The Guardian

Commission’s proposal to downgrade animal’s ‘strictly protected’ status not based on scientific evidence, say conservationists

Wolves could be hunted again across western Europe after the European Commission proposed to reduce their protection, in what lawyers said was an ominous move against effective environmental laws.

The commission has proposed that EU member states downgrade the wolf’s status under the Berne convention from “strictly protected” to “protected” after two decades in which the species has returned to many countries from which it has been extinct for decades, including Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark.

Phenomenon whereby moisture condenses around particles of pollution was noticed near Heathrow in January

A rare phenomenon known as “industrial snowfall” appears to have occurred near Heathrow airport earlier this year, according to a study.

Satellite imagery shows three large, white bands on the ground in parts of Surrey despite relatively dry conditions in the area at the time. The snow, which was recorded on 23 January, was distributed near industrial facilities south-east of Heathrow airport.

Indigenous campaigners, human rights defenders and climate activists say they are being silenced by fear of reprisals

Incidents of harassment, surveillance, threats and intimidation are creating a climate of fear at UN events including the recent Cop28 climate conference in Dubai, experts have said.

Indigenous campaigners, human rights defenders and environmental activists say they are increasingly afraid to speak out on urgent issues because of concerns about reprisals from governments or fossil fuel industries.

French wild pansies are producing smaller flowers and less nectar than 20 to 30 years ago in ‘startling’ act of evolution, study shows

Flowers are “giving up on” pollinators and evolving to be less attractive to them as insect numbers decline, researchers have said.

A study has found the flowers of field pansies growing near Paris are 10% smaller and produce 20% less nectar than flowers growing in the same fields 20 to 30 years ago. They are also less frequently visited by insects.

Regulators approve rules to let agencies recycle wastewater into drinking water for homes, schools and businesses

When a toilet is flushed in California, the water can end up in a lot of places: an ice-skating rink in Ontario, ski slopes around Lake Tahoe, farmland in the central valley.

And – coming soon – kitchen faucets.

About 12% of birds have died out as result of human activity in past 120,000 years, say scientists

About 12% of the world’s bird species have been driven to extinction by human activity, new research has found – double previous estimates.

The study, published in Nature Communications on Tuesday, estimates that about 1,430 bird species have died out since the Late Pleistocene period, which started about 120,000 years ago.

Biden has a chance to show that the world’s biggest exporter of oil and gas is actually going to change its ways. It’s not clear if he’ll take it

More than 200 nations pledged last week in Dubai that they would be “transitioning away from from fossil fuels”. Some cheered and some scoffed; we’ll soon know if the world’s biggest producer of oil and gas – the United States – meant what it signed, or if it was just more (literal) hot air.

That’s because the US Department of Energy (DoE) must decide whether to stop rubber-stamping the single biggest fossil-fuel expansion on earth, the buildout of natural gas exports from the Gulf of Mexico. So far they have granted every export license anyone has requested, and as a result America has become the biggest gas exporter on planet earth. If they keep it up, veteran energy analyst Jeremy Symons says that before long US liquefied natural gas exports will produce more greenhouse gases than everything that happens on the continent of Europe.

Roishetta Ozane is the founder of the Vessel Project, a Louisiana environmental justice group

Bill McKibben is the founder of Third Act, which organizes people over 60 for action on climate and democracy

Eruption comes a month after nearly 4,000 inhabitants of the fishing town of Grindavik were evacuated when the area was hit by a 'seismic swarm' of more than 1,000 earthquakes in 24 hours. The Reykjanes peninsula in recent years has seen several eruptions in unpopulated areas, but the latest outbreak could pose a risk to Grindavik, authorities say.

• Iceland declares state of emergency over volcanic eruption threat

• Iceland volcano: eruption begins on Reykjanes peninsula after weeks of activity

There must be trade-offs if we are to get serious about cutting emissions – and phasing out gas appliances is one of the easiest

In the Climate Change Authority’s inaugural annual review of Australia’s emission reduction progress, it warned us: “There are some hard decisions and trade-offs we, as a society and as individuals, need to make together for a successful transition to a net zero economy.”

