The Guardian Environment

• World faces new danger of ‘economic denial’ in climate fight, Cop30 head says

  Exclusive: André Corrêa do Lago says ‘answers have to come from the economy’ as climate policies trigger populist-fuelled backlash

  The world is facing a new form of climate denial – not the dismissal of climate science, but a concerted attack on the idea that the economy can be reorganised to fight the crisis, the president of global climate talks has warned.

  André Corrêa do Lago, the veteran Brazilian diplomat who will direct this year’s UN summit, Cop30, believes his biggest job will be to counter the attempt from some vested interests to prevent climate policies aimed at shifting the global economy to a low-carbon footing.

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• Fund for nature-friendly farming to be slashed in UK spending review

  Exclusive: Defra sources say scheme, which pays farmers to protect nature, will be targeted at ‘small farms’

  The nature-friendly farming budget is set to be slashed in the UK spending review, with only small farms allowed to apply, it can be revealed.

  Sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed the post-Brexit farming fund will be severely cut in the review on 11 June. It will be part of a swathe of cuts to departments, with police, social housing and nature funding expected to face the brunt.

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• Global temperatures could break heat record in next five years

  Data also shows small but ‘shocking’ likelihood of year 2C hotter than preindustrial era before 2030

  There is an 80% chance that global temperatures will break at least one annual heat record in the next five years, raising the risk of extreme droughts, floods and forest fires, a new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has shown.

  For the first time, the data also indicated a small likelihood that before 2030, the world could experience a year that is 2C hotter than the preindustrial era, a possibility scientists described as “shocking”.

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• Why a new zero-carbon UK steel plant offers hope and a headache

  Plans to build costly DRI plant in Britain to make green steel is seen by some as the future and others as a ‘white elephant’

  The ironworks in Saudi Arabia’s coastal city of Dammam has had an unusual journey: it has crossed the Atlantic Ocean – twice. It was moved to Saudi Arabia in 2006 from Alabama, US. Before that, the plant’s home was in the UK.

  The plant can produce about 1m tonnes a year of direct reduced iron (DRI), a material that can be used in green steel production. Decades after the plant left the UK – shipped in 28,000 pieces – British ministers are now considering reversing course and funding a similar facility once again.

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• Toxic pesticide levels found in tampons 40 times higher than legal limit for water

  Glyphosate, a pesticide linked to cancer, found at very high levels in menstrual products in the UK, according to report

  Toxic pesticide levels have been found in tampons at levels 40 times higher than the legal limit for drinking water.

  Traces of glyphosate, a pesticide linked to cancer, has been found at very high levels in menstrual products, according to a report by the Pesticide Action Network UK (Pan UK), the Women’s Environmental Network and the Pesticide Collaboration.

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