Environment | The Guardian

The talking is over, and a text has been agreed on the next decade of targets to save the natural world. Here are the highs and lows of the Convention of Biological Diversity’s (CBD) agreementThe term “nature positive”, which scientists had said would be the biodiversity equivalent of “net zero”, did not make the final document. Many will see this as a missed opportunity – a unifying idea similar to keeping global heating to within 1.5C. However, the 2030 goal to “take urgent action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss” is still considered a relatively strong call to action. Continue reading...

P-22’s death prompts outpouring of grief and respect for the wild influencer who called Hollywood Hills home and ‘captivated the world’He was a symbol, the face of a campaign, a subject of songs and an inspiration for an entire city. But P-22 – the most famous mountain lion in Los Angeles, and quite possibly the world – was also just a cat, and the cat had gotten very old.In the end, he was undone by the very city that loved him. Marooned in a park surrounded by urban neighborhoods and freeways, without access to his natural range or the prospect of a mate, he grew infirm and began acting erratically. On Saturday, after bringing him in for a health check, wildlife officials took the difficult step of euthanizing him. Continue reading...

The Montreal biodiversity conference set some ambitious targets. It’s now up to nations – including the UK – to step upI don’t normally finish United Nations Cop meetings with a smile on my face. Yet as the sun sets on the UN biodiversity conference, Cop15, in Montreal with a global agreement for nature’s recovery, I’m walking away feeling rather more optimistic than I did only a fortnight ago.In the early hours of Monday morning in Montreal, Canada, nearly 200 countries agreed and adopted a new “global biodiversity framework” containing various goals and targets. The pact requires all nations – particularly the UK – to dramatically up their game on protecting and restoring nature. Continue reading...

Treated wastewater still proposed for the Dawson River, home to the white-throated snapping turtle

The chief executive of the UK’s second-largest energy supplier has found his views on the industry have never been more in demandMichael Lewis is not used to friends taking a keen interest in his job. But the energy crisis, which has driven dozens of suppliers under, has turned the tables for E.ON’s UK chief executive.“I never thought I’d be standing at a friend’s birthday party explaining the system marginal pricing of the electricity market,” he laughs. “But there I was, and I had an audience. They want to understand what happened – you explain why 29 suppliers failed and they’re saying: ‘Oh really? And we’re all paying for that?’” Continue reading...

Lawyer in a civil lawsuit launched by towns in hurricane-hit Puerto Rico describes why it is using laws used to target mob bossesThe same racketeering legislation used to bring down mob bosses, motorcycle gangs, football executives and international fraudsters is to be tested against oil and coal companies who are accused of conspiring to deceive the public over the climate crisis.In an ambitious move, an attempt will be made to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for “decades of deception” in a lawsuit being brought by communities in Puerto Rico that were devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Continue reading...

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The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, and its objections raised the prospect of legal challengesA once-in-a-decade deal to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems finally won full support at Cop15 in Montreal on Monday after the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) dropped its opposition.Earlier on Monday, Ève Bazaiba, the DRC’s environment minister, threatened to throw the integrity of the historic UN biodiversity agreement into doubt just hours after it was signed, when China’s summit president appeared to ignore her country’s objections to the text and forced it through. Continue reading...

In a pristine forest in central India, the multibillion-dollar mining giant Adani has razed trees – and homes – to dig more coal. How does this kind of destruction get the go-ahead?In a lined notebook, Bhole Nath Singh Armo, a lean 28-year-old man wearing a blue shirt and matching baseball cap, drew a map of his village. He pointed his pen at the middle to mark the temple where the village deity had lived. To the west, he noted a settlement of more than 200 houses where he, his father and his grandfather were born and raised. Then, to the north, another temple for a female deity. This was how his village, Kete, looked until nine years ago, when it was destroyed by a company controlled by a $260bn conglomerate. The conglomerate is named after its owner, Asia’s richest man, Gautam Adani.The village was located in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, on the edge of the dense Hasdeo Arand forest. One of India’s few pristine and contiguous tracts of forest, Hasdeo Arand sprawls across more than 1,500 sq km. The land is home to rare plants such as epiphytic orchids and smilax, endangered animals such as sloth bears and elephants, and sal trees so tall they seem to brush against the sky. Continue reading...

