Germanyโ€™s old-school conservatism is well and truly over

Even if Merz stumbles across the finish line and secures a coalition government, the death knell for Christian democracy may well have been sounded.

The Trump war no one is talking about

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it’s probably being shot by Donald Trump Jr.

Fact-checking : la Commission europรฉenne a-t-elle vraiment payรฉ des ONG pour faire du lobbying pro-Pacte vert ?

Les contrats confidentiels consultรฉs par POLITICO ne tendent pas ร  confirmer les accusations adressรฉes ร  lโ€™exรฉcutif bruxellois par des eurodรฉputรฉs.

Donald Trump Jr. slammed by Italian lawmakers over alleged illegal duck hunt

Green lawmakers claim the U.S. president’s son shot a rare duck in an EU conservation zone.

Norway rules out fish farm ban despite โ€˜existential threatโ€™ to wild salmon

Open-net farms to continue despite numbers of wild fish halving as minister looks for โ€˜acceptableโ€™ pollution levels Norwayโ€™s environment minister has ruled out a ban on open-net fish farming at sea despite acknowledging that the wild North Atlantic sal…

โ€˜We ask to be recognisedโ€™: small fishers claim โ‚ฌ12bn EU fund favours big players

Artisanal shellfish farmers face ruinous losses but money meant to help is going to the powerful fishing industry, say criticsEarly on a warm September morning in southern Italy, Giovanni Nicandro sets out from the port of Taranto in his small boat. Su…

Sweden begins wolf hunt as it aims to halve endangered animalโ€™s population

Five entire families can be killed, totalling 30 wolves, in move campaigners say is illegal under EU lawSwedenโ€™s wolf hunt starts on Thursday, with the country aiming to halve the population of the endangered predator.The Swedish government has given t…

Tributes pour in for Jimmy Carter

Joe Biden has long expressed an admiration for Carter, a sentiment that was palpable in the presidentโ€™s statement Sunday evening.

Former President Jimmy Carter dead at 100

The nationโ€™s 39th president left a long meaningful legacy after a difficult four years in the White House.

Ghosts of the landscape: how folklore and songs are key to rewilding Finlandโ€™s reindeer

For ecologists restoring the vast bogs of remote Karelia, wild reindeer are not just part of the environment but entwined with the ancient culture of the boreal forestsThe Finnish folk musician Liisa Matveinen lives in a mustard-coloured house in Iloma…

Denmark refuses to extradite whaling activist Paul Watson to Japan, says lawyer

US-Canadian founder of Sea Shepherd was arrested in Greenland after Japan issued international warrantDenmark has rejected a Japanese request to extradite anti-whaling activist Paul Watson over criminal charges dating back more than a decade, a Danish …

โ€˜Like a giant bird boxโ€™: the volunteers building huge snowdrifts for Finlandโ€™s pregnant seals

As warmer winters melt the snow drifts that endangered Saimaa ringed seals use to raise their young, humans are giving them a helping handWords by Phoebe Weston. Photographs by Samuel BlochEight hours shovelling snow in -20C might not sound like the id…

Ending harmful subsidies will benefit small-scale fishers

WTO members are negotiating new rules that would limit damaging fisheries subsidies. Finalizing these is essential for protecting the health of the fish stocks on which many coastal communities rely.

Simona Kossak review โ€“ smartly sharp biopic of pioneering Polish ecologist

A charismatic performance from Sandra Drzymalska and pacy direction from Adrian Panek makes for an unexpectedly appealing portrait of an unlikely heroโ€˜You lack both beauty and talent. Your intellect is annoying. The only thing you have is your name.โ€ T…

Wolves to lose protection, as EU lowers bar for shooting wildlife

Downgrading speciesโ€™ protection status for political gain puts decades of conservation efforts at risk, says WWFEuropeโ€™s wolves will lose their โ€œstrict protectionโ€ status, alarming conservationists who fear for the survival of an animal brought back fr…

European countries give farmers more freedom to shoot wolves

The decision by Bern Convention members is a major win for the EU and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

โ€˜Itโ€™s nonstopโ€™: how noise pollution threatens the return of Norwayโ€™s whales

Cruises, fishing boats and even whale-watchers are adding to the din underwater, which biologist Heike Vester says not only masks cetaceansโ€™ communication but can also stop them feeding From the moment that the biologist Dr Heike Vester presses play…

Trump picks Lee Zeldin to lead EPA

If confirmed, Zeldin would lead the Republican effort to roll back Bidenโ€™s key climate change regulations โ€” including rules tightening the pollution from power plants and tailpipes.

