Exposure to spaces such as beaches and rivers leads to greater value being placed in natural settings, study findsChildhood days on the beach or messing around in rivers can have significant lasting benefits for our wellbeing in adulthood, according to a study.It found that exposure to blue spaces – such as coasts, rivers and lakes – as a child made revisiting blue spaces in adulthood more likely, as these adults showed greater familiarity with and placed greater value in natural settings. Continue reading...

Group’s London return comes as Met chief says climate action is not yet so disruptive that he must shut it downSupporters of Insulate Britain have joined Just Stop Oil protesters on the streets of London, as the chief of the Metropolitan police said daily protests by climate activists had yet to reach a legal threshold of causing “major disruption” required for the force to shut them down.Just after 11am on Wednesday, about two dozen members of the group, which shot to fame last autumn with a series of blockades of major London roads, walked into the road outside parliament, sat down and glued themselves to the ground. Continue reading...

While land is subsiding throughout the city, industrial water use has exacerbated the problem in one predominantly Black and Vietnamese areaIn the early 1990s, James Wright lost his family home in New Orleans’ Ninth ward when a new school was built on his block.“They basically took our houses because they gave us very little money for them,” he said. “And most of the people were old Black people who owned their homes.” Continue reading...

Chicken and egg producers call for housing order for poultry and captive birds to be extended across UKPoultry farmers have called for a nationwide housing order to be brought in by the UK government as soon as possible, after an upsurge in bird flu outbreaks in the past month.A compulsory housing order for all poultry and captive birds in Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Essex came into force on Wednesday. It applies to everyone who keeps birds – both commercial flock keepers and non-commercial premises such as back yards, hobby flocks or pets. Continue reading...

Graham Stuart tells MPs that awarding more than 100 licences for North Sea drilling is a green policyFracking and drilling for new oil and gas in the North Sea is green and good for the environment, Liz Truss’s new climate minister said on Wednesday.Graham Stuart insisted that awarding more than 100 licences to companies for North Sea drilling, covering almost 900 locations, and rolling out fracking across the countryside, were green policies. He told MPs on the environmental audit committee that drilling for new fossil fuels would help the UK reach net zero by 2050. Continue reading...

Study finds chemical companies dodging federal law designed to track how many PFAS plants are pumping into environmentChemical companies are dodging a federal law designed to track how many PFAS “forever chemicals” their plants are discharging into the environment by exploiting a loophole created in the Trump administration’s final months, a new analysis of federal records has found.The Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act put in place requirements that companies discharging over 100lb annually of the dangerous chemicals report the releases to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But during the implementation process, Trump’s EPA created an unusual loophole that at least five chemical companies have exploited. Continue reading...

The PM has united unlikely forces in opposition to moves that make little sense and contradict her own policiesLiz Truss and her environment secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, have achieved the almost unthinkable this week, by reportedly moving to ban solar farms from much of England.In doing so, they have even managed to unite the free-market, anti-net-zero Institute of Economic Affairs thinktank with green groups, the energy industry and the Labour party in opposing the plans. Continue reading...

People rush to stockpile bottled water amid emergency measures at reservoirs after record droughtA wave of panic buying has swept Shanghai in recent days, as rumours swirled of drinking water shortages despite assurances from local authorities that supplies remained normal.Record-breaking droughts in China dried up parts of the Yangtze River, and prompted saltwater intrusions into the estuary and depleted reservoirs feeding Shanghai, which sits at the mouth of the crucial river. Caixin media reported on Tuesday that Shanghai authorities had taken emergency measures to secure water supply after the intrusions contaminated two of Shanghai’s four primary reservoirs and forced their temporary closure. Continue reading...

Unions accuse resource minister Madeline King of signing ‘dud deal’ with multinational gas companies

Opponents of proposed project in Ramsar-listed wetlands say developer’s impact statement is “fantasy”

Survival International issues guide calling for reappraisal of terms such as ‘wilderness’, ‘voluntary relocation’ and ‘protected area’Words and phrases commonly found in school textbooks, wildlife documentaries and the media around nature conservation are perpetuating “racist and colonial” myths, according to a new guide.Survival International is calling for an end to the use of everyday language that it says is mired in racism, white supremacy, land theft and violence. The human rights group has published a guide to decolonising conservation terms, including “wilderness”, a word it says has been used to portray lands as empty so that they could be taken, when in fact they belong to Indigenous peoples. Continue reading...