Democratic Republic of the Congo’s environment minister says country has not agreed to ‘30 by 30’ dealThe Democratic Republic of the Congo’s environment minister has said her country has not agreed to a deal to halt the destruction of the Earth’s ecosystems, prompting behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts to keep the agreement alive just hours after it was adopted.Ève Bazaiba, the DRC’s environment minister, said her country would be writing to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, and the Convention on Biological Diversity to express the DRC’s position on the final text. It comes after the Chinese Cop15 president, Huang Runqiu, appeared to force through the agreement in the final plenary just moments after the DRC negotiator had said did not support the deal, which is typically negotiated by consensus. His interventions prompted further objections from Uganda and Cameroon. Continue reading...

Selby council says roads agency, accused of ‘cultural vandalism’, must apply for planning permissionThe government’s roads agency has been told it must reverse its burial of another Victorian railway bridge, or seek permission for it, as the extent of the agency’s “cultural vandalism” has emerged.Selby district council has told National Highways (NH) it must apply for planning permission if it wants to retain hundreds of tonnes of aggregate and concrete the agency used to submerge the arch of a 175-year-old bridge over Rudgate Road near Newton Kyme, North Yorkshire. Continue reading...

Maggie Johnston wonders why doors are kept open while heaters blast away. Rev Dr John Caperon has faith in his trusty draught excluderSo the government is to encourage us to draughtproof our windows and doors (‘It all adds up’: UK campaign to cut energy use launches this weekend, 13 December). Meanwhile, many high street shops have their doors wide open while heaters are blasting away. If I had my central heating on and kept my front door open all day, I would rightly be judged to be mad. Why are shop doors still open when we are in the midst of an energy crisis?Some years ago, a closed-doors policy was tried out in Cambridge. It resulted in lower heating bills for shops and a decrease in shoplifting. Customers were not put off and profits were not affected. Closed doors means a more comfortable experience for customers and staff, plus it has the added benefit of keeping out harmful particulates from traffic fumes. The group Close the Door has information on all the benefits. Time for shops to act.

António Guterres announces a climate ambition summit to confront ‘existential threat’ facing the planetThe goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C is “gasping for breath”, the UN secretary general has said as he announced a “climate ambition summit” for September.António Guterres said the summit would challenge leaders of governments and businesses to come up with “new, tangible and credible climate action to accelerate the pace of change” and confront the “existential threat” of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Environmental groups and ministers have praised the ambition of the agreement, which also places emphasis on Indigenous rightsMinisters and environmental groups have praised the ambition of the deal reached at Cop15, which includes a target to protect 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade and places emphasis on Indigenous rights.There was widespread support for the final text put forward after two weeks of UN biodiversity negotiations to agree this decade’s targets for protecting nature, which included protecting 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade, reforming $500bn (£410bn) of environmentally damaging subsidies, and taking urgent action on extinctions. Continue reading...

Exclusive: DfT refuses to publish emission figures, which campaigners say could make new road projects unviableThe UK government is refusing to release the carbon emission figures behind its transport decarbonisation plan, which campaigners say could make proposed road schemes financially unviable.The Department for Transport (DfT) is blocking academics from seeing the figures, which include data on how much car use would have to be reduced in order to reach net zero commitments. Continue reading...

Agreement on ’30 by 30’ target forced through by Chinese president, ignoring objections from African states

Main points of the historic agreement signed in Montreal to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems

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Scientists say loss may be as significant as ‘insectaggedon’ in terms of impact on soil, birds and ecosystemsPopulations of earthworms in the UK may have fallen by about a third in the past 25 years, an assessment has shown.Earthworms are vital for the healthy soil that underpins all ecosystems and scientists said a large decline would sit alongside concerns about “insectaggedon” and the global destruction of wildlife. Continue reading...

Wind turbines will need to be built at least 10km from coastline in zoned area that runs from Lakes Entrance to Wilsons Promontory

While other countries have made additional pledges, Australia criticised for failing to offer more than its budget commitments

Campaigners welcome DfT’s temporary £60m subsidy to cut emissions and congestion, but say it should go furtherBus fares in many places across England will be capped at £2 for the winter under a government-backed campaign to encourage people back on to public transport.Single fares on most major operators’ services will be limited from January until March under the scheme. Continue reading...

Final agreement could bring better protection for vital ecosystems and big reforms to agricultureA potentially transformational agreement for nature is close to being reached at Cop15 in Montreal, which could bring better protection for Earth’s vital ecosystems such as the Amazon and Congo basin rainforests, big reforms to agriculture, and better protection of indigenous territories and rights – but there are concerns that key issues are being overlooked.After four years of negotiations and 12 years since the last biodiversity targets were agreed in Japan, the Chinese president of Cop15 put forward its recommendations for a final agreement after two weeks of intense negotiations at the UN biodiversity summit in Canada. Continue reading...

