Environment

Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser

Only 15 per cent of reported fly-tipping cases result in prosecution

There had been calls to wipe out red deer on the 93,000-acre Stòras Uibhist estate, which covers the islands of South Uist, Eriskay and parts of Benbecula, due to the damage they cause to crops and gardens, their risk of causing road accidents and fears over the spread of Lyme disease

Deer spared as islanders reject total cull on South Uist community estate

A deposit return scheme facility in Motherwell is set to create up to 140 jobs (Picture: Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS)

Anger at deposit return scheme salaries is damaging – Martyn McLaughlin

David Harris and other executives at Circularity Scotland are receiving a combined £667,000 in annual salaries and fees.

MSPs condemn ‘monstrous’ payments to deposit return scheme executives

Floods in low-lying Bangladesh are getting worse as sea levels rise because of global warming (Picture: Mamun Hossain/AFP via Getty Images)

Climate change is a disease of the here and now – Scotsman comment

The Ineos petrochemicals complex at Grangemouth - one of the top greenhouse gas emitters in Scotland - was among 28 climate-polluting industrial sites analysed in the new Scottish Net Zero Road Map, produced by Neccus

Turning Scotland’s top climate-polluters green

A Somali woman and child wait to be given a spot to settle at a camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Dollow in Somalia during the longest drought in the country's history, estimated to have killed 43,000 people

Climate change: IPCC report is ‘survival guide for humanity’

The potential for tidal energy in France is 'huge', says Nova. Picture: contributed.

Tidal power firm Nova Innovation makes French debut, and eyes broader EU market

The Culduthel Woods Group is a charity, run entirely by volunteers, which works to protect and improve the woodland (Picture: The Culduthel Woods Group)

Want to help Scotland prepare for its new climate? Here's what to do

Dozens of oil and gas platforms in UK waters are set to be brought to a standstill as around 1,400 offshore workers across five companies go on strike to demand a better deal on jobs, pay and conditions - the move comes after energy giants posted record profits

North Sea workers plan ‘tsunami’ of strikes amid oil and gas profits boom

Plans for the world's first octopus farm has sparked concerns from the scientific community

Scientists express concern at world's first octopus farm proposals

Vertical farming, originally developed by Nasa scientists as a potential way to grow food for astronauts in space, involves rearing crops indoors in upright stacked layers, with the environment strictly controlled to optimise plant growth

Salad days: How farming tech invented by Nasa could solve food problems

The Hinkley Point C nuclear power station is being built in Bridgwater, Somerset (Picture: Finnbarr Webster/PA)

Why Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is dead wrong about nuclear power – Dr Richard Dixon

A stalker from NatureScot surveys the landscape at Loch Choire. PIC: NatureScot.

160 deer culled by government body as Highland landowner fails to manage herd

Nuclear power will be classed as “environmentally sustainable” which will give it access to the same investment incentives as renewable energy.

Nuclear power to be reclassed as 'environmentally sustainable'

An employee works on a wind turbine blade bearing at the Siemens Gamesa factory – in Germany (Picture: Focke Strangmann/AFP via Getty Images)

Scotland is being left behind in the green industrial revolution

Port Lockroy has been known as a safe anchorage following its use by the whaling fleets of the early 20th century and was selected for the first continuously occupied British base to establish year round British presence in Antarctica.

Hardy individuals wanted to count penguins in the Antarctic

Shops will need to store empty drinks cans and bottles “securely” after these are returned to them under Scotland’s forthcoming deposit return scheme (DRS), the minister responsible for the initiative said.

Businesses told to store empty cans and bottles ‘securely’ after DRS comes in

Offshore Energies UK has used the example of Irish dependency on imports piped from Scotland to warn that banning new oil and gas licencing in UK waters could leave the nation at the mercy of other countries for supplies and could be 'irreversible'

North Sea drilling ban could be ‘irreversible’ and leave UK dependent on imports

In many cases, felling trees will require a licence from Scottish Forestry (Picture: David Cheskin/PA)

Trees help humans in so many different ways. Yet they still need defending

The Eurasian vulture chick

Scotland’s only pair of Eurasian griffon vultures hatch a chick

The Thames Path 2040, by artist Alex Fefegha, is one of a series of AI-generated images looking at the urban landscape in a future where heavy rainfall will lead to flooding on -- part of a project with the New Real Observatory, a creative platform combining raw satellite data and climate modelling with AI processing engines which is run in a partnership between the University of Edinburgh, Alan Turing Institute and Edinburgh’s festivals
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Is AI a danger to human life or are ‘thinking’ machines man’s best friend?

