Country already trails well behind Europe and PM's backtracking on climate policies could widen the gapThe UK has fallen well behind the rest of Europe in the growth of electric vehicle sales and risks falling further back after Rishi Sunak's screeching U-turn" on its climate policies, according to industry analysts.UK sales of electric vehicles grew by 31% in the 12 months to July, one of the slowest rates of growth in Europe, according to data analysed by Cornwall Insight and the law firm Shoosmiths. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Pan-European investigation looked at thousands of transactions since Paris climate agreement in 2016Banks including some of Europe's largest lenders have helped fossil fuel companies to raise more than 1tn (869bn) from the global bond markets since the Paris climate agreement, according to an investigation by the Guardian and its reporting partners.In the push to zero carbon, Europe's biggest lenders face growing pressure to limit their financial support for fossil fuel companies through direct loans and other financing facilities. Continue reading...

Experts blame rising sea temperatures caused by climate crisis for cub deaths at Unesco heritage siteAs many as eight in 10 brown bear cubs born this year in a remote part of northern Japan have died amid a shortage of salmon, with experts blaming rising sea temperatures caused by the climate crisis.Along with acorns, pink salmon are an important source of food for the estimated 500 brown bears living along Hokkaido's Shiretoko peninsula, a Unesco world heritage site known for its dramatic coastline and wild animals. Continue reading...

IEA's Fatih Birol says uptake of solar power and EVs is in line with net zero goal but rich countries must hasten their broader plansThe prospects of the world staying within the 1.5C limit on global heating have brightened owing to the staggering" growth of renewable energy and green investment in the past two years, the chief of the world's energy watchdog has said.Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, and the world's foremost energy economist, said much more needed to be done but that the rapid uptake of solar power and electric vehicles were encouraging. Continue reading...

Robert Habeck said supporters of climate action must have the most compelling arguments

Scientists fear global heating may have shifted region into new era of disappearing ice with far-reaching consequencesAntarctica has likely broken a new record for the lowest annual maximum amount of sea ice around the continent, beating the previous low by a million square kilometres.The new mark is the latest in a string of records for the continent's sea ice, as scientists fear global heating could have shifted the region into a new era of disappearing ice with far reaching consequences for the world's climate and sea levels. Continue reading...

Clean Energy Regulator says consumers looking to save money on energy but investment in large-scale wind and solar all but stalled

Green New Deal for Schools demands districts teach climate justice, update buildings and plan for extreme weatherStudents at more than 50 high schools across the US are proposing a Green New Deal for Schools, demanding that their districts teach climate justice, create pathways to green jobs after graduation and plan for climate disasters, among other policies.The campaign, coordinated by the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate justice collective, is a reaction to rightwing efforts to ban or suppress climate education and activism at schools. The national effort could include teach-ins and walkouts, as well as targeted petitions to school boards and districts in the coming weeks, organizers with Sunrise told the Guardian, ahead of the Monday launch. Continue reading...

Birders have flocked in their hundreds to see the songbirds, blown across the Atlantic by Hurricane LeeA record-breaking number of uber-rare" North American songbirds have arrived in the UK this week, blown over the Atlantic in the aftermath of Hurricane Lee.More than a dozen species of small songbirds - one of which has never been seen in the UK before - were sent veering off their usual migration routes by the high winds. Continue reading...

Eight questioned over claims that negligence and mistakes contributed to disaster in which thousands diedLibya's chief prosecutor has ordered the detention of eight current and former officials pending a full inquiry into the collapse of two dams during torrential rain that left thousands dead in the port city of Derna this month.There have been widespread claims that local officials knew the dams were too weak to withstand flooding but for various reasons no structural repairs were undertaken. The Libyan State Audit Bureau has submitted evidence that funds were made available for repair work that was never undertaken. Continue reading...

Carmaker says it will press ahead' with plans to achieve 100% EV in Europe and all new models will be entirely electricNissan has vowed to press ahead" with a plan to only sell electric vehicles in Europe by 2030 despite Rishi Sunak's delay to the UK ban on new petrol and diesel car sales.The Japanese carmaker said all new models in Europe will be entirely electric by the end of the decade, as it launched a new EV design in London. Continue reading...

Party will argue green growth is route to lower bills and says Rishi Sunak will leave UK stuck in economic doom loop'Labour will double down" on making the case that tackling the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis can only be done in tandem, despite an intensifying Conservative attack on net zero policies, the Guardian has learned.Labour will argue that seeking green growth is the way to bring down household bills and secure the future of the UK economy. Continue reading...

Former British PM calls for 3% levy on oil and gas export revenues of biggest producers to generate $25bn a year for global southPetrostates should pay a small percentage of their soaring oil and gas revenues to help poor countries cope with the climate crisis, the former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has urged.Countries with large oil and gas deposits have enjoyed a record bonanza in the last two years, amounting to about $4tn (3.3tn) last year for the industry globally. Levying a 3% windfall tax on the oil and gas export revenues of the biggest-producing countries would yield about $25bn a year. Continue reading...

