Sign in

Emma Howard

@emmahoward.bsky.social
1.6K followers 904 following 47 posts

Environmental & investigative journalist. Now living the freelance life. Previously ​at Unearthed (Greenpeace's investigative journalism outlet). And the Guardian.

PostsRepliesMedia
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
After a poultry plant shut down in July's heatwave, the UK's meat industry trade body called for processing sites to have "continuous access to water, irrespective of wider pressures on local supplies". When those sites use more water than Brighton, that matters. www.grilled.media/data-meat-in...
grilled.media
Data: Meat plants use more water than the population of Brighton
As meat processors demand priority access to water during drought, exclusive data reveals the industry's water use
614454
Reposted by Emma Howard
Doug Parr @dougparr.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
UK Government climate change advisers say expanding Heathrow airport is incompatible with climate targets To make it so, the aviation industry should pay for carbon removals & sustainable aviation fuel Trouble is neither of those meaningfully exist www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Airlines should pay for CO2 removal if Heathrow expands, say climate advisers
Climate Change Committee says government cannot expand airport without requiring aviation industry to clean up its emissions
35126
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
What the climate crisis really means today - the kind of climate adaptation reporting we need
050
Reposted by Emma Howard
Alex Hern @hern.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
continually maddening that people blame "the water companies" for hosepipe bans when "the water companies" have been begging to build new reservoirs but a few retired QCs in Oxfordshire have used the entire weight of the british planning system to prevent it www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Thames Water redraws mega-reservoir plan amid local opposition
A new public consultation has opened on the 150bn-litre above-ground White Horse project in Abingdon, Oxfordshire
35386109
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Nobody wants a chicken poo crisis
000
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
NEW from me - my first story in my new freelance life www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
One in 12 golf clubs in England broke water extraction rules in past five years
More than 140 clubs breached licences, with a third caught taking water illegally, analysis shows – but no fines issued
14411
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Brilliant new investigation by @verbatim-media.bsky.social, the new outfit of my former colleague @lawrencecarter.bsky.social. Worth watching the full film www.verbatiminvestigations.com
000
Reposted by Emma Howard
Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
UK prime minister Andy Burnham has confirmed he will attend #COP31, the climate conference in Nov. Interesting he chose to announce it early, to avoid any "will-he-won't-he" stories as has happened with previous PMs. Also deliberate bit of climate leadership as he could've just sent Miliband.
36317
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I'm not surprised by this. Reminds me of the emails I found two years ago in which the Environment Agency said the company showed “a lack of understanding of their own supply system”. 🔥 unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/01/15/s...
020
Reposted by Emma Howard
Zach Boren @zdboren.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
as britain endures its worst harvest on record, it's worth knowing: 85% of UK farmland is used to feed livestock. and half of our wheat harvest doesn't feed people, it feeds animals
815669
Reposted by Emma Howard
Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Revealed: just 20 out of of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation, as UK burns in fifth heatwave of this summer - FOI request by me @andyburnham.bsky.social needs to level with the country about the climate crisis & set out radical plan to tackle it 🧵 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Just 20 of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation amid drought and wildfires
Exclusive: England ‘desperately unprepared’ for effects of crisis including water shortages and heatwaves
341042520
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
@rachelshabi.bsky.social Hi Rachel- Emma here from (no longer) Unearthed. I wanted to drop you a line about coaching but I seem to have lost your email address and struggling with the form on your site. What's the best way to get in touch? Thanks!
000
Reposted by Emma Howard
David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
If you're an environmental journalist in the UK or Europe, the biggest gathering of ocean scientists in the world is happening in Glasgow next week, and you should consider coming to cover some of the most important findings about our life support system. #OSM26
agu.org
Press | Ocean Sciences Meeting 2026
Welcome to the OSM26 Newsroom and Press Center. Here you will find information that will help you cover the meeting and register.
010343
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
No hint of irony here - funny to see the water industry using this kind of rhetoric towards other companies. "The problem with PFAS will only get worse until chemical companies are forced to stop their manufacture and sale and clean up the mess they've already created" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
'Forever chemical' testing to be ramped up amid growing concerns.
Increasing testing for PFAS is part of the UK's first ever national plan for tackling the substances.
