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Bold pledges to fund climate projects now appear under threat, exposing deeper fiscal constraints and policy dilemmas within the government

In October, the prime minister, chancellor and energy secretary pledged billions to kickstart the UK’s first carbon capture projects – one of the biggest green spending promises of the parliament. By December, Ed Miliband was signing contracts, Sir Keir Starmer vowed to “reignite our industrial heartlands” and Rachel Reeves warned that without bold action, Britain would be stuck with low growth and falling living standards. More importantly, net zero targets wouldn’t be met without removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Fast forward and the Treasury is, reportedly, preparing to scrap the £22bn plan, after economic growth failed to materialise. What a difference a few weeks make.

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Inaugural Tune into Nature prize is aiming to highlight how the natural world is central to creative life

One is a dreamy soundscape collected from the peaks of the Dolomites. The other is a drum’n’bass track that samples a nightingale’s quickfire song.

These contrasting tunes have won the inaugural Tune into Nature music prize, a contest that seeks to showcase new music by upcoming artists that is inspired by the natural world.

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British farms laying on ‘lamb watch’ holidays for tourists seeking a return to nature – and fluffy hugs

In a shed in the Malvern Hills, lambs struggle clumsily to their feet as holidaymaking couples look on.

Clare John, the third generation in her family to farm these 50 acres of Worcestershire pasture, began offering lambing-themed breaks two years ago in response to a surge of customer requests. Rowley Farm’s holiday cottages are block-booked for the 2025 spring lambing season, which traditionally peaks around Easter.

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Tax incentives for clean fuels and hydrogen production in the US do not adequately support Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) growth, according to an industry expert.

Self-denial will save the Earth, we’re told. But big emitters seemingly haven’t had the memo

That I fully expect to be dead by the time the UK achieves net zero is, of course, no reason to dodge interim advice from the Climate Change Committee (CCC), the UK’s official climate authority. Its latest report to government is of particular interest to the public, in arguing that a third of the emissions cuts required to achieve net zero by 2050 will have to come from consumers themselves.

Unless we – individual households – accept heat pumps and electric cars and deterrents to flying and less meat (skipping two kebabs per week), the CCC explains, the target cannot be met. And assuming the introduction of a selective news blackout that reduces public awareness of UK plutocrats, celebrities and influencers with colossal carbon footprints, such a behavioural transformation may not be impossible.

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The cute rodent helps combat drought and boosts biodiversity. Its rewilding is welcome and long overdue

The first time I laid eyes on a beaver was a couple of years ago on the Devon farm of Derek Gow, the farmer turned rewilder, who brought the furry rodents back to the UK 30 years ago.

It was magical. Sitting in the June dusk, the pink-and-purple sky was reflected in the still ponds of the beaver habitat. Suddenly, ripples emerged from the lodge and the head of a kit – a baby beaver – popped up from underwater.

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Animal rights campaigners and marine zoo official say Mediterranean is 'too warm' for killer whales.

Backing of Glencore angers campaigners who have highlighted firm’s environmental breaches in South Africa

One of the world’s biggest banks, JP Morgan, has promoted ­environmental and “sustainable” funds to customers which have invested more than £200m in the mining giant Glencore, it can be revealed.

Ethical investing has become big business for JP Morgan and other financial giants, with worldwide “sustainable” investing expected to surpass $40tn by 2030. But the industry now faces scrutiny over the rules around investments focusing on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

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A US-based non-profit has unveiled a new online tool designed to calculate the net CO2 removals achieved by direct air capture (DAC) facilities, providing a detailed lifecycle emissions analysis for the burgeoning CDR technology.

Local MP writes to authorities over ‘irresponsible’ motorists flocking to see sunrise and sunset at Mam tor

An MP has called for action on irresponsible parking at Peak District beauty spots that he says is being fuelled by a TikTok craze.

Jon Pearce, the Labour MP for High Peak in Derbyshire, said people had been flocking to the area to see the sunrise and sunset at Mam tor.

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A climate technology has launched a new blockchain-based voluntary carbon credit aimed at reducing methane emissions by diverting organic waste from landfills and converting it into compost.

Thailand is launching a German-backed €118-million ($122.5 mln) initiative to promote 'climate-smart' rice farming, aiming to support more than 253,000 farmers and cut carbon emissions by 2.44 million tonnes of CO2e by 2028.

A bill looking to overhaul transportation choices for consumers and vehicle emissions standards was introduced in the US Senate earlier this week.

Alberta’s environment ministry discussed the incidence of “zero-emitting” facilities under its programme to address industrial GHG emissions, among a suite of other updates in an annual stakeholder workshop Friday.

A bipartisan, bicameral bill in the state legislature promoting sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production would prompt regulators to hit the brakes on the latest Washington Clean Fuel Standard (WCFS) rulemaking.

A bipartisan group of Washington legislators this month introduced a bill to direct the state’s Department of Energy (ECY) to establish reporting requirements for the sale of exempt fuels used for agricultural purposes under the Climate Commitment Act (CCA).

A mixture of legislative certainty and regulatory uncertainty drove investor sentiment across California Carbon Allowance (CCA), Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA), and Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LFS) futures and options holdings, latest figures from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed Friday.

Canada’s provincial energy powerhouse is taking no chances on potential US energy tariffs with a new budget that leaves room for their implementation, though revenues from its carbon market are forecasted to take a roughly 50% hit.

California environmental groups are challenging a funding request from state regulator ARB that the agency says would be used to increase staffing and help establish the state’s carbon management deployment strategy.

Impending tariffs by President Donald Trump threaten to clamp the nation’s arterial energy relationship with Canada, potentially plunging the US’s closely tied Northeast energy markets into uncertainty and leaving the northern neighbour to calibrate its response.