Danish company says complications with non-oil-based materials would have entailed higher total carbon emissionsLego has stopped a project to make bricks from recycled drinks bottles instead of oil-based plastic, saying it would have led to higher carbon emissions over the product's lifetime.The move, first reported by the Financial Times, followed efforts by the world's largest toymaker to research more sustainable materials, as part of a wave of companies reassessing their contribution to global emissions as the climate crisis hits. Continue reading...

When framing the shortlist for the 2023 bird of the year, we opted for familiar Aussie birds that hold a special place in our hearts

Some of Australia's most recognised feathered denizens have been flying under the popularity radar for far too long

Militant pensioner says a majority want a traditional feature but project leaders call row an attack on democracyIlkley is an affluent, leafy town, one point of Yorkshire's Golden Triangle" where average house prices top 560,000. Last year it was named the best place to live in the UK, and its tree-lined streets hark back to the days when it was a spa town where wealthy Victorians took the waters, Charles Darwin among them.Now the peace and quiet of this favourite municipality of the middle-classes is being rocked by a row between the, often older, traditionalists in the town and a charitable body of volunteers who were hoping to give it just a flick of a modern makeover. The fight centres on the proposed design of a fountain, to be built at the heart of the town at the junction of its two wide shopping avenues. Continue reading...

The lungfish arrived in San Francisco on a steamship along with 230 other fish. Today, she's the only living aquatic animal from that vesselShe's super-gentle, and doesn't get overly excited. She enjoys eating earthworms, fruits and vegetables, and slowly moving around her tank. Her favorite food - at least for what is in season now - is a fig.If Methuselah sounds like a grand old dame, it's because she is: she is the oldest living fish in captivity, aged somewhere upwards of 92 and potentially as high as 101 years. She arrived on a steamship from Australia along with 230 other fish to the Steinhart aquarium in San Francisco in 1938 as a young, small fish. And Methuselah's story unfolded in a typical way, for a fish in an aquarium: she grew. Humans came to look at her. She peered back through glass at humans. Continue reading...

Former Cop26 chair says emissions cuts must be made elsewhere and ministers must show how they plan to achieve thisAlok Sharma, the former Tory cabinet minister who chaired the landmark Cop26 UN summit in Glasgow, has warned Rishi Sunak that he will now have to find other ways to cut emissions if the UK is to meet its international climate obligations, following last week's dramatic U-turns on green policy.In his first comments since Sunak's announcement on Wednesday, Sharma told the Observer that rolling back on certain policies will mean we need to find emissions reductions elsewhere, if we are to meet our legally binding near term carbon budgets and our internationally committed 2030 emissions reduction target". Continue reading...

Dismay as mogul's successor nominates Tony Abbott, a climate change sceptic, to board of Fox CorporationSix years ago the former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott argued global warming may benefit populations, noting that more people died from cold weather than heatwaves.The speech in London, to climate-sceptic thinktank the Global Warming Policy Foundation, is now under renewed scrutiny after it was announced on Friday that he had been nominated to join the board of the Fox Corporation, part of the Murdoch family's global media empire. Continue reading...

John Caudwell, who gave party 500,000 before 2019 election, did not rule out supporting LabourBillionaire John Caudwell, the biggest donor to the Conservative party before the last election, has said he will not back Rishi Sunak after the madness" of his U-turn on green policies.Caudwell said he was now thinking about switching to Labour instead. Continue reading...

Group tasked with overseeing initiative to insulate homes and upgrade boilers was only set up in March

A new law allows councils to impose on-the-spot fines for emitting smokePeople who live on narrowboats and barges - many on low incomes - say they may struggle to stay warm this winter because an increasing number of councils are planning to fine people burning wood on moored vessels.Under the Environment Act, which came into force in 2021, council enforcement officers can issue on-the-spot fines of up to 300 to boat dwellers emitting visible smoke from wood burners. Only Sandwell council, in the West Midlands, has so far approved plans to enforce smoke controls along its 41 miles of canals. But three other councils - Liverpool, Newham and Cannock Chase - are planning to start fining houseboats. Continue reading...

Six Portuguese young people claim inadequate policies to tackle global heating breach their human rights

The tycoon, who is stepping down from News Corp and Fox, has used his outlets to promote denial and delay action, experts say

Potential health risks of high salt concentrations for those who rely on Mississippi River lead mayor to sign declarationThe New Orleans mayor, LaToya Cantrell, signed an emergency declaration for the city on Friday amid concerns about saltwater from the the Gulf of Mexico that has been creeping up the drought-hit Mississippi River in Louisiana.The declaration came amid concerns the saltwater, which is impacting the river because it is at such low levels, could impact the drinking water of thousands of residents in the next few weeks Continue reading...

