Residents had unsuccessfully challenged Enfield council in court over club’s plan to build pitches on rewilded area rich in bats and newts
A women’s football academy will be built over public green space and a rewilded former golf course after Enfield council approved controversial plans by Tottenham Hotspur football club.
The council, which handed Spurs a 25-year lease for 53 hectares (130 acres) of Whitewebbs Park in north London, has backed plans for all-weather pitches, floodlights and a “turf academy” on green belt parkland rich in bats, newts and mature trees. In exchange Spurs will pay the council £2m.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
02/12/2025 - 07:39
02/12/2025 - 07:38
Greenpeace protest draws attention to worsening typhoons and demands accountability from major polluters
For two days and two nights, Ronalyn Carbonel and her four children clung to the roof of their home as a huge storm raged around them. With the wind battering her village of Rizal, about 10 miles east of Manila in the Philippines, and water swirling through the rooms below them, they had no choice but to wait, hoping that someone would come to rescue them and hundreds of their neighbours.
“We did not have shelter, we did not have food … we just had to wait for the government for two days,” Carbonel said. “It is not easy, no electricity, no light, we just wait for the sun to rise. The children were scared, we had never experienced anything like this.”
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02/12/2025 - 07:00
Surge in solar, wind and battery capacity comes as president pledges to halt federal support for clean power
The US had record-breaking growth in renewable-energy capacity last year, new research shows, but the future of the sector is uncertain amid threats from Donald Trump’s administration.
The country brought online 48.2 gigawatts of capacity from utility-scale solar, wind and battery storage in 2024, according to a report from the research organization Cleanview; the report is based on an analysis of federal data. That surge in capacity – enough to power some 3.6m homes – was 47% larger than the increase the US saw in the previous year.
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02/12/2025 - 04:20
Introduction of 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports could push up canned food and drink prices
Coca-Cola has said it may have to increase its use of plastic in the US if Donald Trump’s tariffs raise the cost of aluminium cans.
The drinks company’s warning follows Trump’s introduction of 25% tariffs on foreign steel and aluminium entering the US, which could push up the prices of canned food and drink.
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02/12/2025 - 03:41
Regulator Ofwat’s enforcement case into whether company breached obligations follows Guardian investigation
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Thames Water is being investigated by the water regulator for England and Wales, Ofwat, after the struggling company delayed environmental improvement schemes.
The investigation was launched after the Guardian revealed that the UK’s largest water company intentionally diverted millions of pounds pledged for environmental clean-ups towards other costs, including bonuses and dividends.
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02/12/2025 - 02:00
In three years Natural England has designated just two new SSSIs, which protect areas from development
The government’s wildlife watchdog for England is failing to halt the decline of nature after a sharp fall in the number of new places given top protection, according to campaigners.
On average over the past 15 years, Natural England has designated four new sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) each year. SSSIs are nationally or internationally important places for rare wildlife and habitats, meet strict criteria and are then usually protected from almost all possible development.
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02/12/2025 - 01:00
RHS is asking people to look for under-threat varieties such as the Sussex Bonfire and Mrs William Copeland
Britons have been asked to hunt for rare pink, white and “bonfire yellow” daffodils in order to save threatened varieties from extinction.
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), which is running the daffodil count, is hoping to build a map of the spring blooms. It is asking people to log where daffodils are flowering in their area along with basic information such as colour, type and height.
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02/11/2025 - 19:22
Claim over the 2019 Rennell Island disaster, which saw more than 300 tonnes of fuel leak into the water, filed in the Solomons High court
The companies allegedly responsible for the one of the worst environmental disasters in Solomon Islands’ history are being sued over the catastrophic oil spill that caused harm to an ecologically sensitive island.
The claim over the 2019 Rennell Island disaster was filed in the Solomons high court last week, just days before the statute of limitations expired.
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02/11/2025 - 19:01
Researchers found that most birds-of-paradise are biofluorescent – meaning they absorb light through their bodies
Birds-of-paradise are known for their bright and colourful plumage, but it turns out they are even more dazzling than previously thought.
Researchers have found 37 of the 45 species show biofluorescence – in other words, patches of their plumage or other body parts absorb UV or blue light, and emit light at lower frequencies.
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02/11/2025 - 17:00
Airport’s chief executive to formally spell out expansion plans in speech at British Steel plant in Scunthorpe
Heathrow will submit third runway proposals to the government this summer, pledging to use UK steel and boost growth, the airport has confirmed.
Its chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, will formally spell out plans for a third runway to follow a multibillion-pound upgrade of the London airport’s existing terminals and facilities, in a speech at the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe on Wednesday.
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