Environment | The Guardian

Carbon Brief says more than 800m will need to be spent in each of the next two yearsThe UK government has been failing to meet its commitments to fund nature protection in the developing world, and will need to double current spending to meet the targets, new data has shown.Underspending on overseas climate aid by the previous Conservative government has meant spending averaged 450m a year for the three full years since 2021 - less than half the 3bn that was pledged for nature projects in poor countries. Continue reading...

Upgrade to Merseyside site will allow it to build hybrid cars and prepare for electric vehicle productionJaguar Land Rover has said it will spend half a billion pounds to upgrade a Merseyside factory to build hybrid cars and prepare for electric vehicle production.Britain's largest automotive employer - officially known as JLR - said it has already spent 250m on new car production lines, machinery, people and digital technology at the Halewood plant, with plans for 250m more over the coming years. Continue reading...

Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour call for reset as party faces deepest crisis for a decade' after Brandenburg resultThe leaders of Germany's Greens, partners in the embattled central government of Olaf Scholz, have announced their resignation, saying that a series of election defeats requires a radical reset.Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour, joint leaders since 2022, said on Wednesday that the environmental party, a trailblazer in Europe and the first to have MPs elected to a national parliament, faced its deepest crisis in a decade after the result of the Brandenburg state election on Sunday. Continue reading...

So far there are no costings and no details on what type of reactors there would be, their size or who would build them

Residents in Sierra Madre report increased bear sightings - and some bears are finding their way into homes and yardsHumans are building homes closer to the forest in southern California, and bears are putting their foot, or their paw, down.Residents in Sierra Madre, a city neighboring the more than 700,000-acre (283,280-hectare) Angeles national forest, have had black bears break into their homes, cars and yards. Continue reading...

In 27 states, utilities can disconnect power for non-payment on the hottest days, which can have deadly consequencesMichael Crowley runs his air conditioner nonstop on hot summer days to keep his cat, Arya, comfortable. But when the Richmond, Virginia, chef got home after work on 7 August 2022, it felt like 100 degrees". His power was out. He phoned his leasing office and was told his electricity bill was unpaid.Crowley protested, saying his utilities had long been covered by his rent check. But then he learned his building's new property manager required tenants to pay for power separately - something Crowley said was unclear. No one told him about the delinquent bill, he said. Continue reading...

Letter says technologies to produce blue hydrogen and capture COare unproven and could hinder net zero effortsLeading climate scientists are urging the government to pause plans for a billion pound investment in green technologies" they say are unproven and would make it harder for the UK to reach its net zero targets.Labour has promised to invest 1bn in carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) to produce blue hydrogen and to capture carbon dioxide from new gas-fired power stations - with a decision on the first tranche of the funding expected imminently.Lock the UK into fossil fuel production for generations to come.Result in huge upstream emissions from methane leaks, transport and processing of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US.Rely on carbon capture and storage (CCS) during the production of hydrogen - technology they say has been abandoned in the vast majority of similar projects around the world.Pose a danger to the public if there are any leaks from pipes carrying the captured carbon. At least 45 people had to be taken to hospital after a leak in the US. Continue reading...

How does a massive coal push lasting decades line up with what it has pledged? Leaders of low-lying Pacific nations might appreciate some answers

Nine climate protesters have stopped a coal train headed to the Port of Newcastle in opposition to the federal government's approval of three new mining projects. Rising Tide, the group behind the move, said in a statement that the three projects - Whitehaven Coal's Narrabri thermal coal project to 2066, Mach Energy's Mount Pleasant thermal coal project to 2058 and Yancoal's Ashton coal project to 2064 - would create 1.4bn tonnes of emissions Tanya Plibersek approves three coalmine expansions in move criticised as the opposite of climate action' Continue reading...

