Opposition MPs say package should target businesses most in need and prioritise energy efficiencyMPs have raised concerns that the government’s energy bailout for businesses will see corporate giants handed huge discounts they do not need.The government on Wednesday announced a package of support including a cap that will halve the unit price paid for energy from 1 October to help companies, charities and public sector organisations, including schools, get through the winter. One estimate puts the cost of the scheme at £25bn. Continue reading...

Failure infuriates other states and may force Tanya Plibersek to impose highly controversial buybacks

Marine wildlife experts are assessing the scene near Strahan – the same location as Australia’s worst mass stranding exactly two years ago

Denmark ‘gets ball rolling’ at UN ahead of protests as poor nations call for greater collective commitmentYouth groups in Africa are preparing to embark on a series of climate demonstrations on Friday to highlight the problem of “loss and damage” to poor countries blighted by climate breakdown, as only one rich country has so far stepped up with funding for the problem.Actions will take place on Friday in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Togo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with more to follow in some other African nations over the weekend. Continue reading...

William references grandmother in recorded message for Earthshot Prize during royal mourning periodPrince William has said protecting the environment was a “cause close to my grandmother’s heart” as he delivered a pre-recorded speech at the environmental Earthshot Prize summit.Prevented by royal mourning from travelling to New York, the Prince of Wales recorded his message at the Windsor estate on Tuesday, the day after the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. He had been due to fly to New York for the innovation summit of his £50m global environmental competition as a countdown to the awards being staged in the US. Continue reading...

Black bears preparing to hibernate have been lured into Jasper townsite by residents’ non-native apple and cherry treesThe waning days of summer and a bounty of ripe fruit have pitted hungry black bears against park rangers in a fight over a Canadian mountain town’s fruit trees.Residents living in the Jasper national park townsite have been warned that fruit trees on their properties are luring in black bears and need to be removed as soon as possible. Continue reading...

Chris Cornelius says geology is too challenging and government’s support is merely ‘soundbites’

The economic and political barriers to fracking here are extremely high. There are better solutions to the energy crisis

Tree project is central to net zero plan, international conference in London hearsThe UK government’s tree planting scheme is at risk because of the drought, the chief plant health officer has warned.Arid conditions have caused heat stress in the young saplings and caused them to become susceptible to disease, Nicola Spence said at the world’s first international plant health conference, held in London on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Amazon ecosystem is on verge of collapse, leaders tell brands such as Apple and Tesla as UN gathers in New YorkIndigenous leaders from the Amazon have implored major western brands and banks to stop supporting the ongoing destruction of the vital rainforest through mining, oil drilling and logging, warning that the ecosystem is on the brink of a disastrous collapse.Representatives of Indigenous peoples from across the Amazon region have descended upon New York this week to press governments and businesses, gathered in the city for climate and United Nations gatherings, to stem the flow of finance to activities that are polluting and deforesting large areas of the rainforest. Continue reading...

Benefit of six-month scheme for firms will depend on type of energy contract and date it startedLiz Truss has announced a fresh package of support to cover the huge spike in energy bills this winter – this time for businesses. Earlier this month, she unveiled the “energy price guarantee” which will freeze annual bills for average households at about £2,500.The help for businesses is intended to offer equivalent aid, freezing prices higher than they were last year but far lower than they would have been without intervention. Businesses had warned they would need to cut jobs or be forced to shut down without government help. Here’s what the measures mean for firms: Continue reading...

Hearing granted for Humane League, which says use of fast-growing chickens breaches welfare rulesAn animal welfare charity has been granted a court hearing to challenge the government over the legality in England of fast-growing broiler chickens.The UK’s first animal law firm, Advocates For Animals, has brought the case on behalf of the Humane League UK regarding so-called “Frankenchickens”, which can suffer from a wide range of health and welfare problems. Continue reading...

