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Companies can sue governments for closing oilfields and mines – and the risk of huge damages is already stopping countries from passing green laws, ministers say
In the mountains of Transylvania, a Canadian company makes plans for a vast gold and silver mine. The proposal – which involves razing four mountain tops – sparks a national outcry, and the Romanian government pulls its support.
After protests from local communities, the Italian government bans drilling for oil within 12 miles of its shoreline. A UK fossil fuel firm has to dismantle its oilfield.
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Boom in fixing rather than throwing away items creates jobs and cuts waste, emissions and costs
There is a pause in the hubbub of conversation in the workshop and everyone watches as a young man plugs in the vacuum cleaner that just minutes earlier had been in several pieces on his workbench.
As the machine whirs into life, the people in the room break out into muted cheers and clapping. There are smiles all round.
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Scientists called the news ‘particularly worrying’ because ice reflects sunlight and cools the planet
Global sea ice fell to a record low in February, scientists have said, a symptom of an atmosphere fouled by planet-heating pollutants.
The combined area of ice around the north and south poles hit a new daily minimum in early February and stayed below the previous record for the rest of the month, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday.
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Blue Marine Foundation charity asks high court to declare quota decision unlawful amid concern over sustainability of fish stocks
At the start of 2024, Jerry Percy, who led the New Under Ten Fishermen’s Association, dedicated to small boats, said he started to receive lots of calls from members. “They were calling my office to report that a lack of fish in the inshore grounds were putting their livelihoods in peril,” he said.
The fishers said they had noticed a depletion of species such as pollack, typically caught off Britain’s coasts.
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Study finds wealthy have larger carbon footprints but are uniquely positioned to have positive effects
Better-off Britons are well placed to accelerate the transition towards low-carbon technologies, but only if they are prepared to curb their excessive consumption to lower their outsized carbon footprints, a study has found.
Researchers found people from the richest 10% in the UK were more likely to invest in electric vehicles, heat pumps and other clean energy alternatives, and were more likely to support green policies.
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The collaboration will be outlined at a summit in Liverpool, which aims to reduce trade barriers created by Brexit
The UK and Ireland have announced closer collaboration on subsea energy infrastructure to “harness the full potential” of the Irish and Celtic seas as part of ongoing efforts to reset post-Brexit relations.
The countries will enter into a new data-sharing arrangement to lay the groundwork for connections between the growing number of offshore windfarms and onshore national energy networks. They say it will cut red tape and minimise “the burden of maritime and environmental consent processes for developers”.
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Caroline Cotto’s research group taste-tests meat alternatives so plant-based companies can attract new customers – and help the climate
I am sitting in a Manhattan restaurant on a frigid Thursday in January, eating six mini servings of steak and mashed potatoes, one after another. The first steak I am served has a nice texture but is sort of unnaturally reddish. The second has a great crispy sear on the outside, but leaves behind a lingering chemical aftertaste. The next is fine on its own, but I imagine would be quite delicious shredded, drenched in barbecue sauce and served on a bun with vinegary pickles and a side of slaw.
If you peeked into this restaurant, you’d see nothing out of the ordinary – just a diverse range of New Yorkers huddled over plates of food. But everyone present is here for more than just a hot meal. We’re participating in a blind taste test of plant- (or sometimes mushroom-) based steaks, organized by a group of people who hope that better-tasting meat alternatives just might be a key to fighting the climate crisis.
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The term ‘polycrisis’ has gained traction as we face one disaster after another. It’s overwhelming – but diagnosing the catastrophe is the first step to addressing it
Two months into 2025, the sense of dread is palpable. In the US, the year began with a terrorist attack; then came the fires that ravaged a city, destroying lives, homes and livelihoods. An extremist billionaire came to power and began proudly dismantling the government with a chainsaw. Once-in-a-century disasters are happening more like once a month, all amid devastating wars and on the heels of a pandemic.
The word “unprecedented” has become ironically routine. It feels like we’re stuck in a relentless cycle of calamity, with no time to recover from one before the next begins.
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Four beavers were legally released at Purbeck Heath in Dorset in what experts say is a huge step for national nature recovery
The sun was shining, people were gingerly paddling in the sea and dogs were being walked up and down the coast – a typical day on the beautiful Dorset coast. But the beachgoers probably didn’t know that just a few minutes inland, history was being made.
On Wednesday, at the National Trust’s Purbeck Heath nature reserve, four beavers were released from crates and crawled into Little Sea, a 33-hectare lake. They are the first beavers to be legally released in England, after 400 years of absence and a fight to return them to the landscape.
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The island is being sued by a mining company over its decision, and faces paying nine times its annual budget in damages if it loses
From the iceberg-filled bay, the mountains above the town of Narsaq, in south-west Greenland, appear unremarkable. In the September warmth, clumps of grass cling to the smooth, grey peaks shaped over centuries by an enormous ice cap that lurks behind the fjords on the horizon.
Brightly coloured homes are scattered around the shoreline below, home to a community of just over 1,300 people. Were it not for a mining outhouse on the edge of town, there would be little indication of the potential riches in the rock.
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