60, a mechanical engineer from Tynemouth, set off a confetti cannon and held up a banner referring to the 1.5C global temperature rise as a 'shipwreck', a nod to the Shakespeare play that features a ship sinking at sea

Two protesters walk on stage to boos and some cheers during performance of The Tempest in West EndTwo Just Stop Oil supporters have disrupted a West End performance of The Tempest starring Sigourney Weaver.In a video shared to social media by the climate protest group, Hayley Walsh and Richard Weir can be seen walking on stage where Weaver, 75, was performing at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane on Monday. Continue reading...

Across the continent, millions of hectares of land are being used and run by local people coexisting with wildlife in spaces where both can thrive

Chancellor reassures Labour colleagues that climate concerns go hand in hand' with economic ambitionsRachel Reeves has told MPs the government needs to go further and faster" to increase economic growth, as Downing Street sought to reassure people concerned about the environment that net zero and increasing output go hand in hand".The chancellor has unnerved some Labour MPs and green campaigners with her increasingly punchy rhetoric about growth being a priority over preventing climate change, as she strives to improve the UK's anaemic forecasts and drive up living standards. Continue reading...

An economic shift raises alarming questions about government vision, priorities and commitment to transformative policiesTo hear Labour's economic message, one might wonder if Downing Street has developed an unlikely admiration for Liz Truss. Given its focus on growth through cutting planning regulations, reducing welfare budgets and removing dissenting bureaucrats, some believe Labour is in danger of echoing not just the spirit but the substance of Ms Truss's brief, ill-fated tenure. For a party that rose to power criticising the Tory right's ideological misadventures, this shift in tone is striking.Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves may see Labour's sinking poll ratings as reason to align with their opponents, adopting policies - like curbing legal challenges to planning decisions - few rightwingers would contest. In a speech later this week, Ms Reeves plans to give the go-ahead for a third runway at Heathrow, a divisive choice even within Labour that has earned support from the Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch.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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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