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Green sector growing at triple the rate of the UK economy, providing high-wage jobs and increasing energy security
The net zero sector is growing three times faster than the overall UK economy, analysis has found, providing high-wage jobs across the country while cutting climate-heating emissions and increasing energy security.
The net zero economy grew by 10% in 2024 and generated £83bn in gross value added (GVA), a measure of how much value companies add through the goods and services they produce.
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Many of the nations gathering in Rome for Cop16 have offered no plans to honour their agreement to protect 30% of land and sea for nature
More than half the world’s countries have no plans to protect 30% of land and sea for nature, despite committing to a global agreement to do so less than three years ago, new analysis shows.
In late 2022, nearly every country signed a once-in-a-decade UN deal to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems. It included a headline target to protect nearly a third of the planet for biodiversity by the end of the decade – a goal known as “30 by 30”.
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Oglet, Merseyside: A landslide here has left roots exposed and strangers on the shore. This is a test of plant tenacity
A glint of sun and hint of blue sky stole into February’s persistent pallor. Recovering from a winter bug, I was sure a walk at Oglet would provide a much-needed tonic. As I wandered along the shore, a watchful grey heron, redshanks and a flotilla of mallards were my only companions. The peace was tangible.
The clay-rich cliffs at Oglet have regionally important geodiversity sites (Rigs) status, recognised for the locally rare plant species that grow there. The cliffs are prone to occasional slumping, but one of my favourite plants – coltsfoot – favours this unstable ground and, although early in the year, I thought I might find signs of it.
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Numbers of animals once hunted as vermin are rising across the continent. But scientists worry about how we are going to get along with these predators
Europe’s carnivores have had a remarkable change in fortune. After tens of thousands of years of persecution that wiped out sabretooth tigers, hyenas and cave lions, there has been a recent rebound in the continent’s surviving predators.
Across mainland Europe, bear, wolf, lynx and wolverine numbers have risen dramatically as conservation measures introduced several decades ago have begun to make an impact. There are now about 20,500 brown bears in Europe, a rise of 17% since 2016, while there are 9,400 Eurasian lynx, a 12% increase.
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Research group says discovery could lead to new type of environmentally friendly farming
A biological mechanism that makes plant roots more attractive to soil microbes has been discovered by scientists in the UK. The breakthrough – by researchers at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, Norfolk – opens the door to the creation of crops requiring reduced amounts of nitrate and phosphate fertilisers, they say.
“We can now think of developing a new type of environmentally friendly farming with crops that require less artificial fertiliser,” said Dr Myriam Charpentier, whose group carried out the research.
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UK food producers plan more protests over inheritance tax changes ahead of this week’s NFU conference in London
The suits and black cabs which typically dot the streets around Westminster have been frequently replaced by the wellies, tweed jackets and tractors of aggrieved farmers of late. The next protest in London by the nation’s food producers is expected on Tuesday morning, ahead of the annual get-together of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).
Farmers have regularly swapped their fields for the city since October, when changes to inheritance tax (IHT) for agricultural businesses were announced by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, angrily protesting and waving banners.
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Rio de Janeiro reached 44C, its highest temperature for more than a decade, last Monday
While North America grappled with widespread cold and wintry conditions last week, South America – now in its final month of summer – faced the opposite extreme, with record high temperatures recorded across the continent. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second largest city, temperatures at its Guaratiba weather station soared to 44C last Monday, 14C above the February norm and the highest temperature recorded in the city for more than a decade. In addition to the high temperatures, Rio has also experienced what is expected to be one of its driest Februarys on record, with little rain so far this month and minimal precipitation expected in the next week. Authorities activated a level 4 heat protocol early last week as a result of the extreme heat, prompting the setup of hydration stations at outdoor events and public spaces, as well as the designation of air-conditioned buildings as “cooling points”.
Although temperatures in Brazil have since returned closer to average, the focus of the heat has shifted southwards. North-western Argentina is set for highs in the upper 30s to low 40s Celsius in the coming days, 10 to 15C above the seasonal average. However, unlike in Rio, these high temperatures are likely to set off thunderstorms, some of which may lead to some high rainfall totals in places.
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Six weeks after a devastating blaze in Accra ripped through one of the world’s biggest secondhand markets, many stalls remain unfinished and thousands still have no income
It was a blaze that left two people dead and destroyed the fabric of one of the world’s largest secondhand clothes markets. It also wiped out the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people in a matter of hours.
Six weeks on from the 1 January fire in Ghana’s capital, Accra, the aluminium roofing has been replaced and wooden frames have been erected, but many stalls remain unfinished and empty. In the heart of the market, the sound of hammering and building work fills the air. Vendors mill around with little to sell. The narrow passageways – once so rammed with customers there was a stampede two months ago – are easy to pass through.
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Despite conflicting laws, a wave of amateur homesteaders have started keeping fowl in the spirit of self-sufficiency
Katie Whalen’s backyard in the Florida city of Port St Lucie is testament to her journey towards a life of self-sufficiency. She grows mangoes, avocados, starfruit, jackfruit and coconuts. She is cultivating a tropical tree spinach known as chaya.
What she really wants, however, is a chicken coop and hens to provide eggs that are becoming increasingly unaffordable in stores. As bird flu worsens across the US and commercial suppliers struggle to keep up with demand, the keeping of fowl and production of eggs in home environments, has surged in popularity, and Whalen is keen to join the revolution.
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Robust group of organizers – including midwives, environmental justice advocates and urban gardeners – rewrite what it means to be from the US mountain region
Appalachia, which spans from southern New York to northern Mississippi, usually evokes images of white working-class people, as depicted in JD Vance’s 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy. But it’s little known to people outside of the region that there’s a robust community of Black organizers who are rewriting the narrative of what it means to be Appalachian.
While just 10% of Appalachia is made up of Black residents, they are disproportionately impacted by resource extraction that has led to adverse effects on the environment, health and access to food. But Black activists in Appalachia such as Staysha Quentrill, a midwife and reproductive justice advocate in West Virginia; the Right Rev Marcia Dinkins, an environmental justice advocate in Ohio; and Femeika Elliott, a foodways practictioner in Tennessee are working to improve the wellbeing and safety of the people in their communities.
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