050
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Water companies are issuing increasing amounts in 'green' bonds - over £10bn since 2017. We found cases where funds have refinanced completed projects & others where the money was used for activities that companies are obliged by law to deliver My latest: unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/11/30/w...
075
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
Water companies have borrowed over £10bn in 'green' bonds - and keep borrowing more. We analysed Bloomberg data & found that the industry issued a third of the UK corporate green bonds so far this year. And still the sewage crisis goes on. unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/11/30/w...
unearthed.greenpeace.org
Water companies have borrowed over £10bn in ‘green’ bonds
The water industry issued a third of UK corporate bonds this year, according to a new Unearthed analysis - but the sewage crisis continues
0158
Reposted by Emma Howard
Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
A quarter of Britain’s native plants are now at risk of extinction The first update in two decades to a “red list” of plants found a substantial increase in the number of threatened species www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...
15638
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
“We need to be honest with ourselves that travel is not sustainable in its current format and anything suggesting otherwise is greenwashing.” Refreshing honesty from a global travel company www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Tour operator Intrepid drops carbon offsets and emissions targets
Firm will instead invest A$2m a year in ‘climate impact fund’ supporting renewables and switching to EVs
053
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
This is a rare and amazing environmental success story & we really should be shouting more about it. In 2019, KCL estimated that without action, it would take 193 years for London to meet the legal limit. Birmingham, Manchester & Liverpool all recorded worse results. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
London Ulez reduced nitrogen dioxide to legal limit, mayor says
The mayor of London says the fall in airborne toxins is due to the Ultra low emission zone expansion.
230
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Great (read scary) investigation into the Tony Blair Institute, its relationship with a US tech billionaire & efforts to get NHS health data opened up for AI I also had no idea TBI was so big: 900 staff! HT @petergeoghegan.bsky.social @maybulman.bsky.social www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
newstatesman.com
Inside the Tony Blair Institute
Who really benefits from the former PM’s tech evangelism?
142
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
My latest story was also published in the Guardian www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Trump golf course in Scotland accused of breaching sewage limits
Exclusive: Firm that runs Aberdeenshire resort says it is ‘categorically wrong’ to suggest it has caused environmental damage
020
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
As Trump visits the king & protestors march through London, we obtained data showing that the president's Scottish golf course repeatedly breached sewage contamination limits My latest for @unearthednews.bsky.social unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/09/17/t...
unearthed.greenpeace.org
Trump golf course in Scotland repeatedly broke sewage contamination limits
Sewage discharge testing found ‘non-compliant’ samples 14 times since 2019
094
Reposted by Emma Howard
Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Environment minister Mary Creagh has announced the government will make it harder for farmers to apply for emergency authorisations of a group of bee-killing pesticides known as neonics Says guidance today will require applications to take full account of the risks pesticides pose to pollinators
161
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Lush setting for a conference I must say - by the capital's only chalk stream, the River Wandle At UK River Summit - lots of talk about the government's review of the water sector, in coming weeks and about the unfolding drought. Hmu if you're hear & want to chat! #UKRiverSummit
040
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
@mcivillini.bsky.social Hi Matteo, I don't think we've connected before but I work for Unearthed. Got a quick q for you about one of your stories - would you mind following so I can DM you? Thank you
100
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Britain's datacentres are already consuming close to 10 billion litres of water per year - and that's before any AI boom by @adamvaughan.bsky.social @foxglovelegal.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...
thetimes.com
Thirsty data centres are sucking up Britain’s scarce water supplies
The tech industry faces scrutiny as secrecy clouds the true cost of cooling servers and the country braces for shortages and hosepipe bans
043
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
The gap between how much water England has and how much it will need in future just got bigger again By @shoshaadie.bsky.social www.endsreport.com/article/1922...
endsreport.com
England water demand-supply gap widens to five billion litres by 2055
The gap between public water supply and demand is expected to reach five billion litres by 2055 if urgent action isn’t taken, according to the Environment Agency (EA).
021
Reposted by Emma Howard
Unearthed @unearthednews.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
NEW: Fashion waste is overwhelming Ghana — and now it’s spilling into Accra’s protected wetlands. With @greenpeaceafrica.org, we found UK brands and huge new dump sites in a conservation area home to endangered turtles. 👉 unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/06/18/u...
unearthed.greenpeace.org
UK brands found in ‘fast fashion graveyard’ in African conservation area
Clothes discarded by UK consumers and shipped to Ghana have been found in a huge textile dumpsite in a protected African conservation area.