Wildlife TV presenter tipped for success after capturing country’s heart on path to Strictly victoryHe may have come from relative obscurity but 2023 is predicted to be a big year for the Strictly Come Dancing champion Hamza Yassin, who lifted the glitterball trophy with his dance partner Jowita Przystał on Saturday night.He pipped fellow finalists Helen Skelton, Fleur East and Molly Rainford to the title in a tense final and insiders are now predicting big things for the wildlife expert, who said he was “over the moon” to win. Continue reading...

Chancellor to announce an extension of the scheme, a lifeline for energy-intensive firms, but may make it less generousChristmas is just days away and business owners across the country are nervously waiting for a much-needed present from the government. The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is expected to announce an extension as early as this week to a support scheme to help businesses with their energy bills, which is due to end in March. Hunt faces a choice between piling on further costs to the Treasury or seeing companies go bust without intervention. Continue reading...

The activist for native peoples says she will work to overturn the ‘catastrophic legacy’ from Jair Bolsonaro’s presidencyThe activist tipped to become Brazil’s first-ever minister for native peoples has vowed to make the demarcation of Indigenous lands and the battle against environmental crime top priorities in an attempt to overcome Jair Bolsonaro’s “catastrophic legacy” of Amazon devastation and violence.Sônia Guajajara, a key member of Brazil’s burgeoning Indigenous rights movement, is widely expected to be named head of the ministry, which president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promised to create during his campaign. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Renewable energy will be kept in cathedral-sized cave for freezing, windless conditionsThe energy company SSE has begun work to develop an underground cavern in east Yorkshire to store hydrogen, aiming to stockpile the renewable source of power for when the freezing, windless conditions experienced in the last week occur in future.The project will produce hydrogen using renewable energy in a 35-megawatt electrolyser which will be stored in a cavern the size of St Paul’s Cathedral located a mile deep at an existing SSE site in Aldbrough on the Yorkshire coast. Continue reading...

Director tells BBC’s Desert Island Discs he regrets the ‘frenzy of sport fishing’ that followed 1975 thriller’s release

Lynmouth Road, Walthamstow, is about to become its own power station, with solar energy for 30 homes. Now the artists responsible want us all to change how we heat our homesLynmouth Road appears unremarkable. It consists largely of redbrick Victorian terraces. There are similar streets throughout the area, in Walthamstow, northeast London. Some houses are pebble-dashed. Some have doors painted in contemporary grey. There are wind chimes, geraniums in boxes, wheelie bins and the occasional cat sitting on a gate post. The only unusual feature is the number of windows displaying an A4 poster with the words “Power Station” printed in the font used by polling stations.Power, in the sense of the energy, is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Energy bills have reached record highs and are still rising, with the war in Ukraine highlighting how fragile energy supplies can be. This year’s Cop27 climate conference promised money to poorer countries to assist with damage caused by climate change, yet no agreement was reached on phasing out fossil fuels. The idea of cleaner power, generated closer to home, should feel like an obvious goal. But, at the moment, there are no large-scale programmes dedicated to making it happen. Instead, there are people like Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell. Continue reading...

Higher electricity prices compound the problem – as will the government’s plan to scrap ‘retained’ EU lawsThe UK is falling far behind EU countries in its performance and policies on home insulation and energy efficiency, and will lose further ground if “retained laws” from the European Union are scrapped, according to a new study.The report, by UK pressure group Another Europe is Possible and Germany’s respected Friedrich Ebert Foundation, says the UK is failing to match new EU laws which aim to double the annual rate of building renovation and reduce primary energy consumption by 39% by 2030. Continue reading...

Agreement will need to strike consensus over sources and mechanisms to fund conservationThe French president, Emmanuel Macron, has called on countries to “go big” in negotiations at Cop15, as the talks to secure the next decade of targets to stop the destruction of nature reach the final stages.“The most vulnerable countries are home to biodiversity treasures. We need to increase our funding to support them, with no expense spared! France will double its funding to 1 billion euros per year. COP 15 stakeholders: get on board and join the fight!” he tweeted. Continue reading...

Experts and officials mourn cougar who became ‘an iconic ambassador for wildlife’ in the cityThe reign of Los Angeles’s most famous mountain lion – hailed as an “ambassador for wildlife” in the city – has come to an end, after health and behavioral concerns led to P-22’s euthanization.The cougar, who became another LA celebrity after making his home in the city a decade ago, “went to sleep” on Saturday morning, according to state wildlife officials. Continue reading...

