Environment & Climate
The European Green Deal, energy transition, oceans and the climate policy behind the headlines.
UN desertification summit in Mongolia tackles land loss affecting billions
COP17 opened in Ulaanbaatar with 179 UNCCD member states seeking solutions to land degradation. The crisis affects 3.5 billion people and dr
Wildfires expose unexploded WWII bombs across Europe
Wildfires and droughts across Europe are exposing unexploded bombs and military relics from WWI and WWII. Recent blazes in France, Belgium,
Overnight storms batter Poland: thousands of callouts, flooded homes, power cuts
Overnight storms and gales swept across Poland, prompting more than 4,000 firefighter callouts. Twelve scout camps were evacuated as a preca
Squid surge in the North Sea signals a warming ocean
Squid and octopus are becoming permanent residents of the North Sea as waters warm. Landings have tripled in 40 years, but no catch quotas e
Marmolada's shrinking ice and thawing permafrost signal a fragile Dolomites
Marmolada's glacier is losing mass rapidly, permafrost is thawing, and high-altitude water supplies are becoming unreliable. Legambiente's G
Severe storms and floods batter northern Italy after weeks of heat
Northern Italy has been hit by violent storms, with tens of thousands of lightning strikes and flash floods. The extreme weather follows wee
Hungary's lakes and rivers hit record lows as severe drought deepens
Nearly all of Hungary is under severe or extreme drought, with lakes and rivers at historic lows. The Great Hungarian Plain faces desertific
Mongolia hosts UN desertification summit as global drought crisis worsens
Mongolia is hosting the UN Convention to Combat Desertification's COP17 in Ulaanbaatar from 17 to 28 August. Delegates from 196 countries an
EU firefighter numbers reveal stark gaps as wildfire seasons intensify
The EU counted 372,400 professional firefighters in 2025, with Germany, France, and Italy topping the list. Greece and Croatia have the high
German households can save €12,000 by electrifying heating, analysis finds
A new analysis by clean-tech firm 1KOMMA5° finds that German households could save €12,451 over 25 years by switching from gas heating to a
Swiss Alpine village lives under threat of collapsing peak
The Swiss village of Kandersteg sits beneath the unstable Spitze Stei rock formation, which could trigger a landslide twice the size of the
Serbian wildfire in Deliblatska Peščara forces evacuations as heat returns
A wildfire burning for weeks in Serbia's Deliblatska Peščara reserve forced evacuations on Thursday as temperatures hit 39C. A Russian water