PM accused of ‘washing his hands’ of leadership on international climate action with decision not to attend talksRishi Sunak’s decision to snub the Cop27 UN climate talks, and to keep King Charles from attending, has angered and upset countries around the world, risking the UK’s standing on the world stage and raising concerns over his government’s commitment to tackling the climate crisis.Several developing countries told the Guardian of their dismay. Carlos Fuller, Belize’s ambassador to the UN, said: “I can understand why the king was asked not to attend – keeping him out of the fray. However, as the principal UK policymaker and the Cop26 president, the PM should have led the summit. Continue reading...

Sam Adventure Baker went up the cliff with his father, but some climbers say method known as ‘jugging’ is not true climbingAn eight-year-old boy has become the youngest person to ascend the terrifying sheer rock wall of El Capitan in America’s Yosemite national park, his father said in a Facebook post.Sam Adventure Baker had been going up the huge cliff with his father since Tuesday. The duo are part of a four-person team, where one person climbs ahead and sets the ropes for others to follow. Nights are spent sleeping on the rock face. Continue reading...

A renewable-dominated system is comfortably the cheapest form of power generation, according to researchWe should be wary of simple declarations about the increasingly rapid transformation of the electricity grid.The government has been given a sharp reminder of this after leaning too heavily on pre-election modelling that suggested its policies to boost renewable energy could lead to a $275 cut in bills by 2025. You never know when a Vladimir Putin-shaped villain might disrupt international fossil fuel markets, wreck your assumptions and leave you accused of breaking an election pledge. Continue reading...

Norwegian firm wants to develop Rosebank field in North Sea but Sunak’s tax break for fossil fuel producers could cost UK dearThe government faces making a loss of more than £100m if drilling at the UK’s largest undeveloped oil field is approved, according to new research examining a tax break introduced by Rishi Sunak.Sunak performed a dramatic U-turn last May when he introduced the “energy profits levy” as chancellor – effectively a windfall tax on energy producers. However, he also introduced a very generous tax break for fossil fuel producers to ensure that “the more investment a firm makes, the less tax they will pay”. Continue reading...

Criticism of group comes as advocates warn environmentalists should not downplay concerns about Egypt’s human rights recordGreenpeace has been accused by human rights defenders of “greenwashing” the Egyptian government’s image and discouraging other activists from forcefully raising the country’s abysmal human rights record ahead of Cop27, the UN climate summit that will be held in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh next week.Criticism of the global conservation group comes as human rights advocates have warned that environmentalists should not downplay concerns about Egypt’s human rights record out of fear that it could curtail their access to the global summit or that it might take attention away from achieving climate objectives. Advocates argue that meaningful climate action can only be achieved if scientists, activists and journalists are free to pressure governments to transition away from fossil fuels. Continue reading...

The effects of global heating could soon reach a tipping point, but scientists fear that the meeting in Egypt will become bogged down in recriminationsIt has been an alarming time for climate scientists. One by one, the grim scenarios they had outlined for the near future have been overtaken by events: extreme storms, droughts, floods and ice-sheet collapses whose sudden appearances have outstripped researchers’ worst predictions. Catastrophic climate change is happening more rapidly and with greater intensity than their grimmest warnings, it transpires.Examples include this summer’s record high temperature of 40.3C in the UK, a massive jump of 1.6C on the previous hottest day; torrential rains that triggered the most severe flooding in Pakistan’s recent history; and last year’s Hurricane Ida, one of the most destructive storms to have struck the US. Continue reading...

Is there any point throwing soup at a Van Gogh painting and mashed potato at a Monet? Two activists give their viewsNothing’s worked. More diplomatically put: nothing has yet worked at anything like the pace required. Is it any wonder that desperation is growing? Continue reading...

A community turns on itself over the aptly named Mammoth solar project, a planned $1.5bn power field nearly the size of ManhattanWhen proposals for the largest solar plant ever conceived for US soil started to gather pace – a plan that involves spearing several million solar panels into the flat farmland of northern Indiana – something in Connie Ehrlich seems to have snapped.Ehrlich, 63, is part of a longstanding farming family in Pulaski county, the site of the new solar project, but doesn’t live in the county and previously only rarely dabbled in its usually somnolent local politics. She has carved out a comfortable life in a sprawling mansion set on 10 acres (four hectares) of land, just outside the city of Lafayette, and is known locally for her donations to medical research and her small fleet of deluxe cars with personalized license plates. Continue reading...

Global heating is warming waters, changing salmon and tuna migration – and hurting fisheriesThere is little at Shiogama seafood market to suggest that Japanese consumers could one day be deprived of their favourite seafood – from giant crab’s legs simmering in a winter nabe hotpot to spheres of salmon roe resting on a bed of rice wrapped in nori seaweed.Stalls heave with huge sides of bluefin tuna, expertly transformed into more manageable portions by knife-wielding workers, while early-morning shoppers pause to inspect boxes of squid, flounder and sea pineapples landed only hours earlier. Continue reading...

