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Data compiled by EEA shows quality of water bodies falls far short of target first set for 2015 and since extended to 2027

Only about one-third of Europe’s surface water is in good health or better, a report has found, despite an EU target first set for 2015 to bring all bodies of water up to good quality.

About 37% of Europe’s surface waters qualified as having at least a good ecological status and 29% a good chemical status in 2021, according to data from 19 member countries compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The original deadline for the EU target has been extended to 2027 but data suggests this is on track to be missed by a wide margin.

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Last year saw a dramatic weakening of the global land carbon sink, the system that absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, as the planet experienced record-breaking heat and severe droughts, a new study warns.

The EU is holding strong on its position that more countries need to contribute to the next global climate finance goal, with a plan to push for more money while ensuring that the bloc isn't spread too thin, according to the general negotiating mandate for COP29 adopted by climate and environment ministers late on Monday. 

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied Republican states' allegations that its latest power plant emissions rules will impact grid reliability, the agency told a US federal appeals court in a filing on Friday.

Regulators in up-and-coming Latin American voluntary carbon markets (VCM) are working with the private sector to scale up operations, while market observers point to increasingly hands-on measures curbing the market in ‘old school’ VCM players like Colombia and Brazil.

There is growing interest in the use of First Peoples’ words to name plant and animal species. But we must proceed with both caution and respect. Stephen Garnett, Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University Sophie Gilbey, Indigenous Knowledge Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

There is both a strong moral case and business case for integrating carbon removal credits from around the world into the EU ETS, a senior member of BP's carbon team told a conference on Monday.

Poland’s newly released national and energy climate plan for 2030 foresees a significant drop in coal use this decade and could potentially halve emissions emissions within the decade - 20% more than in the previous 2019 plan.

Nasa's spacecraft could change what we know about life in our solar system.

Companies, banks, and governments need to take concrete steps to incentivise support for the voluntary carbon market (VCM) with persistent integrity concerns still holding buyers back, according to speakers at the Carbon Forward Expo 2024 in London last week.

A huge REDD trade at a very low value bolstered volumes in the voluntary carbon market last week, and prices in general ticked higher as optimism picked up ahead of the climate talks in Baku next month.

Fauna & Flora is considering supporting biodiversity credit initiatives in countries across the world, following an ongoing 500-hectare pilot in South Africa, Carbon Pulse has learned.

European shipping companies are not ready for the upcoming FuelEU Maritime regulation and could face significant fines, according to an independent shipping emissions analytics company.

Warm air from south to bring above-average temperatures – but heavy rain expected to follow

North-west Europe is forecast to experience a burst of autumn warmth this week, thanks to warm air from southern Europe spreading northwards. This brief episode of warmer-than-average conditions will be driven by an amplified, or “wavy”, jet stream, which will allow warm air to push farther north.

Daytime temperatures across much of France are forecast to reach the mid-20s on Tuesday and Wednesday, with some areas in the south-west potentially exceeding this. Meanwhile, the Benelux area and south-east England are expected to reach the low-20s by midweek.

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We’ve all been there. We’ve all felt like a badly made-up, odd-limbed, irritable floor-dwelling mess

As you contemplate the wonders of evolution, and how a creature can be born with something weird and new, and that thing can either help it get ahead or not hurt its chances, and it can then reproduce and make another one like it, spare a thought for the red-lipped batfish.

A real animal, it has the kind of mouth that, as a kid, you may have made from Babybel cheese wax, to go with your red wax fake nails. It has a beard of white whiskers. It has fins that bend backwards, like a person’s arms at yoga when they are about to do upward dog. Before your eyes, it sprouts a new limb from its nostril. Its nose – technically a snout – is long, at the top of its head, and hook-shaped. It cannot swim, only crawl. Its crawl is more like a waddle.

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A group of Indigenous and community organisations in Brazil’s Para state has issued a public letter condemning the lack of consultation with them on a $180 million carbon credit deal.

The ‘golden age’ of gas and the expanding trade in LNG has led to a glut of carriers being built that is incompatible with even the most conservative climate outlook from the International Energy Agency, a think tank said Monday.

European carbon prices resumed their upward trend on Monday morning as participants continued their accumulation after last week's rally was triggered by investment funds amassing the largest net short position since March, while energy markets posted modest gains amid falling temperatures.

Biodiversity credit markets must consider solutions spanning control sites, verification, and transparency to avoid the pitfalls of carbon credits, a researcher has said.

Millions of migratory birds are arriving on Australian shores this spring. Any one of them could bring the new, deadly strain known as H5N1. Extra government funding will help us prepare and respond. Michelle Wille, Senior research fellow, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.