Environment news

• The Guardian view on the Iran crisis exposing Britain’s energy vulnerability: clean power offers protection | Editorial

  09-03-2026 20:11
  The war reveals Britain’s exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices. More North Sea drilling will not shield households, building domestic green energy willWhat should Britain do when war in the Middle East sends energy prices soaring? If the strait of Hormuz were blocked for the month of fighting that Donald Trump predicts, British households could face another brutal cost of living shock. Goldman Sachs warns of prices at the pump rising to 2022 levels. That would put more than 50p on each
  
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• Help a toad across the road – and five more ways to save these endangered amphibians

  09-03-2026 15:55
  Britain’s toads have begun their spring migration, putting them at even greater risk than usual. Here’s how – and why – we should look after themThere’s a touch of old magic about toads, those shapeshifters of myth, superstition and folklore. Charismatic creatures with the pleasing Latin binomial bufo bufo, common toads have astonishing copper- or gold-coloured eyes and rugged, textured skin. “People say they look warty, which I’ve always thought is a bi
  
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• Pay per view: Victoria wants to charge visitors to see the Twelve Apostles – will it become like Stonehenge?

  09-03-2026 15:00
  Like Stonehenge, the Australian coastal landmark is first seen from a busy highway – and locals warn charging a fee for safe viewing could make existing congestion worseGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastHow much is a view worth? The Victorian public is asking itself that question after the state government announced on Monday that it would impose visitor fees on one of its most spectacular landmarks, the Twelve Apostles.Bookings would be required and a fee payable
  
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• Countries can rewild borders to deter invasions, says EU environment chief

  09-03-2026 12:17
  Jessika Roswall cites Poland and Finland, which have made border areas near Russia or its allies ‘more hostile’ to crossCountries should look to rewild their land borders as a deterrence to invasion and build up other geographical defences to attack, Europe’s environment chief has said.Jessika Roswall, the EU’s commissioner for the environment, water resilience and a competitive circular economy, said nature should be used to improve national security. “Investing in
  
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• Large tortoiseshell butterfly confirmed no longer extinct in UK

  09-03-2026 12:00
  Early spring sightings show colourful insect is a resident species for first time in decades, says conservation charityThe large tortoiseshell – an elusive and enigmatic butterfly that became extinct in Britain in the last century – is a UK resident species once again, with a flurry of early spring sightings.Britain’s list of native butterflies has increased to 60 with the return of the insect after individuals emerged from hibernation in woodlands in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, D
  
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• Yorkshire Water receives fresh funding despite sewage fines and pay row

  09-03-2026 09:29
  Private equity group EQT to take 42% stake as supplier faces scrutiny over environmental record and CEO’s payBusiness live – latest updatesA leading European investor will pump fresh funding into Yorkshire Water including helping to cover a £600m loan, despite recent heavy sewage fines and a scandal over executive pay at the utility firm.EQT, a Swedish private equity group, said on Monday it would take a 42% stake in Kelda Holdings, the Jersey-registered parent company of Yorks
  
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• How the ‘Galápagos of west Africa’ is plundered by floating fish factories

  09-03-2026 08:00
  A Guardian investigation with DeSmog reveals thousands of tonnes of fish are illegally turned into fishmeal and oil off the coast of Guinea-BissauThe only ice factory on Bubaque, an island in west Africa’s Guinea-Bissau, is out of service. Local fishers, such as Pedro Luis Pereira, are forced to source ice from factories on the mainland, about 70km away – a six-hour round trip by boat.“The machines have been broken for months,” Pereira says, as he pulls in his nets on the
  
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• Country diary: A riverside walk reveals the city’s history written in plants | Susie White

  09-03-2026 06:30
  Lower Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne: Under boardwalks, in concrete, on window ledges, seeds borne by water and carried on feet surviveThe Ouseburn slides glassily, reflecting clouds, as it moves towards the Tyne. These lower reaches are tidal, once used for loading coal barges, here in the industrial heart of Newcastle. From glassworks, bottleworks, potteries and flax mills, the area is now transformed into waterside cafes, bars and housing. The burn flows through a variety of habitats: a wooded
  
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• ‘The smell wasn’t healthy’: the artist who wore 24 nappies to highlight sewage pollution – and fell ill

  09-03-2026 06:00
  zack mennell made a costume out of nappies and waded into filthy waterways saying: ‘I’m going to be the parasite.’ The performance artist’s project became more literal than originally intendedOn the Deptford foreshore, a ghoulish figure is sinking into the Thames. Performance artist zack mennell (who writes their name in lower case) wades to their belly button as a crowd watches on. DAs they dip down further, their mutant costume – sewn together from 24 adult nappie
  
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