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There is an appetite in this country for policy that will change lives. What is more fundamental than the water we use and bills we pay?

• Clive Lewis is the Labour MP for Norwich South

In the wake of a brutal set of local election results, MPs from across the Labour party are trying to establish what went wrong. To me, it’s very clear that this was no fluke: it was the entirely foreseeable outcome of my party’s approach to Reform UK. And as the party moves forward and prepares to face Reform at future elections, it’s key that we learn the right lessons.

From flip-flopping on climate commitments to framing disabled people as part of the undeserving poor, Labour thus far hasn’t challenged Reform’s worldview – it has legitimatised it. However, there are some perhaps surprising areas where Labour isn’t copying Reform: public ownership of water for one.

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Sap-sucking insects top list of queries to gardening charity after causing significant harm to plants

Aphids are plaguing gardeners this spring due to the warm weather, with higher numbers of the rose-killing bugs expected to thrive in the UK as a result of climate breakdown.

The sap-sucking insects have topped the ranking of gardener queries to the Royal Horticultural Society, with many of its 600,000 members having complained of dozens of aphids on their acers, roses and honeysuckle plants.

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A coalition of 15 states filed a lawsuit to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive order (EO) declaring a “national energy emergency” on the day of his Inauguration, alleging that the action was unlawful.

Washington’s Department of Ecology’s (ECY) advisory groups this week nudged the agency to consider linkage as it prepares its recommendations surrounding no-cost allocations for Emissions Intensive, Trade Exposed Industries (EITEs).

A Canadian farm workers labour union launched a campaign against Quebec’s carbon trading system, asking to prevent additional costs from being passed on to consumers.

Speculators cautiously raised California Carbon Allowance (CCA), Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), and RGGI allowance (RGA) spread holdings over the week absent firm regulatory guidance, data published Friday by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed.

As the US EPA undergoes its formal review of a key rule underpinning several regulations limiting GHGs, legal experts laid out pathways the agency could take to eliminate the rule – each with its own set of obstacles and consequences.

Rhode Island and a group of oil firms led by Chevron debated in court this week the need for discovery of evidence, as the companies looks to fight a suit brought by the state seeking damages for the effects of climate change.

An environmental advocacy group urged policymakers to prioritise forest protection over returns to fund sponsors in the development of Brazil’s $125 billion forest fund, in a policy paper published Friday.

A digital forest monitoring company released a tech tool for afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) carbon project developers to build a dynamic baseline ready for validation.

In consultation with the US EPA, the White House issued agency-wide guidance for policy officers to limit considerations of the social cost of carbon (SCC) metric only as required under statute.

A Danish infrastructure investment firm will commit $500 million to expand a US natural gas producer's carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) operations across the nation, according to a Thursday announcement.

A recently signed agreement seeks to link long-term carbon storage with low-carbon fuel production as part of a broader push to scale decarbonisation infrastructure in the Gulf Coast region.

Gold Standard has unveiled a consolidated methodology crediting the recovery and recycling of materials from solid wastes.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Methodologies Panel has proposed draft revisions to a key tool used in calculating the proportion of biomass harvested unsustainability for cookstoves, which could have a huge influence on credit issuance in the voluntary carbon market.

Nord Stream 2, owned by Russian gas company Gazprom, has reached a debt restructuring agreement with its creditors, a court in Switzerland said on Friday.

Findings show for first time how plastic chemicals throw off the body’s internal clock by up to 17 minutes

Chemicals in everyday plastics may disrupt the body’s natural 24-hour sleep-wake cycle and circadian rhythm in a way similar to coffee, which increases the risk of sleep disorders, diabetes, immune problems and cancer, new in vitro research shows.

The study looked at chemicals extracted from a PVC medical feeding tube and a polyurethane hydration pouch, like those used by long-distance runners. PVC and polyurethanes are also used in everything from kids toys to food packaging to furniture.

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South Australia’s plan to revive and decarbonise its Whyalla steelworks, one of only two major steel production facilities in the country, risks missing the mark if it leans too heavily on gas rather than green hydrogen, a briefing note published this week has warned.

At least 7% of existing energy transition minerals (ETM) extraction sites around the world sit within Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), affecting an area twice the size of Belgium, according to a WWF report released this week.

Boreal forests remain largely overlooked compared to tropical biomes despite their importance for biodiversity and climate mitigation, with major knowledge gaps hindering protection efforts, the UN warned in a study released this week.