Exclusive: Minister says proposals show government’s ambition, as it faces unprecedented pressure from Greens
Tree nurseries could be built at prisons and military ranges could be turned into heathland or peat bogs as part of an ambitious plan to make government land more nature-friendly, the environment secretary has said.
Speaking ahead of elections this week in which Labour is under pressure from the Green party, Emma Reynolds said such projects showed the government’s intent in restoring natural habitats.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/04/2026 - 06:09
05/04/2026 - 04:00
Louisiana’s cultural hotspot could be surrounded by Gulf of Mexico before end of this century, authors say
The process of relocating people from New Orleans should start immediately as the city has reached a “point of no return” that will see it surrounded by the ocean within decades due to the climate crisis, a stark new study has concluded.
Ongoing sea level rise and the rampant erosion of wetlands in southern Louisiana will swallow up the New Orleans area within a few generations, with the new paper estimating the city “may well be surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico before the end of this century”.
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05/04/2026 - 03:50
International Energy Agency analysis shows methane leaks remained at near-record highs in 2025
Methane emissions from the energy sector remained at near record levels in 2025, the International Energy Agency has concluded.
Tackling the emissions could make billions of cubic metres of gas available to international markets, a top priority as the war in the Middle East squeezes energy supplies, the IEA said in a report.
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05/04/2026 - 02:00
Councils spend heavily on grisly yet ineffective methods. Why won’t they consider a proven, low-cost and humane strategy?
By some estimates there are almost 3 million pigeons residing in London, which has the highest pigeon population in the country. Known as “rats with wings”, “flying ashtrays” and “gutter birds”, pigeons do not have popular sentiment on their side. And cities in the UK have an extensive history of attempted pigeon pest control – having tried everything short of an exorcism to remove them – to no avail.
London’s best-known victory in the war against pigeons was self-declared, after an operation in Trafalgar Square in the early 2000s. Ken Livingstone’s city government flew two Harris hawks around the area to “deter” pigeons – although the hawks went further than that, killing 121 pigeons in what ended up being a years-long bloodbath. The blitz cost the city £226,000. Wildlife activists deemed it an act of unimaginable cruelty. And it did little to permanently cut down pigeon populations. Last year in Manchester at least 81 pigeons were shot and killed by pest control services – employed by Northern Trains – in early morning offensives at Manchester Victoria station. The event is known to some as the Manchester Victoria pigeon massacre.
Sydney Lobe is a freelance writer based between Vancouver and London
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05/04/2026 - 00:54
In today’s newsletter: As oil prices spike and geopolitical tensions rise, a diverse group of governments is attempting to build momentum and rewrite the global energy script
Good morning. The cost of fossil fuels is threatening to strangle the global economy once again. Last week, oil prices surged after the US president, Donald Trump, warned that a blockade of Iranian ports could last months – causing the price of oil to jump to its highest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With it, the spectre of global recession looms large.
But on the Atlantic coast in Colombia last week, a coalition of the willing was working to break the cycle. Almost 60 governments met in Santa Marta for the world’s first conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels. At the conference, each country agreed to develop roadmaps on how to move away from fossil fuel dependency.
AI | The biometrics commissioner for England and Wales has warned that national oversight of AI-powered face scanning to catch criminals is lagging far behind the technology’s rapid growth.
UK politics | Labour’s deputy leader, Lucy Powell, has warned there will be “no magic bullet” to solve Labour’s problems or major challenges facing the country as its MPs grapple with how to navigate the fallout from the local elections.
Iran | Donald Trump has announced that the US will “guide” ships trapped by the Iran war out of the Gulf through the strait of Hormuz on Monday morning, and claimed his representatives were having “very positive” discussions with Iran.
Europe | Canada is to become the first non-European country to attend a meeting of the European Political Community when the prime minister, Mark Carney, joins today’s summit in Armenia.
Israel | Spain’s foreign ministry has demanded the immediate release of a Spanish national it said was being “held illegally” by Israel after the interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla.
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05/04/2026 - 00:31
International Energy Agency findings show government must commit to rapid cuts in emissions of greenhouse gas, climate experts say
Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here
Emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane from Australian coalmines are more than double official government estimates reported to the UN, according to a new International Energy Agency report.
Climate and energy analysts said the report had again highlighted an “enormous gap” in the country’s reported methane emissions from coalmines and should serve as a wake-up call.
Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter
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05/03/2026 - 19:35
In an electric vehicle you quickly learn when you can gun the engine, how to use the many apps – and how to enjoy the time while the car is charging
I quickly discovered two important things when recently taking a three week drive over several thousand kilometres in an electric car. The first is that “range anxiety’’ is very real. The second is that veteran EV drivers are often there for us neophytes.
First, some background. I’d always planned to get an electric car eventually – but then, just before Christmas, the petrol engine of our 17-year-old second-hand Subaru finally cooked itself after 360,000-plus kilometres.
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05/03/2026 - 14:32
Proposal includes cutbacks for three years as negotiations over future of shrinking reservoirs have been unsuccessful
The states of California, Arizona and Nevada have proposed voluntary water-saving measures for the next three years aimed at buying time while negotiations remain deadlocked over the future of shrinking reservoirs filled by the Colorado River.
The Colorado River provides water to some 40 million people in the American west. But the two massive reservoirs filled by the river, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, both stand at historically low levels, after consistent overdrawing coupled with reduced snowpack and warming from climate change.
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05/03/2026 - 10:00
For more than two decades, Pardington has been photographing taonga (Māori cultural treasures) and natural history specimens in museums around the world. In the South Canterbury museum, she was struck by a collection of stuffed native birds which had been subject to taxidermy – many of them now extinct or endangered. They inspired a new human-scale portrait series of these manu (birds), revered within Māori culture as intermediaries between human and divine worlds. The resulting works will be exhibited at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
Pardington invites viewers to reconsider how they think of birds, and how we might better protect them
Fiona Pardington: Taharaki Skyside will be exhibited at the Aotearoa New Zealand pavilion at the Venice Biennale from 9 May – 22 November 2026
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05/03/2026 - 05:50
Councillors in Leicestershire support move in efforts to reduce flooding as Reform faces divisions on nature policy
A Reform UK council has backed the release of wild beavers into the countryside, despite the party’s opposition to rewilding.
The Reform-led Leicestershire county council has backed the release of the rodents as part of efforts to reduce flooding.
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