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Environmental campaign groups took joint action against decision to approve carbon budget delivery plan
The UK government’s climate action plan is unlawful, the high court has ruled, as there is not enough evidence that there are sufficient policies in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The energy secretary, Claire Coutinho, will now be expected to draw up a revised plan within 12 months. This must ensure that the UK achieves its legally binding carbon budgets and its pledge to cut emissions by more than two-thirds by 2030, both of which the government is off track to meet.
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Exclusive: decision to grant licences condemned by critics as a stunt that shows Tories are ‘playing politics with climate’
Fossil fuel companies will be allowed to explore for oil and gas under offshore wind-power sites for the first time, the government will announce on Friday, in a move that campaigners said is further proof that ministers are abandoning the climate agenda.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates North Sea oil and gas production, will confirm that it is granting licences to about 30 companies to look for hydrocarbons on sites earmarked for future offshore windfarms.
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Forty local authorities will leave some grass verges and parks uncut as part of annual wildlife-friendly event
Once upon a time, an unkempt front lawn could have landed you in trouble with the neighbours. But now, councils are telling UK households to put away their lawnmower for No Mow May.
The one-month celebration of unmown gardens and parks was started in 2019 by the nature charity Plantlife, which encourages people to let grass and wildflowers grow and identify any interesting plants that spring up from the lawn.
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Unesco joint research dating back 15 years found violence and intimidation against about 750 reporters and 44 murders
More than 70% of environmental journalists have been attacked for their work since 2009, according to a Unesco report, which warns of rising threats against those covering the climate crisis.
At least 749 environmental journalists have faced violence and intimidation in the last 15 years, the UN body found. It said that 44 reporters were murdered between 2009 and 2023 but that resulted in just five convictions.
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Appeal tribunal orders firm to share details on hundreds of thousands of tonnes of outflows into North Sea
A water company that tried to keep secret details of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of raw sewage dischargesinto the sea has been ordered by an appeal tribunal to release the data in the public interest.
Northumbrian Water has repeatedly refused to release details about the scale of raw sewage dischargesinto the North Sea from an outflow at its pumping station in Whitburn, after a campaigner asked under freedom of information and environmental information regulations.
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As the climate crisis forces people to abandon their land in Rajasthan, a new industry has sprung up in the desert state, with thousands of gaily decorated vans setting off to sell ice-cream across the country
The parched villages of Gangapur in the desert state of Rajasthan have a new season in their calendar. Between November and February, car workshops along the town’s dusty mile-long market open before sunrise, cylindrical stainless-steel food containers are put on display, and traders stock up on chocolate and strawberry syrups.
Come March, the villagers start preparing to migrate. In the workshops, thousands of vehicles are converted into vans for selling a variety of ice-cream, from plain condensed milk flavoured with cardamom to chocolate, vanilla and pistachio, while local farmers turned dessert makers have their old mini-trucks serviced in readiness for the drive to distant towns and cities, where they will sell the sweet treat for the next nine months.
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Price and cleanliness are key to recycling fashion – and friends, charities, theatre groups and even museums will take quality castoffs
Selling your clothes isn’t just great for the environment, it also helps free up space in your wardrobe (for more secondhand clothes).
When asked for tips for selling unwanted clothing, Guardian readers suggest online marketplaces including Facebook, Vinted and eBay. But first, consider selling or giving to friends who might be the same size.
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Mutualités Libres among 140 health and environment experts calling for more clean air measures
One of Belgium’s mutual health insurers has been taking a closer look at the country’s three low emission zones.
Dr Luk Bruyneel, a health and economics expert at Mutualités Libres, explained: “As a health insurance fund, we have to protect the health of our members. As air pollution is a major health risk, we want to contribute evidenceto the debate. Health insurance data for our 2.3 million members allows us to produce high-quality studies on health risks from air pollution.”
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From excessive travel to food waste, weddings can have a huge carbon footprint. Here’s how to plan an eco-friendly celebration
A wedding is a couple’s big day. Unfortunately, it can also have a big carbon footprint.
The average American wedding creates around 60 metric tons of CO2 – the carbon equivalent of 71 round-trip flights from New York to LA. You’d need to plant roughly 60 trees and let them grow for 100 years to sequester that amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. And with more than 2m marriages taking place in the US alone in 2022, the wedding industry’s environmental impact adds up.
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Amsterdam is home to 45,000 sq metres of ‘blue-green’ roofs, which absorb rainwater and allow it to be used by building residents to water plants and flush toilets
You might visit Amsterdam for its canals, and who could blame you, really. But the truly interesting waterways aren’t under your feet – they’re above your head.
Beautiful green roofs have popped up all over the world: specially selected plants growing on structures designed to manage the extra weight of biomass. Amsterdam has taken that one step further with blue-green roofs, specially designed to capture rainwater. One project, the resilience network of smart, innovative, climate-adaptive rooftops (Resilio), has covered more than 9,000 sq metres (100,000 sq ft) of Amsterdam’s roofs, including 8,000 sq metres on social housing complexes. Citywide, the blue-green roof coverage is even bigger, estimated at more than 45,000 sq metres.
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