Ex-PM’s Cop27 visit is seen as snub to Rishi Sunak as Labour attacks government’s policy failures on environmental crisisA row over prime minister Rishi Sunak’s refusal to attend the Cop27 climate summit took an extraordinary twist on Saturday night as the Observer was informed that his predecessor but one – Boris Johnson – is planning to attend the event.Several sources said they had been told that Johnson is intending to go to the crucial meeting of world leaders in Egypt to show his solidarity with the battle against the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Storm in 2012 had devastating impact on US’s biggest city but insufficient government action risks a repeat, demonstrators sayIn marking the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy smashing into New York City, campaigners are warning that insufficient action by governments to tackle the climate crisis risks a repeat of such damaging and increasingly fierce storms.Sandy made landfall with a huge impact on the New Jersey shore on 29 October 2012, before taking an unusual and destructive path into New York causing death, flooding and extended mass power cuts. Continue reading...

As a month of climate protests ends, environmentalists are split on whether disruption or moderation is best to galvanise changeNot for the first time this month, a protest by climate activists descended into acrimony and the threat of violence today. At midday, close to the Oval cricket ground in south London, a dozen or so Just Stop Oil activists brought weekend traffic to a halt.Irate motorists dragged protesters aggressively off the road. “Move out the fucking way,” shouted one driver. “[I] swear to God, I’m going to crack some of you in the fucking face.” Continue reading...

Videos posted by the group show drivers moving protesters, who keep returning to retake their placesMotorists dragged Just Stop Oil protesters out of the way as activists halted traffic flow across four central London roads on Saturday.The group said 61 Just Stop Oil supporters stopped traffic on Charing Cross Road, Kensington High Street, Kennington Road and Blackfriars Road, “demanding that the government halts all new oil and gas consents and licences”. Continue reading...

Veteran leftist Lula da Silva holds slender poll lead over Jair Bolsonaro as national divide grows before Sunday voteThe two political heavyweights vying to become Brazil’s next president have locked horns during the final television debate before a momentous election with profound implications for the Amazon rainforest, the global climate emergency and the future of one of the world’s largest democracies.The former leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro faced off in Rio at the studios of Brazil’s biggest broadcaster, with eve of election polls giving Lula a slender but not unassailable lead. Continue reading...

The toxic ‘forever chemicals’ can stay in human blood for years, and are linked to cancers, kidney damage and heart diseaseNearly all participants in a new study looking at exposure to PFAS “forever chemicals” in the US state of North Carolina have multiple dangerous compounds in their blood, and most at levels that researchers say requires medical screening.The North Carolina State University study, which is among the largest ever conducted, checked about 1,500 blood samples from people living in the Cape Fear River basin over several years. It’s the first study to recommend screening for cancers, kidney damage, heart disease and other health issues linked to the chemicals, using newly developed physicians’ guidelines for PFAS exposure. Continue reading...

Exclusive: in a rare interview, Egyptian minister Sameh Shoukry says global tensions are making talks harder• Windfall tax must change in face of ‘excessive’ oil profits – Cop26 chiefThe goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C is “more fragile” than ever, as world leaders prepare to meet for crucial climate talks, the president-designate of the negotiations has warned.Sameh Shoukry, the foreign minister of Egypt, who will chair the UN Cop27 climate summit next month, said in a rare interview that forging agreement would be harder than at any other recent climate talks, owing to the “turbulent” global economy and “difficult” geopolitical tensions, stoked by the Ukraine war. Continue reading...

Exhibition at Halton Mill is part of a month of activities about the Amazon commemorating Phillips and PereiraAn exhibition in memory of the murdered Guardian journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira opens on Sunday ahead of an international conference on saving the Amazon rainforest which is being held next month.The two men were killed in Brazilian Amazonia in June 2022 while researching a book Phillips was writing called How to Save the Amazon. Continue reading...

October’s summery temperatures are ‘confusing’ plants and throwing off fragile ecosystemsBritain’s rare chalk grasslands and dormice are under threat from the mild weather this autumn, and some plants are “confused” and have flowered multiple times, experts have said.This October, the UK has experienced temperatures more normal for spring or summer, with highs of 19.5C recorded this week, and more warm weather forecast for coming days. Continue reading...

Remouillage is a super-thrifty stock made from the already boiled-down elements of a first stock, added to fresh vegetables and simmered again to make a flavourful soup baseWhen I worked at River Cottage, we’d instinctively make remouillage, or a second stock, from bones that had already been boiled for stock. The rich stock ingredients had heaps of flavour left in them even after being cooked and strained, so we’d refill the pot with water and make a second, weaker stock to use in soups, for boiling greens or to make boulangère potatoes. We’d also make fresh bone stock in remouillage rather than water, creating a very potent jus. Continue reading...

