Latest news with #FriendsoftheEarth
The Independent
4 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Mapped: Where in the UK are people most at risk from potentially deadly heatwave?
The areas where people are most in danger from deadly heatwaves have been revealed amid the UK 's fourth heatwave of the summer. The new analysis also shows thousands of young children, hospital patients and elderly people are at risk as temperatures climb once again, with health alerts in force around the UK. The findings, which have been mapped, identified 4,715 high heat neighbourhoods across England. More than 10,000 nurseries, almost 10,000 care homes and more than 1,000 hospitals were revealed to be located within the at-risk zones. Friends of the Earth, which undertook the research, is urging the UK government to take urgent action to protect those most under threat. The government said it was taking robust action to adapt to a changing climate, alongside becoming a 'clearn energy superpower'. A new survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of the charity also showed public support for stronger measures to protect people from heatwaves and other extreme weather events, with 81 per cent thinking the government should develop a plan to protect those most at risk from extreme weather. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned of possible deadly effects as it issued heat health warnings for all of England on Monday. Amber warnings are in place for the East Midlands, West Midlands, east of England, London and the South East until Wednesday, with yellow warnings in place for the remainder of the country. It comes after the Centre for Ageing Better warned extreme heat could lead to more than 5,000 deaths this summer in what would be one of the deadliest heatwave years on record. The charity's analysis showed 2025 has seen more extreme temperatures and more heat health alerts than at the same time in 2022 – a year in which a high number of excess deaths from heat were recorded. The hot weather was a factor in more than 4,500 heat-related deaths in 2022, according to estimates from the Office for National Statistics. Using 2022 heatwave data, Friends of the Earth researchers mapped out the third of the country that experienced the hottest temperatures, and which are highly likely to be exposed to future heatwaves. They found the average maximum daytime air temperature in neighbourhoods in this third of the country was 38C over a 72-hour period, which is 10C higher than the heatwave threshold used by the Met Office, meaning these places were dangerously hot, and are referred to as high heat neighbourhoods. The map also shows which of these neighbourhoods have enhanced risks of health impacts due to a combination of physical characteristics, such as little green space or lots of flats, enhanced physical risk, like an elderly population or poor health, and low ability to respond, such as low income. These are the neighbourhoods the environmental justice campaigners say need prioritising for adaptation measures. They also warned that extreme heat poses a threat to everyone but some – such as older people, young children, people with health issues and hospital patients – are particularly at risk. They discovered that the high heat neighbourhoods discovered contained 9,589 care homes, 1,012 hospitals, and 10,064 nurseries. Friends of the Earth campaigner Denis Fernando said: 'Heatwaves are becoming more frequent and more extreme as climate change gathers pace. "The UK has been hit by thousands of heat-related deaths over recent years, and this could rise to over 10,000 a year by 2050, according to government advisors. 'Extreme heat affects us all – but some communities and people are affected harder than others, including older people, young children, people with health issues and hospital patients. 'The government must urgently overhaul its weak climate adaptation plans to protect communities, especially those most at risk, from increasingly severe weather events such as heatwaves, floods and storms – as well as doing more to cut the emissions that are fuelling the crisis.' The government's climate adaptation plan – which is known as the National Adaptation Programme (NAP) and aims to prepare the country for the impacts of climate change – was criticised by its official advisor in April. The Climate Change Committee warned: 'The UK is not appropriately prepared for this. Notably, there has been no change in addressing this risk with the change in government.' In July, Friends of the Earth and two people whose lives have been severely impacted by the climate crisis filed an official complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over the government's climate adaptation strategy, which the group deems 'inadequate'. Among the policies the campaigners are calling for are upgrades to buildings poorly equipped for high temperatures, more features and spaces that cool cities, and heat training for staff to help protest vulnerable people. One of the co-claimants in the ECHR case is disability rights activist Doug Paulley, a care home resident in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, who has health conditions that are exacerbated by searing summer temperatures. Mr Paulley, said: 'Time and again, disabled people are treated as an expendable afterthought in emergencies - and climate change is one of the biggest. The government's lack of effective consideration for us in its climate action plan is completely unacceptable. 