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Lobbyists argued it was unfair for their industry to be treated the same as others as end product – oil and gas – inevitably produced emissions
Experts have accused the fossil fuel industry of seeking special treatment after lobbyists argued greenhouse gas emissions from oilfields should be treated differently to those from other industries.
The government is embroiled in a row over whether to allow a massive new oilfield, Rosebank, to go ahead, with some cabinet members arguing it could boost growth and others concerned it could make the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 impossible to reach. Labour made a manifesto commitment to halt new North Sea licensing, but Rosebank and some other projects had already been licensed and were awaiting final approval when the party won the general election.
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I’m campaigning for legal protection for cleaner fish, because no one has done a proper assessment of the impact of removing them from Scottish reefs
I was in my 50s when I first became aware that cleaner fish existed, when I met a fisher who sold them to Scottish salmon farms. Each year, around the world, such farms use more than 60 million cleaner fish to eat – or “clean” – parasites off other fish. But the natural habitat of the cleaner fish is the reef.
On a reef, each cleaner fish has clients that visit them to have their parasites removed – sometimes much bigger fish or predators such as sharks and rays. I was intrigued to discover the cleaner fish would gently massage these clients with their fins and make sure they were comfortable.
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The chemical compounds that block UV rays may lead to bleaching of coral and a decrease in fish fertility
Urgent investigation is needed into the potential impact sunscreen is having on marine environments, according to a new report.
Sunscreens contain chemical compounds, known as pseudo persistent pollutants, which block the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays and can lead to bleaching and deformity in coral or a decrease in fish fertility.
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Discovery of pest in UK raises fears for Sitka spruce, which accounts for half of country’s commercial plantations
A beetle that has previously devastated Norway spruce populations across continental Europe has been found to be equally attracted to the Sitka spruce, a finding experts say could have significant implications for commercial forestry.
The eight-toothed European spruce bark beetle has now been found in the UK, raising fears for the Sitka, which accounts for a quarter of Britain’s forest cover and half its commercial forestry plantations.
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Deep Dale, Derbyshire: Hazels are a local speciality, but my favourites are the hawthorns, which are smothered in vegetation from trunk to tip
The bottom part of this Plantlife reserve, where it meets Monsal Dale, has some of the finest trees I’ve found in the Peak District. Not for their age or massive size, but for what you might call their entangled condition. A recent find is an old pollarded horse chestnut whose sinuous limbs wave wildly, and every one of them is completely moss-and-fern coated.
If it didn’t also look so tough and monumentally static, the whole thing could easily resemble kelp swaying in the tide. The late Tony Hare, co-founder of the organisation that owns Deep Dale, invented a phrase: “As mad as a tree.” In this instance it feels apt.
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Researchers say the animals could keep red deer numbers under control, leading to storage of 1m tonnes of CO2
Reintroducing wolves in the Scottish Highlands could lead to an expansion of native woodland, which could take in and store 1m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, researchers have suggested.
A study led by researchers at the University of Leeds said that reintroducing the species into the Cairngorms, as well as the south-west, north-west and central Highlands could help curb the problem of red deer eating tree saplings, which stops natural woodland regeneration.
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Mirrorscape, an intricate sand sculpture by French artist Théo Mercier, is a ghostly scene of decay that resembles the aftermath of a disaster – or perhaps ‘a fossil from the future’
Théo Mercier, the French visual artist, choreographer and stage director, has spent months in Tasmania taking photos of junk.
In Mirrorscape, an exhibition that opened on the weekend at Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art (Mona), he and an international team of expert sculptors – Kevin Crawford, Enguerrand David, Sue McGrew and Leonardo Ugolini – used 80 tonnes of compacted sand to recreate the scenes of decay and detritus he found, serving them as a mirror of our own ruin. It’s a ghostly scene of domestic, environmental and industrial decay in still life, and it’s beautiful.
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Despite government efforts, armed groups control many remote areas. Now researchers are caught in the crosshairs
Raul*, a biologist from Quito, has been leading conservation projects in the Chocó rainforest in north-east Ecuador for more than 20 years. It has not been easy, he says, recalling the threats he has received over the years for reporting illegal hunters and loggers in reserves, but he never considered giving up.
Last year, however, tensions in the area escalated after violence soared on the country’s coast. Accounts of almost daily killings in the cities of Esmeraldas and Guayaquil emerged as gangs appeared to fight over territory, while forced recruitment in rural areas increased, as did extortions, known locally as vacunas,or vaccines.
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The Eaton fire destroyed nearly half of the Black households in Altadena, wiping out businesses and wealth
A memorial service early this month for three Black victims of the Eaton fire was marked by simmering anger at Donald Trump’s choice not to visit Altadena, a suburb with a historic Black community disproportionately affected by the disaster.
It’s one of many decisions that have left residents of Altadena, a racially and economically diverse suburb of Los Angeles, worried about political and financial neglect in the aftermath of the fires.
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Robert Taylor recently lost his wife to a long-term illness he linked to chemicals produced by a nearby plant, and now the Trump administration is preparing to scrap pollution reforms in the area
It is only February and already Robert Taylor is facing his second seismic life event of the year.
Both are wrapped in grief and angst, tied indelibly to the land that surrounds his home in the community of Reserve, Louisiana.
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