Latest news with #climateemergency
BBC News
18 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
New Mole Valley climate change action plan to be considered
A new climate change action plan from a council in Surrey is set to be Valley District Council (MVDC) says its 2025-26 climate change action plan sets out "strategic direction by translating decarbonisation goals into a set of actionable initiatives".The 10 priority actions from the plan include supporting the decarbonisation of temporary accommodation properties, installing solar carports and delivering energy efficiency improvements across the Malcolmson, the council's cabinet member for climate change, said: "Over the coming year, the climate change agenda will thread through all services at MVDC." In June 2019, MVDC declared a climate emergency and said it aimed to become carbon neutral by 2030. A climate change strategy was approved in October 2021 and set out the initial actions the council would take to build a greener, more sustainable future and reduce its carbon 2025-26 plan will be discussed at scrutiny and cabinet meetings on Tuesday and 17 June.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Trump wins temporary reprieve as he fights against court block on tariffs
Good morning. The Trump administration is racing to halt a major blow to the president's sweeping tariffs after a US court ruled they 'exceed any authority granted to the president'. A US trade court ruled on Wednesday that the president's tariffs regime was illegal in a dramatic twist that could block Trump's controversial global trade policy. On Thursday, an appeals court agreed to a temporary pause in the decision pending an appeal hearing. The Trump administration is expected to take the case to the supreme court if it loses. On what basis did the judges rule the tariffs unlawful? The court's ruling stated that Trump's tariff orders 'exceed any authority granted to the president … to regulate importation by means of tariffs'. How are tariffs usually approved? Tariffs typically need to be approved by Congress but Trump has so far bypassed that requirement by claiming that the country's trade deficits amount to a national emergency. The carbon footprint of the first 15 months of Israel's war on Gaza will be greater than the annual planet-warming emissions of a hundred individual countries, exacerbating the global climate emergency on top of the huge civilian death toll, research reveals. A study shared exclusively with the Guardian found the long-term climate cost of destroying, clearing and rebuilding Gaza could top 31m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). This is more than the combined 2023 annual greenhouse gases emitted by Costa Rica and Estonia, yet there is no obligation for states to report military emissions to the UN climate body. What about Hamas? Hamas bunker fuel and rockets account for about 3,000 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of just 0.2% of the total direct conflict emissions, while 50% were generated by the supply and use of weapons, tanks and other ordnance by the Israeli military (IDF), the study found. Faizan Zaki's enthusiasm for spelling nearly got the better of him. Ultimately, his joyful approach made him the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion. The favorite entering the bee after his runner-up finish last year – during which he never misspelled a word in a conventional spelling round, only to lose a lightning-round tiebreaker that he didn't practice for – the shaggy-haired Faizan wore the burden of expectations lightly, sauntering to the microphone in a black hoodie and spelling his words with casual glee. Throughout last night's finals, the 13-year-old from Allen, Texas, looked like a champion in waiting. Then he nearly threw it away. But even a shocking moment of overconfidence on the word 'commelina' – instead of first asking common questions, such as definition, he let his showman's instincts take over and began 'K-A-M,' before realizing his error – couldn't prevent him from seizing the title of best speller in the English language. What word did he spell to win? His winning word was 'éclaircissement'. Faizan didn't ask a single question before spelling it correctly, and he pumped his fists and collapsed to the stage after saying the final letter. A vessel bearing human remains has been found nearly a year after the US Coast Guard suspended the search for a family of four missing after their boat capsized off Alaska, officials said. Sexual exploitation and domestic violence soared after the catastrophic Lahaina wildfire in 2023, new research has found. Doctors have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can predict which men with prostate cancer will benefit from the drug Abiraterone, which halves the risk of dying and has been described as a 'gamechanger' treatment. Russian forces have used North Korean weapons to terrorise entire cities, according to a report by UN members that reveals the extent of Moscow's dependence on the regime in Pyongyang. I took the job as the Guardian's Jerusalem correspondent in 2021, although I was reluctant about it, writes Bethan McKernan. I was happy living in Istanbul as the paper's Turkey and Middle East correspondent and the Jerusalem gig was notoriously thankless. Every single word published under my name would be forensically examined for signs of bias. In the end, I took the job – and now, four years later, I am leaving Jerusalem. I have learned a lot, and the experience has changed me. Almost 40% of glaciers in existence today are already doomed to melt due to climate-heating emissions from fossil fuels, a study has found. The loss will soar to 75% if global heating reaches the 2.7C rise for which the world is on track. The massive loss of glaciers would push up sea levels, endangering millions of people and driving mass migration, the researchers said. 