'Friends of the Earth's research reveals just how many care homes are in heatwave danger zones. The government must do more to ensure residents like me are properly protected from the threat they face.' A government spokesperson said: 'The National Adaptation Programme includes steps to make local communities become more resilient to overheating, a Local Advisory Climate Service to give authorities support and we're putting £30 billion into improving hospital buildings. 'We urge people to take extra care in the hot weather with building regulations in place to reduce the risk of new homes overheating and housing tenants can speak to their council if excess heat means that their property is in a dangerous condition.' They added that the government has launched a new Flood Resilience Taskforce and committed £2.65 billion for new flood schemes.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Mapped: Areas most at risk during deadly heatwaves as charity urges government to protect vulnerable
The areas where people are most in danger from deadly heatwaves have been revealed amid the UK 's fourth heatwave of the summer. The new analysis also shows thousands of young children, hospital patients and elderly people are at risk as temperatures climb once again, with health alerts in force around the UK. The findings, which have been mapped, identified 4,715 high heat neighbourhoods across England. More than 10,000 nurseries, almost 10,000 care homes and more than 1,000 hospitals were revealed to be located within the at-risk zones. Friends of the Earth, which undertook the research, is urging the UK government to take urgent action to protect those most under threat. The government said it was taking robust action to adapt to a changing climate, alongside becoming a 'clearn energy superpower'. A new survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of the charity also showed public support for stronger measures to protect people from heatwaves and other extreme weather events, with 81 per cent thinking the government should develop a plan to protect those most at risk from extreme weather. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned of possible deadly effects as it issued heat health warnings for all of England on Monday. Amber warnings are in place for the East Midlands, West Midlands, east of England, London and the South East until Wednesday, with yellow warnings in place for the remainder of the country. It comes after the Centre for Ageing Better warned extreme heat could lead to more than 5,000 deaths this summer in what would be one of the deadliest heatwave years on record. The charity's analysis showed 2025 has seen more extreme temperatures and more heat health alerts than at the same time in 2022 – a year in which a high number of excess deaths from heat were recorded. The hot weather was a factor in more than 4,500 heat-related deaths in 2022, according to estimates from the Office for National Statistics. Using 2022 heatwave data, Friends of the Earth researchers mapped out the third of the country that experienced the hottest temperatures, and which are highly likely to be exposed to future heatwaves. They found the average maximum daytime air temperature in neighbourhoods in this third of the country was 38C over a 72-hour period, which is 10C higher than the heatwave threshold used by the Met Office, meaning these places were dangerously hot, and are referred to as high heat neighbourhoods. The map also shows which of these neighbourhoods have enhanced risks of health impacts due to a combination of physical characteristics, such as little green space or lots of flats, enhanced physical risk, like an elderly population or poor health, and low ability to respond, such as low income. These are the neighbourhoods the environmental justice campaigners say need prioritising for adaptation measures. They also warned that extreme heat poses a threat to everyone but some – such as older people, young children, people with health issues and hospital patients – are particularly at risk. They discovered that the high heat neighbourhoods discovered contained 9,589 care homes, 1,012 hospitals, and 10,064 nurseries. Friends of the Earth campaigner Denis Fernando said: 'Heatwaves are becoming more frequent and more extreme as climate change gathers pace. "The UK has been hit by thousands of heat-related deaths over recent years, and this could rise to over 10,000 a year by 2050, according to government advisors. 'Extreme heat affects us all – but some communities and people are affected harder than others, including older people, young children, people with health issues and hospital patients. 