Process of consulting experts and industry could mean important habitat areas would be left without protection until 2025

Forecast downturn still nowhere near steep enough' to limit temperature rise to 1.5C, says watchdog

Study highlights conflict between Washington's claims of climate leadership and its fossil fuel growth plansThe US accounts for more than a third of the expansion of global oil and gas production planned by mid-century, despite its claims of climate leadership, research has found.Canada and Russia have the next biggest expansion plans, calculated based on how much carbon dioxide is likely to be produced from new developments, followed by Iran, China and Brazil. The United Arab Emirates, which is to host the annual UN climate summit this year, Cop28 in Dubai in November, is seventh on the list. Continue reading...

Correspondence shows nature watchdog had recommended that housebuilders pay for pollution

A parliamentary group has compiled 10 recommendations to make our roads safer for pedestrians and cyclistsChris Boardman has achieved many things: Olympic champion, successful businessman, head of an active travel quango. But in a muggy committee room in parliament on Monday evening, he was speaking in a very different yet all too commonplace role: the bereaved relative of someone killed on the roads.Talking in public for the first time about the death of his mother, Carol, who was run over in 2016 while cycling in north Wales by a pickup truck driver who had just been on the phone, Boardman recounted his dash to the hospital in Chester from France on learning the news. Continue reading...

One of largest private universities in US, with endowment of over $5bn, takes steps to address climate crisis after years of student protestNew York University plans to divest from fossil fuels, the Guardian has learned, following years of pressure from student activists.The move from one of the US's largest private universities, whose endowment totals over $5bn, represents a significant win for the climate movement, organizers said. Continue reading...

Lithium battery that was detached from car caused a fire that then spread to four others

Government may be letting firms discharge raw sewage more often than law allows, says Office for Environmental ProtectionThe government and regulators may have broken the law by failing to stem raw sewage dumping into rivers by water companies in England, the new independent environmental watchdog has said.The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), which was set up after Brexit to replace the enforcement powers of the European Commission, said an investigation suggested the government, the Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat may be failing to comply with environmental law and allowing raw sewage to be discharged by water companies more frequently than the law allows. Continue reading...

Police cordon off some properties in Redhill Peninsula and evacuate at least one after typhoon Haikui brought extreme weatherLuxury cliffside homes in Hong Kong are on the brink of collapse after record breaking rains which killed at least two people, injured more than 100, and caused landslides across the city.Hong Kong police have cordoned at least three properties in Redhill Peninsula, a coastal housing estate on the southern side of Hong Kong island, and evacuated one which was in imminent danger". Photographs of the multimillion dollar residences show large sections of the cliff have fallen away beneath swimming pools and gardens. Continue reading...

Exclusive: hubs cover about 5% of the 176,000 ha of forest that will be assessed for protection within great koala national park

Ranjith Varma, 55, of Manassas, Virginia, was unresponsive about halfway through 18-mile hike amid temperatures of 100FA 55-year-old man died while hiking in Grand Canyon national park on Saturday, park service officials have announced.The hiker, identified as Ranjith Varma from Manassas, Virginia, died while attempting an 18-mile trek from the south rim of the canyon to the north rim. Varma was hiking with a party of six people and about halfway through their walk through the inner canyon, the lowest part of the hike, he became unresponsive. Emergency crews were called and bystanders began CPR, according to a press release from the national park service (NPS). Continue reading...

Country has experienced 23 extreme weather events costing $1bn or more already this year, passing previous mark of 22 in 2020With four months of 2023 still left, the US has set a record for the most natural disasters in a single year that have cost $1bn or more, as fires, floods and ferocious winds were among deadly events experts warn are being turbo-charged by the climate crisis.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) announced on Monday that there have already been 23 extreme weather events in the US this year that have cost at least $1bn. The current figure surpasses the record of 22 such events set in 2020. Continue reading...

Activist group Market Forces says Australia's biggest super fund signalled tacit approval' of oil and gas giant's expansion policy

Kyriakos Mitsotakis faces biggest crisis yet as residents ask where money for immediate' flood relief has goneThe Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is facing his biggest crisis yet as - less than a week after rainstorms left vast tracts of the country's heartlands under water - his government has come under attack for its handling of the disaster that left 15 dead.Health experts have described conditions in the flood-stricken Thessaly region - one of Greece's richest agricultural areas - as ripe for the spread of infectious diseases after a summer of unprecedented heat-induced forest fires. Continue reading...