Why exporting endangered eels to Russia makes sense | Letter

The plan to transport millions of River Severn elvers to the pristine Vistula and Curonian lagoons is a viable way to conserve the species, says Peter WoodMillions of critically endangered eels have indeed been exported from Britain to Russia this year…

What are farmers in the EU required to do to protect the environment?

Greenhouse gases and pollutants from farms urgently need reducing but green policies have triggered furious protestsClimate crisis leaves European farmers vulnerable to far right, say campaignersThe EU urgently needs to staunch the greenhouse gases and…

Public funding for nature conservation stalls at COP16

At the COP16 negotiations in Cali, Colombia, countries failed to figure out how they would mobilize $200 billion annually in conservation funding by 2030, including $30 billion that would come directly from rich nations.

Hedgehogs โ€˜near threatenedโ€™ on red list after 30% decline over past decade

The mammals were once common across Europe but urban development has pushed them towards extinctionHedgehogs are now listed as โ€œnear threatenedโ€ on the International Union for Conservation of Natureโ€™s red list after a decline in numbers of at least 30%…

Charge tourists to access Notre-Dame in Paris, French minister proposes

Non-EU visitors could also have to pay extra to enter the Louvre Museum, under proposals made by Rachida Dati.

Keir Starmerโ€™s biggest enemy: The great-crested newt

Keir Starmerโ€™s environment secretary wants to turn DEFRA into a growth department. That means a fight with the green lobby.

Europe was a leader on saving nature. Now, its backsliding could threaten global progress

Once a champion of initiatives to protect nature, the EU is now giving in to pressure from farmers and the far rightWhen diplomats struck a deal to save nature in 2022, pledging to halt biodiversity loss by the end of the decade, Europe was seen as a c…

Europeโ€™s exhausted oyster reefs โ€˜once covered area size of Northern Irelandโ€™

Study uncovers vivid and poignant accounts of reefs as high as houses off countries including UK, France and IrelandOnly a handful of natural oyster reefs measuring at most a few square metres cling on precariously along European coasts after being wip…

Former EU environment chief hits out at plans to delay anti-deforestation law

Credibility โ€˜damagedโ€™ by proposed 12-month delay, which followed lobbying from governments and firms around the worldA former top environment official has said the EUโ€™s credibility on its climate commitments has been damaged by plans for a one-year del…

Days of the jackal: Canis aureus makes sudden tracks into western Europe

The golden jackal has expanded its range as far as Norway and Spain, seemingly driven by climate breakdownThe golden jackal, Canis aureus, may seem an exotic creature from a far-off country but the species has suddenly expanded its range into western E…

โ€˜We look to the past to move forwardโ€™: the ancient method boosting cuttlefish numbers in the Mediterranean

A project on Spainโ€™s Costa Brava is reviving dwindling populations of the prized seafood โ€“ and keeping small-scale fishers in businessClinging to almost vertical cliffs on the Costa Brava in north-east Spain, the resort of lโ€™Estartit has a dramatic loc…

Costas Kadis: A bookish technocrat to handle oceans and fisheries

A conservation biologist by training, Kadis has held several ministerial posts over the past 25 years.

UK energy policy: 20 people to lobby at Conservative conference

LONDON โ€” The Conservative Party โ€œgot trounced in the polls,โ€ ex-Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho admitted earlier this month. After 14 years controlling Westminsterโ€™s levers of power, voters dumped the Tories unceremoniously from office overnight in July. And yet โ€” the party is already regrouping, jumping on energy bills and cost-of-living as one basis for a [โ€ฆ]

Germany clears the way for Europe to shoot more wolves

The German vote was key to secure the adoption of a proposal to make it easier to kill threatening wolves in Europe.

EU countries agree to downgrade the protection status of the wolf

A political win for von der Leyen.

Swiss voters reject biodiversity proposal in blow to conservation campaigners

Plan aimed to expand protection of endangered ecosystems but opponents say it posed risk to business developmentVoters in Switzerland have rejected a proposal to make authorities do more to protect natural habitats from pollution and development, preli…

UK energy policy: 20 people to lobby at Labour conference

Who to look out for in Liverpool this weekend.