'The government must urgently overhaul its weak climate adaptation plans to protect communities, especially those most at risk, from increasingly severe weather events such as heatwaves, floods and storms – as well as doing more to cut the emissions that are fuelling the crisis.' The government's climate adaptation plan – which is known as the National Adaptation Programme (NAP) and aims to prepare the country for the impacts of climate change – was criticised by its official advisor in April. The Climate Change Committee warned: 'The UK is not appropriately prepared for this. Notably, there has been no change in addressing this risk with the change in government.' In July, Friends of the Earth and two people whose lives have been severely impacted by the climate crisis filed an official complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over the government's climate adaptation strategy, which the group deems 'inadequate'. Among the policies the campaigners are calling for are upgrades to buildings poorly equipped for high temperatures, more features and spaces that cool cities, and heat training for staff to help protest vulnerable people. One of the co-claimants in the ECHR case is disability rights activist Doug Paulley, a care home resident in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, who has health conditions that are exacerbated by searing summer temperatures. Mr Paulley, said: 'Time and again, disabled people are treated as an expendable afterthought in emergencies - and climate change is one of the biggest. The government's lack of effective consideration for us in its climate action plan is completely unacceptable. 'Friends of the Earth's research reveals just how many care homes are in heatwave danger zones. The government must do more to ensure residents like me are properly protected from the threat they face.' A government spokesperson said: 'The National Adaptation Programme includes steps to make local communities become more resilient to overheating, a Local Advisory Climate Service to give authorities support and we're putting £30 billion into improving hospital buildings. 'We urge people to take extra care in the hot weather with building regulations in place to reduce the risk of new homes overheating and housing tenants can speak to their council if excess heat means that their property is in a dangerous condition.' They added that the government has launched a new Flood Resilience Taskforce and committed £2.65 billion for new flood schemes.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
The Greater Manchester areas most at risk from 'dangerous' heatwaves
The areas in Greater Manchester that are most at risk from 'dangerous' heatwaves have been revealed by an environmental charity. Friends of the Earth have identified 4,715 'high heat' neighbourhoods across England based on heatwave data from 2022 when temperatures topped 40C. More than 4,500 deaths that year were linked to heat - the highest number over the last 35 years. It comes as the UK is set for a fourth heatwave this summer with temperatures expected to reach 34C in parts of the country. Health authorities have issued a yellow heat health alert covering six English regions. The North West of England is not affected. Never miss a story with the MEN's daily Catch Up newsletter - get it in your inbox by signing up here In Greater Manchester, temperatures are expected to reach highs of 31C on Tuesday (August 12), according to the Met Office. New analysis by Friends of the Earth has found that there are nearly 500 'high heat' neighbourhoods across the North West. This includes most of the neighbourhoods within the M60 ring road as well as parts of Wigan, Oldham, Tameside and Stockport. Researchers from the charity also identified nearly 2,000 neighbourhoods that face 'enhanced risks' of health impacts from heat. These risks are linked to physical characteristics of an area, such as little green space and lots of flats, more physical risk, such as having an older population and health issues, and a 'low ability' to respond to rising temperatures, for example due to low income. In total, 253 'high heat' neighbourhoods in the North West of England were found to have 'enhanced risks' of health impacts from heat. This includes the city of Manchester and central parts of Salford as well as the towns of Bolton, Bury, Oldham and Ashton-under-Lyne. The researchers also revealed that within the nearly 500 'high heat' neighbourhoods across the North West, there are 937 care homes and nursing homes - including 69 in Manchester, 65 in Stockport, and 31 in Tameside - as well as 107 hospitals and 954 nurseries. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE Friends of the Earth campaigner Denis Fernando, said: "Heatwaves are becoming more frequent and more extreme as climate change gathers pace. "The UK has been hit by thousands of heat-related deaths over recent years, and this could rise to over 10,000 a year by 2050, according to government advisors. "Extreme heat affects us all – but some communities and people are affected harder than others, including older people, young children, people with health issues and hospital patients. "The government must act now and urgently overhaul its weak climate adaptation plans to protect communities, especially those most at risk, from increasingly severe weather events such as heatwaves, floods and storms – as well as doing more to cut the emissions that are fuelling the crisis."
