Environment | The Guardian

Discovery of body near Hillston comes after a 65-year-old man was found dead in flood-hit Victoria

Commons report finds organised criminals view illegal dumping fines as business expense and there is no coherent planThe government’s attitude to waste crime is “close to decriminalisation” as fines are so low, the chair of the Commons public accounts committee (Pac) has said.Organised criminals view the relatively tiny fines as a business expense, MPs have warned, as illegal waste dumping becomes a lucrative income stream for gangs. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lancashire site responsible for 192 earthquakes over course of 182 days in 2018-19, Lib Dem analysis has foundFracking caused an earthquake every day at the UK’s only active site at Preston New Road in Lancashire, analysis has found.Between 2018 and 2019, the site near Blackpool was responsible for 192 earthquakes over the course of 182 days , according to analysis of House of Commons Library data by the Liberal Democrats. Continue reading...

Fewer than half of those questioned in global poll believe climate change poses a ‘very serious threat’Concerns about climate change shrank across the world last year, with fewer than half of those questioned in a new survey believing it posed a “very serious threat” to their countries over the next 20 years.Only 20% of people in China, the world’s biggest polluter, said they believed that climate change was a very serious threat, down 3 percentage points from the last survey by Gallup World Risk Poll in 2019. Continue reading...

Rewilding Europe’s 10th project ‘has potential to benefit both nature and people’ in one of the continent’s least populated areasBlack vultures, lynx and wild horses are among the animals being reintroduced to eastern Spain with the launch of a rewilding project spanning 850,000 hectares (2.1m acres) in the Iberian highlands east of Madrid.Rewilding Europe’s 20-year landscape recovery scheme, which covers an area more than five times the size of Greater London, aims to make the land wilder and more nature-friendly. The protected area is the southern part of the Iberian Chain, a mountain range that stretches 500km (300 miles) from the north-west of the country to the Mediterranean in the south-east. Continue reading...

As big firms stop insuring coal, complex schemes unlikely to find expertise needed, says Insure Our FutureNew coal power projects are becoming “effectively uninsurable” outside China because so many insurance companies have ruled out support for them, a report has found.Recent commitments to stop underwriting coal by prominent US insurers AIG and Travelers have brought the number of coal insurance exit policies to 41, according to the latest industry scorecard by the climate campaign Insure Our Future. Continue reading...

Government’s ‘dangerous deregulatory agenda’ risks missing pledge to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030, says reportThe UK will miss its key nature pledge to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 unless it scraps plans to deregulate environmental protections, a new report has warned.The UK is one of more than 100 countries committed to protecting “30x30” as a way to halt the destruction of the natural world. However, just 3.22% of land in England and 8% of the sea is being properly protected and managed for nature, according to the report from the environmental charities coalition Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL). Continue reading...

Lender told it must in future acknowledge its role in climate crisis after ‘misleading’ Cop26 campaignHSBC has suffered a fresh blow to its green credentials after the UK advertising watchdog banned a series of misleading adverts and said any future campaigns must disclose the bank’s contribution to the climate crisis.The ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) followed dozens of complaints over posters that appeared on high streets and bus stops in the lead-up to the Cop26 climate change conference in Glasgow last October. Continue reading...

Group of fans including former WA premier Carmen Lawrence say having fossil fuel company as major sponsor is ‘no longer appropriate’

Opposition motion drafted to make it very difficult for government to ignore or allow mass abstentionsLabour will attempt to force a binding vote on fracking on Wednesday, as Tory MPs mull backing a bid which would allow the opposition to put down a bill banning shale gas extraction.The motion submitted by Labour for its opposition day debate is drafted to make it very difficult for the government to ignore the vote or allow mass abstentions. Continue reading...

The state is going after five oil companies – ExxonMobil, Shell Oil, Chevron, BP and ConocoPhillips – for their role in the climate crisisNew Jersey has joined the ranks of Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Vermont as the latest state to sue some of the world’s largest oil companies for their role in delaying climate policy and increasing the climate impacts, risks and costs borne by state governments. Like Minnesota and the District of Columbia before it, New Jersey has also included the industry’s top US trade group, the American Petroleum Institute, in its suit, which includes not only liability, but also fraud claims against five oil majors: ExxonMobil, Shell Oil, Chevron, BP and ConocoPhillips.Some two dozen climate liability suits have been making their way through the courts since 2015, bolstered by media investigations and attribution studies that are able to accurately pinpoint the precise contribution climate change has made to the damages inflicted by extreme weather events. A 2021 study in the journal Nature, for example, found that just over $8bn (£7bn) of the $62.7bn (£55.3bn) in damages caused by Superstorm Sandy across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, is attributable to sea-level rise caused by climate change. Continue reading...

