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Private developers offer politicians a simple solution for bulldozing through this crisis – build more. But it won’t work

Build baby, build. That’s about the intellectual limit of the government’s housing strategy. Millions are under-housed, so let’s “bulldoze” the planning system and build more homes. But it’s not nearly so simple.

As soon as anyone challenges the policy, the government brands them a nimby – another of the crude truncations that pass for debate on this issue: nimbys versus yimbys. So before I go further, let me state that I want to see lots of new social and genuinely affordable housing built as part of a massive programme to solve the worst housing crisis of any wealthy country. I’ve been making similar calls for years, not least in the report I co-authored for the Labour party in 2019: Land for the Many. I oppose Labour’s current approach for a different reason. It will fail.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

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Chancellor says runway would mean fewer planes circling London, and points to moves towards sustainable flying

Rachel Reeves has indicated her support for building a third runway at Heathrow airport, arguing that it would have environmental benefits such as fewer planes circling London.

Ahead of a major speech on economic growth this coming week, the chancellor made the case for Heathrow expansion and said there was “huge investment” in more sustainable aviation.

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In two actions, migrant workers claim exploitation while farmers demonstrate against inheritance tax plan

This is a tale of two countrysides. One was featured prominently on Saturday by broadcasters as farmers held demonstrations throughout the UK against inheritance tax plans they believe will cripple family farms.

A smaller protest staged a day earlier outside the Home Office received almost no attention. A small band of fruit and vegetable pickers, mainly from Latin America, were highlighting their battle against what they call the exploitation of migrant workers.

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Environmentalists say new course could be delayed until 2030 because it is viewed as Conservative party initiative

Leading environmentalists have called on the government to introduce a natural history GCSE immediately, amid fears it could be postponed until 2030.

The previous Conservative administration had supported creating the GCSE, which would teach pupils how to observe, identify and classify plants and animals.

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As chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plan to expand London airports gains traction, the party is accused of back-pedalling on its green commitments

Labour is being warned it is hurtling towards a “powder keg” confrontation with environmentalists, green groups and a swathe of its own supporters in the next few weeks, amid its claims that “blockers” are standing in the way of economic growth.

A flurry of pro-growth measures have been announced by ministers in recent days as part of a government fightback against claims that the economy is stalling.

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India's Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has released 12 draft methodologies to be adopted for its voluntary offset mechanism under the country's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) and has opened them for public consultation, it announced this week.

The chancellor’s attempt to get rich landowners to pay their fair share was correct in principle. But this measure has missed the mark

Rachel Reeves needs to rid herself of ­troublesome farmers. It’s become obvious, if it wasn’t at the time of the budget, that they are not going to go away.

Their shouts of protest are getting louder and the petition against proposals to tax inherited farms is growing longer.

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University of Cambridge research suggests living collections have collectively reached peak capacity

Botanic gardens around the world are failing to conserve the rarest and most threatened species growing in their living collections because they are running out of space, according to research from the University of Cambridge.

Researchers analysed a century’s worth of records from 50 botanic gardens and arboreta, collectively growing half-a-million plants, to see how the world’s living plant collections have changed since 1921.

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A proposed UK law to make climate and environmental targets legally binding amid a more joined-up approach has been delayed after a contentious debate in parliament.

California diesel consumption in October declined month-on-month (MoM) following two months of gains, while gasoline volumes rose from September levels as retail gas prices decreased, state data published this week showed.

Credit prices used towards alternate compliance options in Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR) programme for 2024 increased 2.2% compared to last year, according to a notice from the environment ministry on Friday.

Financial entities moved focus to V26 California Carbon Allowances (CCA), while continuing to derisk across V25 CCAs, RGGI Allowances (RGA), Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LFS), and Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) holdings as credit prices in the secondary market weakened, latest figures from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed Friday.

US DOE-funded carbon management and clean energy projects should consider legally binding community agreements to build long-term trust in low-carbon projects, a national think tank suggested Friday.

An Iowa-based CO2 pipeline project developer filed legal action Thursday against a commissioner on the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC), demanding she be recused from reviewing the company's permit application due to an alleged conflict of interest.

A global alternate energy investment firm is adding a Virginia natural gas power plant to its portfolio.

The government says it will dispose of its 140 tonnes of radioactive plutonium - currently stored at Sellafield.

The Supervisory Body (SBM) of the Article 6.4 mechanism should weigh in on property rights concerning UN-approved credit issuances at its February meeting, according to an emissions trading industry group.

The US stands to be the country with the largest demand from its airlines for Phase 1 of the UN's Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), according to analyst forecasts, but there remains confusion over the impact on the scheme of President Donald Trump pulling the country out of the Paris Agreement.

Zambia has published a carbon market framework, which establishes a fee structure for international credit trade, the institutional arrangements for managing markets in the country, and the functions of its national registry, as it moves a step closer towards Article 6 readiness.

The UN-convened Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) has published a request for information as it seeks to ramp up to capacity building, knowledge sharing, and investment in carbon removal.