Ending finch trapping benefits conservation and biodiversity in Malta

In an attempt to justify a practice that has brought Malta before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) twice, Maltaโ€™s Federation for Hunting and Conservation recently published passionate views that distort the reality of finch trapping, writes Nicholas…

More than 80% of EU marine protected areas are ineffective, study shows

Activities such as mining, dredging and bottom trawling in most MPAs mean conservation targets will be missed, say researchersMost of Europeโ€™s marine protected areas, set up to safeguard species and habitats, will not meet conservation targets as they …

Europe saved its predators from the brink of extinction. So why is it killing thousands of bears, wolves and lynx?

With Sweden issuing permits to kill a fifth of its bears, and Romanian MPs voting to double its quota, and the debate over hunting season has become a political issueThe forest was unnaturally still when Soลˆa Chovanovรก Supekovรก first picked up the bear…

EU failing to enforce illegal fishing rules, say campaigners

Activists says EU court ruling on transparency makes mockery of laws to protect the environmentCampaigners have said that the EU is failing to enforce rules on illegal fishing, and allowing member states to conceal information that could help uncover b…

Putinโ€™s new tiger ambassador is Austriaโ€™s ex foreign minister

Karin Kneissl, who danced at her wedding with the Russian leader, has a new role at the heart of one of Putin’s pet projects: defending Siberian tigers.

Republican fight over green subsidies heads toward a boiling point

The partyโ€™s leaders may soon have to decide whether to preserve at least parts of the Democratsโ€™ climate law.

โ€˜We donโ€™t want to sabotage herโ€™: Why green groups are going easy on Kamala Harris

Environmental groups that put Joe Bidenโ€™s climate initiatives under a microscope arenโ€™t giving the Democratic nomineeโ€™s positions the same scrutiny.

Swedish hunters kill more than 150 brown bears in first days of annual cull

Campaigners denounce โ€˜pure slaughterโ€™, which could threaten survival of entire Scandinavian population More than 150 brown bears have been killed in the opening days of Swedenโ€™s annual bear hunt, as controversy mounts over what conservationists have ca…

UK faces legal action over new North Sea oil and gas licences

Britain’s decision to issue dozens of new oil and gas exploration licences is being challenged in court by a marine conservation organisation, which argues ministers unlawfully failed to consider the impact on marine life.

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson to remain detained in Greenland

Anti-whaling activistโ€™s detention to continue while Japanese extradition request is considered, court rulesThe anti-whaling activist Paul Watson is to remain in detention in Greenland while Denmark decides whether to extradite him to Japan, a court in …

โ€˜I am so happy to see them!โ€™: fan mussels are back in Europeโ€™s waters โ€“ but can scientists keep them alive?

After a series of mass mortality events, it is more common to find these huge Mediterranean clams dead. Which is why the speciesโ€™ โ€˜biggest fangirl of allโ€™, Susan Smillie, is thrilled to see a thriving population in Greece I swim and I stare as my shado…

Europeโ€™s southerners want Brussels to save them from climate change

Ursula von der Leyen faces pressure from the south over climate adaptation plans.

Breastfeeding women try to show orangutan how to care for baby at Dublin zoo

Thirty mothers take turns with their babies in front of Mujur, 19, to try to encourage her to bond with newbornWhen staff at Dublin zoo discovered an orangutan named Mujur was pregnant they decided to stage maternal workshops.The 19-year-old female had…

Your Tim Walz policy guide: Where he stands on abortion, unions, energy and more

The Minnesota governor may bring rural appeal but his policies reflect a progressive agenda.

Goals to stop decline of nature in England โ€˜off trackโ€™, report warns

Audit of Environmental Improvement Plan finds it inadequate as government announces overhaul of goalsGoals to stop the decline of nature and clean up the air and water in England are slipping out of reach, a new report has warned.An audit of the Enviro…

Wolf 2 โ€” von der Leyen 0: EU court insists on being careful with wolf hunting

Ursula von der Leyen’s furry nemesis strikes back.

Inside the battle for top job that will decide the future of deep-sea mining

Marking a pivotal moment for the fate of the barely known ecosystems on the ocean floor, 168 nations will decide this week who will head the International Seabed AuthorityLeticia Carvalho is clear what the problem is with the body she hopes to be elect…

French and European parliamentarians rally against arrest of Sea Shepherd founder

Sixty-eight members of the French and European parliaments sent a letter to the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Wednesday (24 July) calling for the release of Paul Watson, the founder of the marine conservation NGO Sea Shepherd.