Blackjewel agreed to cover its coalminers’ back wages, but many of them have yet to receive any funds three years after the company filed for bankruptcyIn July 2019, about 1,700 coalminers working for an affiliate of one of the largest coalmine operators in the US, Blackjewel, found their paychecks had bounced. Many were left with bank accounts in the negative while bills and late fees piled up.Blackjewel then filed for bankruptcy and abruptly shut down its mines in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Wyoming, laying off miners without notice and leaving them without pay for the work they had completed the past two weeks. Continue reading...

Naegleria fowleri grows in warm fresh water, making it well-suited to proliferate as temperatures rise in the USThe death of a child in Nebraska this summer put the rare but deadly Naegleria fowleri – more commonly known as brain-eating amoeba – back in the headlines. The amoeba lives in warm, fresh water and can enter the body through the nose, where it travels to the brain and starts to destroy tissue.The case underscored a troubling new reality – climate change is encouraging the amoeba to pop up in parts of the US where it isn’t typical, such as the north and west. Continue reading...

Gas company’s approval set aside after Justice Mordecai Bromberg found the regulator did not consult properly with traditional ownersTiwi Islanders have won a landmark case against drilling for gas by Santos in their traditional waters after complaining that the company failed to consult them about the impact of the project.On Wednesday, judge Mordecai Bromberg set aside approval for the drilling, part of Santos’s $4.7bn Barossa project and gave Santos two weeks to shut down and remove its rig from the sea north of Melville Island.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

Narta lagoon’s Dalmatian pelicans were saved from extinction but now the government is building an airport in Vlora’s protected landscapeHalf a dozen Dalmatian pelicans fly off as we approach the Narta lagoon, a marshland near Vlora in south-west Albania. It is a majestic sight – six elegantly soaring birds, with necks tilted back and wingspans almost matching that of an albatross. “They’re juveniles,” says Taulant Bino, head of the Albanian Ornithological Society (AOS). “They might start their own family in the next years.”Although Dalmatian pelicans (Pelecanus crispus) do not breed here, the lagoon serves as an important feeding site for the birds and many more species, including flamingos, gull-billed terns and Kentish plovers. Migratory birds use the lagoon as a stopover during their long journey between Africa and central and northern Europe. They are key Mediterranean wetlands, the type of habitat that covered much of the whole Albanian coast until Enver Hoxha’s dictatorial regime drained large swaths of it in the 1950s and 60s, in an attempt to eradicate malaria and develop the lowlands for agriculture. Continue reading...

Families in NSW Liverpool Plains say authorities did not warn everyone before recent flooding

‘Massive event’ reported at Macquarie Harbour, near Strahan, a day after mass stranding at King Island

Plan would see Collinsville house 3GW of renewable energy generation to produce 1m tonnes of green ammonia for export

Morrison government refused to sign Leaders’ Pledge for Nature in 2020 but Anthony Albanese signals environment is back as priority

Research shows hospital admissions are linked to even short-term exposure, with boys more at risk than girlsAutistic children face an increased risk of hospitalisation if exposed to air pollution for relatively brief periods, with boys more at risk than girls, new research suggests.Admissions for issues such as hyperactivity, aggression or self-injury may be prevented by minimising their exposure, and cutting air pollution levels could lower the risks, the researchers behind the study concluded. The findings were published in the journal BMJ Open. Continue reading...

Widespread thunderstorms will make Thursday the ‘wettest day’ for NSW during public holiday honouring the Queen’s death

António Guterres said money raised should be diverted to vulnerable nations suffering losses caused by climate crisisCountries should impose windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies and divert the money to vulnerable nations suffering worsening losses from the climate crisis, the United Nations secretary general has urged.António Guterres said that “polluters must pay” for the escalating damage caused by heatwaves, floods, drought and other climate impacts, and demanded that it was “high time to put fossil fuel producers, investors and enablers on notice”. Continue reading...

