The Guardian

André Corrêa do Lago suggests US organisations can play a constructive role even if government limits participation

The US will be “central” to solving the climate crisis despite Donald Trump’s withdrawal of government support and cash, the president of the next UN climate summit has said.

André Corrêa do Lago, president-designate of the Cop30 summit for the host country, Brazil, hinted that businesses and other organisations in the US could play a constructive role without the White House.

Regional voters are often stereotyped so I propose a new demographic category ahead of the election: conservative, uncommitted rural voters with environmental sympathies

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Recently, an arborist operating in my town in remote north-western Australia put out a public statement. He found it necessary, given the number of queries he had received, to explain his reasons for cutting down native vegetation.

It sounds like the start of a joke, but what this contractor’s earnest explanation illustrates is how in tune regional voters can be with their environs.

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Number of animals affected by neurological toxin increases in past week as experts warn of impact from climate crisis

The number of marine mammals in California affected by a neurological toxin from algae has surged in the past week, in what could be another deadly year for animals such as sea lions, seals, dolphins and larger whales.

According to the Marine Mammal Care Center, a rescue facility based in Sausalito, California, the facility is treating more than 30 animals affected by a toxic algal bloom, with eight animals admitted on Wednesday. The algae bloom off the California coast has been on the rise in recent years, producing a neurological toxin called domoic acid.

They prefer to carry branches in their teeth, like dogs. And when they swim, they hold their front paws to their chests, like a severe governess in a Victorian novel

The heads of beavers, large rodents known for building dams, are their own kind of highly complex dam structure, with various retractable walls that let water in or keep it out. They can close valves in their nostrils and ears and a special membrane over their eyes; their epiglottis, the flap that stops water entering the lungs, is inside their nose instead of their throat; they use their tongue to shield their throats from water; and their lips to shield their mouths – their lips can close behind their front teeth. Their teeth are rust-orange, because they are strengthened with iron.

Their back feet are webbed like a duck’s; on land, their front feet act like hands, digging, grasping and carrying things from the riverbed to the surface – rocks, for example, tucked under their chins and cradled by their arms. When they swim, they do so while holding their front paws to their chests, like a severe governess in a Victorian novel, or a child pretending to be a rabbit. They prefer to carry branches in their teeth, like dogs. The biggest beavers weigh 50kg.

As boats will sometimes lie along the shore,
with part of them on land and part in water,
and just as there [...]

the beaver sets himself when he means war,
so did that squalid beast lie on the margin
of stone that serves as border for the sand.

Biodiversity is great in theory, but there are reasons to fend off invasive alien species and the knock-on effect of their presence

Britain would be a wasteland if it weren’t for immigration. Fifteen thousand years ago, most of the country was buried a kilometre deep in ice – not ideal conditions for life. That all changed as we moved out of the last ice age into the current, milder climate phase. The ice sheets retreated, leaving an empty landscape for anything with the wherewithal to seize the opportunity and move in. Tens of thousands of species did, mainly heading north from the European continent to which Britain was then joined. The result was a native biota where almost every species is an immigrant. Our ancestors were among them.

Immigration is a natural process, but it’s one that has been fundamentally changed thanks to humanity’s wanderlust. As we’ve moved around the world we have taken many other species along with us – some deliberately, some accidentally – to areas they couldn’t have reached without our assistance. These include many of the most familiar denizens of the British countryside. Grey squirrel, ring-necked parakeet, horse chestnut, rhododendron – none of these would be in Britain if they hadn’t been brought by people. They are what ecologists call aliens. Anywhere people live you’ll also find aliens.

Tim Blackburn is professor of invasion biology at University College London and author of The Jewel Box: How Moths Illuminate Nature’s Hidden Rules

Pfas are poisoning our soil and polluting our lungs. The EPA is finally sounding the alarm – but that’s not enough

Several years ago, I made a movie called Dark Waters, which told the real-life story of a community in West Virginia poisoned by Pfas “forever chemicals”. DuPont – a chemical manufacturing plant – contaminated the local water supply, killing cows and wildlife, making its workers sick and exposing local residents to toxic chemicals. It was an environmental horror story.

It’s still happening across the country.

Campaigners say funding halt is a ‘staggering blow’ to vulnerable nations and to efforts to keep heating below 1.5C

Donald Trump’s withdrawal of US overseas aid will almost decimate global climate finance from the developed world, data shows, with potentially devastating impacts on vulnerable nations.

The US was responsible last year for about $8 in every $100 that flowed from the rich world to developing countries, to help them cut greenhouse gas emissions and cope with the impacts of extreme weather, according to data from the analyst organisation Carbon Brief.

