Regulator says it will claw back £131m in ‘unjustified’ payments as it announces companies can increase bills by 36% by 2030
Water bills in England and Wales to rise by 36%
Comment: It’s time for water companies to stop bleating
Thames Water will have to pay an £18.2m penalty after the water industry regulator confirmed the troubled utilities company had breached dividend rules.
The Guardian revealed on Wednesday that Thames would be penalised over two dividend payments, made in 2023 and 2024, and that it would allow the water company to increase bills by just over a third. The industry watchdog Ofwat confirmed the penalty and bills rise on Thursday.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
12/19/2024 - 02:38
Tanya Plibersek says projects in NSW and Queensland produce coal for making essential steel as critics say move ‘opposite of climate action’
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The Albanese government has approved the expansion of four coalmines that climate campaigners estimate will release more than 850m tonnes of CO2 over their lifetime – equivalent to almost double Australia’s annual emissions.
The four mines will target mostly coal to be used for steelmaking with some thermal coal for burning in power stations.
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12/19/2024 - 01:00
Law around illegal wood burning in smoke-control areas is not being enforced, campaigners say
Only four fines out of 5,600 complaints have been issued for illegal burning of wood in smoke-control areas from September 2023 to August 2024 in England, data has revealed.
The new data, from freedom of information requests submitted by the campaign group Mums for Lungs, shows that the law around illegal wood burning is not being enforced in England, campaigners said.
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12/19/2024 - 00:00
Scientists race to discover new species before destruction of natural world drives them to extinction
From a toadstool with teeth to a vine smelling of marzipan and a flower that has cheated its way out of having to photosynthesise, a weird and wonderful host of new plant and fungus species have been discovered in 2024.
Other plants given scientific names for the first time include beautiful new orchids, a ghostly palm and a hairy plant that appears to have stolen a gene from an unrelated family. The species are among the 172 new plants and fungi named by scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and their partners.
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12/19/2024 - 00:00
Popular in Victorian times, they are sustainable, a good source of protein and brilliant for biodiversity, say those championing the bivalves
A splash of white wine, a handful of basil leaves and a few minutes preparation are all it takes to transform mussels that 24 hours ago were filtering seawater off the south Devon coast, into a delicious starter.
At the training kitchen in London’s oldest fish market, Billingsgate, in Poplar, we learn that fresh mussels require two vital preparation steps that the vacuum-packed, cooked variety don’t: “debearding” or pulling off the “byssus” thread that attaches the shell to rocks and other substrate, and the discarding of any with broken or open shells
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12/19/2024 - 00:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 19 December 2024; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00100-7
COVID-19 highlights the need to improve resilience and equity in managing small-scale fisheries
12/19/2024 - 00:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 19 December 2024; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00091-5
Drifting fish aggregating devices in the Indian ocean impacts, management, and policy implications
12/19/2024 - 00:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 19 December 2024; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00099-x
Shellfish reef ecosystems in Australia have been greatly depleted. Building on earlier trials, a continent-scale restoration initiative was underway by 2019 to restore 30% of their former distribution. Integral elements of building and progressing this ecoscape-scale restoration program are outlined and challenges discussed. Documenting pathways and challenges to large-scale restoration informs global commitments to see 30% of degraded ecosystems under effective restoration by 2030.
12/19/2024 - 00:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 19 December 2024; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00098-y
2024 will be a decisive year for the deep sea mining regime. Pressure is mounting on the International Seabed Authority to adopt regulations for the commercial extraction of minerals while an increasing group of diverse actors are calling for a moratorium. In this comment, we give an overview of the state of negotiations, contextualize the most contentious issues and explain the institutional and legal framework in which the negotiations are taking place.
12/18/2024 - 15:18
Court rules in favor of 16 young people who said their health and prospects were being imperiled by climate crisis
Montana’s top court on Wednesday held that the state’s constitution guaranteed a right to a stable climate system and invalidated a law barring regulators from considering the effects of greenhouse gas emissions when permitting new fossil fuel projects.
The Montana supreme court upheld a landmark trial court decision last August in favor of 16 young people who said their health and futures were being jeopardized by climate change, which the state aggravates through its permitting of energy projects.
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