Until the government changes its stance on the environment and the war in Gaza and Lebanon, there is nothing to celebrateOn Monday morning, we walked into the main hall of Labour's annual conference in Liverpool, before the keynote speech of the chancellor, Rachel Reeves. What we did next, you might have seen.Shortly after Reeves began her address, two of us stood to speak out on Labour's complicity in suspected Israeli war crimes, and the party's ties to climate-wrecking corporations. We were there on behalf of Climate Resistance, a group campaigning to end the cosy relationship between politics and the fossil fuel industry. Just like arms manufacturers, oil companies have been guilty of hindering democratic processes with donations and lobbying, putting human lives on the line for their own profits.Jack McGinn is a climate activist with Climate ResistanceDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Appointee was a climate chief at the World Bank and will lead UK's return to high-level environmental diplomacy

The underwater archaeologist Mensun Bound recounts some of the astonishing relics he has seen, as detailed in his new co-authored book, Wonders in the DeepTreasure and shipwrecks go hand in hand - but what are the most magnificent and historically significant items ever salvaged and what do they tell us about the world we live in? The underwater archaeologist Mensun Bound, who was the director of exploration on the team that discovered Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance, has written a new maritime history of the world through shipwrecked objects he has encountered over the course of his career.Here, he reveals some of the most important - and quirky - items that have ever been salvaged from the sea. Continue reading...

When sighting rates for basking sharks are high they are low for minke whales, says monitoring programmeThe highest ever recorded numbers of minke whales and the lowest number of basking sharks were observed in the Hebrides in 2023, according to a report.The latest findings of the 20-year monitoring programme by the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust suggest a possible association between these two highly mobile and long-lived species. When sighting rates for basking sharks are high, they are low for minke whales, and vice versa. Continue reading...

Researchers find climate crisis aggravated the four days of heavy rainfall and deadly floods

Narrative that transition has stalled demonstrably not true', researcher says, but investment and construction must accelerate

Decision angers environment groups with Australian Conservation Foundation saying Albanese government continues to disappoint'

California could become the first state to tackle the fast fashion waste overwhelming consumers and landfillsLet's say you bought a new pair of jeans and wore them for a few years before deciding it was time to part ways. You could throw them away, or, if you wanted a more environmentally friendly option, you might try to sell or swap them or donate them to a local thrift store.Either way, the onus is on you to pass those jeans on, and hope for the best. But a new California bill that tackles the growing problem of fashion and textile waste could change the way we get rid of our clothes, putting the burden on clothing producers to implement a system for recycling the wares that they sell. Continue reading...

Seven states received almost half of funds for clean energy manufacturing, though there is little evidence it will deliver electorally for DemocratsThe seven swing states that will decide the upcoming US election have received nearly half of the torrent of clean energy manufacturing dollars unleashed by a landmark 2022 climate bill, a new analysis shows, amid stuttering Democratic efforts to translate new factory jobs into political support.Since the passage of clean energy incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a bill called the most significant climate law in the history of mankind" by Joe Biden, nearly $150bn has been announced for a flurry of new American facilities producing electric cars, batteries and components for renewable energy. Continue reading...

Thirty-five flood warnings in place across England after some areas get more than 100mm of rain in 48 hoursFlooded roads and cancelled trains have caused travel disruption to commuters, after some parts of England received more than a month's worth of rain in 24 hours.Woburn in Bedfordshire recorded 132mm rain in the past 48 hours, more than twice its September average rainfall, according to the Met Office. Continue reading...

Local vet says nine birds have died and the rest are being treated, with many unable to stand or walk

Exclusive: council issues advisory as investigation begins and documents reveal estimates of PFOA emissionsPeople living near a chemicals plant in Lancashire have been told to wash and peel vegetables from their gardens before eating them, while an investigation into potential contamination of soil in the area with a banned toxic chemical gets under way.The chemical PFOA, one of the PFAS family of about 15,000 chemicals, does not break down in the environment and last year was categorised as a human carcinogen by the World Health Organization. It is also toxic to reproduction and has been linked to a range of health problems such as thyroid disease and increased cholesterol. Continue reading...