Police use raised platform to bring down activists who had blocked route linking Kent and Essex for second dayTwo Just Stop Oil protesters who climbed up the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and blocked the Dartford Crossing have been removed by police and arrested.Officers brought in a raised platform after the Dartford Crossing was blocked for the second day in a row. The protesters had agreed with police to leave the bridge, which links Kent and Essex. Continue reading...

A group of philanthropists, artists and First Nations representatives have offered $200,000 if the gas company is dropped by the festival board

$1.5bn agreement includes plan to fast-track regulatory processes to support ‘rapid’ development of Victoria’s offshore wind industry

Australia Institute says the tax would be a responsible way for Australians to receive a fair return for exploitation of gas resources

Climate Emergency Fund lauds National Portrait Gallery stunt and pledges to keep fighting against ‘mass delusion of normalcy’The US funders of a climate activist group that poured tomato soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London have vowed similar attention-grabbing stunts will take place in various countries in the weeks ahead.On Friday, two young activists from the Just Stop Oil group entered the gallery, opened two tins of Heinz tomato soup and hurled them over the painting, which is protected by a pane of glass. As onlookers exclaimed “Oh my gosh!”, the activists glued themselves to the wall beneath the painting. Continue reading...

Analysis finds ‘widespread contamination’ in the US, with forever chemicals frequently exceeding federal and state limitsMost of America’s waterways are likely contaminated by toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”, a new study conducted by US water keepers finds.The Waterkeeper Alliance analysis found detectable PFAS levels in 95 out of 114, or 83%, of waterways tested across 34 states and the District of Columbia, and frequently at levels that exceed federal and state limits. Continue reading...

The rate of warming in the top 2km has doubled from levels in the 1960s, review finds

Charities say calls at international meeting to lift restrictions are distraction from climate crisis and plastic pollutionA 40-year-old ban on commercial whaling is in danger after “misleading” resolutions were put forward at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Portorož, Slovenia.The wildlife protection organisations OceanCare and Humane Society International said proposals by pro-whaling countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, could reverse progress made by the IWC. Continue reading...

PM urged to increase windfarm capacity and expand energy company obligation to make more homes efficientIf Liz Truss is looking to give her leadership a new start, a cross-party group of MPs has suggested some answers, in the form of a 10-point wishlist for climate and nature.Tripling the capacity of floating offshore windfarms, restoring 30% of the UK’s saltmarshes and seagrass meadows, and expanding the existing energy company obligation to make more homes efficient, are among the recommendations by the MPs on the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on the environment. Continue reading...

It’s far better to speak too loud than to remain silent. With the environmental catastrophe accelerating day by day, activism has never been more important

Governments across the continent have announced a range of measures to tackle any energy shortages this winterParis is switching off the Eiffel Tower lights an hour early, Milan has turned off public fountains, and Hanover is offering gym users cold rather than hot showers in an effort to combat potential energy shortages this winter.At the same time, the public are being encouraged to do their bit by avoiding using household appliances between 4pm and 7pm, stock up on blankets and slow down their driving. Continue reading...

Growers say wheat, barley, canola and rice crops under threat but too early to gauge impact on prices and supply

Dominic Perrottet declines to give timeline for environmental impact assessment but says it has been expedited

Cash-strapped body says it is addressing Diamonds player’s concerns over Gina Rinehart’s mining company’s record on Indigenous issues

Twenty countries facing worst impact of global heating set out proposals for loss and damage paymentsRich countries must urgently develop a plan to assist countries suffering the ravages of extreme weather, as failure to take early action on the climate crisis has left them increasingly vulnerable, developing nations have said.The V20 – made up of the 20 vulnerable countries facing the worst impacts of the climate crisis, and least able to cope with them – set out its proposals on Monday for how rich countries should pay for the “loss and damage” caused by the climate crisis. Continue reading...