2119
Reposted by Emma Howard
Chartered Institute of Housing @cihhousing.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
📢Good news: The 200-year-old Vagrancy Act is finally to be repealed, meaning rough sleeping will no longer be treated as a crime in England & Wales. CIH have long called for an approach that tackles the root causes of homelessness—not punishes people for it. This is a welcome & long overdue change🧵⬇️
gov.uk
Rough sleeping to be decriminalised after 200 years
The Government has confirmed it will repeal the outdated Vagrancy Act 1824 by Spring next year, to ensure rough sleeping is no longer a criminal offence.
28639
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
That's "3.4 million wet tonnes" of literally toxic sh*t with "nowhere to go" to be exact. Folks at home in the Shire will also be interested to know that the Midlands is where the landfill space is, so if there's a sudden shortfall of land, it's likely coming your way....
000
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Really enjoying nature getting one over on Big Tech here... One source familiar with the construction told the Guardian "it had been a rolling three-year saga & said some foxes had begun to dig burrows in the perfectly manicured grounds." www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
theguardian.com
Google battling ‘fox infestation’ on roof of £1bn London office
Foxes have ‘begun to dig burrows’ in soil of rooftop garden at the as yet unopened King’s Cross headquarters
3738
Reposted by Emma Howard
Charlotte Helen Bailey @charlottehelen.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
This happened for decades with asbestos: industry lobbied to deem certain types safer than others, delaying a ban that would have saved countless lives
27545
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
This is a really important & quite shocking, investigation. The water industry is worried that in just 3 years time it may have nowhere to send millions of tonnes of sludge. Sludge is spread on farms but there are now concerning levels of PFAS in it. unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/06/09/s...
unearthed.greenpeace.org
‘No Plan B’: Water companies fear pollution crackdown will stop them spreading sewage sludge on farmland
43121
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Three years after our investigation into Total's huge carbon offsetting project in the Congo, the oil giant is abandoning it - @reporterre.net reports. It's reportedly stopped funding the project & pulled staff out the country. It planted 12.5% of the intended trees. reporterre.net/TotalEnergie...
reporterre.net
TotalEnergies abandonne en catimini un projet de compensation carbone au Congo
Après l'avoir lancé en grande pompe, TotalEnergies abandonne en silence un projet de plantation de forêt pour compenser ses émissions en République du Congo. 12 % des arbres promis y ont été plantés, ...
148
Reposted by Emma Howard
Lauri Myllyvirta @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
NEW from me: China's CO2 emissions fell ~1.6% in the first quarter and have now been flat or down for more than a year. This is the first time on record that emissions are falling due to clean energy growth, not slow power demand.
8943327
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
"[It's] largely underground, changes in volume depending on whether it’s rained recently & tries to swallow you up every time you set foot in it" The government wants you to know that mapping the biggest carbon store on UK land was not easy - & it's not healthy. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Eighty percent of England’s peatlands are dry and degraded, mapping shows
Healthy peatlands can help tackle the climate crisis but degraded peat emits carbon and contributes to global heating
010
Reposted by Emma Howard
Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
The same Tony Blair has been paid to advise oil rich autocratic states including Azerbaijan, UAE and Kazakhstan This should be included in *every* story about his net zero comments www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
independent.co.uk
Tony Blair calls for radical reset of climate change policies in major intervention
Former PM warns climate policy has become disconnected from ‘political, public, and economic reality’ and claims COP is struggling to ‘deliver change at the speed required’
57928388
Reposted by Emma Howard
Lucy Jordan @lucyjordan.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
BREAKING: Brazil meat giant JBS has received approval from the SEC for its plan to list on the New York Stock Exchange. The new comes days after we revealed its pledge to rid its vast Amazon beef supply chain of deforestation by January is likely to be broken www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Brazilian Meat Giant JBS Gets SEC Approval for New York Listing
Brazil’s JBS SA has received approval from the US Securities Exchange Commission for its proposed share listing in New York, clearing another hurdle in the meatpacker’s pursuit to boost its market val...