Biden poised to sign measure into law as US faces criticism at Cop15 biodiversity conference over failing to sign 30-year-old pact to protect natureAs the UN meets in Montreal to discuss saving biodiversity without the US, whose representatives are joining only as observers, conservationists are hailing one American step in the right direction: a likely ban on the trade of shark fins.Although shark finning – the practice of cutting off shark fins and dumping the rest of the body back into the ocean – is illegal in the US, much of the trade in fins happens in US territory. As many as 73 million sharks are finned around the world each year. Continue reading...

Washington hasn’t signed a 30-year-old pact, leaving Biden’s envoy in the role of ‘influencer’ in MontrealOnly two countries in the world have not joined the UN Convention on Biological Diversity: the Vatican and the US. Few have missed the Holy See, but the US not joining the CBD 30 years ago has been described as the “major holdout” among countries looking to support the convention’s goals.In Montreal, where negotiations for this decade’s UN biodiversity targets are entering their frantic final stages, the absence of the US political machine is noticeable, changing the power dynamics in talks between the remaining 196 countries. Continue reading...

Our reporters give you the inside story on what’s happening at the biodiversity summit in MontrealFriday, 16 December• As the flocons fell on Montreal, two officers of the SPVM, the city police, were busy making a miniature snowman outside the Palais des congrès security barricade, using twigs for arms. A few others amused themselves poking gentle Quebecois fun at some of the out-of-country delegates arriving in inappropriate footwear. As they say, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just breathable trainers. Continue reading...

Despite backing calls to protect 30% of world’s land and sea by 2030, UK has no such target in its own plansThe UK’s environment targets are a missed opportunity to protect Britain’s rainforests, cold water coral reefs, chalk streams and peat bogs, environmentalists have said, amid accusations of hypocrisy over the government’s position at Cop15.On Friday, the environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, announced the government’s legally binding targets at the UN summit in Montreal, where the world is negotiating this decade’s agreement to protect biodiversity on Earth, with talks expected to conclude on Monday. Continue reading...

Their sit-down protests caused chaos on roads and made them a target for tabloid ire and drivers’ fury. Then an energy crisis hit – and now the government is playing catchup as we shiver in our draughty homesShortly before 8am on 13 September 2021, 92 people gathered in small groups at five junctions along the M25, the busy motorway that encircles most of Greater London. It was a warm day and adrenaline ran high.Cameron Ford, a 31-year-old carpenter, was at junction 3, in Kent. The protesters gathered at the side of the road and prepared for the crucial moment. They did a group meditation on a grassy layby, rush-hour traffic roaring in the background. Louise Lancaster, a 56-year-old teacher with sharp blue eyes, was at junction 31, in Essex. They had amassed in a car park, and everyone took turns running into a nearby shopping centre to use the toilet. David Nixon, a 36-year-old care worker from Yorkshire, had woken early that morning feeling sick. As the group huddled together at junction 14, in Surrey, he found himself completely overwhelmed. Continue reading...

Enshrining the curriculum in law insulates the subject from budget cuts and culture wars related to the climate crisisStarting next July, Connecticut will become one of the first states in America to mandate climate change studies across its public schools as part of its science curriculum.The new law passed earlier this year comes as part of the state’s attempts to address concerns over the short duration – and in some cases, absence – of climate change studies in classrooms. The requirement follows in the footsteps of New Jersey, which in 2020 became the first state to mandate K-12 climate change education across its school districts. Continue reading...

Energy minister Chris Bowen says the batteries – shared between four states – will increase capacity tenfold to help stabilise the grid

Modelling shows that if we continue on current trajectory, global heating will drive a cascade of extinctions in plants and animalsEarth could lose more than a tenth of its plant and animal species by the end of the century on current trends, according to new research which comes as nearly 3,000 scientists call for action from governments to stop the destruction of nature in the final days of negotiations at Cop15.The climate crisis will drive an accelerating cascade of extinctions in the coming decades, as predators lose their prey, parasites lose their hosts, and temperature rises fracture Earth’s web of life, according to the researchers, who warn of the risk of co-extinctions in a paper published on Friday in Science Advances. Continue reading...

Environment secretary disappoints campaigners by failing to set overall targets for river health and protected habitatsThe UK government has undermined talks at the Cop15 biodiversity conference by failing to set targets for water quality or habitat protections in England, campaigners have said.Environmental experts have been disappointed by the delayed legally binding targets mandated by the 2021 Environment Act, which were released on Friday, six weeks after the deadline. Continue reading...

