Environment | The Guardian

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including rescued turtles, a fox cub and Pablo Escobar’s hippos Continue reading...

Floods and mudslides have swept through northern and western Rwanda after torrential rain.At least 115 people died as rivers of mud engulfed houses and fields, and landslides cut off roads.The western province bordering Lake Kivu was worst affected by the extreme rainfall amid floods that some fear might be the worst the region has seen

Fears appointing Paolo Scaroni as Enel CEO would undermine US and EU attempts to curb Russian influenceAn energy industry veteran who nurtured close ties with Vladimir Putin and has criticised sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine has emerged as the frontrunner to chair Italy’s biggest utility company.Paolo Scaroni is the preferred candidate of the ruling coalition government of Giorgia Meloni to chair Enel. Continue reading...

Overlooked animals vital for alpine ecosystems could lose most of their habitat and disappear, research suggestsInvertebrates living in the cool meltwater rivers of the European Alps could lose most of their habitat and disappear, as the mountain range’s glaciers melt at an unprecedented rate due to climate change, according to a study.Although they are often overlooked, these animals are crucial for alpine ecosystems. Continue reading...

As campaigning hots up around the world once again, eyes have been turning to the country that is taking things furtherIn the UK, when climate activists want to block a road, they sit down on it. When their fellow activists in France want to do the same, they build a wall across one side, and set the other side on fire.As Extinction Rebellion drew tens of thousands to their peaceful “Big One” protests in London last month, in the south of France 8,500 environmental protesters occupied the road from Toulouse to the town of Castres. Continue reading...

Plans put onus on local authorities to stop air pollution but offer no new funds or powers for traffic calming and other measuresLocal authorities in England have not been given the funding or powers to fulfil the government’s strategy on air pollution, and air quality in English towns and cities is likely to suffer as a result, local governments and charities have said.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published its latest plan late on 28 April, just before the UK bank holiday weekend. It followed a consultation earlier that month that was only days long, which local authorities said was not enough time for them to contribute properly. Continue reading...

Chevron and ExxonMobil are among the companies in a ‘sustainability council’ countering grassroots activistsAfter residents of America’s “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana put a national spotlight on their fight for a healthy environment, the state’s economic interests and petrochemical giants are backing the creation of a new “sustainability council” to counter grassroots activists, documents show.In recent years, the activists have successfully fought construction of two multibillion-dollar plastics facilities and what would have been the nation’s largest methanol plant. The growing concerns have caught the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency, which earlier this year sued a manufacturer of neoprene in the state for not doing enough to reduce its cancer-causing air emissions. Continue reading...

As consumers turn to renewable and recyclable products, protests over industry’s use of misleading terms have proliferatedThe US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking aim at greenwashing by big business with an update to its “Green Guides”, which would give the agency stronger legal cases against polluters by clarifying when companies’ deceptive marketing around sustainability and environmental responsibility violates federal law.The move follows years of formal complaints filed with the FTC about often highly questionable claims made by fossil fuel companies, big agriculture, major food producers and other polluting industries. Continue reading...

The spectacle that washes hillsides in color draws thousands each year, but raises generations-old concerns about protecting wild spacesThis year’s California wildflower superbloom is a historic phenomenon, brought on by an unprecedented wet winter. Miles of golden-orange poppies, purple desert sand-verbena and pink filaree are visible from space. This time of year it seems that everywhere from remote corners of the desert to drab highway medians are bursting with color.The spectacle draws thousands of visitors every spring, who flock to enjoy the view and take photos of the unique natural spectacle – as people have done for generations. Continue reading...