Exclusive: Poll finds fewer than a quarter of people trust PM to tackle climate crisis after policy U-turnOnly 22% of people trust Rishi Sunak to tackle the climate crisis after his announcement that he will weaken the UK's net zero policies.An exclusive poll for the Guardian found that fewer than a quarter of people trust the prime minister to take on the challenge. A total of 53% said they did not trust him, while 19% said they did not know.This article was corrected on 23 September 2023 to clarify that the name of the polling company is WeThink. Continue reading...

Farmers found guilty of crimes against environment for tapping aqueduct feeding Unesco-listed Donana national parkFive siblings have been jailed for more than three years for illegally extracting water from an aqueduct feeding a Unesco-listed Spanish nature reserve that is threatened by desertification, a court ruling showed.The farmers - four men and a woman - were found guilty of crimes against the environment and causing damage through the systematic and extensive extraction" of water supplying Donana national park, according to the ruling dated 18 September that was seen by Agence France-Presse on Friday. Continue reading...

Scientists ask PM to cease politicising' government's independent advisers after his remarks and Tory letter to journalistsScientists have written to Rishi Sunak asking him to stop politicising" and attacking the Climate Change Committee (CCC), an independent body that exists to advise the government on five-year carbon budgets" necessary to meet its 2050 target.This week Sunak spoke about his plans to weaken his government's environmental policies. When asked about comments from Chris Stark, the chief executive of the CCC, saying that the government would not hit the carbon budget with its current plans, Sunak replied: I am very happy to get opinions and advice from everybody, and everyone's entitled to their view." Continue reading...

Exclusive: two PR professionals from national oil firm listed as providing support' to team running UN climate summitSenior executives from the UAE's national oil company are working with the Cop28 team as the country ramps up its PR campaign ahead of the major UN climate summit later this year, leaked internal records show.Two PR professionals from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) are identified as providing additional support" to the team running the summit, according to a Cop28 communications strategy document obtained by the Centre for Climate Reporting (CCR) and the Guardian. It adds to growing evidence of blurred lines between the UAE's Cop28 team and its fossil fuel industry. Continue reading...

Retailer responds to concerns about environmental impact of millions of e-cigarettes thrown away each weekSuperdrug will stop selling disposable vapes in all its UK and Ireland stores after concerns about the environmental damage from millions of single-use e-cigarettes.Brands such as Vuse GO and Flavaah Bars would no longer be sold, the retailer said, adding that it would have the stock completely cleared by the end of the year. Superdrug said it sold an average of 1,300 units of single-use vapes a week in stores and did not sell them online. Continue reading...

Brazil's supreme court has blocked efforts to dramatically strip back Indigenous land rights in what activists called a historic victory for the South American country's original inhabitants. Nine of the court's 11 members voted against what rights groups had called the 'time-limit trick' - an agribusiness-backed attempt to prevent Indigenous communities claiming land they did not physically occupy in 1998

Government accused of ignoring science' as it considers allowing use of a toxic neonicotinoidBee-killing pesticides have been found at dangerous levels in English rivers, as the government considers allowing the use of one that is banned in the EU.Environmental groups and farmers are waiting to hear whether a toxic neonicotinoid, thiamethoxam, will be approved by the government for English sugar beet farms for a fourth consecutive year. Wildlife campaigners say it is unacceptable" that ministers have ignored the science" and allowed the use of these dangerous chemicals. Continue reading...

A proposed federal law would wipe out existing state laws that prevent farm animal brutality and the spread of diseaseMany animals raised for meat in the US spend their lives in spaces barely bigger than their own bodies. Pregnant pigs are held in gestation crates so small they can only sit, stand or lie down in them. Chickens are packed into battery cages so crowded they often can't extend their wings. And calves raised for veal are packed into crates without enough room to turn around.While these conditions are part of what makes factory-farmed meat so cheap in the US, a growing number of consumers are rejecting these brutal practices, with more than a dozen states even enacting their own laws to ban them. But a new proposal in Congress would reverse these advances in animal welfare, threatening to upend years of work - and victories - by animal rights activists, farmers and food safety advocates. Continue reading...

The best of this week's wildlife photographs, including hungry bears, a goliath grouper and a dew-covered dragonfly Continue reading...

There is nothing Australians like more than running over living things in their car

Exclusive: wildfires, once rare in the UK, more than doubled last year to nearly 24,000 with devastating effects on wildlife habitatsWildfires recorded by UK fire brigades surged in 2022 amid extreme heat and droughts, new figures show, as a growing number of fire services invest in new equipment to deal with the rising fire risk due to climate change.Figures obtained by the Guardian under Freedom of Information Act requests show the number of wildfires recorded by fire brigades in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland more than doubled last year, reaching 23,699 in 2022, compared with 9,307 the year before. Continue reading...