'As a schoolboy in Canada, I was fascinated by the Guinness Book of Records,' Gary Duschl says. 'Little did I know then that in 1994 I would break a world record and feature in the book I adored as a young boy, all thanks to my childhood hobby – making paper chains out of chewing-gum wrappers.' First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you're not already signed up, subscribe now. If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Carbon footprint of Israel's war on Gaza exceeds that of many entire countries
The carbon footprint of the first 15 months of Israel's war on Gaza will be greater than the annual planet-warming emissions of a hundred individual countries, exacerbating the global climate emergency on top of the huge civilian death toll, new research reveals. A study shared exclusively with the Guardian found the long-term climate cost of destroying, clearing and rebuilding Gaza could top 31m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). This is more than the combined 2023 annual greenhouse gases emitted by Costa Rica and Estonia, yet there is no obligation for states to report military emissions to the UN climate body. Israel's relentless bombardment, blockade and refusal to comply with international court rulings has underscored the asymmetry of each side's war machine, as well as almost unconditional military, energy and diplomatic support Israel enjoys from allies including the US and UK. Hamas bunker fuel and rockets account for about 3,000 tonnes of CO2e, the equivalent of just 0.2% of the total direct conflict emissions, while 50% were generated by the supply and use of weapons, tanks and other ordnance by the Israeli military (IDF), the study found. Burning fossil fuels is causing climate chaos, with increasingly deadly and destructive extreme weather events forcing record numbers of people to migrate. The Gulf region is among the most vulnerable to extreme weather and slow-onset climate disasters including drought, desertification, extreme heat and erratic rainfall, as well as environmental degradation, food insecurity and water shortages. The research, published by the Social Science Research Network, is part of a growing movement to hold states and businesses accountable for the climate and environmental costs of war and occupation, including the long-term impact damage to land, food and water sources, as well as post-conflict clean-up and reconstruction. It is the third and most comprehensive analysis by a team of UK and US-based researchers into the climate cost of the first 15 months of conflict in which more than 53,000 Palestinians have been killed, in addition to widespread infrastructure damage and environmental catastrophe. It also provides the first, albeit partial, snapshot of the carbon cost of Israel's other recent regional conflicts. Overall, researchers estimate that the long-term climate cost of Israel's military destruction in Gaza – and recent military exchanges with Yemen, Iran and Lebanon – is equivalent to charging 2.6bn smartphones or running 84 gas power plants for a year. This figure includes the estimated 557,359 tCO2e arising from the occupation-era construction of Hamas's network of tunnels and Israel's 'iron wall' barrier. The killing and environmental destruction of Gaza resumed when Israel unilaterally violated the ceasefire after just two months, but the findings could eventually help calculate claims for reparations. 'This updated research evidences the urgency to stop the escalating atrocities, and make sure that Israel and all states comply with international law, including the decisions from the ICC and the ICJ,' said Astrid Puentes, UN special rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. 'Whether or not States agree on calling it a genocide, what we are facing is severely impacting all life in Gaza, and also threatening human rights in the region, and even globally, due to the aggravation of climate change.' The study, currently under peer review by the journal One Earth, found: Over 99% of the almost 1.89m tCO2e estimated to have been generated between the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack and the temporary ceasefire in January 2025 is attributed to Israel's aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza. Almost 30% of greenhouse gases generated in that period came from the US sending 50,000 tonnes of weapons and other military supplies to Israel, mostly on cargo planes and ships from stockpiles in Europe. Another 20% is attributed to Israeli aircraft reconnaissance and bombing missions, tanks and fuel from other military vehicles, as well as CO2 generated by manufacturing and