The gill plates of the extremely intelligent fish – many species of which are already categorised as endangered – are sold across east Asia as remedies said to have ‘no basis in medical science’Every morning, starting at 3am, Lakshan hacks up manta rays. A wholesale buyer who plies his trade at Sri Lanka’s largest fish market, in the city of Negombo, just north of Colombo, he jostles with fishers offloading their catches. His business is primarily to find fresh tuna but he also buys 700kg (1,540lb) of manta and devil rays every day.He doesn’t want the ray’s meat, which most Sri Lankans don’t eat. Instead, he’s after the gill plates: cartilage that helps manta and devil rays filter out microorganisms in ocean waters.At sunrise in Negombo, the nightly fish market quietens down and fishers start to return home after many days at sea Continue reading...

World’s biggest grain trader accused of ‘shoddy due diligence’ on deforestation and alleged rights violationsThe world’s largest grain trader, Cargill, is facing a first-ever legal challenge in the United States over its failure to remove deforestation and human rights abuses from its soya supply chain in Brazil.ClientEarth, an environmental law organisation, filed the formal complaint on Thursday, accusing Cargill of inadequate monitoring and a laggard response to the decline of the Amazon rainforest and other globally important biomes, such as the Cerrado savannah and the Atlantic Forest.Soya beans bought from third-party traders, which make up 42% of all Brazilian soya Cargill purchases.Soya beans owned by other companies that passes through Cargill ports.Indirect land use change.Soya sourced from the Cerrado savannah.Soya sourced from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Continue reading...

Researchers were particularly excited by the discovery of dunnarts on Kangaroo Island, where fires ravaged up to 90% of their habitat

Replacing 10 freight vehicles with EVs would have same impact as putting 56 electric cars on road, study shows

Research says mining boom to support renewable energy risks ‘significant social and environmental damage’

Green group accused company of emitting more than it disclosed but TotalEnergies says report used dubious methodologiesThe French oil major TotalEnergies has sued the environmental group Greenpeace France and the climate consulting firm Factor-X over a report claiming that the company massively underestimated its 2019 greenhouse gas emissions, Total said on Wednesday.The civil complaint, served on 28 April, seeks a ruling that the November publication contains “false and misleading information”, a judicial order to withdraw the publication and cease all references to it under penalty of €2,000 (£1,760) a day in fines, plus a symbolic €1 in damages. Continue reading...

Lyrics of Stop changed to ‘stop right now, no more oil and gas’ because of bank’s fossil fuel funding

There is estimated 60% chance event will develop by end of July, and 80% chance of it by end of SeptemberThe chance of an El Niño weather phenomenon developing in the coming months has risen, the United Nations has said, warning that it could fuel higher global temperatures and possibly new heat records.The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday that it now estimated there was a 60% chance that El Niño would develop by the end of July, and an 80% chance it would do so by the end of September. Continue reading...

Measure will also help shift utilities away from private companies to make them publicly ownedNew York state has passed legislation that will scale up the state’s renewable energy production and signals a major step toward moving utilities out of private hands to become publicly owned.The bill, included in the state’s new budget, will require the state’s public power provider to generate all of its electricity from clean energy by 2030. It also allows the public utility to build and own renewables while phasing out fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Dangerous chemicals that can cause cancer and air pollution are often found in cosmetics, personal care products and cleanersSome of the most common consumer products probably release 5,000 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in American homes annually, new research on the dangerous class of chemicals finds.The research, which analyzed ingredient lists across dozens of product categories, found the most concerning levels in general purpose cleaners, art supplies and laundry detergents, while the individual product that emitted the most VOCs was mothballs. Continue reading...

These are the arguments spun by big beef titans to persuade consumers that meat eating has negligible impact on the planetIt’s a hard, unpalatable, disorienting truth: if we’re serious about avoiding the worst scenarios of the climate crisis, people – particularly those who live in wealthier nations – need to consume fewer animal products.But for the corporate titans who stand atop the nearly trillion-dollar global meat industry, this modest change represents an existential threat, which is why they’re spinning the truth about the full climate impacts of animal agriculture. Continue reading...

