John vidal biography

John Vidal, the Guardian’s former environment editor, has died aged 74.

He died peacefully on Thursday in hospital, where he was being treated for cancer.

Vidal reported on the environment for the Guardian for almost three decades until retiring in 2017, calling it “the greatest job on Earth”.

Afterwards, he continued to report from around the world with his trademark energy and enthusiasm and published a book, Fevered Planet: How Diseases Emerge When We Harm Nature, in June this year.

The tributes to Vidal remember his pioneering environmental journalism and highlight his passion for social justice, the underdog and putting people at the centre of his stories.

Katharine Viner, the editor-in-chief of the Guardian, said: “John was a passionate, warm, kind, unforgettable man and brilliant journalist – a one-off and a true Guardian legend.

His commitment to covering the climate and nature crisis was clear in his grippin