AI is the name for computer systems that can perform tasks that are typically associated with humans, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, predictions and language translation – they are designed to learn and improve over time through the use of algorithms and data analysis

Is AI going to take over the world and can it save the planet?

The Scottish Government has committed hundreds of millions of pounds to land restoration projects, causing land prices to rise (Picture: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

'Land restoration' pot of gold for greenwashing speculators must be questioned

Award-winning Scottish wildlife filmmaker Gordon Buchanan has been appointed Island Ambassador for Mull, the island where he grew up, as part of an initiative by Tobermory distillery to help protect nature and promote sustainability

Whisky distillery teams up with filmmaker to boost nature and community on Mull

Sphagnum moss is almost entirely responsible for creating and maintaining peat bogs, keeping the soil in which it grows permanently wet and largely preventing decomposition

Green carpet: Why moss should be celebrated

A northern bottlenose whale leaps from the waters of Gare Loch near the Faslane naval base (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

High Seas Treaty is vital, but Scotland must act quickly to protect its waters

All three candidates in the SNP leadership race have said renewable energy would be high up on the agenda if they were to become First Minister of Scotland

SNP candidates tight-lipped on green plans in race to succeed Sturgeon

Emergency services rescued a driver left stranded on the road leading into California's Death Valley National Park as the west coast of the US is hit with unprecedented levels of snowfall. Picture: AP

All white now: Why America’s ‘golden state’ is shivering under a blanket of snow

Heavy snow is preducted to fall in most areas across Scotland, with a yellow warning from the Met Office extended to Friday evening

Heavy snow warning extended as communities could be cut off

The snow covered peaks of the Three Sisters in Glencoe. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Northern exposure: Why is it so cold and snowy this week?

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice for Monday and Tuesday with some disruption expected. PIC: SWNS.com

Weather warnings brought forward as Arctic air arrives early

David Whitehouse, CEO of Offshore Energies UK. Picture: Michal Wachucik/Abermedia

New boss of oil and gas trade body urges next First Minister to rethink stance

The boat shed at Loch Vaa, near Aviemore has been locked up after the tenant ended his fishing business given the disturbance caused by wild swimmers and paddle boarders. PIC: Kay Durden.

Wild swimming disturbance brings fishing to an end on Highland loch

Zahrah Mahmood, known as ‘The Hillwalking Hijabi on social media, has been named as the new president of Ramblers Scotland. PIC: Contributed.

Glasgow's 'Hillwalking Hijabi' named new president of Ramblers Scotland

Inverness is among airports affected by the industrial action of staff at Highland and Islands Airports.

Key flights from Inverness Airport to islands suspended amid industrial action

Trees for Life is to apply for a Scottish Government licence to reintroduce beavers to Glen Affric following extensive community consultation

Charity wants beavers reintroduced to Highland glen for first time in 400 years

Seven out of 10 Scots support the introduction of deposit return on drink bottles and cans in Scotland, a new poll has found.

Seven out of 10 Scots support deposit return scheme, survey finds

An aggressive Caribbean flamingo sees off two other birds (Picture: Paul Rose/SWNS)

Humans have much to learn from fully accepting that we are animals

Peatlands, which cover around a fifth of Scotland's total land area, have a major role in fighting climate change due to their massive capacity for carbon storage

Roadshow to shine a light on benefits of restoring Scottish peatlands

Kate Forbes, and the other SNP leadership candidates, should commit to drawing up a comprehensive plan to achieve Scotland's climate change targets (Picture: Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

SNP leadership contest is an opportunity to get serious about climate change

Street artists Ciaran Globel and Conzo Throb paint a mural designed by Colin Li, 14, on a wall opposite the COP26 climate summit venue in Glasgow in 2021 (Picture: Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

Scotland's cultural sector can help people connect with climate change

The plans for the deposit return scheme have become embroiled in controversy.

