Unprecedented and expected… marine heat in 2025
As anticipated, in 2025, UK seas have had their warmest temperatures since records began. The first seven months of the year average 0.2°C higher than any year since 1980.
The observable outcome of this is the sometimes-abundant appearance of marine species that are usually found in low numbers in UK waters – Common Octopus, Bluefin Tuna, Mauve Stingers and Barrel Jellyfish have all been observed at unprecedented levels. Although likely to delight some marine naturalists, the unusually high presence of these species could be indicative of ecosystem destabilisation and the collapse of the global aquatic food web.
An eco-populist shift for the Green party
Zack Polanski has won the election to lead the Green Party in the UK. Defeating Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns, two of the party’s four elected MPs, Polanski promises to actualise his vision of a green, mass membership, ‘eco-populist’ movement. The new leader aims to reverse the perceived ineffectuality of the established party approach by tactically parroting, and ideologically challenging, Nigel Farage and Reform UK.
The new leader is ‘open to’ collaboration with Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana’s temporarily titled ‘Your Party’ and has directly vowed to replace Keir Starmer’s Labour.
It is unclear what the Green’s ‘eco-populist’ shift will mean for UK politics, but Polanski’s election victory represents a significant development for a splintered but variously surging political left.
Legal action against the badger cull
Campaigners from Wild Justice and the Badger Trust have launched a legal challenge against the government’s decision to award additional badger cull permits. The controversial decision to renew licences, despite a previously promised ‘phase out’, has been met with considerable pushback from campaigners who cite the shaky evidence used to justify the culling of badgers in the UK. Rosie Wood, chairperson of the Badger Trust, says that ‘Bovine TB is overwhelmingly a cattle-to-cattle spread disease.? Follow the evidence – end the badger cull, stop this egregious attack on nature and stop misleading the public, farmers and the taxpayer.’ Look out for her commentary on the ongoing case in an upcoming issue of British Wildlife.
A setback for the global plastics treaty
The United Nations meeting marked the most recent push to actualise a global plastics treaty. Representatives of 100 nations called for an ambitious and effective treaty to curtail global plastic production but were stalled by 234 lobbyists from the oil industry who argued instead for a focus on ‘recycling’ and the continuation of unregulated plastic production. This breakdown of negotiation is the latest in a long line of failures to meet deadlines for the treaty – meaning business as usual for oil states and the accelerated detriment for ecosystems.