E&E News
30-07-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Enviros are reeling in Trump's ‘scorched-earth' second term
It's a rough time to be an environmentalist. Green groups spent the early days of this administration stunned as the Trump 2.0 team dismantled federal agencies, slashed spending and torpedoed regulations in a flurry that caught many of the administration's critics by surprise. Now, as environmental nonprofits gear up for several more years of playing defense against an emboldened administration, the movement is scrambling to regain traction. Advertisement Green groups are watching years of work on environmental regulations vaporize. The administration is purging the federal workforce — including staffers who work inside energy and environmental agencies. And the court system that President Donald Trump's critics are using to challenge the administration is overshadowed by a conservative Supreme Court that has already handed some big wins to the president. 'The reason for bad vibes is obvious: This is the most anti-environmental administration that our country and perhaps the world has ever seen,' said Bill McKibben, a longtime environmentalist and author. 'It is difficult to be hopeful in the face of all that.' In its latest blockbuster move to slash environmental policies, the Trump administration this week announced plans to jettison the so-called endangerment finding, the scientific determination that underpins EPA's climate regulations. It's a seismic move that could fully upend the government's climate rules — and one that the first Trump administration avoided in part due to concerns about the political ramifications. This Trump administration is different. The environmental movement is on its heels as it scrambles to respond. And as they gear up for defense in the policy realm, some green groups are also struggling with internal problems. Some organizations aren't getting the same surge in donations they saw during the first Trump administration. Prominent green groups have laid off staff this year at a time they'd like to be boosting their personnel to fight back. And environmentalists are worried the administration will target environmental nonprofits' tax-exempt status, a move that would make fundraising even tougher. POLITICO's E&E News interviewed more than a dozen green group leaders, climate activists and employees at environmental nonprofits for this story. They described a movement that's been forced to recalibrate as the Trump administration has slashed climate policies, targeted long-standing environmental protections and purged employees across the federal government. 'We just lost a decade's worth of work under the Trump administration and we're in the process of losing more as he guts federal agencies and they go after rewriting bedrock environmental laws,' said Erich Pica, president of the Washington-based green group Friends of the Earth. Money woes EPA employees and supporters take part in a national march in protest over Trump administration policies March 25 in Philadelphia. | Matt Rourke/AP At Friends of the Earth, individual donations fell by about $1.3 million this year — an 11 percent drop over last year, said Pica. Friends of Earth relies on small donations for about 70 percent of its revenue, Pica said. He attributed declining donations to factors including inflation, tariffs, and algorithmic changes to online advertising and email marketing. 'Friends of the Earth hasn't seen a significant Trump bump when it comes to small-donor fundraising,' Pica said. It's nowhere near the increase they saw in 2016, he said. He thinks that's due in part to donor and activist fatigue after 'eight years of Trump being the boogeyman.' At Friends of the Earth, the steep decline in donations has led to staff layoffs, Pica said. The organization laid off eight people in June as a result of restructuring and cost-cutting to address its budget deficit, Pica said. The layoffs are 'terrible for our staff and staff morale,' Pica said. That organization is also restructuring its communications work in an effort to adapt to the times, he said. That means more experimenting with what it means to be successful on TikTok, Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn and other emerging platforms, Pica said. Other groups have laid off staff this year, too. The Sierra Club laid off dozens of employees earlier this year. Those layoffs — attributed to budget shortfalls — fueled ongoing strife inside that group, where staff have been feuding with management for years. Sierra Club's executive director, Ben Jealous, went on unexplained leave in July, the group announced. The Washington-based Ocean Conservancy told 21 employees in the spring that their positions were being eliminated, The layoffs, the group's CEO Janis Searles Jones told staff in an internal email, were the result of factors including 'significant shifts in the policy and fundraising environment, unprecedented volatility, and unprecedented pressure on the philanthropic sector.' Another group, Greenpeace, is in the throes of a high-stakes legal battle that could have dire financial and political consequences for the organization. A jury in North Dakota earlier this year ordered the environmental group to pay more than $660 million in damages to a pipeline developer, a sum Greenpeace doesn't have, the group's interim Executive Director Sushma Raman told E&E News in March. Greenpeace is still challenging the jury's verdict, said Deepa Padmanabha, a Greenpeace senior legal adviser. 