134
Reposted by Emma Howard
Zach Boren @zdboren.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
project 2025 comes to london. kudos to desmog for snagging the guestlist www.desmog.com/2025/02/16/l...
desmog.com
LEAKED: Oil Execs and Trump Allies Attend Jordan Peterson’s ARC Conference
Executives from some of the world’s biggest oil and gas firms are listed as attendees at a conservative conference in London whose keynote speakers include the leader of the Heritage Foundation – the ...
616192
Reposted by Emma Howard
Unearthed @unearthednews.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
This is a nuclear-powered icebreaker, operated by a state-owned Russian company called Atomflot. Atomflot has been sanctioned by the EU, UK and US since 2023. 🧵
11211
Reposted by Emma Howard
Unearthed @unearthednews.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
NEW INVESTIGATION 🚢 Companies including Shell and Total import millions of tonnes of gas a year to Europe from the Russian Arctic on specialised LNG tankers. Last winter, these shipments relied on a fleet of sanctioned icebreakers to cross Siberian waters 🚢
unearthed.greenpeace.org
Sanctioned nuclear icebreakers helped export gas from the Russian Arctic bought by Shell
23527
Reposted by Emma Howard
Unearthed @unearthednews.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
New from UE: The UK is exporting thousands of tonnes of a toxic weedkiller called diquat, even though its use has been banned here for years. More than half goes to Brazil. We spoke to the Brazilian farmers poisoned with this dangerous export. unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/b...
12511
Reposted by Emma Howard
Crispin Dowler @crispindowler.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
We've been tracing the impact of the UK's trade in banned pesticides We found a growing number of Brazilian farmers poisoned with a toxic weedkiller. And exports of enough banned bee-killing pesticides to spray the whole of England The story's out now unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/u...
04023
Reposted by Emma Howard
Lucy Jordan @lucyjordan.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
The Amazon soy moratorium might not sound exciting, but it is arguably the most impactful agreement on deforestation in history. Weakening it now would be a very, very worrying move. Here’s why 🧵👇 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Protection deal for Amazon rainforest in peril as big business turns up heat
Exclusive: With Brazil’s politicians, agribusiness organisations and global traders piling on the pressure, the highly successful 2006 Soy Moratorium is under threat
11510
Reposted by Emma Howard
Unearthed @unearthednews.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Super important news here: A historic agreement that has helped curb deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon for nearly twenty years is under threat from big agribusiness Weakening the soy moratorium could push the Amazon closer to a catastrophic tipping point www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Protection deal for Amazon rainforest in peril as big business turns up heat
Exclusive: With Brazil’s politicians, agribusiness organisations and global traders piling on the pressure, the highly successful 2006 Soy Moratorium is under threat
13626
Reposted by Emma Howard
Isabella Kaminski @isabellakaminski.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
This is going to be one of the key points of contention in these hearings - whether state responsibility on climate change is limited to the UNFCCC. ITLOS said it absolutely is not in its own advisory opinion earlier this year www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
States have legal duty to cut greenhouse emissions, says top maritime court
Wealthy states must cut emissions faster than their developing peers, court says, in major step for climate justice
1125
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Thinking of all the exhausted people going home from plastic treaty negotiations today & curious to know how people feeling? It's hard to know from afar given the strong support for plastic production caps but no deal & silence from the US & China, not to mention Trump incoming. #INC5
071
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
The list includes five delegates from the Alliance to End Plastic Waste - a nonprofit with members including Exxon, Shell & Total, which was set up by a powerful American oil & chemical lobby group We published an investigation about them last week 👇 #INC5 unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/11/20/a...
unearthed.greenpeace.org
Companies behind campaign to ‘end plastic waste’ produced 1,000 times more plastic than it cleaned up
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste spent five years clearing up the amount of plastic its key oil and chemical members produce in two days
01310
Emma Howard @emmahoward.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Fleas exposed to a mixture showed "a markedly reduced number of offspring". Yet more alarming science for negotiators at #INC5 to bear in mind. Plastics and PFAS are often regulated separately. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
PFAS and microplastics become more toxic when combined, research shows
Study detects synergistic effect making substances more dangerous, raising alarm since humans are exposed to both
032