GMB and Prospect say government needs greater focus on green energy amid political shift away from net zero commitments
The Labour government needs to ramp up the creation of green jobs or risk workers being tempted to vote for parties opposing the shift to net zero, two major unions have said.
The GMB and Prospect, who between them represent tens of thousands of energy workers, said there needs to be more of a focus on increasing green jobs as the fossil fuel industry is increasingly phased out.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
07/23/2025 - 13:00
07/23/2025 - 10:00
As Senate establishes inquiry into the ‘human-mediated disaster’, a report is calling for more long-term action
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Scientists are warning the wildlife impacts of a marine heatwave that has driven a catastrophic algal bloom off South Australia are likely to be equivalent to those from the black summer bushfires, and demand a similar response from governments.
Experts from five Australian universities say “one of the worst marine disasters in living memory” requires rapid investigation by federal and state governments to identify any at-risk species and fund emergency interventions if necessary.
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07/23/2025 - 09:46
Landmark opinion says those that fail to prevent climate harm could be liable for compensation and restitution
States must tackle fossil fuels, the world’s top court has ruled, and failing to prevent harm to the climate could result in them being ordered to pay reparations.
In a landmark advisory opinion published on Wednesday, the international court of justice (ICJ) said countries must prevent harm to the climate system and that failing to do so could result in their having to pay compensation and make other forms of restitution.
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07/23/2025 - 09:00
Study finds that only 9.5% of fungal biodiversity hotspots fell within existing protected areas
The underground networks of fungi that underpin the planet’s ecosystems needs urgent conservation action by politicians, a research organisation has said.
Scientists from the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (Spun) have created the first high-resolution biodiversity maps of Earth’s underground mycorrhizal fungal ecosystems.
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07/23/2025 - 06:36
Speaking to Ruth Rogers, the actor took aim at the film industry’s lack of sustainability, noting he ‘could feed a family with the amount I’m eating’ when bulking up for film roles
Benedict Cumberbatch has called the Hollywood film industry “grossly wasteful”, taking particular issue with its squandering of resources in the aid of set building, lighting – and bulking up physiques for blockbusters.
“It’s horrific eating beyond your appetite,” Cumberbatch told Ruth Rogers on her food-focused podcast, Ruthie’s Table 4, adding that when he was shooting Marvel’s Doctor Strange, he would eat five meals a day. In addition, he would snack on boiled eggs, almonds and cheese, in order to try to ingest enough protein to transform his body.
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07/23/2025 - 00:00
Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Tory fantasy of a post-Brexit bonfire of regulations is coming true. Our bodies and ecosystems will pay the price
It’s what the extreme right of the Tory party wanted from Brexit: to tear down crucial public protections, including those that defend us from the most brutal and dangerous forms of capital. The Conservatives lost office before they were able to do their worst. But never mind, because Labour has now picked up the baton.
A month ago, so quietly that most of us missed it, the government published a consultation on deregulating chemicals. While most consultations last for 12 weeks, this one runs for eight, half of which cover the holiday period – it closes on 18 August. The intention is set out at the beginning: to reduce “costs to business”. This, as repeated statements by Keir Starmer make clear, means tearing up the rules.
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
On Tuesday 16 September, join George Monbiot, Mikaela Loach and other special guests at the Guardian’s climate assembly, live at the Barbican in London and livestreamed globally. Book tickets here or at Guardian.Live
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07/22/2025 - 23:00
Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planet
Being surrounded and yelled at about “misrepresenting reality” is not how serious United Nations-hosted negotiations are meant to proceed. But that is what happened to Prof Bethanie Carney Almroth during talks about a global treaty to slash plastic pollution in Ottawa, Canada. The employees of a large US chemicals company “formed a ring” around her, she says.
At another event in Ottawa, Carney Almroth was “harassed and intimidated” by a plastic packaging representative, who barged into the room and shouted that she was fearmongering and pushing misinformation. That meeting was an official event organised by the UN. “So I filed the harassment reports with the UN,” said Carney Almroth. “The guy had to apologise, and then he left the meeting. He was at the next meeting.”
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07/22/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 23 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00143-4
Substantial gains and little downside from farming of Totoaba macdonaldi
07/22/2025 - 20:00
Deal struck in 1980s refunds about half of what the US multinational fossil fuel company paid in royalties, documents show
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The Australian government faces having to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the American oil and gas company Chevron to help it clean up oil wells on Barrow Island, in Western Australia, under a deal made in the 1980s.
The Western Australian government also faces a hefty bill – estimated to be $129m – to help repair an offshore nature reserve where about 900 wells have been drilled over the past six decades.
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07/22/2025 - 08:40
António Guterres says ‘sun is rising on a clean energy age’ as 90% of renewable power projects cheaper than fossil fuels
The world is on the brink of a breakthrough in the climate fight and fossil fuels are running out of road, the UN chief said on Tuesday, as he urged countries to funnel support into low-carbon energy.
More than nine in 10 renewable power projects globally are now cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives. Solar power is about 41% cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternative, and onshore wind generation is less than half the price of fossil fuels, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency.
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