Exclusive: Tony Juniper, who will oversee nature restoration fund, says claims ‘not fully backed by evidence’
The government’s leading environmental adviser has said ministers are wrong to suggest nature is blocking development.
Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, is to oversee a national nature restoration fund, paid into by developers, which will enable builders to sidestep environmental obligations at a particular site – even if it is a landscape protected for its wildlife.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
06/05/2025 - 09:00
06/05/2025 - 08:28
Electric carmaker sold 36% fewer cars year on year in May as it loses ground to China’s BYD and other rivals
Business live – latest updates
Sales of new Tesla cars slumped by more than a third in the UK last month as the electric carmaker lost ground to China’s BYD and other rivals, amid a political backlash against Tesla’s billionaire boss, Elon Musk.
Tesla sold 2,016 vehicles in the UK in May, down from 3,125 in May 2024 – a 36% drop, according to the monthly snapshot from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
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06/05/2025 - 06:21
Clive Lewis says he will vote against planning bill amid concerns it will let developers build over precious habitats
UK politics live – latest updates
Labour is using post-Brexit freedoms to override EU nature laws and allow chalk streams and nightingale habitats to be destroyed, MPs have said.
The planning and infrastructure bill going through parliament will allow developers to circumvent EU-derived environmental protections and instead pay into a nature restoration fund.
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06/05/2025 - 05:51
Source confirms decision that will help meet net zero targets and pledge to cut energy bills by £300
UK politics live – latest updates
Ministers have decided not to cut Labour’s landmark £13.2bn fund to fix draughty homes and install heat pumps and solar panels in next week’s spending review, it has emerged.
A government source confirmed Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, would not be making cuts to the flagship warm homes plan. The decision, which was first reported by the Daily Telegraph, marks a victory for Ed Miliband in his negotiations with the Treasury over the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s budget.
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06/05/2025 - 02:06
Experts say four more of the marsupials were expected to conceive in breeding season, which runs from February to June each year
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Ten tiny, egg-like joeys have been confirmed as the newest members of mainland Australia’s largest fleet of Tasmanian devils.
It comes after the first pouch check of the 2025 breeding season at Aussie Ark’s Barrington Tops sanctuary in northern NSW.
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06/05/2025 - 02:04
Researchers at Aussie Ark have found 10 Tasmanian devil joeys during the first pouch check of the endangered marsupial's 2025 breeding season, which runs from February to June each year.
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06/05/2025 - 00:00
Environment committee also wants to outlaw dredging and mining due to destructive effects on seabed and marine life
Ministers must ban bottom trawling for fish in marine protected areas, an influential group of MPs has said, because the destructive practice is devastating the seabed and marine life.
The UK parliament’s environmental audit committee called for a ban to encompass dredging and mining as well as the bottom trawling of fish in the 900,000 sq km covered by nearly 180 marine protected areas.
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06/04/2025 - 19:01
World Meteorological Organization report says record heat in 2024 was driven by climate crisis and intersected with extreme weather events
Almost 40 million sq kilometres of ocean around south-east Asia and the Pacific – an area five times the size of Australia – was engulfed in a marine heatwave in 2024, a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report has revealed.
WMO scientists said the record heat – on land and in the ocean – was mostly driven by the climate crisis and coincided with a string of extreme weather events, from deadly landslides in the Philippines to floods in Australia and rapid glacier loss in Indonesia.
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06/04/2025 - 10:00
The Dorrigo Plateau was used for antimony mining until prices collapsed in the 1970s. Now exploration has begun again – but locals are concerned the heavy metal may impact the water supply
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Residents, local councils and environmental groups are calling for government intervention as exploration for the critical mineral antimony ramps up on the New South Wales north coast, citing concerns over the potential for contamination of the regional water supply.
A swathe of exploration licences have been approved across the region in recent months, with one mining company, Trigg Minerals, establishing a 30-acre base at Wild Cattle Creek on the Dorrigo Plateau in preparation for drilling work.
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06/04/2025 - 08:00
Coalition that includes SoCalGas, country’s largest gas utility, has launched fierce campaign against transition away from gas-fired appliances
This story is co-published with Floodlight.
On a windy night in early January, Barbara Ishida, a second grade teacher, spotted the Eaton fire glowing in the hills behind her home in Altadena, California. Her mind turned to the deadly wildfires in Lahaina and Paradise and she thought, “Let’s get out – now.”
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