Read the full story from ProPublica.
Diplomats in Vietnam warned Washington that halting USAID’s efforts to clean up the massive deposit of postwar pesticides would be a catastrophe for public health and relations with a key strategic partner in Asia.
Read the full story in the New York Times [gift article].
Just hours after opening its new program for American researchers called Safe Place for Science in reaction to Trump administration policies, Aix Marseille University received its first application.
Since then, the university, which is in the south of France and is known for its science programs, has received about a dozen applications per day from what the school considers “scientific asylum” seekers.
Other universities in France and elsewhere in Europe have also rushed to save American researchers fleeing drastic cuts to jobs and programs by the Trump administration, as well as perceived attacks on whole fields of research.
At stake are not just individual jobs, but the concept of free scientific inquiry, university presidents say. They are also rushing to fill huge holes in collective research caused by the cuts, particularly in areas targeted by the Trump administration, including studies of climate change, public health, environmental science, gender and diversity.
Summer energy poverty (SEPOV) is an urgent and growing issue in Europe as climate change raises temperatures and makes extreme heat waves a regular occurrence. Heat brings significant public health, economic, and social challenges, particularly for vulnerable groups like low-income households, the elderly, and residents in energy-inefficient and poorly insulated homes.
Early findings suggest that those already likely to face “winter” energy poverty may struggle in the summer, and, for instance, “cooling” has been recognised as an essential energy service in the definition of EPOV in the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). Data and evidence on the magnitude and extent of the phenomenon are, however, more fragmented. For example, Eurostat data (2012) revealed that nearly 19% of EU households struggle to stay cool in summer, and research has shown that heat waves are responsible for about 48,000 deaths annually in Europe. Adding to the problem, 75% of European buildings remain energy inefficient, as evidenced by the EU, and may, therefore, quickly overheat.
Only a handful of countries, like France or Spain, collect data on the number of people suffering from the heat and are implementing proactive policies. Most countries have overlooked SEPOV considerations as part of broader energy and climate frameworks, mostly for geographical or historical rea-sons.
Despite these oversights and gaps in evidence, recent EU policies, including the EED, the Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD), and the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, partially recognise or address summer cooling needs – making the EU framework the stepping stone for further policies.
This report shows that more attention needs to be put on implementing the EU policy framework and building comprehensive solutions to address both immediate risks and build year-long resilience. Targeted implementation and better coordination of the policy streams and integration of SEPOV into national and local strategies are crucial. The findings underline the importance of embedding SEPOV into energy poverty and climate adaptation policies, ensuring marginalised populations are not left behind. For example, many countries, such as Finland and cities like Prague, already follow the concept of “just resilience” – the equivalent of “just transition” principles but for climate – in their adaptation strategies. Cities play a critical role, and local initiatives such as Paris’s urban cooling network, Athens’ Chief Heat Officer, and Am-sterdam’s green public housing demonstrate scalable solutions, but a cohesive EU-wide ap-proach is necessary.
Read the full story at Trellis.
The European Commission has proposed to scale back the reach and impact of its landmark EU Green Deal, a move causing condemnation among sustainability experts.
Read the full story from The Guardian.
Offshore windfarms are to be painted black in an effort to reduce the number of birds that die after flying into them.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has launched a four-year trial to paint the wind turbines after officials raised concerns that the government’s plan to increase turbine numbers in the North Sea could spell danger for seabirds. Limited research has been conducted on the number of birds killed this way, but estimates range from four to 18 per turbine per year.
Yavuz, C., Bektaş, S., Aksoy Tırmıkçı, C., & Ateş, A. (2025). An assessment of EU’s photovoltaic panel waste policies: Current framework and strategic vision for 2050. Science and Public Policy, scaf004. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scaf004
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of photovoltaic (PV) panel waste management, examining both technical aspects and legislative frameworks, particularly focusing on European Union (EU) regulations through 2050. The research addresses the challenges in recycling PV panels, including their extended lifespan and potential environmental risks from solvent emissions. The study emphasizes sustainable waste management practices and the critical need for effective recycling techniques under the EU’s Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. The research highlights the rapid growth of solar energy sector and its implications for waste management, stressing the importance of Extended Producer Responsibility policies. It critically evaluates the WEEE Directive’s limitations regarding PV panel segregation, recycling, and collection procedures. The study emphasizes the significance of public awareness and international cooperation for future waste management by 2050. Finally, it proposes specific amendments to EU legislation to enhance sustainability in social-ecological electricity generation and support global warming mitigation efforts.
