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While an agreement on climate finance was eventually reached in Baku, many poorer countries were outraged
The Lamborghini showroom and a Tiffany branch sit at either end of Baku’s long boulevards beside the Caspian Sea. Adorned with grand 19th-century mansions, all plaster nymphs and columned facades, that were built by the first oil millionaires, they are a testament to the enduring power of fossil fuels. Oil has been very good to Azerbaijan.
It flows out of the ground here, and gas has seeped out, ignited and burned naturally in the area for so long that the country’s symbol is a flame and its nickname is the Land of Fire. Baku was the world’s first oil town, with wells exploited as early as the 1840s. Ilham Aliyev, the autocratic president, calls oil and gas “the gift of God” to his people. They represent 90% of Azerbaijan’s exports.
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Ministers reveal extent of damage as Met Office issues latest severe weather warning for parts of southern England
More than 500 homes and businesses were flooded across Wales and England during Storm Bert, it has emerged, as forecasters issued another severe weather warning for rain in parts of southern Britain.
In Wales, the first minister, Eluned Morgan, said 400 homes had been damaged as well as businesses and infrastructure, and reviews were being done to find out why some householders appeared not to have received warnings in time.
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Scheme to fund activities such as hedge-planting paused owing to budget constraints, sources say
Grants promised to farmers in England for planting hedges and cleaning up waterways have been frozen by the government.
The capital grants scheme, which was opened by the government to allow farmers to invest in infrastructure such as slurry storage so animal excrement does not go into rivers, has been abruptly paused. Farmers have said this will make it difficult for them to run their businesses in an environmentally friendly way.
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Ofwat CEO says rules must be changed so that customers left without water get compensation automatically
Water companies in England are using loopholes in order to not pay people who are left for days without running water, the CEO of the regulator has said.
Tens of thousands of homes across the country have been left without water for days this year as ageing pipes burst.
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River water quality distinctly worse than that of coastal bathing sites, results from tests for harmful bacteria found
Water quality has been designated as poor in a record number of bathing areas this year after 16 rivers were included in summer testing for harmful bacteria, figures reveal.
The push to clean up England’s rivers has led to an increase in demand for bathing water status at river locations across the country. Rivers suffer from water company sewage pollution and agricultural pollution, and the results show river water quality is distinctly worse than that of coastal bathing sites. The results come after sewage pollution into rivers by water companies reached record levels last year.
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A new generation is taking to the ocean in growing numbers – and fears over the environmental impact of cruise ships appear not to be denting their popularity
This summer was the first time 31-year-old Daisie Morrison had been on a cruise when she set sail on a two-week holiday with two friends, also in their early 30s.
“One of my friends suggested it,” she says. “She had seen different influencers on Instagram going on cruises. You go to so many places that we wanted to visit, so we were all quite keen.”
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Thirty years ago, more than 500 activists united to save a street – and their actions marked a major turning-point in the environmental movement
Walking through Leyton, in east London, you could easily miss Claremont Road. It is hardly a road at all, but a stubby little side street between terrace houses that ends abruptly in a brick wall. But when it comes to the history of direct action, this could be one of the most significant sites in England. Thirty years ago, in November 1994, the scene here was very different: 700 police officers and bailiffs in riot gear marched into a significantly larger Claremont Road and waged battle against about 500 activists, who were dug in – some of them literally – against efforts to evict them.
The activists occupied rooftop towers, treehouses, underground bunkers and even secret tunnels. It took three days to get them all out. In retrospect, the “Battle of Claremont Road”, as it came to be known, was an almost unbelievable event. “I talk about the three C’s that underpin this type of activism: creativity, courage and cheek,” says campaigner Camilla Berens, who was there. “It set the template for the next 20 or 30 years of how to do responsible disruption.”
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Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian’s environment editor, Damian Carrington, about the controversial climate finance deal that brought Cop29 negotiations to a close in the early hours on Sunday morning in Baku, Azerbaijan. Developing countries asked rich countries to provide them with $1.3tn a year to help them decarbonise their economies and cope with the effects of the climate crisis. But the final deal set a pledge of just $300bn annually, with $1.3tn only a target. Damian tells Madeleine how negotiations unfolded, and what we can expect from next year’s conference in Brazil
Find all the Guardian’s reporting on Cop29
Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod
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Operations at a cold war lab exposed at least 1,073 people to radiation. Risks to the nearby communities persist
Exposed: The Human Radiation Experiments at Hunters Point is a special report by the San Francisco Public Press, an independent non-profit news organization focused on accountability, equity and the environment.
In September 1956, Cpl Eldridge Jones found himself atop a sunbaked roof at an old army camp about an hour outside San Francisco, shoveling radioactive dirt.
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In the towns devastated by Storm Bert, residents question whether enough was done to warn of flood risk
After the anguish, came the anger. As flood waters subsided across the south Wales valleys and devastated residents and business owners surveyed the damage done by Storm Bert, questions were being asked about whether warnings were adequate.
Many of the overwhelmed towns and villages experienced similar devastation in 2020 when Storm Dennis swept through – yet those interviewed by the Guardian said little, if anything, had been done to future-proof against floods and storms in the intervening years.
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