exploding the bombs and artillery. Solar had generated as much as a quarter of Gaza's electricity, representing one of the world's highest shares, but most panels, and the territory's only power plant, have been damaged or destroyed. Gaza's limited access to electricity now mostly relies on diesel-guzzling generators that emitted just over 130,000 tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, or 7% of the total conflict emissions. More than 40% of the total emissions were generated by the estimated 70,000 aid trucks Israel allowed into the Gaza Strip – which the UN has condemned as grossly insufficient to meet the basic humanitarian needs of 2.2m displaced and starving Palestinians. But the most significant climate cost will come from rebuilding Gaza, which Israel has reduced to an estimated 60m tonnes of toxic rubble. The carbon cost of trucking out debris and then rebuilding 436,000 apartments, 700 schools, mosques, clinics, government offices and other buildings, as well as 5km of Gaza's roads, will generate an estimated 29.4m tonnes eCO2. This is on a par with the entire 2023 emissions generated by Afghanistan. The reconstruction figure is lower than previous estimates by the same research group due to a revision in the average size of apartment blocks. 'This report is a staggering and sobering reminder of the ecological and environmental cost of Israel's genocidal campaign on the planet and its besieged people,' said Zena Agha, policy analyst for Palestinian policy network Al-Shabaka. 'But this is also the US, UK and EU's war, all of which have provided seemingly limitless military resources to enable Israel to devastate the most densely populated place on the planet. This brings home the destabilising [regional] impact of the Israeli settler state and its inseparability from the western military-industrial complex.' The war on Gaza has also provoked bloody regional tensions. The study found: The Houthis in Yemen launched an estimated 400 rockets into Israel between October 2023 and January 2025, generating about 55 tCO2e. Israel's aerial response generated almost 50 times more planet warming greenhouse gases. A previous study found that shipping emissions rose by an estimated 63% after the Houthis blocked the Red Sea corridor, forcing cargo ships to take longer routes. A conservative estimate of emissions from two large-scale exchanges of missiles between Israel and Iran topped 5,000 tCO2e, with more than 80% down to Israel. In Lebanon, more than 90% of the estimated 3,747 tCO2e generated by sporadic exchanges came from IDF bombs, with only 8% linked to Hezbollah rockets. The carbon cost of reconstructing 3,600 homes destroyed in southern Lebanon is almost as high as the annual emissions from the island of St Lucia. The study is based on evolving methodology known as a scope 3+ framework which seeks to capture direct and indirect wartime emissions currently missing from global climate and conflict audits. This can include soil degradation, fires, infrastructure damage, displacement of people, aid, rerouting cargo ships and civil aviation. Researchers relied on open-source information, media reports, and data from independent aid groups such as UN agencies. The true environmental costs are almost certainly higher given Israel's media blockade, with data on razed farmland, desertification, remediation, and fires among other carbon-intense impacts hard to obtain. 'This conflict in Gaza shows that the numbers are substantial, greater than the entire greenhouse gas emissions of many entire countries, and must be included for accurate climate change and mitigation targets,' said Frederick Otu-Larbi, co-author, senior teaching associate at Lancaster Environment Centre and lecturer at University of Energy and Natural Resources in Ghana. 'Militaries need to reckon with the fact that their own national security and operational capacity is being compromised due to a changing climate of their own making,' said Ben Neimark, senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and study co-author. Previous research has found that military emissions rise with spending and buildup. Israel's military budget surged in 2024 to $46.5bn – the largest increase in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Based on one methodology, Israel's baseline military emissions last year – excluding direct conflict and reconstruction climate costs – rose to 6.5m tCO2e. This is more than the entire carbon footprint of Eritrea, a country of 3.5 million people. Yet under current UN rules, reporting military emission data is voluntary and limited to fuel use, despite the fact the climate cost of the destruction of Gaza will be felt globally. The IDF, like most militaries worldwide, has never reported emission figures to the UN. Hadeel Ikhmais, head of the climate change office at the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority, said: 'Wars not only kill people but also release toxic chemicals, destroy infrastructure, pollute soil, air and water resources and accelerate climate and environmental disasters. War also destroys climate adaptation and hinders environmental management. Not counting carbon emissions is a black hole in accountability that allows governments to get away from their environmental crimes.'