In an extract from her new book, Still Waters & Wild Waves, the artist and illustrator Angela Harding documents the wildlife and landscapes of the Scottish islands Fair Isle and ShetlandWords and images: Angela HardingToday the UK woke up to a day of excitement. A day of street parties, a national holiday, and celebrations for a new king. It was also day three of gale-force winds on Fair Isle, and it was the day my mother died. A brief phone call from her care home, then the aloneness. The phone call came as I stood outside the south lighthouse. I watched the tower-tall waves, Payne's grey, reflecting the colour of the sky. Waves built by wide, powerful seas and a wild wind that rocked me back and forth on my heels. The news was expected; it was the logical conclusion for a fragile 92-year-old.Shetland Sea, an illustration from Angela Harding's sketchbook Continue reading...

Norwegians are putting their natural environment (and weekend activities) ahead of tourism's economic benefitsIn Norway, nature is something of a national obsession. Norwegian children are taught that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing", and Norwegian babies are packed into thermals and overalls and taken on day trips to the woods. Cross-country skiing, hunting for wild mushrooms or cloudberries, or huffing and puffing up a mountain are standard weekend activities.The recent decision to scrap a campaign that aimed to attract more foreign tourists to the country's rural landscapes was a stark reminder of this: rather than encouraging tourists and the income they provide, many Norwegians would prefer to protect their natural environment. Continue reading...

The winning images in this year's Bird Photographer of the Year competition have been selected from 23,000 entries from around the world. The overall winner Patricia Homonylo's image showed birds killed by colliding with windows

Former secretary of state accuses oil and gas companies of business as usual' at major climate summit in New YorkCountries are ignoring commitments they made less than a year ago to shift away from fossil fuels and to provide aid to those most vulnerable to the climate crisis, a host of leading figures have admitted during a gloomy start to a major climate summit in New York.Al Gore, the former US vice-president, and John Kerry, the former US secretary of state and climate envoy, have led the condemnation of the largest greenhouse gas emitters, led by China and the US, for failing to follow a UN pact signed in Dubai by nearly 200 countries in December to transition away" from oil, coal and gas. Continue reading...

The new head of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty on Cop29 and why activism is not winning enoughTop climate scientists have long warned that swiftly curbing fossil fuel production will be necessary to avert climate catastrophe. Yet international climate treaties have failed to include such commitments. Despite pressure from vulnerable nations and activists, in the agreement signed at international climate talks last year, world leaders failed to commit to a fossil fuel phase-out", instead calling for a transition away" from coal, oil and gas. Its a longstanding problem: the 2015 Paris agreement does not even mention that fossil fuels are responsible for global heating.That paradox led climate-vulnerable nations and civil society groups to launch the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. First dreamed up following the Paris climate talks and officially launched in 2019, the proposed treaty would include concrete plans for the phase-out of fossil fuels, complementing the Paris agreement. It has been endorsed by 13 countries including Colombia and vulnerable island nations such as Vanuatu, as well as hundreds of elected officials, 118 cities and municipalities, and thousands of organizations. Inspired in part by the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which aimed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, the initiative calls on nations to agree to halt the expansion of coal, oil and gas. Continue reading...

Labour will bring in regulations that apply to social as well as private housing, says energy secretaryLandlords who rent out substandard draughty homes face a crackdown under plans set out by the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, at the Labour party conference.Miliband said the measures would lift a million renters out of fuel poverty. Previous plans, outlined in the Labour manifesto, applied only to private landlords, but the new stipulations will also cover tenants in social homes. Continue reading...

There's a war brewing between those who want to plan for future challenges and those who want to turn back the tide

State had already banned thin plastic shopping bags, but new measure bans all plastic bags starting in 2026Paper or plastic" will no longer be a choice at grocery store checkout lines in California under a new law signed on Sunday by the governor, Gavin Newsom, that bans all plastic shopping bags.California had already banned thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores, but shoppers could purchase bags made with a thicker plastic that purportedly made them reusable and recyclable. Continue reading...

First-of-its-kind suit comes as climate experts claim that fossil fuel producers are deceiving public about plasticsCalifornia has filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against ExxonMobil for allegedly deceiving the public about the plastic pollution crisis, the state's attorney general, Rob Bonta, announced on Monday.For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn't possible," Bonta said in a statement. Continue reading...