Copping, J. P., Waite, C. E., Balmford, A., Bradbury, R. B., Field, R. H., Morris, I., & Finch, T. (n.d.). Solar farm management influences breeding bird responses in an arable-dominated landscape. Bird Study, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2025.2450392 [open access]
Solar farms are increasing in Britain, but their biodiversity impact is under-studied. We explored bird populations on six solar farms in the East Anglian Fens, using an adapted Breeding Bird Survey across 23.2?km of transects, recording birds seen or heard within 100?m of transects (4?ha survey area). Solar farms were divided by management styles: simple habitat solar (10 transects) and mixed habitat solar (13 transects). We also surveyed 15.2?km of transects in arable farmland. Solar farms contained a greater bird abundance and species richness than arable farmland, but this varied with solar farm management (predicted abundance ±SE per 4?ha: solar with mixed habitat?=?31.5?±?6.4, solar with simple habitat?=?17?±?4.9, arable?=?11.9?±?2.6; predicted species richness?±?SE per 4?ha: solar with mixed habitat?=?13.5?±?1.1, solar with simple habitat?=?5.3?±?0.6, arable?=?5.5?±?0.6). Our findings suggest that solar farms can benefit biodiversity in arable-dominated landscapes, especially when managed with biodiversity in mind.
Many individual countries pursue climate policies yet are also covered by a broader, overlapping emissions trading system. We explore when such overlapping policies help mitigate climate change, and when they are ineffective or might backfire.
Read the full story in the New York Times (gift article).
What’s the air quality in New Delhi, Jakarta or Buenos Aires? Until Tuesday, the United States Embassy in those cities could have told you.
But the Trump administration has effectively shut down a global air quality monitoring program, ending more than a decade of public data-collection and reporting from 80 embassies and consulates worldwide.
The information has supported research, helped thousands of foreign service officers working abroad to decide if it was safe to let their children play outdoors, and has directly led to air quality improvements in countries like China.
The State Department said in an email that the program was being suspended “due to budget constraints.”
Health officials and environmental experts said ending air quality monitoring would hurt Americans overseas, particularly those who work for the U. S. government.
With global warming accelerating, the long-term goal to keep warming below 1.5°C set out in the Paris Agreement is increasingly at risk of being breached. Limiting this risk and stabilising the climate requires urgent and coordinated global efforts. The EU is legally committed to achieving climate neutrality at the latest by 2050 and to pursuing net-negative emissions thereafter. To meet these goals, the EU must both drastically reduce emissions and counterbalance residual emissions from activities with currently no or limited mitigation alternatives with carbon dioxide removals. Removals are essential for achieving net-negative greenhouse gas emissions and helping stabilise the global climate.
The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change hereby makes nine recommendations to policy makers for rapidly scaling up removals, in ways that enhance EU’s industrial competitiveness while addressing associated opportunities and risks. These recommendations address both temporary removals, resulting from activities such as afforestation, reforestation and soil carbon sequestration, and permanent removals, including technologies such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS).
Read the full story from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.
An improvement in freshwater biodiversity in England’s rivers was linked to reductions in pollution of zinc and copper, largely due to the decline of coal burning and heavy industry, say researchers.
Invertebrates are used as an important measure of a river’s biodiversity and health, and Environment Agency data show there was a widespread, significant increase in species richness across England in the 1990s and early 2000s. However, there has been little significant further improvement since then. Therefore, a team of scientists looked for the possible reasons for this, using statistical modelling to investigate a wide range of different chemical and physical factors, such as temperature, river flow and landscape.
Read the full story at Food Navigator Europe.
Despite initial costs, a new study has found polices that can effectively to cut food waste in the long-term.
Download the full paper, Pioneers in the Fight Against Food Waste: Implementation of Food Waste Deterrence Policies in South Korea, France, and Peru, from the Global FoodBanking Network.
Read the full story from Horizon.
A large majority of Europeans believe in the benefits of science, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey on “European citizens’ knowledge and attitudes towards science and technology”.
They want to see those benefits more equitably distributed and are cautious about any potential negative impacts of science.
In the survey, conducted in 27 EU Member States, the Western Balkans, Türkiye and the UK and released on 3 February, more than 8 in 10 citizens (83%) said they see the overall influence of science and technology as positive. Two thirds (67%) said that science and technology improve people’s lives, making them easier, healthier and more comfortable.
Read the full story at Horizon.
A new report dealing with gender equality in research and innovation in the EU reveals that only 32.8% of graduates in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in the EU were women. The ‘She Figures 2024’ report was released by the EU’s Publications Office on 11 February 2025, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
While women outnumber men in bachelor’s studies across all fields, their representation drops sharply as they progress up the educational and professional career ladder.
The She Figures report shows that women’s representation at the doctoral level has decreased in half of all narrow STEM fields since 2018. Those include biology, physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering and technology, and architecture.
With the demand for high-skilled workers in STEM on the rise, more needs to be done to promote greater gender equality and inclusion.
Read the full story at Engadget.
James Howells, a British IT worker, mined over 7,500 Bitcoins back in 2009, when they were worth next to nothing. Now a single Bitcoin is worth nearly $100,000, valuing his stash at well over $700 million. Unfortunately, Howells accidentally threw the hard drive he stored the key on in the trash. He has a scheme to get that money back, according to The Guardian. He wants to buy the landfill where it could be buried and dig it up.
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