Greens and David Pocock say government bill amounts to a fossil fuel subsidy and will slow uptake of zero emission vehicles

‘Small number of fossil fuel-exporting companies are making windfall gains,’ says analyst advocating for Queensland system

Project to power 300 Scottish homes with ‘green hydrogen’ hit by delays, leaving some to question whether it is still worthwhileOn the northern shores of the Firth of Forth, royal blue waters lap against the weathered walls of Methil Docks. The quays were once a hub for coal exports but, since the late 1970s, haven’t dealt in the black stuff. Now, the town on Scotland’s east coast is flirting with another era in the energy industry – but it doesn’t appear to be going to plan.In what has been dubbed a “world-first project”, called H100, about 300 homes in Methil and neighbouring Buckhaven in Levenmouth were planned to be powered by “green hydrogen” gas from next year. Customers are offered free hydrogen-ready boilers and cookers under the scheme, scheduled to last at least four years. Continue reading...

We would like to hear from current and former employees of fossil fuel companies about their experiencesWe would like to hear from current and former employees of fossil fuel companies about their experiences. Given evidence that emissions from fossil fuels are the dominant cause of global warming, has this changed your feelings about working in the industry? Continue reading...

Beyond defrosting and reheating, you may be surprised to learn that microwaves are also great for cooking green vegetables, potatoes and even eggs• Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.comWhat kitchen tasks are microwaves useful for?

Europe’s largest river restoration is making changes across the entire landscape, bringing benefits to wildlife and people“On the way to being one of the most beautiful nature areas in Europe,” reads a sign overlooking a construction site near the village of Grevenbicht on the Meuse River in the southern Netherlands. Looking at the diggers, other bits of large machinery and bare soil, this is a stretch of the imagination. “You have to sell your story,” says Frans Schepers, managing director of Rewilding Europe, who was leading the largest river-restoration project in Europe.Construction work has already been completed along 50km of the Meuse River floodplain as part of the Border Meuse project to undo 500 years of world-renowned Dutch water engineering. Big infrastructure is at the heart of the Dutch “offensive” – as opposed to “defensive” – approach to sorting out rivers, which involves relandscaping entire catchments, rather than rewetting specific at-risk areas. This approach is particularly revolutionary given that the seed for this project was planted decades ago. By contrast, the UK has only started thinking about implementing natural solutions at scale in the past few years. Continue reading...

Amin Nasser says plans to cap bills and tax energy companies are not long-term solutionsThe chief executive of Saudi Aramco has said European governments’ efforts to tackle the energy crisis are “not helpful”.Amin Nasser, who leads the world’s largest oil exporter, said plans to cap consumer bills and tax energy companies were not long-term solutions to the global crisis. Continue reading...

City commissioner proposes paying per reptile to ramp up efforts to curb numbers of non-native speciesA city commissioner in Miami Beach is proposing a novel solution to tackle an invasion of non-native iguanas overwhelming the popular tourist city: paying a bounty for the head of each reptile brought in dead or alive.Commissioners have agreed to look into the iguana problem and the suggestion by council member Kristen Rosen Gonzalez to offer payments to hunters, which she says would offer an incentive for locals to take an active role. Continue reading...

Environment groups question whether ageing station’s exemptions from some pollution standards are valid

Exclusive: Green home upgrades could also create 140,000 new jobs by 2030, analysis by Cambridge Econometric findsInsulating homes in Britain and installing heat pumps could benefit the economy by £7bn a year and create 140,000 new jobs by 2030, research has found.But the uptake of these energy-saving measures depends heavily on government policy, according to analysis by Cambridge Econometrics, commissioned by Greenpeace. Continue reading...

Britain’s single biggest source of carbon emissions could negotiate over Liz Truss’s £150bn bills freezeMPs have warned consumers may end up paying higher bills if the government rushes into providing further state support for power station owner Drax.As part of Liz Truss’s £150bn energy bills freeze, renewable and nuclear power generators are being asked to supply electricity below current market rates. Continue reading...

Tasmania’s environment department says the young male whales might have been part of same ‘bachelor pod’

Scale of rise prompts warning Australia will struggle to cut emissions if Labor revamp allows new coal and gas

Floods have affected half a million people, including 100,000 displaced, Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency saysNigeria is battling its worst floods in a decade with more than 300 people killed in 2022 including at least 20 this week, as authorities said the situation is “beyond our control.”The floods in 27 of Nigeria’s 36 states and capital city have affected half a million people, including 100,000 displaced and more than 500 injured, Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said. Continue reading...

