Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Regulator to hasten review over concerns that firms are ‘undermining’ rules to make large payments to bosses Business live – latest updates The water company bonus ban is set to be tightened after the regulator accused the industry of a risk of “damaging public trust” with large payments to bosses that appeared to get around the rules. Anglian Water was singled out for particular criticism over “retention payments” worth up to £800,000 for its chief executive, Mark Thurston, despite the bonus ban. Anglian will face increased monitoring of its governance arrangements because of the controversial payments. Continue reading...

Since the US war on Iran began in February, there have been hundreds of oil spills, posing a ‘generational’ threat to wildlife The vast, dark slicks in the strait of Hormuz are visible from space. Throughout October, oil tankers were struck by missiles or sea mines in the waterway and spilled crude into the sea. The pollution has spread across the Gulf, contaminating coastlines and threatening to cause lasting damage to marine ecosystems that are home to dolphins, sea turtles and countless species of fish. Eight months into the war between the US and Iran, one of the world’s busiest oil shipping routes has become a battlefield and the centre of a growing environmental disaster. Continue reading...

Marshall Islands president warns of worsening floods as UN chief calls for a windfall tax on oil and gas firms Failure to provide an overwhelming response to the climate crisis means “the world we know is over”, the president of the embattled Marshall Islands has warned, as dozens of leaders gathered in Turkey for the Cop31 climate summit. Hilda Heine, one of a handful of Pacific Island leaders to make an impassioned speech at Cop31 on Wednesday, told other heads of state that overshooting the 1.5C Paris temperature target would mean waves eating away their shores and floods that destroy towns, schools and hospitals. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Cutting 2030 goal would be a ‘step backwards’, say MPs, as ministers clash over proposed reductions Labour MPs are urging the government not to weaken its electric vehicle targets as divided cabinet ministers prepare for a crunch meeting on Thursday to thrash out a compromise. Members of the climate and nature crisis caucus (CNCC) say ministers must not water down a legal requirement for carmakers to ensure that 80% of the vehicles they sell in 2030 are electric, saying doing so would be a backward step and “shortsighted”. Continue reading...