Sustainability certification by Marine Stewardship Council may be obscuring labour abuses in seafood supply chains, say researchers
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which operates a “blue tick” scheme to indicate the sustainability of fish, has been accused of creating an “illusion” of ethical sourcing, after a study reported that widespread labour abuses have taken place on the fishing vessels it approves.
One in five vessels where the crew reported abuses to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) over the last five years took place on ships catching seafood certified as sustainable by the MSC, researchers found.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
04/16/2026 - 06:00
04/16/2026 - 06:00
A tenfold increase in the number of immigration detentions has compelled many workers to barely leave the farms where they work
‘They want to keep denying us our rights’: workers in Vermont’s $5.4bn dairy industry fight for basic labor protections
Last spring, José Edilberto Molina-Aguilar was resting in his bedroom when a co-worker burst through the front door. Out his window, Molina-Aguilar, a 37-year-old dairy worker from Chiapas, Mexico, caught sight of the olive green uniforms of immigration enforcement officials who later claimed they had pursued a worker on to the farm property.
A farm manager told Molina-Aguilar and five of his co-workers at Pleasant Valley Farms, Vermont’s largest dairy, in Berkshire, about three miles from the Canadian border, to come outside.
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04/16/2026 - 06:00
For his project ‘De Oförtrutna’ (The Relentless), photographer Christer Björkman pictured Swedish scientists working in the spirit of Carl Linnaeus, the botanist who created the modern taxonomic system that classifies organisms based on appearance. Each scientist brought to the shoot a book and an item of importance to their work
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04/16/2026 - 02:00
This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world
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04/16/2026 - 01:00
Map reveals most severe concentrations of ammonia emissions, which are dangerous to health and environment
Ammonia pollution hotspots have been identified in areas with some of the greatest numbers of intensive pig and poultry farms in Britain, research has revealed.
A new map for the first time reveals the most severe concentrations of ammonia emissions are clustered in Lincolnshire, Herefordshire and Norfolk. These regions all have a high density of intensive poultry and pig units that drive dangerous levels of ammonia, according to researchers from Compassion in World Farming (CiWF) and Sustain.
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04/16/2026 - 00:46
In today’s newsletter: The economic fortunes of the UK are intertwined with the price of the costly fuel – so why are we so slow to ditch it?
The economic fortunes of the UK are intertwined with the price of natural gas. It is an uncomfortable fact that we have all had to wrestle with in recent years. First, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the biggest inflation shock in a generation as the price of natural gas exploded in 2022, sparking a cost of living crisis that shows little sign of abating. Now, the US and Israel’s attack on Iran threatens to heap further economic misery on the country.
As Rachel Reeves arrives in Washington DC for the International Monetary Fund spring meeting, the bad news for the chancellor keeps coming: the IMF downgraded Britain’s growth prospects, with the UK suffering more than any other wealthy nation as a result of the conflict in Iran – driven in part by soaring energy costs once again.
Middle East crisis | The US and Iran have been in indirect talks aimed at extending the two-week ceasefire beyond its expiry on 22 April, as Pakistan’s army chief arrived in Tehran to continue mediation efforts.
Environment | The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies banked more than $30m every hour in unearned profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran, according to exclusive analysis for the Guardian.
Politics | Rachel Reeves has stepped up her criticism of Donald Trump’s war on Iran, describing it as a “mistake” that has destabilised the global economy and damaged living standards around the world.
Media | The BBC is to cut as many as 2,000 jobs in the biggest downsizing of the public service broadcaster in 15 years. Staff were informed of the cuts, which will affect about 10% of employees, at a meeting on Wednesday.
UK news | Police are seeking two suspects believed to be behind an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in north London. The Met said two people “wearing dark clothing and balaclavas” approached Finchley Reform Synagogue just after midnight on Wednesday.
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04/15/2026 - 22:09
Energy crisis unfolding in Middle East has added political urgency, and more funding, to transform South Korea’s solar industry
In Guyang-ri, a farming village of 70 households about 90 minutes south-east of Seoul, people gather for communal free lunches six days a week. The meals are funded by the village’s one-megawatt solar installation, which generates roughly 10m won ($6,800) in net profit each month.
“Residents eat lunch together every day, so we see each other’s faces, talk together,” says Jeon Joo-young, the village chief. “Bonds and solidarity between residents become much stronger. Life becomes more enjoyable.”
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04/15/2026 - 18:01
Company has received about £8.7bn in renewable energy subsidies since 2012, despite claims wood pellets are not sourced sustainably
The owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire received record subsidies of almost £1bn for burning trees to generate electricity in 2025, a climate thinktank has calculated.
The company was paid £999m last year for generating about 4.5% of Great Britain’s electricity from its biomass plant, costing each household £13 a year, according to analysts at Ember.
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04/15/2026 - 16:45
Researchers find increase in whale deaths in the bay, largely because of collisions with vessels on busy shipping route
Gray whales have historically been a rare sight in the San Francisco Bay. They trek from the warm lagoons of Mexico’s Baja California more than 10,000 miles (16,000km) north to the Arctic region to feast on shrimp-like animals during the summers, seldom stopping in the busy shipping corridor for prolonged periods.
But in recent years, that story has changed in a dire way. A new study, published this week in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, has found that gray whales in the bay have been dying at alarming rates, largely due to collisions with vessels.
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04/15/2026 - 13:00
Scientists say finding is ‘very concerning’ as collapse would be catastrophic for Europe, Africa and the Americas
The critical Atlantic current system appears significantly more likely to collapse than previously thought after new research found that climate models predicting the biggest slowdown are the most realistic. Scientists called the new finding “very concerning” as a collapse would have catastrophic consequences for Europe, Africa and the Americas.
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is a major part of the global climate system and was already known to be at its weakest for 1,600 years as a result of the climate crisis. Scientists spotted warning signs of a tipping point in 2021 and know that the Amoc has collapsed in the Earth’s past.
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