IEA says firms are announcing more projects but waiting for government support before investingThe global push for clean hydrogen is being held back by rising costs and lagging" policy support from governments, a report has found.Announcements of low-emission hydrogen projects are rapidly expanding but developers are waiting for government support before investing in them, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The report found hydrogen made through processes that are clean or less polluting account for less than 1% of the gas's total production and use. Continue reading...

Bifenthrin was found in water, sediment and crayfish samples from Hazelbrook Creek, the Environment Protection Authority says

Critics decry lack of political will in Serbian capital to clean polluted air that residents say they can feel and taste'When the Yugoslav prime minister Demal Bijedi promised to clean the country's air at a conference in Belgrade in 1974, a reporter from the New York Times wrote that there was little hope of early relief for the city's residents, who felt the pollution was getting worse. The choking, sulphurous atmosphere of Belgrade and several other major Yugoslav cities reddens eyes, shreds nylon stockings and ruins pianissimo passages in the concert hall because of the nearly continuous coughing it causes in audiences," the writer said.Half a century later, residents of Belgrade are still holding their breath. I have asthma and it's killing me," says Dejan, 40, a graffiti artist and MC who runs a paint shop in the industrial Palilula district. It's not smog, man, it's a black fog. You cannot see." Continue reading...

Tally rises to 27,000 but is still a far cry from former half a million, and Javan and Sumatran rhino remain critically endangeredGlobal rhinoceros numbers have increased to 27,000 despite populations being ravaged by poaching and habitat loss, new figures show, with some species rebounding for the first time in a decade.Rhinos numbered about 500,000 across Africa and Asia in the 20th century but their populations have been devastated. Last year, they began showing signs of recovery in some areas, although two species - the Javan and Sumatran - remain close to disappearing. Continue reading...

UK climate watchdog said policy change would make it more difficult to meet legal commitmentsRishi Sunak is likely to face a series of legal challenges aimed at thwarting his plans to U-turn on net zero policies amid further international condemnation of the proposals.Though the prime minister sought to shrug off criticism on Thursday, the UK's independent climate watchdog joined the voices of concern, saying it was disappointed with changes that would make it more difficult for Britain to meet its legal commitments. Continue reading...

PM's claim he has rescued the electorate from multiple recycling bins a particular focus of online lampooningRishi Sunak's pledge to scrap a series of green measures has prompted ridicule from critics who say they were never a reality - and on social media have taken on a life of their own.You boy, which of the seven bins is it this week?" read the caption above an image of Scrooge - from the 1951 adaptation of A Christmas Carol - in a tweet lampooning the prime minister's claim he had spared people from being forced to recycle in as many different bins. Continue reading...

Move has drawn comparisons to UK, where Rishi Sunak has U-turned on environmental commitmentsThe Swedish government is facing a huge backlash - including threats of no-confidence votes against its climate minister - after slashing the country's climate budget while admitting it will dramatically increase carbon dioxide emissions.The minority-run coalition, which has been in power for just under a year, announced on Wednesday it would be cutting funding for climate and environmental measures next year by 259m krona (19m) and introducing tax cuts on petrol and diesel. Continue reading...

Recent temperatures among highest on record in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney with data stretching back more than 100 years

The prime minister said the UK was still on course to hit net zero targets despite announcements on Wednesday that he was rolling back key policies. Rishi Sunak said the UK was adopting a more 'proportionate and pragmatic way' to reach its climate goals and that he was 'absolutely confident that we are on track to hit all our international and domestic targets'

Prime minister ignores advice of official body and says UK still on track to meet 2050 target

Exclusive: Legislation was blocked by small group of peers who tabled more than 60 amendmentsLabour has urged ministers to resurrect a bill banning the import of body parts of endangered animals hunted overseas, which was blocked by a small group of peers, saying a failure to do so would leave the government complicit in the trophy hunting trade.The hunting trophies (import prohibition) bill, a private members' bill led by two Conservatives, Henry Smith, an MP, and Janet Fookes, a peer, has cross-party support and after passing all Commons stages appeared set to be approved by the Lords. Continue reading...

The BBC's Nick Robinson criticised the prime minister for announcing he had scrapped policies, including a tax on meat, that were never included in government policy. Rishi Sunak has said he is confident the UK will meet net zero by 2050, despite announcing delays to a number of green policies initially set out by the government. Sunak announced there would be a delay to banning petrol and diesel cars, which has sparked outrage from manufacturing companies for the government's lack of consistency

The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society has announced the winner of its 11th annual photography prize, which showcases the UK's relationship with the sea. Ian Watkin's surreal image of a fish embedded in a jellyfish beat more than 1,000 entries Continue reading...