Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Tory fantasy of a post-Brexit bonfire of regulations is coming true. Our bodies and ecosystems will pay the price
It’s what the extreme right of the Tory party wanted from Brexit: to tear down crucial public protections, including those that defend us from the most brutal and dangerous forms of capital. The Conservatives lost office before they were able to do their worst. But never mind, because Labour has now picked up the baton.
A month ago, so quietly that most of us missed it, the government published a consultation on deregulating chemicals. While most consultations last for 12 weeks, this one runs for eight, half of which cover the holiday period – it closes on 18 August. The intention is set out at the beginning: to reduce “costs to business”. This, as repeated statements by Keir Starmer make clear, means tearing up the rules.
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
07/23/2025 - 00:00
07/22/2025 - 23:00
Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planet
Being surrounded and yelled at about “misrepresenting reality” is not how serious United Nations-hosted negotiations are meant to proceed. But that is what happened to Prof Bethanie Carney Almroth during talks about a global treaty to slash plastic pollution in Ottawa, Canada. The employees of a large US chemicals company “formed a ring” around her, she says.
At another event in Ottawa, Carney Almroth was “harassed and intimidated” by a plastic packaging representative, who barged into the room and shouted that she was fearmongering and pushing misinformation. That meeting was an official event organised by the UN. “So I filed the harassment reports with the UN,” said Carney Almroth. “The guy had to apologise, and then he left the meeting. He was at the next meeting.”
Continue reading...
07/22/2025 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 23 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s44183-025-00143-4
Substantial gains and little downside from farming of Totoaba macdonaldi
07/22/2025 - 20:00
Deal struck in 1980s refunds about half of what the US multinational fossil fuel company paid in royalties, documents show
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
The Australian government faces having to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the American oil and gas company Chevron to help it clean up oil wells on Barrow Island, in Western Australia, under a deal made in the 1980s.
The Western Australian government also faces a hefty bill – estimated to be $129m – to help repair an offshore nature reserve where about 900 wells have been drilled over the past six decades.
Continue reading...
07/22/2025 - 08:40
António Guterres says ‘sun is rising on a clean energy age’ as 90% of renewable power projects cheaper than fossil fuels
The world is on the brink of a breakthrough in the climate fight and fossil fuels are running out of road, the UN chief said on Tuesday, as he urged countries to funnel support into low-carbon energy.
More than nine in 10 renewable power projects globally are now cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives. Solar power is about 41% cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternative, and onshore wind generation is less than half the price of fossil fuels, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency.
Continue reading...
07/22/2025 - 06:49
Naturalists say it has been an “outstanding” summer for butterflies and other flying insects after last summer’s dramatic decline. Here are some of your sightings so far this year
Continue reading...
07/22/2025 - 06:00
The dark waters of San Antonio estuary are thought to hide 190 bodies, killed over decades of conflict. The first state-backed search turned to local experts to try to find them
As scuba diver Pedro Albarracín scours the muddy seabed surrounding Skull Island, opposite the Colombian port city of Buenaventura, he invokes the protection of Yemayá, goddess of the seas, and Oshun, goddess of the rivers – deities of the Yoruba faith.
The dark waters of the San Antonio estuary around him are believed to conceal the bodies of at least 190 people disappeared during Colombia’s long and violent armed conflict, a struggle that gave the islet its morbid name.
Continue reading...
07/22/2025 - 05:00
Agency will no longer use ‘socially disadvantaged’, which describes people subjected to discrimination, including Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian groups
This story was originally published by Capital B, a nonprofit newsroom that centers Black voices.
Lloyd Wright isn’t shocked that the US Department of Agriculture is reversing a 35-year-old policy meant to help Black farmers in favor of a race-neutral approach.
Continue reading...
07/22/2025 - 04:00
Processing debris from Israel’s destruction of homes, schools and hospitals could take four decades
Millions of tonnes of rubble left by Israel’s bombardment of Gaza could generate more than 90,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – and take as long as four decades to remove and process, a study has found.
Israel’s destruction of Palestinian homes, schools and hospitals in Gaza generated at least 39m tonnes of concrete debris between October 2023 and December 2024, which will require at least 2.1m dump trucks driving 18m miles (29.5m km) to transport to disposal sites, researchers said.
Continue reading...
07/22/2025 - 00:00
Public holiday announced in Tehran as government tries to grapple with deepening water crisis
Iranian authorities have asked people to limit water consumption amid severe heatwaves and a water crisis across the country.
Iran is experiencing its hottest week of the year, according to the national meteorological service, with temperatures exceeding 50C in some areas.
Continue reading...
