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Sharp rise in population in 11 of 16 cities expected to continue as rising temperatures make it easier for the animals to breed, say researchers

Rat numbers are soaring in cities as global temperatures warm, research shows.

Washington DC, San Francisco, Toronto, New York City and Amsterdam had the greatest increase in these rodents, according to the study, which looked at data from 16 cities globally. Eleven of the cities showed “significant increasing trends in rat numbers”, said the paper published in the journal Science Advances, and these trends were likely to continue.

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Exclusive: MPs and ministers say they plan to oppose the PM if he gives consent to the Rosebank development

Senior Labour figures are warning of a serious fight if Keir Starmer tries to give the go-ahead to a giant new oilfield off Shetland later this year.

MPs and ministers have told the Guardian they are prepared to oppose the UK prime minister should he try and give final consent to the Rosebank development, which is Britain’s biggest untapped oilfield.

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As time runs out for countries around the world to submit new national emissions reduction targets to the UN, G20 nations are failing to lead by example, researchers have found.

Europe's largest economy has finally moved to transpose the latest version of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) regulation into national law.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) can support members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) intergovernmental union to avert the worst impacts of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), according to a regional think tank, though CARICOM should also pursue greater intra-bloc alignment between climate and international trade policy.

The European Commission will put forward its 2040 climate target bill “sooner rather than later”, a spokesperson said Friday, reaffirming that Europe’s aim is still to get its legislation adopted before the COP30 UN climate summit in November.

Brown trout unlikely to survive in most rivers at height of summer by 2080, says Environment Agency

It has been native to Britain for thousands of years and was heralded as the national fish on the BBC’s Springwatch, but a government report suggests the brown trout risks being wiped out in large parts of England within decades.

The first national temperature projections for English rivers by the Environment Agency forecasts that by 2080 the water will be too warm almost everywhere in England at the height of summer for the iconic Salmo trutta species to feed and grow.

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Carbon markets are misinterpreting how the target of “zero net emissions” should be reached, according to a physicist behind the concept, speaking to Carbon Pulse.

The parliament of Ghana has set up a committee to explore a proposed pension scheme for the members which will be funded by revenues generated from carbon credits, even as the idea has been severely criticised by a local non-profit.

Grassland for livestock faces largest cut, so people will be encouraged to eat less meat, says environment secretary

Farmland in England will be reduced by more than 10% by 2050 under government plans, with less meat produced and eaten by the country’s citizens.

The environment secretary, Steve Reed, launched the government’s blueprint for land use change on Friday, designed to balance the need to build infrastructure and meet nature and carbon targets.

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The UK government launched on Friday a public consultation on a framework aimed at enhancing decision-making on land use across the country, with potential implications for the emerging nature markets.

Exclusive: Documents seen by Guardian Australia show a sustained strategy approved by environment minister Tanya Plibersek

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The Australian government carried out an international lobbying campaign to keep the Great Barrier Reef off a list of world heritage sites in danger, including dispatching politicians and officials to Unesco’s Paris headquarters and asking diplomats to gather intelligence on countries that could influence the decision.

The campaign is revealed in documents released to the Greens after a parliamentary request and show how Australia sought to influence Unesco and members of the 21-country world heritage committee in the lead up to a crunch meeting in July last year.

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A new certification requiring consumer brands to set a $15/tonne internal carbon fee could raise $6.75 million this year to be spent on carbon credits, if the companies signed up so far maximise the full potential of offsetting available to them.

The US DOE has selected a Canadian carbon capture and storage (CCS) developer for a cost-sharing deal of up to $1.5 million to study CO2 capture at an Arkansas pulp site, the British Columbia-based firm said this week.

European carbon permits were poised to return a 14% monthly rise in January after posting a seventh gain in the last 10 days on Friday morning, with a strong auction outcome underpinning the market's stability amid strength in power and gas, while UKAs remained on course to record their largest-ever weekly gain.

Gold Standard is seeking feedback on a methodology to eradicate the huge emissions from commercial aircraft contrails that is as about as two thirds as potent to global warming than aviation CO2 emissions.

A Liechtenstein-headquartered private bank and asset manager has teamed up with a UK-based nature analytics company to better assess how its investments impact biodiversity.

An Iceland-based carbon registry has received received full and unconditional endorsement from the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA) for its crediting programme.

Scheme backed by €170m fund crucial to getting agreement from farmers, politicians and environmental groups

“Plant-based foods are the future.” That is not a statement you would expect from a right-wing farming minister in a major meat-producing nation. Denmark produces more meat per capita than any other country in the world, with its 6 million people far outnumbered by its 30 million pigs, and it has a big dairy industry too. Yet this is how Jacob Jensen, from the Liberal party, introduced the nation’s world-first action plan for plant-based foods.

“If we want to reduce the climate footprint within the agricultural sector, then we all have to eat more plant-based foods,” he said at the plan’s launch in October 2023, and since then the scheme has gone from strength to strength. Backed by a €170m government fund, it is now supporting plant-based food from farm to fork, from making tempeh from broad beans and a chicken substitute from fungi to on-site tastings at kebab and burger shops and the first vegan chef degree.

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US-based carbon standard Climate Action Reserve (CAR) has opened a second public consultation on proposed updates to its Mexico Forest Protocol Version 3.0 (MFP V3.0), seeking to clarify and strengthen requirements for project eligibility, monitoring, and verification.