'This is still the beginning of the fight.' Greenpeace has said it plans to fight 'all the way to victory' in that case, and it says that the outcome 'could establish dangerous new legal precedents' and that 'our entire movement's future could be in jeopardy.' Pummeled on policy President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn before boarding Marine One and departing the White House on July 1. | Anna Moneymaker/AFP via Getty Images Environmentalists have taken some big hits on policy priorities already this year. The Trump White House and congressional Republicans have taken a hatchet to the Biden administration's signature climate change law. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by Trump on July 4, phases out Biden-era incentives to spur technologies including wind, solar and electric vehicles. Green groups keeping tabs on the rollbacks of environmental regulations from the second Trump administration say they've never seen anything like this. 'As soon as the second Trump administration took office in January 2025, we witnessed an immediate and unprecedented attack on our environment and public health,' the Natural Resources Defense Council says on its website. That group's Trump tracker says this administration 'has taken or proposed at least 270 actions that directly threaten the environment, climate, and human health' since Trump's second term kicked off. Among the administration's moves that have environmentalists most worried are deep cuts to the federal workforce that oversees regulations, a revamp of how the National Environmental Policy Act is implemented and the move to revoke the scientific endangerment finding that underpins EPA climate regulations. The Trump team's flood-the-zone approach to rolling out policy has complicated their opponents' efforts to keep track of everything they're doing. The Center for Biological Diversity has launched a new centralized tracking system to keep tabs on Trump's 'fuselage of policies and ensure that every one of them was getting dealt with by ourselves or others,' said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the CBD. The center calls it the 'Overcome Committee,' Suckling said of the effort, which tracks rumors about upcoming moves as well as actions taken by the administration. 'Without that, undoubtedly, things would fall through the cracks,' Suckling said. Court fights With the executive branch and Congress in GOP control, Trump's critics are turning to the courts, states and public opinion as they attempt to combat the administration and notch policy wins. Some of the biggest national green groups, including the NRDC, Earthjustice and the Environmental Defense Fund, are relying on the courts to be a backstop in their fight against Trump's policies. But the legal landscape has changed dramatically since Trump's first term. Three of the nine Supreme Court justices are Trump appointees, and the majority of the court is conservative. The high court so far this year has handed Trump some major victories, including allowing mass layoffs across the government and blocking lower courts from issuing nationwide injunctions thwarting his policies. The stakes could not be higher. Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice Green groups still see the courts as a crucial battlefield, although they're changing their approach from the first Trump term. The NRDC has 'a strong litigation strategy and is able to let people know when we're holding [the administration] to account,' Christy Goldfuss, the NRDC's executive director, said in a recent interview. 'At least so far, the courts seem to be the one place that we're able to still use facts and hold them accountable,' she said. There's been a shift in strategy since Trump's first term, she said, when 'everybody chased every single thing.' Now, she said, there's 'far more discipline on what we think is the right case.' The NRDC isn't getting the same fundraising bump it saw in 2016 and 2017, but the group has started to see increased giving, Goldfuss said, pointing to the group's solid fundraising base of small-dollar and midlevel donors. At another major green group, the EDF, 'fundraising continues to be strong,' said EDF President Fred Krupp. 'A lot of Americans are voting with their dollars that they want this extreme action to be fought.' Environmental protections 'are in trouble in the United States because of the Trump administration, but the environmental community is very focused, and people appreciate the danger from this administration is much greater in Trump 2.0 than from Trump 1.0,' Krupp said. Abigail Dillen, the president of Earthjustice, said her group has seen a boost in fundraising compared to the first Trump term. 'We're actually seeing an even greater outpouring of support,' she said. 