Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Rachel Reeves has to realise she can’t plough on with the farm tax | Phillip Inman

admin — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 16:00:25 +0000

The chancellor’s attempt to get rich landowners to pay their fair share was correct in principle. But this measure has missed the mark

Rachel Reeves needs to rid herself of troublesome farmers. It’s become obvious, if it wasn’t at the time of the budget, that they are not going to go away.

Their shouts of protest are getting louder and the petition against proposals to tax inherited farms is growing longer.

Wes Streeting heckled by climate protesters at Fabian Society address

admin — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 15:45:14 +0000

Speech calling for unity against ‘populist right’ interrupted by two women opposed to Drax power plant subsidies

Wes Streeting was heckled by climate protesters during a speech calling on progressives to stand up to the “populist right”.

‘The risk of extinction is accelerating’: world’s botanic gardens raise alarm with space to protect endangered plants running out

admin — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 11:49:38 +0000

University of Cambridge research suggests living collections have collectively reached peak capacity

Botanic gardens around the world are failing to conserve the rarest and most threatened species growing in their living collections because they are running out of space, according to research from the University of Cambridge.

Researchers analysed a century’s worth of records from 50 botanic gardens and arboreta, collectively growing half-a-million plants, to see how the world’s living plant collections have changed since 1921.

Hope for Britain’s loneliest bat after second species member discovered

admin — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 11:00:19 +0000

Greater mouse-eared bat was declared extinct in the UK but ecologists now believe population recovery is possible

For 21 long winters, Britain’s loneliest bat hibernated alone in a disused railway tunnel in Sussex.

Fairtrade could help tackle exploitation in UK factories and farms, new boss says

admin — Sat, 25 Jan 2025 07:00:15 +0000

Ethical trade body could ‘offer solutions’ in advising government on protecting workers, says Eleanor Harrison

Fairtrade could help tackle exploitation in UK factories and farms – as well as those in developing countries – the incoming boss of the ethical trade body has said.

Eleanor Harrison, who in March takes the reins of the group behind the Fairtrade mark which appears on products in shops, has said it could “offer solutions” in advising the UK government on protecting workers.

How human activity has shaped Brazil Nut forests' past and future

admin — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 20:10:17 +0000

Researchers use genomic data to study the decline in genetic diversity in the Amazon Basin, particularly in Brazil Nut trees. The research uses genomic data to understand this keystone species' genetic health and adaptability, help reconstruct its demographic history, and assess the long-term impacts of human interaction on forest ecosystems. The findings emphasize the need for conservation strategies to consider both ecological and anthropogenic factors.

World’s largest iceberg drifts threateningly toward remote island of penguins and seals

admin — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 16:18:41 +0000

Gigantic wall of ice moves slowly from Antarctica on potential collision course with wildlife breeding ground

The world’s largest iceberg – a behemoth more than twice the size of London – is drifting toward a remote island where scientists say it could run aground and threaten penguins and seals.

The gigantic wall of ice is moving slowly from Antarctica on a potential collision course with South Georgia, a crucial wildlife breeding ground.

UK climate and nature bill dropped after deal with Labour backbenchers

admin — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 15:17:35 +0000

Ministers avoid internal party row by promising potential rebels they will have input into environmental legislation

Ministers have seen off a bill that would have made the UK’s climate and environment targets legally binding, after promising Labour backbenchers that they would have input into environmental legislation.

Back by unpopular demand, the great Heathrow expansion show. If only planes ran on hot air | Marina Hyde

admin — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 13:56:15 +0000

Rachel Reeves flies back from Davos to lead a revival of the aviation perennial. Labour hated the idea before, but growth won’t grow itself, will it?

Activist hits back at Starmer for ‘demonising’ him as green ‘zealot’

admin — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 12:11:59 +0000

Former councillor Andrew Boswell accuses PM of wanting to lock people out of planning process

An activist singled out by Keir Starmer as an environmental “zealot” who must be stopped from making “vexatious” legal claims that thwart growth, has accused the prime minister of trying to lock people out of the planning process.

Andrew Boswell, a 68-year-old former Green councillor, insisted his two-year legal fight over the expansion of the A47 in Norfolk was worth it, despite it ending in defeat in the supreme court last year.