Changes intended to reduce ‘burdensome bureaucracy’ and make it easier to build windfarms, reservoirs and housing
Ministers are making it easier to build windfarms, reservoirs and large housing developments as part of a series of changes to the government’s planning and infrastructure bill designed to bolster the confidence of developers.
The changes, which were first revealed by the Guardian, will be confirmed on Tuesday by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, as part of a pre-budget push to underline the government’s commitment to economic growth.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
10/14/2025 - 01:18
As the final hours of Guardian Australia's 2025 bird of the year draw near, Penny Sharpe, the New South Wales environment minister, makes a last-minute appeal for votes for the endangered bush stone-curlew. In a boisterous session of state parliament, Sharpe encourages people to 'vote early and vote often' in what she calls 'the only ballot that counts this year'. A colleague can be heard yelling their support for the powerful owl, but Sharpe points out 'the powerful owl is out. It's been eliminated.' Sharpe also encourages people to take part in this year's Aussie Bird Count, adding the state's bird are a 'genuinely good thing that makes everyone's life a bit better when you get to hear bird song'
Vote here for the Guardian's bird of the year 2025 contest
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10/13/2025 - 23:00
Homeowners who took advantage of government programmes left with cladding likely to cause damp
Almost all the external insulation fitted under the previous government’s energy efficiency scheme was installed so poorly it will have to be repaired or replaced, an investigation has found.
Thousands of homeowners who took advantage of the home insulation schemes have been left with incompetently fitted cladding that in some cases is likely to cause damp and mould.
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10/13/2025 - 23:00
Every constituency projected to be at greater risk, with many areas likely to be uninsurable, Guardian investigation finds
The flood-prone Worcestershire town being abandoned by insurers
Doors, drains and paving perils: protecting your home from flooding
Millions more homes in England, Scotland and Wales face devastating floods, and some towns may have to be abandoned as climate breakdown makes many areas uninsurable, a Guardian investigation has found.
New analysis from the insurance industry, seen by the Guardian, reveals the extent of concern in the sector, with bosses warning that large swathes of housing and commercial property in densely populated areas will be at greater risk.
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10/13/2025 - 18:35
Guardian Australia's Matilda Boseley, dressed as an Australian pelican, joins ABC News Breakfast to talk bird of the year with Nate Byrne. Boseley highlights the importance of the poll in promoting conservation. 'The point is to appreciate Australian native wildlife,' she says. 'It's fun, it's silly, we're all dressing up, but ultimately it's for a good cause'
Australian bird of the year poll: last day to vote for your favourite
How do you even birdwatch? A comedian and birdwatching champion explain – video
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10/13/2025 - 18:01
The rapid spread of the invasive species offers clues to how we might prevent future extinctions of native animals
To a newly arrived red fox, the abundant rolling grasslands and swamps of Wadawurrung Country, around what is now called Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, must have seemed like a predator’s paradise.
This landscape was filled with small native marsupials and birds, and free of European wolves or bears that usually kept fox numbers in check.
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10/13/2025 - 18:01
Financial institutions pouring money into land clearance and undermining efforts to stop destruction, says Climate Focus
Global forest health has plunged to “dismal” levels and threatens the wellbeing of humanity, warns a damning report that highlights how financial systems are pouring money into land clearance and undermining efforts to reduce destruction.
Since 2021 when world leaders and corporate executives promised to halt deforestation, the new study found that forest loss has increased, driven by subsidies for livestock, monocrops, logging and other extractive industries.
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Carmakers chose to cheat to sell cars rather than comply with emissions law, ‘dieselgate’ trial told
10/13/2025 - 09:48
Mercedes, Ford, Renault, Nissan and Peugeot/Citroën face group action in which damages could exceed £6bn
Car manufacturers decided they would rather cheat to prioritise “customer convenience” and sell cars than comply with the law on deadly pollutants, the first day of the largest group action trial in English legal history has been told.
More than a decade after the original “dieselgate” scandal broke, lawyers representing 1.6 million diesel car owners in the UK argue that manufacturers deliberately installed software to rig emissions tests.
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10/13/2025 - 09:18
Humanity has reached the first Earth system tipping point, the widespread death of warm-water coral reefs, marking the beginning of irreversible planetary shifts. As global temperatures move beyond 1.5°C, the world risks cascading crises such as ice sheet melt, Amazon rainforest dieback, and ocean current collapse. Scientists from the University of Exeter warn that these interconnected tipping points could transform the planet unless urgent, systemic action triggers “positive tipping points,” like rapid renewable energy adoption.
10/13/2025 - 08:24
Environmental group accuses king’s property management company of ‘milking for profit’ its monopoly ownership of seabed
Greenpeace is threatening to sue King Charles’s property management company, accusing it of exploiting its monopoly ownership of the seabed.
The environmental lobby group alleges the crown estate has driven up costs for wind power developers and boosted its own profits, as well as the royal household’s income, due to the “aggressive” way it auctions seabed rights.
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