Fallout over deposit return scheme deepens as just one in six producers sign up

Picture: Andy Buchanan - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Kate Forbes indicates she does not support presumption against oil and gas

Eco-entrepreneur Dr Jeremy Leggett, a former director of campaign group Greenpeace, is founder and chief executive of Highlands Rewilding -- a 'for-profit' company which aims to generate income for green investors and boost communities through large-scale restoration of nature

Rewilding firm hits crowd-fund target to seal deal on £10.5m Scottish estate

The vast expanse of wetland and peatland in Caithness and Sutherland is the largest of its kind in Europe (Picture: Getty Images)

How Scotland's peatlands can soak up even more carbon from atmosphere

A spectacular Aurora Borealis over northern Scotland captured at the Knockan Crag visitor centre near Ullapool.

How and where to spot the Northern Lights tonight

Eversheds becomes the sixth occupier to commit to Edinburgh's Capital Square following law firms Anderson Strathern, Pinsent Mason and Brodies, audit and tax adviser Mazars and civil engineering consultancy Stantec. Picture: McAteer Photograph

'Highly sustainable' Edinburgh office almost full after letting to legal firm

Meat made in a lab is expected to become a mainstream alternative to meat from slaughtered animals (Picture: William West/AFP via Getty Images)

How cultivated meat made from stem cells could change the world – Philip Lymbery

Scotland's deposit return scheme is due to go live in August. Picture: PA Wire

Problems mounting for Scotland's deposit return scheme

The River Don flows through Aberdeenshire towards the North Sea at Aberdeen

Calls to boost monitoring of sewage spills into Scottish rivers

An urban fox with meat in its mouth, as badgers, hedgehogs, foxes and cats are fighting and having stand-offs over food left in British gardens. Picture: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

Wildlife such as badgers and hedgehogs fighting over leftover food in gardens

At the beginning of the invasion, in an attempt to seize Kyiv, the occupiers advanced deep into the Kyiv Oblast. There were blood-spilling battles and terrible destruction of infrastructure. At the end of February, the dam on the Irpin river, which also served as a road bridge, was destroyed. The water flooded the villages of Demydiv and Kozarovichi and almost reached Gostomel.

Why environment is the ‘silent victim’ of Russian invasion

Biffa has been convicted multiple times of exporting poorly sorted and contaminated waste

Anger over ‘big climate polluter’ role in flagship recycling scheme

Animal welfare groups and politicians have written to the Scottish Government, calling for a moratorium on the expansion of salmon farming - which could be set to double

Tipping the scales: Call for halt to fish farming expansion

Animal welfare groups and politicians have written to the Scottish Government, calling for a moratorium on the expansion of salmon farming - which could be set to double

Tipping the scales: Call for halt to fish farming expansion

The Scottish Greens entered government last year after signing up to a cooperation deal with the SNP following the 2021 election. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

What is Sturgeon's climate legacy and what will her successor need to do

Gordon Buchanan

Gordon Buchanan shares 30 years as a wildlife filmmaker on his anniversary tour

Martin Compston stars as Fulmer in Amazon's thriller The Rig.

The Rig: Scotland’s North Sea-set ‘eco-thriller’ to get a second series

Shortages of fruit and vegetables will be a temporary issue that should be resolved in two to four weeks, according to the Environment Secretary.

Fruit and veg shortage should be resolved 'within four weeks'

Climate change activists are taking to the courts as well as the streets (Picture: Omer Messinger/Getty Images)

How legal action is being used to spur action on climate change

Glengoyne was founded in 1833 at Dumgoyne, north of Glasgow, and is the first Scottish distillery to adopt a wetlands facility for 100 per cent of its liquid waste

Geese a drink: A dram fine way to save wetlands and wildlife

The Scotsman Top Stories

SNP leadership candidates Kate Forbes, Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan

Next First Minister urged to forge 'honest and open partnership' with business

The then prime minister Boris Johnson (right) at a leaving gathering in the vestibule of the Press Office of 10 Downing Street, London,.

Five key questions as Boris Johnson prepares to face Privileges Committee

Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser

Only 15 per cent of reported fly-tipping cases result in prosecution