Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Clean tech’s key minerals now drive western rearmament, reviving extractive ambition and exposing the toxic cost of dependence It’s an irony that the minerals needed to save the planet may help destroy it. Rare earth elements, the mineral backbones of wind turbines and electric vehicles, are now the prize in a geopolitical arms race. The trade agreement between Washington and Beijing restores rare earth shipments from China to the US, which had been suspended in retaliation against Donald Trump’s tariffs. Behind the bluster, there has been a realisation in Washington that these are critical inputs for the US. They are needed not just by American icons such as Ford and Boeing but for its fighter jets, missile guidance systems and satellite communications. This understanding suggests that Washington will scale back some of its countermeasures once Beijing resumes delivery of rare earths. The paradox is that to reduce its dependence on China, the US must depend on Beijing a little longer. This is not yet decoupling; it’s deferment. That, however, may not last. Mr Trump has signed an executive order to boost production of critical minerals, which encourages the faster granting of permits for mining and processing projects. He eyes Ukraine and Greenland’s subterranean riches to break dependence on China. Continue reading...

Guardian investigation sheds light on private intelligence industry that runs covert surveillance operations Is surveillance by private operators legal in the UK? Wildlife activists who exposed horrific conditions at Scottish salmon farms were subjected to “Big Brother” surveillance by spies for hire working for an elite British army veteran. One of the activists believes he was with his young daughter on at least one of the occasions when he was followed and photographed by the former paratrooper Damian Ozenbrook’s operatives. Continue reading...

Negotiators doubt countries’ financial and environmental commitment as military and trade wars divert attention “Climate is our biggest war. Climate is here for the next 100 years. We need to focus and … not allow those [other] wars to take our attention away from the bigger fight that we need to have.” Ana Toni, the chief executive of Cop30, the UN climate summit to be held in Brazil this November, is worried. With only four months before the crucial global summit, the world’s response to the climate crisis is in limbo. Continue reading...

It is what we might call the HS2 fallacy: new reservoirs as tall as high-rise buildings that boost water companies’ assets Britain is running out of water, we are told. Soon there will be curfews, banning people from turning on their taps, as happens in Italy. Standpipes will sprout on the side of parched roads where trees once stood. Rivers will run dry and rural communities will begin digging wells in response to a water apocalypse destined to arrive courtesy of the ravaging effect of climate change. Continue reading...