Exclusive: Schemes worth hundreds of millions of pounds to protect biodiversity and oceans likely to be substantially reduced
UK programmes to protect nature and the climate in developing countries are suffering swingeing budget cuts despite ministers’ promises, the Guardian has learned.
The cuts belie the government’s claims to be fulfilling international obligations on climate finance and are veiled behind a system that experts have criticised as opaque.
The cutting and partial closure of the £100m Biodiverse Landscapes Fund, intended to protect nature in vital ecosystems in poor regions overseas. Six regions were originally targeted, in Africa, South America and Asia, but this has been reduced to two.
Coast – a project for Climate and Ocean Adaptation and Sustainable Transition – and Pact (Prepare and Accelerate Climate Transitions) are having substantial cuts.
The future of the £500m Blue Planet Fund has been thrown into doubt despite its successful operation.
Other schemes have been reduced in scope, for instance by allowing only one year’s funding where years were expected.
Requests for data under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed spending has been slashed among the departments responsible for international climate finance (ICF).
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
03/02/2026 - 10:24
Hydrolysis uses alkaline and water to break down body in a few hours and is part of demand for more sustainable funerals
Scotland has become the first part of the UK to legalise hydrolysis, an environmentally friendly alternative to cremation or burial, reflecting increasing demand for more sustainable funeral arrangements.
Also known as water cremation or aquamation, the process is already available in many parts of the world, and regulations approved by the Scottish parliament on Monday mark the most significant change to funeral law since cremation was introduced in 1902.
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03/02/2026 - 03:00
Insect taxonomist Art Borkent has described and named more than 300 species of midges but fears his field of science is dying out, despite millions of insects, fungi and other organisms waiting to be discovered
Once Art Borkent starts speaking about biting midges, he rarely pauses for breath. Holding up a picture of a gnat trapped in amber from the time of the dinosaurs, the 72-year-old taxonomist explains that there are more than 6,000 ceratopogonidae species known to science. He has described and named more than 300 midges, mostly from his favourite family of flies. Some specialise in sucking blood from mammals, reptiles, other insects and even fish, often using the CO2 from their host’s breath to locate their target, he says. Tens of thousands remain a mystery to science, waiting to be discovered.
But to Borkent’s knowledge, nobody will continue his life’s work of identifying and studying this group of flies once he has gone.
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03/01/2026 - 23:20
Authorities say capture of bull and tiger sharks necessary to protect lives as environmentalists launch urgent legal challenge
Some beaches in areas of New Caledonia are closed to swimming and the authorities have begun shark culling off the capital, Nouméa, after a fatal attack in the popular tourist spot – prompting a legal challenge to stop the operation and reigniting debate over public safety and marine conservation.
The culling operation began on 23 February, after a man from New Caledonia riding a wing foil in a recreational area was attacked and killed. Preliminary investigations indicate the victim was attacked by a tiger shark that measured at least three metres.
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03/01/2026 - 21:56
Long-nosed fur seal seen on banks of waterway in city’s inner west similar to those occasionally found outside Sydney Opera House
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A seal has been spotted in an inner western Sydney river, prompting a response from wildlife rescue teams who worry it may be in poor health.
However the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) said there were no obvious health concerns, and they were keeping track of the animal’s movements.
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03/01/2026 - 20:30
The juvenile freshwater crocodile was first spotted by a group of teenagers in Ironbark Creek in the Australian city on Saturday
An Australian freshwater crocodile has been captured in a city creek thousands of kilometres south of its normal range, after sightings shocked onlookers at a suburban park.
The crocodile was first spotted in Ironbark Creek in Newcastle – about 100km north of Sydney – around midday on Saturday, by a group of teenagers.
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03/01/2026 - 11:00
Campaign groups write to technology secretary amid concerns that sites could double overall electricity demand
Datacentre developers are facing pressure to reveal whether their projects will increase the UK’s net greenhouse gas emissions, amid concerns the sites could double national electricity demand.
Campaign groups have written to the UK technology secretary, Liz Kendall, warning that the energy required by new AI infrastructure poses a “serious threat to efforts to decarbonise the electricity grid”.
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03/01/2026 - 02:00
Exclusive: Whistleblower figures show large rise in ‘serious’ to ‘minor’ downgrades based on water company evidence
Environment Agency (EA) staff have downgraded thousands of serious pollution incidents by water companies in England without visiting to investigate, data unearthed by freedom of information (FoI) requests suggests.
The figures were obtained by Robert Forrester, a whistleblower who left the agency in January and has spent nine years shining a light on the state of the water industry. His identity was revealed in the Channel 4 docudrama Dirty Business this week, and he has vowed to carry on fighting to expose the truth.
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02/28/2026 - 14:00
Unsettling predictions are now our catastrophic reality, but a brighter future is still within reach if our political leaders change course
Soaring, scorching, record temperatures, yet again. Distressing, protracted droughts. Raging fires and devastating floods. Australia’s summer is drawing to a close, and a reprieve from climate whiplash can’t come soon enough.
We’ve witnessed and suffered immense losses and deep heartache for wildlife, ecosystems, and our communities. There was a time when the dire potential consequences of climate breakdown and environmental destruction were warnings, calls from scientists and experts for increased and urgent action. Now an unsettling possibility feels like a disturbing reality.
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02/28/2026 - 02:00
Understanding biodiversity within species is key to our understanding of why nature works the way it does, say researchers
Words and photographs by Roberto García-Roa
Twelve miles from the heart of Rome, Dr Javier Ábalos pauses his walk, lifts his sunglasses and points. To his right, perched on a rocky wall, sits a beautiful lizard. Its body is coated in charcoal-black tones speckled with striking yellow across a green dorsum, and its head, with a prominent jaw, is splashed with fluorescent blue spots. The reptile basks in the sun, unconcerned by our presence.
About 80 miles (130km) drive farther along the road that connects the capital with the small village of Poggio di Roio, the researcher from the University of Valencia has barely stepped out of the car when he spots another lizard. This one is smaller, with a brownish body and a narrower head crisscrossed by a network of dark stripes.
Researchers fear the common wall lizard of the white morph could be driven to extinction by the arrival of a new variation
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