Search for rat that may not exist is part of effort to keep invasive species off remote but ecologically diverse islandsA purported sighting of a rat wouldn't get much attention in many places around the world.But it caused a stir earlier this year on Alaska's Saint Paul Island. Continue reading...

Move comes after weeks of uncertainty over reports of financial problems as green vehicle sector struggles

Firms underreported true scale of sewage pollution for 10 years, which allowed them to set higher bills, tribunal toldSix water companies overcharged customers between 800m and 1.5bn by significantly or systematically" underreporting the true scale of their sewage pollution of rivers and waterways, a tribunal has heard.In the first environmental competition class action against water companies in England, lawyers argued that the privatised firms had abused their monopoly position to mislead regulators over the amount of sewage they were discharging from their assets over the past 10 years. Continue reading...

Requiring key sectors to switch to clean energy by specific times could trigger benevolent cascades, report claimsIn the terminology of the climate and ecological crises the phrase tipping point" is loaded with dreadful implications.It evokes a climate breakdown supercharged by the mass escape of methane locked in Siberian permafrost, or the great currents of the oceans smothered by freshwater melting from the Greenland ice sheet, or the Amazon turning from great rainforest to parched savannah after the felling of one too many trees. Continue reading...

The Hollywood actor and activist backs Harris for president as she warns of climate emergency and talks Taylor SwiftYoung people's understandable unhappiness with the Biden administration's record on oil and gas drilling and the war in Gaza should not deter them from voting to block Donald Trump from again becoming president of the United States, the Hollywood actor and activist Jane Fonda has warned.I understand why young people are really angry, and really hurting," Fonda said. What I want to say to them is: Do not sit this election out, no matter how angry you are. Do not vote for a third party, no matter how angry you are. Because that will elect somebody who will deny you any voice in the future of the United States ... If you really care about Gaza, vote to have a voice, so you can do something about it. And then, be ready to turn out into the streets, in the millions, and fight for it.'" Continue reading...

Coalition's lack of costings and absence of detail has been seized upon by critics of Australia's potential landmark energy shift

Sea Life Aquarium Melbourne's nine-month-old king penguin eats 25 to 32 fish a day and outweighs both foster parents combined

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, detailed the Coalition's nuclear power plan in a speech in Sydney but did not announce its cost, saying it is coming 'in due course'. 'Our nuclear plan requires a significant upfront cost, and you can look at the international examples to see as much. But a whole new and vast transmission network and infrastructure won't be needed under the plan that we're putting forward,' Dutton said

I killed a great white when I was 18 to feed my family in Madagascar. But now I'm documenting the threat to these beautiful creatures from overfishingThe first time I came face to face with a great white shark, it was dead. I had caught it in my net. And I was so happy. I thought: I can bring a fortune back to my village. I can feed my family. I'm Malagasy - I come from Andavadoaka, a small fishing village on the south-west coast of Madagascar. It is a very dry place where no crops can grow. The name of my tribe, Vezo, means people who live off the ocean, but also people who survive it. Because we rely on it.I became a shark fisher when I was 16 years old. I dropped out of school because my parents couldn't afford to support me any more, and followed my uncle into fishing so I could bring some money back to my family. I didn't see a shark as a magnificent creature. My mindset was: make money, kill, make money, kill. Support my family. Continue reading...

Price of electric cars falls again with the MG4 hatchback cheapest at $30,990 but experts warn high-end EV sales may stall

From flooding to drought, extreme weather is devastating our communities. It is time for the world's heaviest emitters to help mitigate the impacts of climatic breakdown on the countries most affectedMillions of people in my country, Malawi, face unprecedented existential crises driven by climate breakdown. The frequency of extreme weather events and the massive impact they have on communities have left government officials like me with a huge dilemma of how to act fast enough to save lives. In the past three years, we have gone from facing the worst flooding in recent times to the most severe drought in a decade. The impact has been devastating to communities across the country.When Cyclone Freddy hit us in March 2023, it killed more than 600 people. The cyclone injured many more, tore families apart, destroyed livelihoods, and the long-term effects from diseases were even worse. A little over a year later, we were in the middle of a raging drought, which the president, Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, declared a national disaster in March. Millions of people are facing acute food insecurity, leading to malnutrition and health issues that are putting lives at risk, not least for people on long-term treatment for conditions such as tuberculosis and HIV. Continue reading...