The PM’s vision of growth is part of the class war that is transferring power from Britain’s poorest people to its richestAs a founder member of the anti-growth coalition, I’m delighted to discover how fast it has, ahem, been growing. From small beginnings on the political margins, our grouping, according to the prime minister, now ranges across most political parties, the trade unions, remainers, media pundits, in fact just about everyone in the UK who isn’t a swivel-eyed neoliberal headbanger.For many years, a small band of us “voices of decline” and “enemies of enterprise” who “don’t understand aspiration” have been trying to point out that increments in gross domestic product do not equate to increments in happiness. We have argued that no one wins the human race. We have sought to explain that what mainstream economists call progress is what ecologists call planetary ruin. We’ve contended that infinite growth on a finite planet is a recipe for catastrophe. I hope Liz Truss is right to claim that so many people now accept our arguments.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Trains over Planes report says disruption to commuters would be minimalBanning flights on routes with fast rail connections could cut the UK’s emissions from domestic aviation by a third, a report has found.The report by the thinktank Intergenerational Foundation (IF) found that domestic aviation was responsible for the emission of 2.7 megatonnes of CO in 2019 alone – the equivalent of the annual emissions from 1.7 million petrol cars or the energy to power 700,000 UK homes for a year. Continue reading...

Luan Nguyen said ‘I jabbed him in the eyes’ after he and friends were stranded for 28 hours after boat sank off Louisiana coastLuan Nguyen and his two friends hoped to do little more this weekend than fish and relax.But their boat trip on Saturday into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico near south-east Louisiana became much more dramatic when the vessel sank and Nguyen found himself having to fight off a shark, before the US Coast Guard finally rescued them after more than a day. Continue reading...

For the second time this year, a public prediction of increased energy costs has led to a boom in solar power inquiries

Two-time winning kākāpō absent from annual poll amid concerns the parrot may take the spotlight from less charismatic birdsNew Zealand’s annual bird of the year competition could usher in another round of controversy, with perennial favourite the kākāpō struck from the ballot after twice winning the competition.The fat, flightless and nocturnal parrot is the only species to reign twice as New Zealand’s favourite bird, in 2020 and 2008. This year, however, it will be conspicuously absent, amid concerns that its continued dominance could divert the spotlight from less charismatic candidates. Continue reading...

Prime minister accused of ‘another screeching U-turn’ having previously rejected calls to impose levyRenewable power companies will have their revenues capped in England and Wales, after the government bowed to pressure to clamp down on runaway profits.The announcement late on Tuesday night provoked immediate accusations that Downing Street had performed “another screeching U-turn” – having previously rejected calls to impose a windfall tax on power giants. Continue reading...

Death of 46-year-old south of Bathurst comes as New South Wales and Victoria brace for heavy rain and severe weather

Wednesday: The federal government has scrapped robotdebt investigations that were on hold for three years. Plus: the rise of men’s netball

Dr Rhian Barrance says we need climate leaders who can be honest about the actions required to tackle the climate emergency. Plus letters from Jo Inge Svendsen and Trevor JonesJohn Vidal makes some good points about the role that King Charles could take as a climate leader, including divesting from fossil fuels, selling the family silver to pay for climate action and rewilding his estates (Here’s a plan for green King Charles: sell the family silver and use the cash to save the planet, 6 October).However, he neglects to mention a key way in which the King could lead by example. Charles is the only landowner in Scotland exempt from new carbon laws. As the Guardian revealed last year, the late Queen’s lawyers secretly lobbied the Scottish government to exempt her lands from a draft carbon bill. Charles’s first step should be to ask for this exemption to be revoked and agree to be bound by the same laws as all other landowners in Scotland. Continue reading...

Ecologists believe population decline near Mawson research station is related to environmental changes that made foraging difficult

Federal treasurer Jim Chalmers to attend meeting of Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action in Washington this week

Brian Eno, Ahdaf Soueif and Miriam Margolyes sign open letter about exhibition opening shortly before Cop27Campaigners including the musician Brian Eno, the author Ahdaf Soueif and the actor Miriam Margolyes have criticised BP’s sponsorship of an exhibition of Egyptian artefacts at the British Museum.The exhibition opens shortly before the critical Cop27 climate summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh this November. Continue reading...

The car maker is now selling electric vehicle chargers, solar panels and other energy products to EV owners and utilitiesGeneral Motors is expanding beyond car-making, with plans to offer energy storage and management services to residential and commercial customers through its new GM Energy unit in a move that puts it in even greater competition with Tesla.“We’re getting into the entire ecosystem of energy management,” GM executive Travis Hester said in an interview. Continue reading...

Residents of Ponferrada advised to take care after animal spotted by taxi driver in early hoursSpanish police came to the aid of a brown bear whose apparent quest for acorns led him to pad the pre-dawn streets of a busy city in the north-western region of Castilla y León.The animal was spotted in the centre of Ponferrada in the early hours of Tuesday by a taxi-driver, who filmed its progress around the city and who can be heard in the video exclaiming, not unreasonably: “It’s a bear!” Continue reading...