The toxic Tasmanian salmon industry has gone too far this time

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Chris Minns stresses that the New South Wales evacuation centres set up for people fleeing flooding will be closed once the immediate threat from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred is over. The premier says his government contributed $5bn for social housing in its last budget. 'Evacuation centres are not going to be long-term solutions for homelessness on the northern rivers,' he says. 'And I just want to be really transparent and clear … They can’t operate longer than they were intended to'

• Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred update: residents warned to head for high ground as flood waters rise

Environment secretary points to measures to stop lake being ‘choked by unacceptable levels’ of pollution

The government has said it will “clean up Windermere” after criticism over the volume of sewage being pumped into England’s largest lake.

The environment secretary, Steve Reed, pledged “only rainwater” would enter the famous body of water in the Lake District, putting an end to the situation where it Windermere was being “choked by unacceptable levels of sewage pollution”.

Affected roads include vital routes for holidaymakers, including A2 towards Folkestone and parts of A303 and A30

A quarter of England’s most important A-roads have electric car charging “cold spots”, according to government figures that suggest significant gaps remain in the infrastructure needed to switch away from fossil fuels.

Twenty-nine out of 107 A-roads that are part of the strategic road network have at least one cold spot, according to data obtained by charging company Zest from the Department for Transport. Cold spots are defined as points where a vehicle with only 10% of its battery remaining would not be able to reach a site with at least six rapid or ultra-rapid devices.

Millions of people in northern NSW and south-east Queensland are bunkering down for dangerous conditions including flash flooding, heavy rain and intense winds after the storm now downgraded to a tropical low crossed the coast

After fears £11m would be diverted to Treasury, money will be spent on restoring polluted areas where penalties issued

Millions of pounds of fines imposed on water firms will fund environmental schemes to protect the country’s waterways after fears the money would be diverted to the Treasury.

The water restoration fund was set up by the Conservative government to ensure that polluting water firms paid for the damage they caused. The fund received £11m in fines and penalties from April 2022 to October 2023.

In the Zuleta community in Ecuador, farming is about more than just sustenance: it is about cultivating a deep relationship with the land based on ancestral knowledge. In her travels in the region, Colombo-Ecuadorian photographer Yinna Higuera collaborates with rural women, who in exchange share their understanding of medicinal plants and give her leaves from their gardens. In her Traces series, which has been shortlisted for a Sony world photography award, Higuera uses chlorophyll printing to superimpose the women’s portraits on banana leaves, vegetables and herbs. “Each of these women has a unique story,” she says, “yet they all share a profound bond with the land. Through these portraits, my goal is to make their strength and wisdom visible, honouring their role as stewards of the earth.”

• Traces is shortlisted in the creative category, professional competition, Sony world photography awards 2025. Exhibition at Somerset House, London, 17 April to 5 May, worldphoto.org

Council of Europe says Swiss government failing to respect human rights court’s ruling on emissions

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The Swiss government has been told it must do more to show that its national climate plans are ambitious enough to comply with a landmark legal ruling.

The Council of Europe’s committee of ministers, in a meeting this week, decided that Switzerland was not doing enough to respect a decision by the European court of human rights last year that it must do more to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and rejected the government’s plea to close the case.

Using high-definition camera traps on trails in Congo’s Nouabalé-Ndoki national park, Will Burrard-Lucas, a photographer for the Wildlife Conservation Society, has captured Africa’s most elusive and rarely seen animals

Sixteen activists argued sentences had not adequately taken into account their conscientious motivation

Six protesters jailed for their roles in various climate demonstrations have had their sentences reduced on appeal.

The Just Stop Oil co-founder Roger Hallam was originally jailed for five years for agreeing to disrupt traffic by having protesters climb on to gantries over the M25 for four successive days. His sentence was reduced to four years.

Gran Canaria and Tenerife worst affected, while eastern Australia prepares for first tropical cyclone for 50 years

On Monday, a storm brought heavy rainfall to the Canary Islands, especially affecting Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Telde, in eastern Gran Canaria received more than 30mm of rain, nearly three times the March average.

Flash floods submerged homes, turned streets into rivers, and swept cars out to sea. Airports and popular beaches shut down ahead of the downpour, affecting more than 850,000 residents. The islands’ mountainous topography, tropical climate and urbanisation worsened the floods by aiding thunderstorm formation and runoff.Snow accumulated on Mount Teide in Tenerife, creating a rare but disruptive scene for emergency services and local infrastructure.

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

Cameras stationed by Swellnet to monitor swells on Australia's east coast show the difference a couple of days can make when a tropical cyclone like Alfred approaches. The cameras record how eight beaches, in Queensland and New South Wales, change from Monday to Thursday.