Environment | The Guardian

Seema Malhotra says party wants to see jobs transferred to green energy industries, not lost

Storm overflows group has been promoted by ministers as evidence they are taking issue seriously

Hundreds of uncontrolled forest fires have spread across Canada, threatening critical infrastructure and forcing evacuations. Wildfires are common in the country's western provinces, but this year flames have rapidly spread towards the east. About 3.8m hectares (9.4m acres) have already burned, according to government ministers. The wildfires have created a blanket of smoke that has spread across several US cities, including New York, forcing residents to stay indoors

Tens of millions of people in the US are under air quality alerts as smoke from the Canadian wildfires drifts south, turning the sky in some of the country's biggest cities a murky brown. In New York City, residents were advised to limit their time outdoors, as public schools cancelled outdoor activities

The state government has brought forward the end of its zero-emission vehicle subsidy by a year

From sustainable fisheries to toxic battery waste, these images were chosen because they tell a compelling story about the state of our planet Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: After months of shelling, now thousands have been flooded – a Guardian reporter tells the story on the ground

Appea’s assertion that gas is indispensable is ludicrous when it’s renewables that are replacing coal

Some of the more fascinating, troubling and heartening tales we have covered over the last 12 monthsAs World Ocean Day rolls around again, it is hard to believe how much has happened since the last one. From the war in Ukraine to the death of entire languages, our understanding of how threats to the ocean reflect threats to humanity itself is constantly evolving. Here are some of the stories we have covered over the past 12 months. Continue reading...

Artists from around the world have been using detritus from beaches and waterways to respond to the plight of the marine environment. We showcase their work on World Oceans Day Continue reading...

Despite several cold snaps in May that brought early dustings of snow, a warmer start to winter has meant most of that has now melted

Eric Adams remarks come as city briefly ranked world’s worst for air pollution; more firefighters to be mobilised as over 200 blazes are out of control

Canada is on track to experience its most severe wildfire season on record, and it’s part of a trend experts say will intensifyCanada’s ongoing wildfire season is a harbinger of our climate future, experts and officials say.The fires are a “really clear sign of climate change”, said Mohammadreza Alizadeh, a researcher at McGill University in Montreal, who is also a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Continue reading...

Ecotricity founder and Just Stop Oil supporter hits back at Tory attacks as Rishi Sunak claims ‘eco-zealots’ steering Keir StarmerDale Vince has been condemned in the rightwing press as a hippy turned eco-tycoon who donates thousands of pounds to Just Stop Oil – and even more to the Labour party. And now Rishi Sunak has doubled down on the attacks and claimed that it appears that “eco-zealots” at the campaigning group are writing Labour’s energy policy and “essentially leading us into an energy surrender”.Speaking before the prime minister’s comments, Vince, the founder of Ecotricity, told the Guardian that the “abuse, mudslinging and massive fabrications” he had faced would not stop him bankrolling causes close to his heart. Continue reading...

Exposure to smoke can trigger an array of health problems, experts say, but there are ways residents can stay safeAir quality alerts were in place for 110 million US residents on Wednesday as smoke from Canadian wildfires choked the skies.New York, Washington DC, Delaware and Pennsylvania had the worst air quality in the nation on Wednesday morning, EPA data showed. Levels in central New York were deemed “hazardous” – the worst level on the EPA’s index for air quality reporting – while Philadelphia was placed under a “code red” as the air quality index soared to its highest level since 2008. Continue reading...

Majid Al Suwaidi says governments not in agreement yet over whether issue should be on agendaUN climate talks this year might skirt the vital question of whether and how to phase out fossil fuels, as nations have not yet agreed to discuss the issue, one of the top officials hosting the talks has said.Majid Al Suwaidi, director-general of the Cop28 climate talks for its host nation, the United Arab Emirates, said governments were not in agreement over whether the phaseout of fossil fuels should be on the agenda for the conference, which begins in November. Continue reading...

Hundreds of wildfires burn in country, with 238 ‘out of control’ as of Tuesday afternoon, blanketing cities in smoke

Poor pollination caused by destructive farming methods leads to loss of biodiversity and is a threat to food production, inquiry toldFruit growers in the UK are already seeing less yield and lower-quality produce because of the loss of insects, scientists have told MPs, warning that a further loss of pollinators could have “significant” impacts on all crops.As part of a government inquiry into insect decline and UK food security, Prof Simon Potts from the University of Reading told MPs at the science, innovation and technology committee that there is already good evidence of a shortfall of pollinators and a threat to food production. Continue reading...

