November 2025 : Environment news round-up

Researchers from Ocean Conservancy analysing data from thousands of animal autopsies have confirmed the quantity of ingested plastic that would lead different marine creatures to an almost certain death: the amount is unexpectedly small. It’s a sobering thought to keep in mind when you do cleanups.

The American petrochemical giant is lobbying globally for weaker regulations that would allow it to expand its dirty technologies – and suing any critics for defamation, reports the Financial Times. Measures including reclassifying chemical recycling as “manufacturing” rather than incineration and increasing the credits allocated to its products.

Overrun by lobbyists, paralysed by petrostate veto power: will the annual climate conference ever be fit for purpose? We have a round-up of the most insightful analysis direct from Belém:

• A breakdown of all the deals and outcomes
• The EU’s position in the new geopolitical reality
• The countries taking the discussion outside of UNFCCC
• Round up of reactions

PBAT, a common “compostable” plastic used in agriculture, medical supplies, grocery bags and foodware has been found to leave “long-lasting” microplastics and chemical residues in soil. The methodology developed by the researchers is the first to be able to track and quantify the biodegradation process, and could be a useful tool to assess other “plant plastics”.

Indonesian NGO Ecoton sampled the air at human breathing height (1-1.5 metres) over three months in 2025 and found elevated levels of tyre dust, packaging fragments and microfibres from multiple types of plastic in all the cities tested.