Party divisions over energy have deepened, but the need to move beyond fossil fuels has never been clearer
Energy has not been a prominent subject for discussion in the run-up to Thursday’s UK elections. In England this is logical enough, since the big policy decisions are taken by ministers in Westminster, not at council meetings. But the stances adopted by the new governments in Scotland and Wales matter a great deal. They will have an influence beyond their borders, helping to shape the national climate debate in the coming years.
In both nations, as in England, divisions have deepened as Conservatives have moved away from support for net zero and Reform UK has ramped up its opposition to renewables. Among Scottish parties, only the Greens are categorically against new fossil‑fuel developments in the North Sea. Under John Swinney, the Scottish National party’s earlier opposition to the Rosebank oilfield has softened in advance of the upcoming decision over whether it should go ahead. Scottish Labour, by contrast, has thrown its weight behind new nuclear power.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/04/2026 - 12:31
05/04/2026 - 11:13
Firefighters continued to battle the Hazen fire burning near Buckeye, Arizona, on Monday. The fire began on Saturday afternoon and, as of Sunday evening, was estimated to have covered about 400 hectares (1,000 acres) and was '0% contained'. Local media reported that no evacuations had taken place and there were no reports of damage to homes
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05/04/2026 - 08:00
Lobbyist Tara Singh says stripping projects of subsidy contracts would undermine investor confidence in UK
Britain could be beset by levels of economic chaos last seen under Liz Truss if a Reform UK government were to fulfil its promise to strip renewable energy projects of subsidy contracts, according to the industry’s chief lobbyist.
The anti-renewables policy put forward by Nigel Farage’s populist party would severely undermine investor confidence in the energy industry and across the wider UK economy, the new chief executive of RenewableUK said.
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05/04/2026 - 06:09
Exclusive: Minister says proposals show government’s ambition, as it faces unprecedented pressure from Greens
UK politics live – latest updates
Tree nurseries could be built at prisons, and military ranges could be turned into heathland or peat bogs as part of an ambitious plan to make government land more nature-friendly, the environment secretary has said.
Speaking before elections this week in which Labour is under pressure from the Green party, Emma Reynolds said such projects showed the government’s intent in restoring natural habitats.
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05/04/2026 - 04:00
Louisiana’s cultural hotspot could be surrounded by Gulf of Mexico before end of this century, authors say
The process of relocating people from New Orleans should start immediately, as the city has reached a “point of no return” that will see it surrounded by the ocean within decades due to the climate crisis, a stark new study has concluded.
Ongoing sea-level rise and the rampant erosion of wetlands in southern Louisiana will swallow up the New Orleans area within a few generations, with the new paper estimating the city “may well be surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico before the end of this century”.
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05/04/2026 - 03:50
International Energy Agency analysis shows methane leaks remained at near-record highs in 2025
Methane emissions from the energy sector remained at near record levels in 2025, the International Energy Agency has concluded.
Tackling the emissions could make billions of cubic metres of gas available to international markets, a top priority as the war in the Middle East squeezes energy supplies, the IEA said in a report.
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05/04/2026 - 02:00
Councils spend heavily on grisly yet ineffective methods. Why won’t they consider a proven, low-cost and humane strategy?
By some estimates there are almost 3 million pigeons residing in London, which has the highest pigeon population in the country. Known as “rats with wings”, “flying ashtrays” and “gutter birds”, pigeons do not have popular sentiment on their side. And cities in the UK have an extensive history of attempted pigeon pest control – having tried everything short of an exorcism to remove them – to no avail.
London’s best-known victory in the war against pigeons was self-declared, after an operation in Trafalgar Square in the early 2000s. Ken Livingstone’s city government flew two Harris hawks around the area to “deter” pigeons – although the hawks went further than that, killing 121 pigeons in what ended up being a years-long bloodbath. The blitz cost the city £226,000. Wildlife activists deemed it an act of unimaginable cruelty. And it did little to permanently cut down pigeon populations. Last year in Manchester at least 81 pigeons were shot and killed by pest control services – employed by Northern Trains – in early morning offensives at Manchester Victoria station. The event is known to some as the Manchester Victoria pigeon massacre.
Sydney Lobe is a freelance writer based between Vancouver and London
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05/04/2026 - 00:54
In today’s newsletter: As oil prices spike and geopolitical tensions rise, a diverse group of governments is attempting to build momentum and rewrite the global energy script
Good morning. The cost of fossil fuels is threatening to strangle the global economy once again. Last week, oil prices surged after the US president, Donald Trump, warned that a blockade of Iranian ports could last months – causing the price of oil to jump to its highest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With it, the spectre of global recession looms large.
But on the Atlantic coast in Colombia last week, a coalition of the willing was working to break the cycle. Almost 60 governments met in Santa Marta for the world’s first conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels. At the conference, each country agreed to develop roadmaps on how to move away from fossil fuel dependency.
AI | The biometrics commissioner for England and Wales has warned that national oversight of AI-powered face scanning to catch criminals is lagging far behind the technology’s rapid growth.
UK politics | Labour’s deputy leader, Lucy Powell, has warned there will be “no magic bullet” to solve Labour’s problems or major challenges facing the country as its MPs grapple with how to navigate the fallout from the local elections.
Iran | Donald Trump has announced that the US will “guide” ships trapped by the Iran war out of the Gulf through the strait of Hormuz on Monday morning, and claimed his representatives were having “very positive” discussions with Iran.
Europe | Canada is to become the first non-European country to attend a meeting of the European Political Community when the prime minister, Mark Carney, joins today’s summit in Armenia.
Israel | Spain’s foreign ministry has demanded the immediate release of a Spanish national it said was being “held illegally” by Israel after the interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla.
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05/04/2026 - 00:31
International Energy Agency findings show government must commit to rapid cuts in emissions of greenhouse gas, climate experts say
Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here
Emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane from Australian coalmines are more than double official government estimates reported to the UN, according to a new International Energy Agency report.
Climate and energy analysts said the report had again highlighted an “enormous gap” in the country’s reported methane emissions from coalmines and should serve as a wake-up call.
Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter
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05/03/2026 - 19:35
In an electric vehicle you quickly learn when you can gun the engine, how to use the many apps – and how to enjoy the time while the car is charging
I quickly discovered two important things when recently taking a three week drive over several thousand kilometres in an electric car. The first is that “range anxiety’’ is very real. The second is that veteran EV drivers are often there for us neophytes.
First, some background. I’d always planned to get an electric car eventually – but then, just before Christmas, the petrol engine of our 17-year-old second-hand Subaru finally cooked itself after 360,000-plus kilometres.
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