Research suggests climate crisis may contribute to increased gun violence by pushing temperatures beyond normal rangesAlmost 8,000 shootings in US cities in recent years were attributable to unseasonably warm temperatures, according to a new study. The researchers said the work suggested the climate crisis could be contributing to increased gun violence by pushing temperatures beyond the normal ranges.Shootings were already known to peak in summer, when people are outside more and when heat can increase aggression. But the new research took account of the season and showed that above average temperatures at any time of year increased the risk of shootings. Continue reading...

In the past 12 months I have learned that the mass extermination of the Amazon is a climate catastrophe – and much moreI thought it was a blood moon at first. The dark orange glow appeared at dusk on the far side of the shimmering silver band that is the Xingu River. It was just before 8pm, after the parrots had squawked back to their nests and the insects and frogs were noisily starting the forest nightshift. A flash of lightning from a cloud appeared above almost the same location but the rest of the sky was clear. How could there be a storm? I peered more intently and took a photograph that I could magnify. And there was the answer – a fire, which grew fiercer as I watched, the flames spreading sideways and upwards, flickering red and yellow, billowing smoke into the sky, sparking flashes of lightning every couple of minutes.I felt sick to the stomach. The Amazon rainforest was being destroyed in front of my eyes. I have been writing about the climate crisis for 16 years, always with a sense of horror but until now, mostly with a sense of distance. This was the first time I had seen it from my home, and it was stranger than I expected. I had not realised until that moment that fire can create its own lightning storms, by creating pyrocumulonimbus, which scientists describe as “the fire-breathing dragon of clouds”. Continue reading...

Two people injured by broken glass as 1m litres of water pour out of 14-metre-high tankA freestanding cylindrical aquarium housing about 1,500 exotic fish burst in Berlin on Friday morning, causing a wave of devastation in and around the tourist attraction.Glass, chairs, tables and other debris were swept out of the DomAquarée complex, which includes a Radisson hotel, a museum, shops and restaurants, as 1m litres of water poured out of the 14-metre-high (46ft) tank shortly before 6am. Continue reading...

Decimated by relentless drought, the population of the common Australian insect is recovering but remains fragile

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including hungry puppies, a snow leopard and migratory birds Continue reading...

With only two instances of the word ‘ocean’ in the latest 5,000-word working agreement, delegates fear marine biodiversity is being sacrificedThe ocean may cover 70% of the Earth’s surface and contain much of its animal life, but you might not get that impression from the UN discussions in Montreal to save global biodiversity, with some delegates fearing marine protections could be severely watered down or dropped entirely.Although overfishing, global heating and acidification are considered an existential risk to what has been called “the lungs of the planet”, so far there are only two mentions of the word “ocean” in the latest 10-page, 5,000-word working agreement at Cop15 –let alone specific demands to curtail fishing, protect coral reefs or stop deep-sea mining. Continue reading...

The Bronx River Foodway, the only legal place to forage in New York, celebrates the end of a seasonOn a crisp November day in the South Bronx, more than 300 people made their way from Westchester Avenue below the clamor of the 6 train down a tree-lined path leading to Concrete Plant park. This is the home of the Bronx River Foodway, a quarter-acre food forest full of edible, mostly native plants. What looks like a stretch of land dotted with trees appears at first glance to be overrun by weeds, but the wild foliage has been intentionally planted by the Foodway. It is the only legal foraging site in New York City.Neighbors young and old poured on to the grassy banks of the Bronx River to celebrate the end of the season and the foliage of the Bronx, including an array of snacks made from foraged ingredients: ginkgo cheese and acorn crackers, and pickled mushrooms and herbal ales made at recent four-part cooking series put on by the Foodway over the last two months. Continue reading...

Labor revokes Abbott government move which allowed energy from burning wood waste to be counted with solar and wind

Conservationists say amount is ‘nothing like what’s needed’ to achieve 30x30 target and address nature crisisThe UK has announced it will give nearly £30m to support developing countries in delivering the target to protect 30% of land and ocean by 2030, an amount conservationists criticised as being “nothing like what’s needed”.The announcement was made on Thursday as the environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, started international negotiations at Cop15 in Montreal. The £29m pledge – £24m of which is new money – is being allocated to support developing countries in delivering the 30x30 target, which is a negotiating priority for the UK at the UN summit. Continue reading...