Battery-powered hydrofoils to start in March 2024, aimed at replacing ageing and highly polluting inter-island ferriesThe Orkney islands are to test two electric ferries for commuting between its outlying islands as part of efforts to cut carbon emissions from shipping.The battery-powered hydrofoil ferries, whose hulls are raised above the water, are part of a three-year, 15.5m demonstration project funded by the UK government, due to start in March 2024. Continue reading...

Doubts about whether heat pumps work well in subzero conditions shown to be unfounded, say researchersHeat pumps are more than twice as efficient as fossil fuel heating systems in cold temperatures, research shows.Even at temperatures approaching -30C, heat pumps outperform oil and gas heating systems, according to the research from Oxford University and the Regulatory Assistance Project thinktank. Continue reading...

Researchers identify 88 nests of destructive invasive non-native species near Syracuse in SicilyAn invasive non-native ant species has become established in Italy and could rapidly spread through Europe to the UK with global heating, a study warns.The red fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, has a powerful sting, damages crops and can infest electrical equipment including cars and computers. Continue reading...

NSW RFS says it is significantly behind' schedule and will continue to do hazard reductions as long as it's safe'

When wild weather made travel unsafe, the team at Mawson station in Antartica were forced to stay indoors for the better part of a week. Their troubles weren't for nothing, as when the weather cleared, the horizon erupted into a brilliant aurora australis. Despite the -30C temperature, the team managed to capture some incredible footage of the display

More than 7,000 birds have died this year at five of the trust's sites in England, Wales and Northern IrelandAvian flu has devastated seabird colonies at sites across England, Wales and Northern Ireland this year, the National Trust said, as it called on the government to coordinate detailed and long-term monitoring of the crisis.It said more than 7,000 seabirds had died of the disease at five of its sites in 2023. Only one of its sites was affected in 2022. Continue reading...

Ockendon solar farm to generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of 15,000 homes

Countries threatened by rising sea levels are asking a tribunal to decide on responsibility for pollution of the marine environmentIn a landmark hearing, small island nations disproportionately affected by the climate crisis will take on high-emitting countries in a court in Hamburg, Germany, on 11 September, in what is being seen as the first climate justice case aimed at protecting the ocean.During the two-day hearing, the nations - including the Bahamas, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Antigua and Barbuda among others - will ask the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos) to determine whether greenhouse gas emissions absorbed by the marine environment should be considered pollution. Continue reading...

Honed in New Zealand and exported globally, Elizabeth Bell's techniques for creating predator-free zones are allowing native species to thrive again on islands from the Caribbean to the UKIn the middle of the night, nine-year-old Elizabeth Bell sprints through the narrow bush tracks of Maud Island, racing toward the nearest ridgeline. The darkness beyond her is almost total. There is no ambient glow from distant city street lights: the island is a 1.2 sq mile (3.2 sq km) uninhabited speck covered with forest, off the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island.Somewhere out there in the 1am darkness, on tracks skirting the dense, latticed native forest, her siblings are running too, sprinting for the other headlands. They listen for the sound of distant booming, resonant and low, like the throb of a timpani drum or the buzz of a phone on a hard table. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Stakeholders hope to influence Albanese government before decisions are taken on clean energy investments in mid-year update

Exclusive: Analysis shows new all-electric homes would generate 16% lower emissions than new gas-electric homes

Communications role follows year in which campaigners targeted bank over environmental stanceBarclays has kicked off a search for a director to champion its climate efforts, after a bruising year in which the UK bank was targeted by campaigners over its environmental record.The high street lender recently closed applications for a climate communications director based in London, which is believed to be one of the most senior roles dedicated to coordinating its public response to climate pressures. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Create Streets proposes building on Britain's road belt' rather than its green belt amid housing crisisNeedlessly wide roads should be torn up and replaced with boulevards of new housing, a thinktank led by the UK government's most senior urbanism adviser has proposed, in a move likely to delight green belt campaigners but rile the motoring lobby.Create Streets wants sweeping T-junctions tightened, vast roundabouts tamed" and expressways narrowed according to a paper to be circulated to ministers and seen by the Guardian. Continue reading...

