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Exclusive: Angela Eagle tells utility bosses next price review ‘must focus on value for money for customers’
Ministers will make an unprecedented intervention in water bills and how companies prioritise investment, directing bosses to bring down costs and stop leaks and sewage overflows.
Angela Eagle, the environment secretary, has told suppliers in England and Wales she plans to intervene in the next price review – conducted by the water regulator, Ofwat.
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This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world
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People succumbed to heat at highest rates in Malta, Italy and Hungary, with health issues, loneliness and poverty exacerbating toll
Heat killed a record 50,000 people in European cities this summer, new research suggests, with scientists blaming climate breakdown for two in every three of the deaths.
Morgues and funeral homes filled with bodies from June to August as the heat added by planet-baking pollution cut short an extra 32,000 lives in urban areas, the researchers found. Hot days pushed vulnerable bodies into overdrive and warm nights prevented them from recovering.
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Company ordered to stop work at two sites in country, which has found itself at forefront of tech firms’ latest push
Behind a wire fence lies a vast gaping wound of earth. Before Google’s arrival a few months ago, an estimated quarter of a million trees occupied the 330 hectares (815 acres) of forest near the town of Muhos in rural northern Finland. Now they are all gone.
After the tech company illegally stripped the entire area to build a datacentre – taking even the top soil with it – all that remains is a vast expanse of mud indented with the trail marks of machinery, puddles and mounds of earth, roots and branches. Residents say that brown water flowing off the site is going into a stream that feeds the Oulujoki River.
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People near south Wales river were told to keep windows and doors shut after thousands of litres of kerosene from a GE Aerospace site got into the water
Oily slicks of kerosene still appeared to be leaking into the River Taff this week, several days after a breachof thousands of litres was spotted by members of the public.
The breach into the Welsh river was identified last Friday, after people reported strong chemical odours emanating from it. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) officers arrived on site soon afterwards to identify the source of the pollution and were assisted by the south Wales fire and rescue service, which placed absorbent mats and booms to contain as much kerosene as possible.
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An app and a camera phone are all that’s needed at more than 200 spots to help researchers monitor coastal areas
The shoreline changes with the weather. Tracking these changes over time is a labour-intensive task, and an army of citizen scientists with camera phones is a great asset.
The CoastSnap project started in Australia in 2017 and has spread to beaches worldwide. You may have spotted the setup while out walking along the coast: a cradle to rest your phone on while taking a picture and a sign explaining where to send the snap.
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Falmouth, Cornwall:The rainbow sea slug is a bizarre and breathtaking animal, and with warming seas it’s gaining a toehold in the south-west
I have never seen a species quite so flamboyant in appearance. A couple of centimetres in length, it was curled beneath the submerged rock like a piece of gaudy costume jewellery.
When the cry went up that one had been found, I had to prevent myself from breaking into a run as I navigated the slippery seaweed-covered boulders to catch my first glimpse of this rarity.
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Electrifying your block of flats could cut emissions and save money. Don’t wait to plan the change
Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint
Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at [email protected]
Around Australia, homes are getting off gas. Gas cooktops are being swapped for induction stoves, gas hot water replaced by heat pumps, and gas space heating with reverse cycle air conditioners.
In combination with solar panels, batteries and better insulation, electrification saves money, cuts emissions and makes homes healthier to live in.
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UK allies have long urged people to stockpile supplies for a crisis. How are people from France to Australia being advised to prepare?
The UK has told people to fill their pantries with food for three days in case of catastrophe, joining a host of countries urging citizens to ready themselves for core systems failing.
Such advice, once dismissed as the preserve of preppers, has become more common in government circles as climate breakdown worsens weather extremes and geopolitical tensions turn cyber-attacks and sabotage into a regular occurrence.
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Far-right presidential candidate is popular among those who believe more mining can help revitalise local economies
It was the night before the first round of Brazil’s presidential election and Rosimari Monteiro was so excited she couldn’t sleep. The 38-year-old spent hours tossing and turning at her home in the Amazon town of Mucajaí before rising at dawn to cast her vote.
“I was the first person to vote at my polling station … I voted 22, so we got off to a positive start,” recalls Monteiro, as she stands in her sitting room with her two young daughters.
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