A call for the EU to take its role seriously in climate change and biodiversity policies of fisheries management. [Promoted content]

The EU has an obligation to pro-actively enhance climate change and biodiversity policies at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) by endorsing its Plan of Action & establishing a dedicated working group this f…

Romania to step up cull of brown bears after hiker killed

MPs approve cull of 481 bears this year, up from 220 last year, to control โ€˜overpopulationโ€™ of protected speciesRomaniaโ€™s parliament has approved the culling of almost 500 bears this year in an effort to control the โ€œoverpopulationโ€ of the protected sp…

Pragmatism over principle: Europeโ€™s Greens adapt to surviveย 

The group is ditching some of its ambitions as it prepares to back conservative Ursula von der Leyen atop the EU executive.ย 

The future of packaging in Europe

We need to change how the EU packages food and beverages to transition to a low-carbon circular economy.

A bear attack in Slovakia reveals what the far right really wants

Across the globe, populists are rolling back efforts to save nature and the planet.

Denmark sets first carbon tax on agriculture

The country wants to cut 70 percent of its total emissions by 2030.

Iberian lynx no longer endangered after numbers improve in Spain and Portugal

The animal, which is still categorised as โ€˜vulnerableโ€™, has been the subject of a 20-year conservation programmeLess than a quarter of a century after the Iberian lynx was feared to be only a whisker away from extinction, populations of the animal have…

Beach buried by eruption of Mount Vesuvius reopens to public after restoration

โ€˜Extraordinary and uniqueโ€™ ancient beach that was destroyed in AD79 disaster reinstated in southern Italy An ancient Roman beach that was buried by the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius has reopened to the public at Herculaneum archaeological park in sou…

Rogue Austrian minister burns bridges to save EU nature law

Cue the lawsuits, potential fines, dueling allegations โ€”ย and, for Leonore Gewessler, a great campaign ad.

EU passes law to restore 20% of blocโ€™s land and sea by end of decade

Narrow vote causes fury in Vienna where climate minister is threatened with legal action by coalition partnersThe EU has passed a landmark law to protect nature after a knife-edge vote, ending a months-long deadlock among member states spooked by fierc…

Pigeons on the pill: scientists look to contraceptives to curb pest numbers

Birth control is being trialled as a humane way to limit growing numbers of grey squirrels, pigeons and wild boarThe invention of the contraceptive pill heralded the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and now scientists are looking to revolutionise wildli…

UK Green Party snaps at Labour heels from the left

The Greens’ election manifesto is packed with policies designed to appeal to left-leaning voters disaffected with the Labour Party.

Iceland grants countryโ€™s last whaling company licence to hunt 128 fin whales

Conservationists criticise โ€˜disappointingโ€™ and โ€˜dangerousโ€™ move to allow harpooning of fin whales after curbs last year Iceland has granted a licence to Europeโ€™s last whaling company to kill more than 100 animals this year, despite hopes the practice m…

Wild horses return to Kazakhstan steppes after absence of two centuries

Seven Przewalskiโ€™s horses, the only truly wild species of the animal in the world, flown to central Asian country from zoos in EuropeA group of the worldโ€™s last wild horses have returned to their native Kazakhstan after an absence of about 200 years. T…

Deforestation law risks pushing Indonesia toward China

However well-intended, the EU’s directive has particularly rattled producers in the Indo-Pacific region.

Von der Leyen is campaigning hard โ€” against the wolf

Ever since the Commission presidentโ€™s pony, Dolly, was killed by a wolf in 2022, the large carnivore has been in von der Leyen’s sights.

The end of the great northern forests? The tiny tree-killing beetle wreaking havoc on our ancient giants

Forests across Europe, the US and Canada have been hard hit by drought, fires and bark beetles. Now scientists fear the northern hemisphereโ€™s greatest carbon sink is nearing a tipping pointThe giant sequoia is so enormous that it was once believed to b…

Macron ally slams French EPP for โ€˜attackingโ€™ von der Leyen

Clรฉment Beaune’s comments suggest that Paris is open to extending the German Commission president’s time in Brussels.

Ursula von der Leyenโ€™s secret climate crusadeย 

Has the European Commission president given up on her green agenda going into a possible second term โ€” or is she just biding her time?

Washington, we need to talk about you and your pandas

The capital is giddy about getting a new pair of zoo animals. Itโ€™s a love affair that reveals a bunch about the city.