Death toll reaches 12 as hundreds still thought to be marooned after deadly downpoursRescuers in central Greece were working through the night to locate people trapped in villages deluged by flood waters as the death toll from rainstorms rose to at least 12.Emergency services, backed by elite commando units and an ever-growing army of volunteers, sought to find hundreds still thought to be marooned in homes five days after downpours, described as the worst in the country's history, struck. Continue reading...

Industry figures and the TUC warn of missed carbon reduction targets and lost jobs unless government boosts green investmentFears are growing that existing offshore wind projects could be shelved, after industry insiders warned that disastrous" handling by the government had created a big shortfall in future renewable energy.Ministers revealed last week that no additional offshore windfarms will go ahead in the UK after the latest government auction. No bids were made in the auction, after the government ignored warnings that offshore schemes were no longer economically viable under the current system. Continue reading...

Ambulance service uncertain of the species that bit the man but says symptoms point to a brown snake

Amended motion calls on party to take a practical approach to lowering carbon emissions as a substantive move to nuclear power is made'

The prime minister suggested to the summit that he wanted to limit the impact of green measures on British consumersRead more: Rishi who? Sunak slips down pecking order in scramble to court IndiaRishi Sunak has said he will resist hair shirt" policies designed to reduce carbon emissions and achieve Britain's net zero pledge, amid an intensifying Tory row over the party's commitment to tackling the climate crisis.Tensions have been growing within the party all summer over its green policies, with some cabinet figures and the right of the party calling for a rethink on measures such as the phasing out of gas boilers and the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. The prime minister has also backed maxing out" oil and gas reserves. Continue reading...

Conservation groups say plan contains no meaningful action to address bird's key threat of native forest logging

Officials say many people are still trapped in central areas of the country hit by Storm DanielFirefighters backed by the army have rescued hundreds of people from villages in central Greece cut off by floods that have claimed at least 10 lives.More than 2,850 people have been rescued since the beginning of the bad weather," Yannis Artopios, a fire department spokesperson told the broadcaster Mega on Saturday. Continue reading...

UN hopes to galvanise summit talks by persuading world leaders to commit to stop burning coal, oil and gas, despite industry lobbyingA global push to commit to phasing out fossil fuels is gathering new momentum before a crucial UN climate conference this autumn, despite stiff opposition from oil-producing countries.Campaigners are ramping up efforts to put an undertaking to stop burning not just coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, but also oil and gas on the UN agenda ahead of the Cop28 summit in Dubai in late November, the Observer has learned. Continue reading...

London Wildlife Trust asks volunteers to seek out endangered beetles' strongholdsThey were celebrated as ye country comets" by the poet Andrew Marvell but glowworms are defying light pollution to still shine their lights in the city of London.Now volunteers and enthusiasts are being sought to count and save the much-celebrated but declining beetles, whose females emit a remarkable bright green bioluminescent beam to attract males. Continue reading...

Greek PM tours crisis-hit area amid fears death toll could rise as water levels continue to rise in some placesHelicopters and lifeboats have been deployed to rescue hundreds of villagers stranded by flood waters in central Greece after rainstorms left at least 10 people dead.Touring the crisis-hit area of Thessaly, 185 miles north of Athens, Greece's prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, vowed to do whatever is humanly possibly" to assist residents in areas deluged by torrential rain that also hit neighbouring Bulgaria and Turkey. A total of 22 people have died across the three countries since Tuesday. Continue reading...

Small rise in global temperatures would affect hundreds of millions of people and could cause a sharp rise in deathsLife-threatening periods of high heat and humidity will spread rapidly across the world with only a small increase in global temperatures, a study has found, which could cause a sharp acceleration in the number of deaths resulting from the climate crisis.The extremes, which can be fatal to healthy people within six hours, could affect hundreds of millions of people unused to such conditions. As a result, heat deaths could rise quickly unless serious efforts to prepare populations were undertaken urgently, the researcher said. Continue reading...