Rising waters brought power outages, damage and concerns over surviving the winter as downpours also affected CaliforniaFloodwaters in Alaska are receding after the remnants of a powerful typhoon pummeled the state’s western coastline. But residents are continuing to grapple with power outages, water damage and concerns about how to survive the coming winter.On Monday, authorities were making contact with some of the most remote villages in the United States – some only accessible by airplane – to determine the need for food and water and to assess damage from the immense weekend storm. Continue reading...

With stealth followed by speedy acrobatics, Euryopis umbilicata can successfully catch banded sugar ants twice its size

Scientists used satellite images and more than 300,000 volunteers to count Weddell seals, a key Southern Ocean indicator speciesResearchers believe they have accurately estimated Antarctica’s Weddell seal population for the first time – using images from space and the eyes of hundreds of thousands of citizen scientists.Weddell seals are a key indicator species in the Southern Ocean, for both sea ice fluctuations and shifts in the food web. They can live up to 30 years in the harsh conditions of the coastal sea ice of Antarctica, but until recently, counting them has been risky and cost-prohibitive. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Morrison government announced support for coal and gas projects in ‘gas-fired recovery’ but didn’t formalise contracts, PBO analysis reveals

Meeting with Ranil Jayawardena comes amid concern government could scrap nature recovery goalsThe head of Natural England and the chair of England’s largest landowners’ organisation are to meet the new environment secretary to urge him not to scrap or water down rewilding schemes.Tony Juniper, who will meet Ranil Jayawardena along with the CLA chair Mark Tufnell on Tuesday, pointed out that swathes of prime land were being used for golf courses, housing and other infrastructure but political focus was on the small amount that would be rewilded. Continue reading...

Regulators allow states to continue spreading sludge even as PFAS-tainted substance has ruined livelihoods and poisoned waterStates are continuing to allow sewage sludge to be spread on cropland as fertilizer and in some cases increasing the amount spread, even as the PFAS-tainted substance has ruined farmers’ livelihoods, poisoned water supplies, contaminated food and put the public’s health at risk.Michigan and Maine are the only two states in the US to widely test sludge, and regulators in each say contamination was found in all tested samples. Still, in recent months, officials in Virginia increased the amount of sludge permitted to be spread on farmland without testing for PFAS, while Alabama regulators have rejected residents’ and environmental groups’ pleas to test sludge for the chemicals. Continue reading...

Delta Electricity sells Hunter region station to Sev.en Global Investments which one critic labels ‘worst of all outcomes’

Poor nations exhort UN to consider ‘climate-related and justice-based’ tax on big fossil fuel users and air travelThe world’s most vulnerable countries are preparing to take on the richest economies with a demand for urgent finance – potentially including new taxes on fossil fuels or flying – for the irrecoverable losses they are suffering from the climate crisis, leaked documents show.Extreme weather is already hitting many developing countries hard and forecast to wreak further catastrophe. Loss and damage – the issue of how to help poor nations suffering from the most extreme impacts of climate breakdown, which countries cannot be protected against – is one of the most contentious problems in climate negotiations. Continue reading...

The world will have released more planet-heating emissions than have occurred since the industrial revolution, analysis foundBurning the world’s proven reserves of fossil fuels would emit more planet-heating emissions than have occurred since the industrial revolution, easily blowing the remaining carbon budget before societies are subjected to catastrophic global heating, a new analysis has found.An enormous 3.5tn tons of greenhouse gas emissions will be emitted if governments allow identified reserves of coal, oil and gas to be extracted and used, according to what has been described as the first public database of fossil fuel production. Continue reading...

Sale will come at a loss but distance company from both environmental controversy and Russian oligarch

Defence department told incoming Labor government more cost-effective ways were needed to respond to climate emergencies

Winning the 2024 climate talks could pressure Australia to rejoin the Green Climate Fund, increase its 2035 emissions target, and ditch new coal and gas developments

Schools host the reptiles and visit them in wetlands. Environmental groups say it augurs well for an activist future