A Masters of Beef Advocacy program teaches ‘scientific sounding’ arguments on cattle’s sustainability in an all-out public relations warThe US beef industry is creating an army of influencers and citizen activists to help amplify a message that will be key to its future success: that you shouldn’t be too worried about the growing attention around the environmental impacts of its production.In particular, it would like you not to be especially concerned about how meat consumption needs to be reduced if we are to avoid the most violently disruptive forms of planetary heating (even if all fossil fuel use ended tomorrow). Continue reading...

PM says he is pleased to contribute to Friends of the Western Ground Parrot as the king ‘has long championed conservation’

Conservationists say government must stop licensing ‘unsustainable’ harvest of eggs from amber-listed birdsLicences have been issued for more than 160,000 eggs to be taken from black-headed gull nests since 2019, government data shows, as conservationists call for the eggs to be “taken off all menus”.Each spring, thousands of eggs are collected from the amber-listed seabird’s nests and sold under licences issued by the government’s wildlife watchdog, Natural England. They are considered a delicacy in fine-dining restaurants, known for their creamy yellow yolks and beautiful speckled shells, and can sell for more than £8 each. Continue reading...

Environmental groups and scientists say move will have an unacceptable impact on the climate and have called for ban

Kevin Darmody, 65, went missing while fishing on the Kennedy River on Saturday

Hidden camera at slaughterhouse appears to show ‘utterly inhumane’ use of COto stun pigs before slaughterNew undercover footage showing British pigs being gassed prior to slaughter has led to renewed calls to investigate the use of CO.Campaigners say the pictures – the first of their kind to be obtained in a UK abattoir – show the “utterly inhumane” nature of using CO to stun pigs before being killed. But the pork industry says its use is recognised as the most welfare-friendly method available, and says alternatives are being sought. Continue reading...

Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber says summit in Dubai in November will dedicate a day to healthThe next UN climate summit will be the first to consider health issues in depth, with a meeting of global health ministers to highlight the consequences of the climate crisis for wellbeing.Sultan Al Jaber, the president of Cop28, which will take place in Dubai this November, said on Tuesday: “We will be the first Cop to dedicate a day to health and the first to host a health and climate ministerial. And we need to broaden our definition of adaptation to enable global climate resilience, transform food systems and enhance forestry land use and water management.” Continue reading...

Partisanship has thwarted Congress’s attempts to limit PFAS, but a patchwork of state laws is pushing for their phase-outFew chemicals have attracted as intense public and regulatory scrutiny as PFAS, but even as the highly toxic and ubiquitous compounds’ dangers come into sharper focus, industry influence has crippled congressional attempts to pass meaningful consumer protections.Federal bills designed to address some of the most significant sources of exposure – food packaging, cosmetics, personal care products, clothing, textiles, cookware and firefighting foam – have all failed in recent sessions. Continue reading...

Driven by poverty to work in the dangerous fishing industry with inadequate equipment, Miskitos too often end up paralyzed or deadOn the main avenue of Puerto Lempira, a man sits outside a restaurant in a wooden, hand-propelled cart and waves to another man ambling by in a cart of his own. A block down, a man in a wheelchair is pushed by a young woman past a man on crutches. At a corner, a pair of men clutching canes lounge in the shade.It could be a description of a retirement community. But the men are of all ages, and such scenes are common across the coast of Gracias a Dios, an Indigenous territory in north-east Honduras, where decades of unsafe fishing practices have disabled thousands who dive the Caribbean Sea to harvest marine life. Continue reading...

BlackRock and L&G among asset managers using funds with ESG label to invest in coal, oil and gasInvestment funds branded as green or socially responsible are being used by some of the world’s largest asset managers to invest hundreds of millions of pounds in fossil fuel companies, according to a report.The research by the Common Wealth thinktank showed that the US fund managers BlackRock and State Street and the UK-based Legal & General were among asset managers to use funds with an “environment, social and governance” (ESG) label to invest in fossil fuel firms. Continue reading...