Governments failing to cut emissions fast enough to meet Paris agreement goals and avoid disaster, major report says

Lack of interest was widely expected after government failed to heed warnings about soaring costs

Rose Abramoff was one of two protesters who helped temporarily shut down construction of Mountain Valley pipelineTwo women climbed in the dark down the banks of the Greenbrier River in West Virginia on Thursday morning and locked themselves to a massive drill, stopping work on a controversial oil pipeline project.One of the women, Rose Abramoff, is a climate scientist and by participating in temporarily shutting down the pipeline construction she is believed to be the first American climate scientist to risk a felony in an act of climate protest against fossil fuel projects. Continue reading...

Sightings of birds, which appear to have come from Yucatan in Mexico, reported in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and the CarolinasFlamingos have been spotted as far north in the US as Ohio and Pennsylvania in recent days, after they were blown off course by the powerful Hurricane Idalia that hit Florida late last month, experts say.The distinctive birds have been reported in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, also in Texas and further north from their typical habitats, in Kentucky and even Ohio, Jerry Lorenz, the state director of Audubon Florida, told CNN. They were also seen in Franklin county in southern Pennsylvania on Thursday, NPR reported. Continue reading...

Radical Road at foot of Arthur's Seat, beside Holyrood Palace, was closed in 2018 after rock falls led to safety concernsA footpath built by Scottish revolutionaries two centuries ago in the royal park beside Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh is at the centre of a modern revolt over public access rights.The Radical Road was laid around the foot of Salisbury crags, a spectacular basalt cliff that curves around the foot of Arthur's Seat, by unemployed Scottish weavers who had threatened an insurrection against rapid industrialisation in 1820. Continue reading...

The US Open semi-final between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova was interrupted by climate protesters early in the second set, with one of the protesters glueing their feet to the floor of the stands at Arthur Ashe stadium. Gauff was a set up and holding serve to open the second when a disturbance broke out in the upper reaches of the stadium and shouting disrupted play. As the players looked into the stands, security staff went into the section around the disturbance. More than a dozen law enforcement officers arrived on the scene and three protesters were removed. Another, who had been handcuffed by police but was affixed to the floor, caused further delay to the resumption of the match as medics attempted to extricate the protester safely

Oil company is latest firm to act amid indications that carbon credits do nothing to mitigate global heatingShell has become the latest large company to pull back from carbon offsets amid concerns many have no environmental impact, it has emerged, as the Carbon Trust discontinues its carbon neutral" labelling scheme based on offsetting.The FTSE 100 oil company, one of the leading proponents of carbon offsetting, abandoned targets to invest up to $100m (80m) a year in carbon credit schemes and purchase 120m nature offsets a year by 2030 in June, the oil major has confirmed. This is part of a broader watering down of Shell's climate ambitions. Continue reading...

The inaugural Africa Climate Summit was held in Nairobi, Kenya, this week, drawing delegates from across the continent, Europe and the US as well as climate campaigners, who filled the streets outside the convention centre Continue reading...

Europe-wide formation is partly responsible for Storm Daniel, while the north of the continent has high temperaturesAn Omega block has been in place over Europe this week, leading to some extreme weather for many. An Omega block is a synoptic setup consisting of a high-pressure region sandwiched between two low-pressure regions, creating a shape resembling the Greek letter omega.Storm Daniel developed over the Ionian Sea partly due to this setup, causing devastating flooding across central and eastern Greece. The region's warm seas at this time of year also helped produce the moisture needed for this storm. Continue reading...

Historic England lists 12 buildings in recognition of town's role in recycling yarn from all over worldIt's a Yorkshire town perhaps best known for its big market or as the birthplace of Betty Boothroyd but a national heritage body is now adding a more surprising label to Dewsbury: the greenest town in 19th-century England.Historic England has undertaken new research that reveals the importance of the town as an international centre for recycled cloth during the Industrial Revolution. Continue reading...

The best of this week's wildlife photographs, including wild horses, a tired falcon and a hungry snake Continue reading...

Exclusive: Fourfold increase on 2022 sees enough vapes discarded to create 5,000 electric car batteriesFive million single-use vapes are being thrown away in the UK every week, a fourfold increase on 2022, research has found.This amounts to eight vapes a second being discarded, with the lithium in the products enough to create 5,000 electric car batteries a year. Continue reading...