David Woollcombe and Richard Baker on the urgent need to move towards renewable energySimon Tisdall is right to call the Opec+ decision to lower production by 2m barrels a day “a stunning win for Putin” (Let Saudi Arabia’s friendship with Putin be a wake-up call for the west, 13 October). But anger, sanctions and stopping arms sales is an insufficient response. Rather, the west – and all UN member states – should use this moment to implement the recommendation by scientists to keep 60% to 80% of known oil reserves in the ground, thus incentivising the rapid transition from a fossil fuel economy to a green, renewable one.The Opec+ move, and the fact that companies spend billions every year prospecting for even more fossil fuel and fracking opportunities, must inspire those meeting at Cop27 across the Red Sea from Saudi Arabia to create a coalition of the willing to prohibit the production, sale and use of fossil fuels by, say, 2030. Continue reading...

One reader, serving a prison sentence for protesting with Just Stop Oil, says doing nothing is a choice they can no longer justifyI am writing from prison, where I am serving a sentence for breaking a high court injunction for the fourth time while protesting with Just Stop Oil against the government’s catastrophic fossil fuel policy. I sat peacefully with 50 others at Kingsbury oil terminal in Staffordshire to demand an end to fossil fuel licences. I don’t want sympathy, but do wonder why more people aren’t protesting against our, and our children’s, deaths.Even to consider 130 new drilling licences is lethal folly. Not only is it against expert advice, it’s also morally indefensible. We don’t need more gas and oil. It will kill us. Instead of subsidising fossil fuel corporations, the government should incentivise renewables and focus on reducing energy demand. It has shut its eyes to the horror of the climate emergency, but ours should remain open. It takes courage to face the terrifying implications of climate and societal collapse, but we can come together in civil resistance to stop these lethal policies. Doing nothing is a choice I can no longer justify. If we can’t say no now, in the face of our own extinction, when can we?

Volunteers have been the only way for the shire’s thriving multicultural community to seek help during the emergency

Ed Husic says science agency should focus efforts elsewhere after ‘very major’ gas company asked it to support bid for net zero emissions

Telecoms entrepreneur says continent’s people should be allowed to use their vast reservesOne of Africa’s richest entrepreneurs, the telecoms billionaire Mo Ibrahim, has criticised developed countries for seeking to dissuade African nations from exploiting their vast reserves of gas.Ibrahim told the Guardian in an interview: “We need a balanced and a fair policy for everybody. Gas can be useful to our transition … [Those who say otherwise] are hypocrites.” Continue reading...

Melbourne Water chair John Thwaites, who was water minister when the wall was approved, will excuse himself from the review

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews today announced $315m in funding for floods clean-up and road repairs. This blog is now closed

Climate crisis may explain fights as disappearing ice fuels interspecies competition – with goats nearly always winningIn one corner, there is the agile climber with steak knife-like horns. In the other is America’s largest wild sheep. They are locked in significantly one-sided combat in the mountains of the US west, scientists have found, in a battle over resources uncovered by the region’s vanishing glaciers.In study sites across a 1,500-mile span of the Rocky Mountains, scientists have documented mountain goats and bighorn sheep competing over mineral deposits among the rocks, at elevations of up to 14,000ft. Continue reading...

Exclusive: investigation by charity WildFish says firms are avoiding mandatory reporting of sea liceThe Scottish farmed salmon industry is using loopholes to cover up evidence of environmental harm, poor animal welfare and high levels of disease, an investigation has found.Using open data, investigators from the charity WildFish allege salmon farms are avoiding mandatory reporting of sea lice prevalence in fish to cover up the scale of parasite infestations, which in some cases are more than 20 times those stipulated in the industry’s own code of good practice. Continue reading...

Greater Shepparton area remains on high alert as river expected to stay at major flood level for days and thousands of properties isolated

Prof Paul Ekins and Prof Peter Newell debunk the claims by the climate minister, Graham StuartWe write as environmental and social scientists in response to the extraordinary claims by the climate minister, Graham Stuart, that fracking and oil drilling are “good for the environment” and the economy (12 October). The reality is quite different. First, Mr Stuart’s claim about the supposed lower carbon intensity of UK oil and gas extraction pales into insignificance compared with the carbon implications of adding to overall extraction of fossil fuels, and flies in the face of the warning by the International Energy Agency that no new oil, gas or coal development can take place if the world is to reach net zero by 2050.Second, new UK oil and gas will lock in dependency on infrastructure that will become increasingly useless as the UK moves towards its emission reduction target. Third, the signal that such a move sends ahead of next month’s Cop27 summit is damaging to the UK’s credibility, as Lord Deben of the Climate Change Committee has made clear. Continue reading...