Think that eating local will help save the planet? Think again. Most emissions come from food production, not transportationIn June 2005, four women spoke at a San Francisco celebration of the first World Environment Day in North America. The Bay Area locals – Jen Maiser, Jessica Prentice, Sage Van Wing and Dede Sampson – invited the audience to join them in a local food challenge: spending the next month eating only food produced within 100 miles (160km) of their homes.Although the concept of eating locally was not new – the farm-to-table movement had kicked off in the 1960s and 70s as hippies protested against processed foods and Alice Waters opened the first farm-to-table restaurant, Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California – these women gave it new life with a new name, calling themselves “locavores”. In his 2006 book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Bay Area local Michael Pollan also advocated for the local food movement, and by 2007 the Oxford American Dictionary had dubbed “locavore” its word of the year. Continue reading...

Exclusive: UN conference president Sultan Al Jaber is also head of oil firm, which was consulted on how to respond to a media inquiryThe United Arab Emirates’ state oil company has been able to read emails to and from the Cop28 climate summit office and was consulted on how to respond to a media inquiry, the Guardian can reveal.The UAE is hosting the UN climate summit in November and the president of Cop28 is Sultan Al Jaber, who is also chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). The revelations have been called “explosive” and a “scandal” by lawmakers. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Wood Group boosts fossil fuel business and shrinks renewables work after getting government-backed loanThe international engineering company Wood Group has expanded its oil and gas business and dramatically shrunk its renewables operations after receiving a £430m government-backed “green transition loan”, prompting calls from environmental groups for a review of the process that authorised the loan.The growth of fossil fuels business of the company, with headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland, has shown that the government’s “transition export development guarantee” scheme, which guaranteed the loan, facilitates greenwashing and is open to abuse by polluting companies, according to environmental groups. Continue reading...

DuPont or 3M scientists discovered PFAS toxicity internally, but did not publish findings or report them to the EPA, study saysIn 1953, a paper developed for cigarette maker RJ Reynolds detailed possible cancer-causing agents in tobacco, but the document would remain hidden from public view for decades. In the interim, the industry told the public: “We don’t accept the idea that there are harmful agents in tobacco.”The chemical industry, it seemed, took note. Just a few years later, DuPont scientists found PFAS enlarged lab rats’ livers and likely caused birth defects in workers. Still, the company told its employees the cancer-linked compounds are “about as toxic as table salt”. Continue reading...

Next week the first constitutional climate lawsuit goes to trial amid signs fossil fuel companies are facing accountability testsClimate litigation in the US could be entering a “game changing” new phase, experts believe, with a spate of lawsuits around the country set to advance after a recent supreme court decision, and with legal teams preparing for a trailblazing trial in a youth-led court case beginning next week.The number of cases focused on the climate crisis around the world has doubled since 2015, bringing the total number to over 2,000, according to a report last year led by European researchers.The first constitutional climate lawsuit in the US goes to trial on Monday next week (12 June) in Helena, Montana, based on a legal challenge by 16 young plaintiffs, ranging in age from five to 22, against the state’s pro-fossil fuel policies.A federal judge ruled last week that a federal constitutional climate lawsuit, also brought by youth, can go to trial.More than two dozen US cities and states are suing big oil alleging the fossil fuel industry knew for decades about the dangers of burning coal, oil and gas, and actively hid that information from consumers and investors.The supreme court cleared the way for these cases to advance with rulings in April and May that denied oil companies’ bids to move the venue of such lawsuits from state courts to federal courts.Hoboken, New Jersey, last month added racketeering charges against oil majors to its 2020 climate lawsuit, becoming the first case to employ the approach in a state court and following a federal lawsuit filed by Puerto Rico last November. Continue reading...

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Populations of bees, spiders, ground beetles and hoverflies have declined twice as fast on land farmed for crops in the past 30 years, despite funding for more sustainable farming methodsConservation measures over the past 30 years have failed to stop the decline of insects on British farmland, a new report shows. Populations of bees, spiders, ground beetles and hoverflies have disappeared twice as fast in areas intensely farmed for crops, according to the paper, which looked at citizen science data on more than 1,500 invertebrate species.Although there was a push to intensify agriculture after the second world war, since the early 90s more sustainable and wildlife-friendly farming practices have emerged, with EU agri-environment funding made available for farmers to plant hedgerows and wild flowers, alongside better regulation of pesticides. However, these have not managed to stem biodiversity loss. Continue reading...