Exclusive: YouGov survey in seven countries tested backing for government and individual action on crisisMany Europeans are alarmed by the climate crisis and would willingly take personal steps and back government policies to help combat it, a survey suggests – but the more a measure would change their lifestyle, the less they support it.The seven-country YouGov survey tested backing for state-level climate action, such as banning single-use plastics and scrapping fossil-fuel cars, and individual initiatives including buying only secondhand clothes and giving up meat and dairy products. Continue reading...

Environment groups say comments reflect carmaker’s own delays in launching EV models, rather than the state of the market

Watching sea snakes swim through water is soothing – until you remember they are realSea snakes are, in animal form, the feeling the deep end of the pool gives you when you are a child, when suddenly you feel you are swimming at night, or when you are in bed but not totally sure the floor beneath hasn’t turned into water and sharks. And because sea snakes aren’t where they’re meant to be – everything you know tells you snakes don’t belong in the sea – the more you learn about them, the more you encounter all that you don’t know: the words are weird, you understand their meaning but can’t read their letters, they are words in a dream – or was it a nightmare?Black-banded sea kraits, a type of sea snake, hunt with yellow goatfish; in New Caledonia, they are called “stripy sweaters”. Kraits are “elapid”, which means their fangs are always erect. Sea snake lungs are almost as long as their bodies; they can breathe through their skin. Their tongues are shorter than those of land snakes: only the forked part pokes out.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Global fleet has more than doubled in two decades, with more private flights made last year than ever beforeSales of private jets are likely to reach their highest ever level this year, placing an increasing burden on the planet, while many of the owners escape aviation taxes, and there are few curbs on the greenhouse gases emitted, according to a report.The global fleet of private jets has more than doubled in the last two decades, and more private flights were made last year than ever before, according to a thinktank report published on Monday. Greenhouse gas emissions from private aviation have increased by nearly a quarter since the pandemic, when flying of all types nearly ceased in many countries for an extended period. Continue reading...

Greenpeace Belgium working to release 14 protesters who sailed inflatables into the Fluxys LGN terminal in ZeebruggeFourteen Greenpeace activists have been held for more than 48 hours after trespassing into and occupying a liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal in Zeebrugge, BelgiumGreenpeace Belgium said it was working for their release. Valerie Del Re, director of Greenpeace Belgium, said: “It’s not our activists, but gas companies like Fluxys who are the criminals in this story. Continue reading...

Heritage body wants to build 1,065-space car park at Lyme Park despite net zero by 2030 pledgeThe National Trust has been criticised for its “car-dependent business model” after revealing plans to build the Peak District’s biggest car park while pledging to be net carbon zero by 2030.The heritage body wants to build a 1,065-space car park at Lyme Park, a stately home set in 560 hectares (1,400 acres) on the fringes of the national park, just outside Greater Manchester. Continue reading...

The U’wa people’s case against the Colombian government could help protect the environment across Latin AmericaAfter centuries fighting to protect their territory – and 26 years waiting to testify in an international legal dispute – an Andean Indigenous community has finally made its formal declarations against the Colombian state.The U’wa Indigenous community told the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) that Colombia has repeatedly failed to recognise their ancestral lands and has threatened the group’s existence by polluting their territory with oil. Continue reading...

AEMO Services estimates the projects will avert as much as 11m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over a 20-year period

Discharge of raw sewage is mainstream concern in first local elections since Guardian revealed scale of problemRiver pollution has become a leading issue on doorsteps during the countdown to the local elections on Thursday.Thousands of seats are being contested across England, the largest number since 2019 when the Conservatives lost control of several councils. These are the first local elections since the Guardian revealed the hidden scandal of the scale of raw sewage pollution in rivers, pushing the issue into the mainstream political debate. Continue reading...