Plan aimed to expand protection of endangered ecosystems, but opponents said it posed risk to business developmentVoters in Switzerland have rejected a proposal to make authorities do more to protect natural habitats from pollution and development, preliminary results of a referendum have showed.The biodiversity initiative, which the Swiss government and parliament had already rebuffed, envisaged changing the law to set aside more land for conservation beyond areas that were already protected. Continue reading...

Ombudsman concerned about overzealous fining of people for leaving items outside their home to be given awayLocal authorities in England will be issued with fresh guidance on how to handle middle-class fly-tipping" after councils were found to have taken an overzealous approach to fining people who leave items outside their home for neighbours to collect for free.The local government and social care ombudsman (LGO) said she was concerned about an increasing number of incidents over recent months where councils had acted disproportionately. Continue reading...

Unbearable heat and worsening storms prompt residents of states such as Florida to move elsewhereAs a Rust belt town of 65,000 people in eastern Indiana, Muncie may not be the most exciting place in the world. It doesn't have beaches, year-round warm weather or much in the way of cosmopolitanism.But for Laura Rivas, a cybersecurity engineer formerly of North Miami Beach, Florida, Muncie is perfect. Continue reading...

AA says capital's streets are paved with fines' as figures show 89m was received in 2023-24Transport for London (TfL) has recorded a 57% rise in income over five years from fining drivers using major roads in the capital, with a leading motoring organisation saying the transport authority has ensured London's streets are now paved with fines".Figures show it received 89.3m in the 2023-24 financial year for perceived offences on its red route network, up from 56.8m in 2018-19, according to a draft version of its next annual report seen by the PA news agency. Continue reading...

It will cost more, it will push prices up, it will take longer,' treasurer says of opposition leader's fantasy'

Exclusive: independent MPs and Lidia Thorpe tell PM that environment law reforms under negotiation must remove exemptions for native forest logging

The Marshall Project and the Prison Journalism Project asked incarcerated reporters to document the impact of extreme heat on their facilities. Their stories reveal the brutal realityAfter a summer of record-breaking temperatures, scientists predict that 2024 could end up being the hottest year on record. For people in US prisons and jails - who often lack access to even the most basic cooling measures - conditions behind bars exacerbate the risks of dangerously high temperatures.Several courts have ruled that extreme temperatures in prison violate the eighth amendment's provision against cruel and unusual" punishment. But these rulings have not led to a widespread adoption of air-conditioning or other methods to cool prison facilities or prevent heat-related deaths. Public health researchers at Brown University estimate that just one day of above-average summer temperatures is associated with a nearly 4% increase in deaths of incarcerated people. Suicides spike 23% in the three days following a heatwave. And for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit above the average summer temperature, those deaths increase by 5%. Continue reading...

Showing climate delivery can be done effectively and fairly would be an extraordinary climate legacy for Keir StarmerA well-intentioned but badly designed and poorly communicated energy policy from the German government, and more recent protests by farmers in France and the Netherlands, have knocked the confidence of European political leaders that environmental progress can be delivered in a way that works for people and enjoys democratic support. Unashamedly popular climate policies from Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband offer the chance to reshape European climate politics and confound these sceptics.Showing climate delivery can be done fairly, effectively, affordably and with strong public support would be an extraordinary climate legacy for Starmer. It would build on Britain's relatively strong record of having halved its climate footprint already, and it would offer hope amid all the gloom.Joss Garman is executive director of the European Climate FoundationDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

One person dead and several missing after deluge in Noto, still recovering from 1 January earthquakeHeavy rain pounded Japan's north-central Noto region, triggering landslides and floods and leaving one person dead and several missing, officials have said.The deluges caused swollen rivers to overflow, flooding homes and leaving some people stranded in a region still recovering from the deadly 1 January earthquake. Continue reading...