Advertising Standards Authority says ads do not make clear company’s business is mostly based on fossil fuelsAn ad campaign by Shell promoting its green initiatives has been banned for not telling consumers that most of its business is based on environmentally damaging fossil fuels such as petrol.Shell, which has set goals to become a net zero carbon energy company by 2050 while also expanding its gas business by a fifth, ran a TV, poster and YouTube campaign pushing renewable electricity, wind and car charging point initiatives. Continue reading...

Conservationists say plan to increase bearded vulture numbers in north-east would be ‘severely compromised’Conservationists in Spain are calling for a “profound debate” on how best to balance the protection of wildlife with renewable energy demands after efforts to reintroduce endangered bearded vultures to an eastern area of the country had to be paused because of the threat posed by a huge new windfarm.The bearded vulture – known in Spanish as the quebrantahuesos, or bone-breaker, because of the way it drops bones from a great height so they shatter and yield their marrow – was common across the country until the 20th century, when it was poisoned and hunted to the brink of extinction. Continue reading...

Former minister makes grave warning as scientists wait for water to subside before assessing impact

IPPC chair Hoesung Lee says over-reliance on the technology could mean the world misses 1.5C targetOver-reliance on carbon capture and storage technology could lead the world to surpass climate tipping points, the head of the world’s climate science authority has warned.Hoesung Lee, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said using technologies that capture carbon dioxide or remove it from the atmosphere was “no free lunch” and that countries should be wary. Continue reading...

Delegates from 180 nations set out pathway to binding global agreement on tackling plastic pollution as soon as 2025Nation-state representatives have taken the first concrete step toward a legally binding treaty to regulate plastic, described as the most important green deal since the 2015 international climate agreement.The banging of a recycled-plastic gavel, on Friday night at Unesco headquarters in Paris, signalled the end of a fraught process, marked by accusations of exclusion and industrial lobbying. Talks threatened to fall apart, but in the end delegates were able to broadly agree on key elements that the treaty should contain, laying the groundwork for the future agreement. Continue reading...

Ice-free summers inevitable even with sharp emissions cuts and likely to result in more extreme heatwaves and floodsIt is now too late to save summer Arctic sea ice, research has shown, and scientists say preparations need to be made for the increased extreme weather across the northern hemisphere that is likely to occur as a result.Analysis shows that even if greenhouse gas emissions are sharply reduced, the Arctic will be ice-free in September in coming decades. The study also shows that if emissions decline slowly or continue to rise, the first ice-free summer could be in the 2030s, a decade earlier than previous projections. Continue reading...

Commitments to improve water quality and reduce stress from commercial fishing could mean the reef avoids going on world heritage danger list

Murray-Darling Basin Authority seeks assurances that confidential information has not been compromised

Google-designed tools help 9,000 young Climate Cardinals volunteers who translate reports into more than 100 languagesA network of young volunteers that translates climate information into dozens of languages is being boosted by new artificial intelligence tools designed by Google.Since founding Climate Cardinals three years ago to improve global climate literacy, Sophia Kianni, 21, has built a network of 9,000 young volunteers around the world who translate reports and content into more than 100 languages, including Swahili, Hebrew, Urdu, Mandarin and Hindi. Continue reading...

But IAEA says damage to Nova Kakhovka dam raises long-term concerns for power station’s future

Update warns there is a 70% chance of the climate system developing before the end of this year, raising the risk of heatwaves and bushfires

Images from around the world taken on World Environment Day, an annual global event celebrated on 5 June to raise awareness, mobilise action and promote environmental sustainability Continue reading...

Barring public access to beaches and other sites is not a model for development. Transparency and engagement are neededWalk along a Caribbean beach, which may stretch for miles, and your stroll is guaranteed to be cut short by an angry hotel security guard. In recent years, the Caribbean has seen a worrying trend of governments readily selling off assets to foreign corporations and political financiers.Prime real estate, protected land and valuable resources are being relinquished without consideration for long-term consequences. It raises questions about whether remnants of the colonial mindset still prevail in political ideologies and decision-making. Continue reading...

UK’s most senior climate adviser says policy is ‘right thing to do’ and criticises government’s stanceThe UK’s most senior climate adviser has strongly endorsed Labour’s vow to halt new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, and slammed the government for failing to show leadership on the issue.John Gummer, who as Lord Deben chairs the statutory committee on climate change, told the Guardian he approved of Labour’s commitment. “I welcome this policy, I am absolutely in favour and it is the right thing to do,” he said. Continue reading...