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Carbon footprint of Israel's war on Gaza exceeds that of many entire countries
The carbon footprint of the first 15 months of Israel's war on Gaza will be greater than the annual planet-warming emissions of a hundred individual countries, exacerbating the global climate emergency on top of the huge civilian death toll, new research reveals. A study shared exclusively with the Guardian found the long-term climate cost of destroying, clearing and rebuilding Gaza could top 31m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). This is more than the combined 2023 annual greenhouse gases emitted by Costa Rica and Estonia, yet there is no obligation for states to report military emissions to the UN climate body. Israel's relentless bombardment, blockade and refusal to comply with international court rulings has underscored the asymmetry of each side's war machine, as well as almost unconditional military, energy and diplomatic support Israel enjoys from allies including the US and UK. Hamas bunker fuel and rockets account for about 3,000 tonnes of CO2e, the equivalent of just 0.2% of the total direct conflict emissions, while 50% were generated by the supply and use of weapons, tanks and other ordnance by the Israeli military (IDF), the study found. Burning fossil fuels is causing climate chaos, with increasingly deadly and destructive extreme weather events forcing record numbers of people to migrate. The Gulf region is among the most vulnerable to extreme weather and slow-onset climate disasters including drought, desertification, extreme heat and erratic rainfall, as well as environmental degradation, food insecurity and water shortages. The research, published by the Social Science Research Network, is part of a growing movement to hold states and businesses accountable for the climate and environmental costs of war and occupation, including the long-term impact damage to land, food and water sources, as well as post-conflict clean-up and reconstruction. It is the third and most comprehensive analysis by a team of UK and US-based researchers into the climate cost of the first 15 months of conflict in which more than 53,000 Palestinians have been killed, in addition to widespread infrastructure damage and environmental catastrophe. It also provides the first, albeit partial, snapshot of the carbon cost of Israel's other recent regional conflicts. Overall, researchers estimate that the long-term climate cost of Israel's military destruction in Gaza – and recent military exchanges with Yemen, Iran and Lebanon – is equivalent to charging 2.6bn smartphones or running 84 gas power plants for a year. This figure includes the estimated 557,359 tCO2e arising from the occupation-era construction of Hamas's network of tunnels and Israel's 'iron wall' barrier. The killing and environmental destruction of Gaza resumed when Israel unilaterally violated the ceasefire after just two months, but the findings could eventually help calculate claims for reparations. 'This updated research evidences the urgency to stop the escalating atrocities, and make sure that Israel and all states comply with international law, including the decisions from the ICC and the ICJ,' said Astrid Puentes, UN special rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. 'Whether or not States agree on calling it a genocide, what we are facing is severely impacting all life in Gaza, and also threatening human rights in the region, and even globally, due to the aggravation of climate change.' The study, currently under peer review by the journal One Earth, found: Over 99% of the almost 1.89m tCO2e estimated to have been generated between the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack and the temporary ceasefire in January 2025 is attributed to Israel's aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza. Almost 30% of greenhouse gases generated in that period came from the US sending 50,000 tonnes of weapons and other military supplies to Israel, mostly on cargo planes and ships from stockpiles in Europe. Another 20% is attributed to Israeli aircraft reconnaissance and bombing missions, tanks and fuel from other military vehicles, as well as CO2 generated by manufacturing and exploding the bombs and artillery. Solar had generated as much as a quarter of Gaza's electricity, representing one of the world's highest shares, but most panels, and the territory's only power plant, have been damaged or destroyed. Gaza's limited access to electricity now mostly relies on diesel-guzzling generators that emitted just over 130,000 tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, or 7% of the total conflict emissions. More than 40% of the total emissions were generated by the estimated 70,000 aid trucks Israel allowed into the Gaza Strip – which the UN has condemned as grossly insufficient to meet the basic humanitarian needs of 2.2m displaced and starving Palestinians. But the most significant climate cost will come from rebuilding Gaza, which Israel has reduced to an estimated 60m tonnes of toxic rubble. The carbon cost of trucking out debris and then rebuilding 436,000 apartments, 700 schools, mosques, clinics, government offices and other buildings, as well as 5km of Gaza's roads, will generate an estimated 29.4m tonnes eCO2. This is on a par with the entire 2023 emissions generated by Afghanistan. The reconstruction figure is lower than previous estimates by the same research group due to a revision in the average size of apartment blocks. 'This report is a staggering and sobering reminder of the ecological and environmental cost of Israel's genocidal campaign on the planet and its besieged people,' said Zena Agha, policy analyst for Palestinian policy network Al-Shabaka. 