In many cases it will fall to politicians to make these trade-offs on our behalf and there will be a range of people and industries significantly affected.

Dr Gail Bradbrook found guilty of criminal damage to Department for Transport building in 2019

An Extinction Rebellion cofounder was spared jail after causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to a government building.

Gail Bradbrook, 51, was found guilty by a jury of breaking a window in a protest at HS2 at the Department for Transport in October 2019.

Data also shows only one prosecution and follow-ups on one-third of 10,000 complaints made since January 2022

There has been just one prosecution and three fines handed out for people using banned wood-burning stoves in England, data has revealed.

Despite more than 10,000 complaints about wood being burned in populated areas since January 2022, local councils have not been enforcing the government’s “tough new restrictions” on stoves. Two-thirds of these complaints were not followed up, and only a handful led to any action.

Strategists are getting nervous, but energy efficiency and kickstarting growth are important to voters

Just as I sat down to write this, yet another one thumped into my inbox. “£28bn every year … Labour have not changed – their irresponsible spending plans will result in higher taxes and hard-working people paying the price.” Conservative campaign headquarters is hammering out daily attacks on Labour’s £28bn green prosperity plan.

Seeking any gap in the Starmer-Reeves fiscal armour, they like to pretend there’s been no change since the Corbyn campaign’s surprise £58bn extra spend, mid-election campaign. But that’s a rubber sword after their own 13-year failed stewardship – and Liz Truss’s fiscal fiasco.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

Plan, which aims to support domestic producers, will also apply to iron, ceramics and cement

• Business live – latest updates

Imported raw materials such as steel and cement will incur a new carbon tax from 2027 under UK plans designed to support domestic producers and reduce emissions, but the government is facing criticism for not moving fast enough.

The Treasury said the tax would help address the phenomenon of “carbon leakage”, in which UK manufacturers are undercut on price by foreign rivals whose governments do not impose levies on businesses that emit a lot of carbon.

The next generation of wildlife photographers are showcased in the RSPCA Young Photographer awards 2023. Here’s a selection of the winning entries, capturing the natural world around them

Quitting flying as a travel writer was easier than I expected. Now for the hard part: convincing my family to do the same

As a travel writer, I’m used to receiving invitations to five-star resorts in far-flung destinations such as the Seychelles, all expenses paid. But now I ignore these emails. I quit flying three years ago. I’m not afraid to fly; I stopped because of the climate crisis. In addition to travel, I write about green issues, and I decided I could no longer in good conscience specialise in sustainability while continuing to fly.

I was a late convert to the cause, taking a plane to Israel in 2020 to write about a Palestinian cycle advocacy group. A trip like that would be off limits to me today, even if peace broke out any time soon. It’s all but impossible to reach Israel from Europe without flying. It’s almost as tough to reach the Antipodes from the UK without a long-haul flight, so bang goes a quick-ish trip to New Zealand or Australia.

Carlton Reid is a freelance transport journalist

On the steep slope of a glacier jutting through the Hunza valley in Pakistan’s mountainous far north, Tariq Jamil measures the ice’s movement and takes photos. Later, he creates a report that includes data from sensors and another camera installed near the Shisper glacier to update his village an hour’s hike downstream. His mission: to mobilise his community of 200 families in Hassanabad, in the Karakoram mountains, to fight for a future for their village and way of life, increasingly under threat from unstable lakes formed by melting glacier ice

Animals fight for survival in far north Queensland after ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper brings days of heavy rains, saturating parts of the region. The rain is forecast to continue over the next 24 hours, with some areas already hit with more than a metre and water levels expected to break 1977 records

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Heavy rain has continued to fall across far north Queensland in the aftermath of ex-tropical Cyclone Jasper.

Greenpeace UK and Uplift are seeking a judicial review in the Scottish courts to stop opening of huge new oilfield

Climate campaigners have launched two separate legal challenges to government plans to open a massive new oilfield in the North Sea.

Greenpeace and the campaign group Uplift argue that the decision to press ahead with the Rosebank development – the UK’s biggest untapped oilfield – is incompatible with the UK’s legally binding climate commitments, and say ministers’ original analysis ignored the devastating impact of burning oil from the site.