Single-use e-cigarettes growing in popularity among young people despite unknown health effects and environmental impactChildren’s doctors are calling for an outright ban on disposable vapes to reduce their popularity among young people as the long-term impact on lungs, hearts and brains remains unknown.The government should ban single-use disposable vapes, which can be bought for just £1.99 and are most popular with young people, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has said. Continue reading...

Labour leader to address union’s conference after its leader attacks plan to ban new North Sea oil and gas extractionKeir Starmer will pledge to put “good, union jobs” at the heart of Labour’s energy policy during a speech to one of its biggest donor unions after its general secretary criticised a proposed ban on oil and gas expansion.He will speak at the GMB’s annual conference on Tuesday, a day after he tried to calm a growing rift with its leadership over Labour’s energy policy. Continue reading...

Hundreds gather in Rio and Belém to remember two men who worked to defend the Amazon and its Indigenous inhabitantsIndigenous leaders, politicians and friends and relatives of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira have paid tribute to the two men on the anniversary of their murders in the Brazilian Amazon.The British journalist and Brazilian Indigenous expert were ambushed and killed on 5 June 2022 while travelling by boat through the remote Javari valley region. Continue reading...

Proposed compensation would be paid to developing countries that must transition away from fossil fuelsRich industrialised countries responsible for excessive levels of greenhouse gas emissions could be liable to pay $170tn in climate reparations by 2050 to ensure targets to curtail climate breakdown are met, a new study calculates.The proposed compensation, which amounts to almost $6tn annually, would be paid to historically low-polluting developing countries that must transition away from fossil fuels despite not having yet used their “fair share” of the global carbon budget, according to the analysis published in the journal Nature Sustainability. Continue reading...

Simon Stiell tells conference in Bonn the world is at ‘tipping point’ and must fight together for common goodThe world is at a “tipping point” in the climate crisis that requires all countries to put aside their national interests to fight for the common good, the UN’s top climate official has warned.Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, pointed to recent findings from scientists that temperatures were likely to exceed the threshold of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels within the next five years. Continue reading...

Silver perch fingerlings released in ceremony designed to address community’s collective trauma over ecological disaster that left millions of dead fish in river

Monitoring stations that already test for pollution could have dual purpose of mapping declines in biodiversity, reveals new studyFrom owls to hedgehogs to fungi, genetic material from plants and animals is being inadvertently hoovered up by air-quality monitoring stations around the world, creating an untapped “vault of biodiversity data”, according to a new scientific paper.Globally, thousands of air filters are continually testing for heavy metals and other pollutants in the atmosphere. Scientists are now realising that this monitoring network is also picking up invisible traces of genetic material known as airborne environmental DNA (eDNA) from bits of hair, feathers, saliva and pollen. Continue reading...

Lawyers for chemical company say they are making ‘significant’ progress over deal with city of Stuart, FloridaUS industrial conglomerate 3M and the city of Stuart, Florida are making “significant” progress to settle a water pollution suit tied to toxic “forever chemicals” and sought to delay a trial, according to a court filing on Sunday.3M was scheduled to face trial in South Carolina federal court on Monday in a lawsuit brought by the Florida city accusing the company of manufacturing PFAS, or per- and polyflouroalkyl substances, despite knowing for decades that the chemicals can cause cancer and other ailments. Continue reading...

The term doesn’t mean that much any more, and there are other, more important factors to consider when selecting foodIf you walk into a Whole Foods in Oakland and pick up a container of non-dairy yoghurt marked “local”, you might be surprised to learn that though the company is headquartered nearby in San Francisco, the cashews the yoghurt is made of come from Vietnam, more than 7,500 miles (12,000km) away, or Ivory Coast, about 7,300 miles in the opposite direction.This yoghurt made with ingredients from the other side of the globe points to the contradictory nature of so-called local food today: though the term holds appeal for customers, nearly two-thirds of whom perceive local food to be more environmentally friendly, experts suggest it may not always mean what you think. Continue reading...

Concentrations of plastics in round-the-world race through remote ocean environments found to be up to 18 times higher than during previous event in 2017-18Sailors testing the waters during the Ocean Race, which travels through some of the world’s most remote ocean environments, have found microplastics in every sample.Up to 1,884 microplastic particles were found per cubic metre of seawater in some locations, up to 18 times higher than in similar tests during the last Ocean Race, which ended in 2018. Scientists noted that the sensitivity of their instruments is now higher. Continue reading...