Autumn Water Watch survey aims to build national picture of pollution, plastic litter and invasive speciesThe public are being asked to take part in the first national water watch to survey rivers, streams and canals as part of a monitoring project.The Autumn Water Watch aims to follow the success of the Big Garden Birdwatch and the Big Butterfly Count, in which hundreds of thousands of people record observations to feed into a national picture. Continue reading...

Transform Trade charity says British-based companies are among main bringers of cases based on bilateral investment treatiesUK companies operating overseas are afforded far greater legal protections than the citizens of the countries they invest in, leading to corporations getting away with human rights and climate change abuses, a report has found.The Transform Trade charity says the majority of UK bilateral investment treaties (BITs) contain no mention of climate change, the environment or human rights, meaning companies are not held accountable for violations. Continue reading...

Queensland police say officers had been called to Edmonstone Street in South Brisbane around 3pm. This blog is now closed

Exclusive: Meetings while in Saudi Arabia undisclosed due to ‘administrative oversight’, says business departmentThe chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, held undisclosed meetings with senior executives of Saudi Arabian firms when he was the business secretary, documents acquired by the Guardian show.The meetings occurred in January, when Kwarteng visited the kingdom for a two-day trip under his previous ministerial role. Continue reading...

Boss of competition regulator says scrutiny of climate claims, including over carbon credits, will be an enforcement priority

Workers on urban fringe driving EVs would bring greater emissions cut as they’re more likely to drive larger, older cars on longer commutes

By 2025, farmers would pay a levy on emissions from sources such as cow burps and gases from their urine under proposals released by Jacinda ArdernIn a world-first, New Zealand appears set to introduce a scheme that will require farmers to pay for their agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, including the methane belched out by cows and nitrous oxide emitted through livestock urine.The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, and three of her ministers, stood behind a podium of hay bales at a North Island dairy farm on Tuesday morning to unveil the government’s plan for putting a price on the climate cost of farming. Continue reading...

Worryingly, gilt yields are rising again and another potential cliff-edge moment comes on FridayAt last, some clarity from Kwasi Kwarteng, even if we’re only talking about the day on which the chancellor intends to make himself clear. The grand unveiling of the debt-cutting plan will happen on 31 October, which risks riffs about ghoulish Halloween tricks but is better than trying to prolong the agony until late November.The Office for Budget Responsibility will be released from captivity on the same day and permitted to opine on Kwarteng’s “medium-term fiscal plan”. So normal service, or something like it, is being restored – and in time for the Bank of England’s interest rate-setters to announce their critical next decision on 3 November in full possession of the fiscal facts. Continue reading...

Black community members have been asked to rubber-stamp harmful projects for decades, activists sayPastor Geoffrey Guns was sceptical when asked to join the community advisory board for a gas pipeline, but decided it was his duty to advocate for the Black communities that would be affected by the fossil fuel expansion project.The Virginia Reliability Project (VRP) is a proposal by the Canadian fossil fuel company behind the Keystone XL pipeline to expand and upgrade gas infrastructure through tribal lands, fragile waterways and underserved neighbourhoods in south-east Virginia. Continue reading...

Alexander Darwall lodges papers seeking end to camping on moorland without permissionA wealthy landowner is pressing ahead with legal moves that could threaten the right of backpackers and youth groups to wild camp on Dartmoor.A small group of right-to-roam activists built a protest camp over the weekend on the estate owned by Alexander Darwall and his wife, who are challenging the legal basis of bylaws that allow for wild camping on the moor, despite a growing outcry from local people, hikers and environmentalists. Continue reading...

One-off full reimbursement will be followed by subsidy scheme in spring to cap billsThe German state is to pay this December’s monthly gas bill for all households and small- to medium-sized businesses, according to a phased two-stage cap on energy prices recommended by a government-appointed expert panel on Monday.Under the scheme, the one-off full reimbursement in December would be followed up next spring with a more differentiated subsidy scheme designed to cap bills but still incentivise people to save energy. Continue reading...

Beccy Speight says charity coalition plans to step up campaign against changes posing threat to wildlifeThe head of the RSPB says the bird charity is ruling nothing out as it organises a mobilisation of millions of people against what it calls the government’s “attack on nature”.Beccy Speight dismissed accusations by Conservative MPs that the group was lying to its members and pursuing a marketing drive, as it leads a coalition campaigning against the government over key “growth” policies which it argues will damage wildlife and nature.The removal from the statute books of 570 laws derived from EU directives that make up the bedrock of environmental regulations in the UK, covering sewage pollution, water quality and clean air. These include the habitat regulations, which have protected areas for wildlife for more than 30 years.The ending of the moratorium on fracking.The creation of 38 low-tax investment zones from Cornwall to Cumbria where environmental protections are to be relaxed to encourage development.The feared scrapping of the post-Brexit environmental land management scheme (Elms), which pays farmers to enhance nature. Continue reading...