Eagles shifting flight paths to avoid Ukraine conflict, scientists find

Vulnerable birds deviating from migratory routes by up to 155 miles, which could affect breedingEagles that have migratory routes through Ukraine have shifted their flight paths to avoid areas affected by the conflict, researchers have found.GPS data h…

Amsterdam is sick of โ€˜party touristsโ€™. It should take drastic measures to stop them | Renate van der Zee

The city has had enough of stag parties and red-light gawpers. But it will take more than an online quiz to curb over-tourismAn online quiz is the latest strategy with which Amsterdam hopes to deter nuisance tourists. The quiz is called Amsterdam Rules…

Build climate resilience in cities using nature-based solutions, say conservation experts [Advocacy Lab Content]

As the world faces record-high temperatures, experts call for implementing nature-based solutions (NbS) to help cities adapt to climate change and improve human health and well-being.

Ministers mount last-ditch attempt to save EU laws on restoring nature

Representatives of 11 countries led by Ireland urge other states to help get legislation on rescuing habitats over the lineA last-ditch attempt to try to save the EUโ€™s nature restoration laws from oblivion has been mounted by 11 member states, which ar…

Great goat giveaway: Italian island inundated with adoption offers

Mayor of Alicudi appealed for homes for 600 feral goats which will be removed from tiny volcanic islandWhen the mayor of a remote Italian island grappling with an overpopulation of feral goats offered to give the animals away, he anticipated a smatteri…

โ€˜Iโ€™m happy weโ€™re not killing them any moreโ€™: Irelandโ€™s last basking shark hunter on the return of the giants

For 30 years, Brian McNeill hunted the worldโ€™s second-biggest fish from small boats off the wild west coast of Ireland. Now the species has made a recovery so rapid it has astounded scientistsThe ambush was simple. A spotter on a hill would scan the se…

Venice is leading the way with a tourist tax. Other great European cities should follow suit | Simon Jenkins

Visiting such ancient places is a privilege that often makes living in them miserable โ€“ itโ€™s only fair that tourists pay for their upkeepVenice has had enough. It is sinking beneath the twin assaults of tourism and the sea and believes the answer lies …

โ€˜Are we joking?โ€™: Venice residents protest as city starts charging visitors to enter

Day-trippers will have to pay โ‚ฌ5 to visit Italian city under scheme designed to protect it from excess tourismAuthorities in Venice have been accused of transforming the famous lagoon city into a โ€œtheme parkโ€ as a long-mooted entrance fee for day tripp…

Parliament wants to ease seed marketing rules for conservation efforts

The European Parliament adopted its position on Wednesday (24 April) on the overhaul of EU marketing legislation on seeds and other types of plant reproductive material (PRM), proposing to free seed exchanges between farmers and for conservation purpos…

Plant apocalypse: how new diseases are destroying EU trees and crops

From ancient olive groves to root vegetables, foreign pests introduced via the blocโ€™s open import system are causing damage worth billions โ€“ and outbreaks are on the riseThe plants slowly choke to death, wither and dry out. They die en masse, leaves dr…

Greece becomes first European country to ban bottom trawling in marine parks

The law will come into force in national parks within two years and in all of the countryโ€™s marine protected areas by 2030Greece has become the first country in Europe to announce a ban on bottom trawling in all of its national marine parks and protect…

German minister threatens โ€˜indefinite driving bansโ€™ on weekends

The ruling coalition has been fighting over legislation that sets out binding climate targets.

Elephants trample on German coalitionโ€™s fragile vibes

German liberal targets the Greens in making case to allow trophy-hunting imports.

The Guardian view on Europeโ€™s troubled green deal: make the case, not concessions | Editorial

Leaders need to persuade others of the need for environmental measures rather than capitulate in the face of political headwindsLast month, a survey of public opinion in Germany, France and Poland found that a majority in each country would support mor…

Swiss farmers dump dead sheep in protest against rising wolf numbers

Farmers lay carcasses in front of government building in Lausanne to press for resumption of wolf cullFarmers in Switzerland dumped the carcasses of sheep that were killed by wolves in front of a regional government building on Saturday as part of a pr…

Could Germany host 20,000 elephants? We asked an expert.

Botswana has an elephant problem. The director of Nuremberg zoo weighs in on whether Germany could adopt some and where they could live.

UN names veteran EU official Astrid Schomaker as new biodiversity chief

Germanโ€™s appointment to head Convention on Biological Diversity follows global failure to meet any targets on protecting ecosystemsThe next UN biodiversity chief will be Astrid Schomaker, an EU civil servant who will be entrusted with helping the world…