Government also able to offset impact of higher energy prices globally following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mick de Brenni says

Thames and Southern worst in England and Wales, as complaints to Thames on bills, sewerage and supply double in five yearsThames Water is at the top of a league table charting the number of written complaints made to water firms in England and Wales last year, with the number more than doubling since 2017.The number of written complaints received by the firm from household customers has risen from 17,039 in 2017/18 to 40,060 in 2021/22, according to the most recent figures from the Consumer Council for Water (CCW). The firm accounted for nearly half (47%) of all written complaints to water and sewerage firms in England and Wales last year. Continue reading...

Only 5% of species now expected to survive as disease hits harder than first thought and prevention costs mountWarburg Nature Reserve is one of the gems of the Chiltern Hills. In the autumn, its beech, birch and oak trees are transformed into a blazing canopy of red, yellow, brown and golden leaves. Buzzards and red kites swoop overhead while a startling array of fungi – from milkcaps to collared earthstars – push up through the woodland floor of the 100-hectare site.This curtain of multicoloured delights hides a grim secret, however. A stroll through the reserve, which is owned by the Wildlife Trusts, reveals gaps that have recently appeared in the foliage. Continue reading...

Residents in Victoria’s north told to move to higher ground as situation worsens. This blog is now closed

Causes being researched but likely included increased predation and stresses from warmer waterAlaska officials have cancelled the upcoming snow crab season, due to population decline across the Bering Sea.The fall Bristol Bay red king crab harvest will not happen. The winter harvest of smaller snow crab has also been cancelled for the first time. Continue reading...

Twice the number of sites have been exposed to concerning levels of pollution and sewage since 2019, government report finds

Suella Braverman to reveal plans to grant police new powers to counter tactics favoured by Just Stop Oil and Extinction RebellionMinisters are pressing ahead with a dual crackdown on climate protests and strike action, a controversial move that followed a day of direct action in London including clashes with the public and milk poured on the floor of Harrods.Home secretary Suella Braverman will unveil plans on Sunday to grant police new powers to take a more “proactive” approach to counter tactics favoured by climate activists such as Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion. Continue reading...

Process involves using electrostatic separation on PV panels to collect out valuable materials, reducing them to 2-3% of original weight

An army of lobbyists is trying to persuade the government of the case for the combustible gas as a valuable weapon in the climate crisis, but questions remainStanding in front of a lime green doubledecker hydrogen bus, Jo Bamford posed for a photo alongside transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan at the Conservative party conference’s “hydrogen zone” in Birmingham.A week earlier the JCB heir’s team was busy with photocalls featuring Labour heavyweights Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband at the Labour conference in Liverpool. Continue reading...

Scorching summer left reservoirs depleted and unlikely to recover, as growers warn of supply chain collapse in leaked meetingFarmers have warned they will not be able to grow crops next year if predictions that the drought will last until next summer prove accurate.Leaked slides from a national drought group meeting, seen by the Observer, show there are concerns that because reservoirs are still empty due to record dry conditions, the fruit and vegetable supply chain could collapse. Continue reading...

Soft shell clams are declining and those who depend on the state’s second-most-valuable fishery are having to adaptClams have long been a source of food and income for a variety of people in Maine: the Indigenous Wabanaki, commercial harvesters or anyone willing to dig in the mud. But their populations are declining steeply.Maine produces 62% of the nation’s softshell clams. They are the second most economically valuable fishery in the state behind lobster and sustain people’s livelihoods up and down the coast. Continue reading...

A Louisiana power company’s plan to capture climate emissions is raising concerns about the state’s water suppliesA carbon capture proposal for a central Louisiana power plant has been titled “Project Diamond Vault” by its owner, Louisiana utility Cleco. The utility says the project will have “precious value” to the company, customers and state.Yet less than six months after announcing the project to capture carbon from the plant’s emissions and store them underground near the plant, Cleco revealed in a recent filing to its state regulator the $900m carbon capture retrofit could reduce electricity produced for its customers by about 30%. Continue reading...

An end to new oil and gas projects remains a key demand, but protesters now want taxes on big polluters and basic energy for allFour years ago, when Extinction Rebellion started blocking London’s roads in a call for climate action, they brought a DIY carnival atmosphere that transformed their protests into festivals of resistance.On Thursday morning, when climate activists staged road blocks close to Waterloo, just south of the Thames, they were about two dozen grim-faced campaigners, wearing sensible clothes and hi-vis vests, and enduring abuse from passersby as they tried to superglue their hands to wet asphalt. Continue reading...