'Thank goodness because we need it. I think that anyone reading the papers every day sees the importance of holding this administration to account.' The Trump team is 'taking a scorched-earth approach,' Dillen said. She sees this as the most challenging time the environmental movement has faced, Dillen said. What's happening, she said, 'is a very concerted, well-orchestrated effort to ally with the Supreme Court, to close off the authority of future presidents to repair this and even to constrain Congress from repairing it. The stakes could not be higher.' That makes green groups' mission more important than ever, Dillon said. 'The only way that we're going to come through this time is if there are enough people who will understand what's at stake and act on it.' 'This is our moment' The day after Trump's inauguration, the CBD's Suckling showed his leadership staff the Muhammad Ali documentary 'When We Were Kings,' he said in a recent interview. Some watched together in person from the group's Portland, Oregon, office. Others tuned in via Zoom. Suckling wanted his staff to see how Ali prepared for his 1974 heavyweight boxing championship match, where he toppled defending champion George Foreman. Foreman was 'just a monstrous tank of a fighter who would scare the heck out of anybody,' Suckling said. 'Muhammad Ali rose to that challenge.' Suckling's team is 'champing at the bit to fight,' he said. He called his staff the 'Navy Seals' of the environmental movement. 'This is our moment,' Suckling said. 'If there was ever a reason the center has built up 200 staff and a $34 million budget, it's to be able to deploy that staff and that budget against the biggest threat to America's environment in our nation's history.' He said fundraising has increased for his group. Money 'is not going to be the limiting factor for us. It's going to be creativity and reorganizing ourselves to be able to be most effective and most speedy,' Suckling said. Green groups and climate activists across the movement are looking for new ways to harness discontent with the Trump administration and concern for the environment. Margaret Klein Salamon, executive director of the Climate Emergency Fund that supports climate activists, thinks the reignition of a 'mass movement' on climate is possible. There's a 'huge upsurge in the country of protest energy, but it's not really well directed or strategic,' she said. If there was ever a reason the center has built up 200 staff and a $34 million budget, it's to be able to deploy that staff and that budget against the biggest threat to America's environment in our nation's history. Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity 'The landscape out there for funding is really, really rough right now,' Salamon said. 'I think there's a lot of fear and a lot of hesitation. At least one major donor has told us explicitly that because of their fear of risk, they don't want to renew funding,' she said. There's also 'more interest and potentially openness among philanthropy as well to hear new ideas, to think about movements. I think there is a combination of fear and opportunity,' she said. A resurgence of the environmental movement will require a 'grassroots component,' said McKibben, who's working to mobilize activists for a September day of activism dubbed 'Sun Day' to 'celebrate solar and wind power.' One thing Trump's critics on the left are expecting: Public discontent with Trump's cuts and regulatory rollbacks will snowball. They want to be ready to capitalize. 'Trump and MAGA by attacking people's health care, their wallets, their food stamps — alongside attacking clean energy and climate — provides an opportunity to really unify across issues,' said May Boeve, former executive director of the environmental group 'Our opponents have given us this chance to work together, and I think that that's the only way out of this,' Boeve said.
E&E News
17-07-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Greens challenge Trump's $4.7B loan for Mozambique LNG project
An environmental group is challenging the Trump administration's $4.7 billion loan to French energy giant TotalEnergies to help build a liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique. The Trump administration touted the loan as supporting U.S. manufacturers who will supply the project. But environmental group Friends of the Earth argues that loan was approved by an unlawfully appointed acting board that skipped over public input and downplayed both environmental and regional security concerns, the group argues. Background: The Export-Import Bank loan was first approved during Trump's first term but required additional approval because the project was put on hold in 2021 following insurgent attacks in the area that killed hundreds of residents, including some contractors. POLITICO reported last year on separate human rights abuses by Mozambican security forces operating out of the existing facility. Advertisement The project is still on hold, FOE said. Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné said last month that he expects work to resume sometime 'this summer.'