'But this is also the US, UK and EU's war, all of which have provided seemingly limitless military resources to enable Israel to devastate the most densely populated place on the planet. This brings home the destabilising [regional] impact of the Israeli settler state and its inseparability from the western military-industrial complex.' The war on Gaza has also provoked bloody regional tensions. The study found: The Houthis in Yemen launched an estimated 400 rockets into Israel between October 2023 and January 2025, generating about 55 tCO2e. Israel's aerial response generated almost 50 times more planet warming greenhouse gases. A previous study found that shipping emissions rose by an estimated 63% after the Houthis blocked the Red Sea corridor, forcing cargo ships to take longer routes. A conservative estimate of emissions from two large-scale exchanges of missiles between Israel and Iran topped 5,000 tCO2e, with more than 80% down to Israel. In Lebanon, more than 90% of the estimated 3,747 tCO2e generated by sporadic exchanges came from IDF bombs, with only 8% linked to Hezbollah rockets. The carbon cost of reconstructing 3,600 homes destroyed in southern Lebanon is almost as high as the annual emissions from the island of St Lucia. The study is based on evolving methodology known as a scope 3+ framework which seeks to capture direct and indirect wartime emissions currently missing from global climate and conflict audits. This can include soil degradation, fires, infrastructure damage, displacement of people, aid, rerouting cargo ships and civil aviation. Researchers relied on open-source information, media reports, and data from independent aid groups such as UN agencies. The true environmental costs are almost certainly higher given Israel's media blockade, with data on razed farmland, desertification, remediation, and fires among other carbon-intense impacts hard to obtain. 'This conflict in Gaza shows that the numbers are substantial, greater than the entire greenhouse gas emissions of many entire countries, and must be included for accurate climate change and mitigation targets,' said Frederick Otu-Larbi, co-author, senior teaching associate at Lancaster Environment Centre and lecturer at University of Energy and Natural Resources in Ghana. 'Militaries need to reckon with the fact that their own national security and operational capacity is being compromised due to a changing climate of their own making,' said Ben Neimark, senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and study co-author. Previous research has found that military emissions rise with spending and buildup. Israel's military budget surged in 2024 to $46.5bn – the largest increase in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Based on one methodology, Israel's baseline military emissions last year – excluding direct conflict and reconstruction climate costs – rose to 6.5m tCO2e. This is more than the entire carbon footprint of Eritrea, a country of 3.5 million people. Yet under current UN rules, reporting military emission data is voluntary and limited to fuel use, despite the fact the climate cost of the destruction of Gaza will be felt globally. The IDF, like most militaries worldwide, has never reported emission figures to the UN. Hadeel Ikhmais, head of the climate change office at the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority, said: 'Wars not only kill people but also release toxic chemicals, destroy infrastructure, pollute soil, air and water resources and accelerate climate and environmental disasters. War also destroys climate adaptation and hinders environmental management. Not counting carbon emissions is a black hole in accountability that allows governments to get away from their environmental crimes.'
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
West Suffolk Council's net zero pledge pushed back by nine years
A council said it had been forced to push its "ambitious" net zero target back by nine years, after conceding a "more realistic plan" was Suffolk Council had hoped to be completely net zero by 2030, having declared a climate emergency in September authority said it had made "significant progress" in reducing its carbon emissions while helping homeowners, businesses and the wider community do the it said due to "elements out of our control" a "more deliverable timeline" had to be established, with a revised target of 2039 being set. 'Being honest is key' Gerald Kelly, independent cabinet member for governance, regulatory and environment, said net zero by 2030 was "an ambitious aim"."Pushing ourselves to hit that target has put us in the strong position we are in today, but due to elements out of our control, we now need a more realistic plan," he said."And being honest about that fact is a key part of maintaining trust in this agenda."Since declaring a climate emergency, the authority said it had prevented at least 7,000 tonnes of carbon consumed by third parties such as homes, businesses and community groups from entering the atmosphere every various schemes, it said it had also helped those struggling with the cost of living to manage energy council's own carbon consumption currently stands at just below 5,000 tonnes each year - 13% lower in absolute terms than in 2019, it also wants to remove a further 1,000 tonnes before 2029 and plant 5,000 trees. Last year, a review of the council's progress towards net zero identified areas for council's Environment and Sustainability Reference Group recommended actions including phasing out gas use in authority buildings and exploring opportunities to set more stringent building to remove gas will soon get under way, after the council was awarded £4.1m from the government to decarbonise its Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill leisure centres. 'Momentum and optimism' Despite the funding, the authority said new national demands meant its target had become harder to cited government-led initiatives such as Simpler Recycling, which will aim to streamline waste collections across England by making councils separate food waste and dry recycling from general waste by the council said this would increase the demand for new waste collection vehicles, which in turn would boost emissions. Despite this, Kelly assured residents net zero would one day become a reality in the west of the county. "The new trajectory includes decarbonising the leisure centres in Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill, installing solar canopies at the Mildenhall Hub car park, to name a few projects," he said."The revised target allows us to keep the momentum and optimism for tackling climate change going and continue to make significant progress." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