The Bodyheat system at warehouse venue SWG3 captures heat from the audience and funnels it 200 metres below ground to a layer of bedrock that acts like a thermal batteryIn 2019, Andrew Fleming-Brown realised that the venue he manages in Glasgow, called SWG3, a collection of industrial warehouses “designed for holding tobacco, not people”, was falling behind when it came to sustainability. Then he had an idea: “We realised that our audiences could be our source of energy.”He recruited inventor David Townsend and his company TownRock Energy to investigate greening the complex and, in just over a year, they developed and built Bodyheat: a system that provides carbon-free climate control by storing heat from SWG3’s visitors. Continue reading...

Monica Medina will be responsible for biodiversity and water resources, announces state department ahead of Cop15The United States has created a new diplomatic role to show the country’s commitment to tackling the biodiversity crisis ahead of Cop15 in Montreal, Canada, where the next decade of nature targets will be drawn up.Monica Medina, a former military officer who started her governmental career in 1989 as senior counsel to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, has been named special envoy for biodiversity and water resources. Continue reading...

Low pressure from Atlantic likely to usher in 70mph gusts from Friday nightThe UK and northern Europe are likely to be the windiest places on the planet this weekend. Areas of low pressure, driven by a strengthening jet stream, is forecast to barrel in from the Atlantic on Friday, with some of these likely to become named storms.Up to 70mph (112 km/h) gusts are expected to batter the west coast of Ireland and the Faroe Islands, with Norway’s western coastline also likely to experience strong winds into Saturday. Further stormy conditions are possible the following week when areas of deep, low pressure arrive from the west. Continue reading...

Report for Law Society says framework is essential for future interactions with the environment and biotechnologyGranting legal rights and protections to non-human entities such as animals, trees and rivers is essential if countries are to tackle climate breakdown and biodiversity loss, experts have said.The authors of a report titled Law in the Emerging Bio Age say legal frameworks have a key part to play in governing human interactions with the environment and biotechnology. Continue reading...

In remarks dismissed by environmentalists, gas company boss Joel Riddle said the reserves were ‘critical’ to lowering greenhouse gas emissions

From mountain top ceremonies to immersive art, people are finding new ways to express feelings of grief – and guilt – when nature ‘dies’It was in 2016 that Cymene Howe, a scholar at Rice University, Texas, first heard of the “death” of Okjökull, a small icecap in western Iceland, two years earlier.Glaciers are charismatic, with snouts and tongues of ice that crawl over land as they grow, but when their ice becomes too thin to continue moving – an increasingly common event amid rising temperatures – the glacier is pronounced dead. Continue reading...

Britain is no longer the key humanitarian player and ‘great ally’ it once was, says envoy trying to get support for Somalia’s droughtThe UK has lost its leadership role in the world and is letting down its allies, a senior official in the Somali government has said.Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, the presidential envoy for Somalia’s drought response, said Britain used to be second only to the US as a key player in international forums and advocacy, but has since slipped, saying that countries such as Somalia were being left without support to face “the new climate reality”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Environment minister seeks to expand definition of prime farmland in drive for productivityMinisters are planning to ban solar farms from most of England’s farmland, the Guardian can reveal.The new environment secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, is understood to oppose solar panels being placed on agricultural land, arguing that it impedes his programme of growth and boosting food production. Continue reading...

GreenCollar makes submission to government review with Prof Andrew Macintosh, who has described the scheme as ‘largely a sham’

At least 52 missing as military and rescue personnel searched for survivorsAt least 25 people died and 52 were missing after five small rivers in central Venezuela flooded due to heavy rains, the government said.The downpour on Saturday night swept large tree trunks and debris from surrounding mountains into the town of Tejerias, 67km south-west of the capital, Caracas, damaging businesses and farmland, according to the vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez. Continue reading...

Dozens of rivers still flooding and evacuation orders in place across state as reprieve from rain set to be short-lived

Conservatives have shifted to refocus on the car amid warnings of air pollution risksThe government must stop building roads to satisfy growing “car addiction”, clean air campaigners have said, after three-quarters of transport projects announced by Liz Truss’s administration were road related.There are now 3.1m more private cars registered in Britain than 10 years ago, an increase of 11%, with cities outside London seeing the largest increase in car ownership. Continue reading...