Juvenile female freshwater croc found in Umina likely an illegal pet that was abandoned but is in good health, reptile keepers say

Conservationists call for national response plan for possible arrival of HPAI H5, which so far has affected 300 species worldwide

Sixty of the keystone species released near Bordeaux to feast on waste from wild cattle and help restore a vital habitat on the Atlantic coastIn a forest clearing filled with cowpats, French history is being made: the country’s first translocation of dung beetles in a nature reserve near Bordeaux.With the same pomp and ceremony afforded to the release of an Iberian lynx or a European bison, about 60 “ball rolling” insects were brought to the marshy forests of Étang de Cousseau in south-west France on Wednesday to restore a vital ecosystem function on the Atlantic coast. Continue reading...

Top gardeners advise use of tougher varieties that can cope with extremes of heat and cold as conditions disappoint growersGardeners are being urged to grow plants that can cope with extreme heat and cold after the Royal Horticultural Society was bombarded with letters from members asking why species they had cultivated successfully for years were now dying.“It seems to be because of the temperature fluctuations,” said Nikki Barker, a senior horticultural adviser at the RHS. “We’ve gone from severe drought with an initially very mild autumn that turned cold. It’s the combination of weather patterns rather than one single event. And plants find it hard to deal with that fluctuation.” Continue reading...

Described as a ‘botanical wonderland’, the rocky ridge is home to more than 30 species of rare plants and Indigenous village sitesMolok Luyuk, a 11-mile (18km) rocky ridge just north of San Francisco, is a rare, idiosyncratic landscape. Purple and yellow wildflowers bloom against green and brown hillsides. Dark rock formations extend against lush cypress groves.Located along California’s inner coast ridge, “it’s a beautiful area, secluded from development,” said James Kinter, tribal secretary of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. “And for us, it’s more than just a natural environment.” Continue reading...

The country has recorded its hottest, driest April yet. For people working outdoors, it’s no jokeThere are many better places to be in Spain than Madrid when recordbreaking temperatures bring summer’s ruthless heat in spring, prompting government health warnings, action plans from regional authorities and the familiar agonising wait for outdoor public pools to open.There are also many better places to be in Madrid when the mercury nudges 30C (86F) than under a woolly hat inside a furry Sonic the Hedgehog costume in the elegant, shadeless air fryer that is the Spanish capital’s Plaza Mayor. Continue reading...

Some argue that state-by-state incentives for buyers would be better spent on electric vehicle infrastructure

Exclusive: Environment Agency finds ‘very persistent, mobile and toxic’ PFAS in effluent legally discharged near Wyre estuaryA chemicals company is releasing large quantities of a “forever chemical” described as being “very persistent, mobile and toxic” into the River Wyre in Lancashire each year, and is not breaking any rules.Earlier this year, the Guardian and Watershed Investigations revealed that effluent coming from the site of AGC Chemicals Europe in Thornton-Cleveleys could contain about 700 types of perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS). Continue reading...

Record heat in southern Europe and chilly start to British growing season spell more misery for shoppersShoppers have been warned they face more fruit and vegetable shortages, as temperatures in southern Spain soar to unprecedented levels while the UK growing season gets off to a late start because of cold, overcast weather.Temperatures were expected to reach a new April record of 39C (102F) in parts of Andalucía on Friday amid a long-lasting drought that has affected the production of vegetables in Spain. Córdoba reached a record 38.8C on Thursday. Continue reading...

From Dundee to LA, citizen scientists will document plants and animals for the City Nature ChallengeHundreds of cities are competing this weekend to collect the most plant and wildlife observations in an urban “bioblitz” as part of a global citizen science challenge.From Dundee windowsills to San Francisco parks, people are being urged to document whatever flora and fauna they can spot around them in urban areas and upload the photos to the iNaturalist app to help identify rare species. Continue reading...

Garden charity no longer categorises slugs and snails as pests but sells items that harm them, say criticsThe Royal Horticultural Society has been criticised for continuing to sell products that kill wildflowers and insects, despite public messaging about protecting biodiversity.Last year, the RHS said slugs and snails would no longer be classed as pests. The leading garden charity said they were an important part of the garden ecosystem and “play an important role in planet-friendly gardening”. Continue reading...