UN climate talks not ‘right occasion’ for monarch to attend, says Downing Street, adding Buckingham Palace has agreedKing Charles will not attend the Cop27 UN climate summit, Downing Street has said, as it is not the “right occasion” for him to do so.The former prime minister Liz Truss had asked the king not to attend the talks, and her successor, Rishi Sunak, had left that request in place, No 10 confirmed. Continue reading...

Wonnarua people want Ravensworth Homestead added to the state heritage register and to become a site of reconciliation

Legal observers also say police in the eastern states have been visiting the homes of climate activists in the leadup to the conference

Exclusive: Outgoing head of climate talks says UK needs to encourage investment in renewables, not fossil fuelsThe UK’s windfall tax on oil and gas profits must be changed to raise billions more and to stop companies using loopholes to invest in further fossil fuel extraction, the outgoing president of global climate talks has said.“These are excessive profits, and they have to be treated in the appropriate way when it comes to taxation,” said Alok Sharma, the president of the Cop26 UN climate summit. “We ought to be going further and seeing what more can be done in terms of raising additional finance [from the profits]. So far, at least, the level of money raised is obviously not significant.” Continue reading...

Thérèse Coffey says targets underpinning nature recovery will not be published this monthThe government has delayed publication of clean water and biodiversity targets, putting it in breach of its Environment Act, ministers have admitted.Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, published a written ministerial statement on Friday confirming that the targets underpinning the country’s nature recovery would not be released on 31 October as promised. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including goats grazing in Kyiv and newborn seal pups in Norfolk Continue reading...

AAPA seeks leave to appeal against NT supreme court decision that found director is exempt from prosecution under state’s laws

Environment secretary defends Rishi Sunak’s decision not to go to climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh• UK politics live – latest news updatesKing Charles is free to decide whether or not to attend the Cop27 climate summit, the new environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, has said as she defended the decision of the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, not to go.Sunak, the third British prime minister in seven weeks, has come under scrutiny from opposition ministers and environmental groups, who called his decision not to attend Cop27 a “failure” and said it brought into question government commitments to prioritise net zero and tackle the climate crisis. Continue reading...

One farmer’s quest to find black oats has broadened into a project that could rediversify the country’s cereals and meet future climate challenges. Pictures and words by Alexander TurnerPods of oats fly into the air – shards of golden light caught on the sea breeze. Two septuagenarian farmers wobble precariously above the moving parts of an old reaper-binder as it chugs, not quite effortlessly, through an acre of heritage cereal crops.For Gerald Miles, 74, it’s the first time since he was a small boy that such an event has occurred on his clifftop farm on the coast of Pembrokeshire. For decades, Miles believed the once common black oats of Wales had been lost for ever. This belief, confirmed by an unanswered request for seed in Farmers Weekly magazine after he lost his own in a storm, set him on a mission of rediscovery that he calls “the search for the holy grain”.An ear of black oats harvested on Miles’s farm Continue reading...

Andrew Johnson tells Senate hearing ‘image rebrand’ followed research suggesting elderly and new immigrants were confused by term BoM

Extreme weather events mean once reliable sources of power can failWeather forecasting has become an important factor in keeping the lights on. It also enables producers of power to match their output to times of peak demand and so command the highest prices, boosting profits. However, climate change is making the whole process much more difficult. Extreme weather events – high winds, heatwaves, freezing rain, and loss of glaciers and snow pack mean once reliable sources of power can fail.The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says 87% of global electricity comes from nuclear, hydro and thermal fossil fuel plants that rely on water for cooling, and up to a third of these are in high water stress areas. Predicting droughts, stream flows and water availability is therefore vital for maintaining supply. Continue reading...

Increasing windfall tax would help plug £40bn fiscal hole and keep energy bills low, analysis showsA Norway-style windfall tax on energy companies could raise £33.3bn extra by 2027, plugging a hole in government finances and helping keep energy bills low, analysis has found.The new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is looking at extending the “sunset clause” in the energy profits levy by two years beyond 2025 as a result of the booming profits fossil fuel companies have been recording owing to the war in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Farm crop losses due to widespread flooding exacerbated by the rising cost of fertiliser, fuel and herbicides

Key UN reports published in last two days warn urgent and collective action needed – as oil firms report astronomical profitsThe climate crisis has reached a “really bleak moment”, one of the world’s leading climate scientists has said, after a slew of major reports laid bare how close the planet is to catastrophe.Collective action is needed by the world’s nations more now than at any point since the second world war to avoid climate tipping points, Prof Johan Rockström said, but geopolitical tensions are at a high. Continue reading...

Dr David Harper says keeping BST in winter would mean using more electricity in the mornings, and Guy Ottewell suggests changing business opening times insteadProf Aoife Foley says that by keeping British summer time all year round, less heating and lighting would be needed (Save energy by not turning clocks back in October, says expert, 19 October). Alas, the amount of daylight is not changed by tinkering with the clocks.Most of England and Wales get only eight hours of daylight in December and January, while Scotland gets barely seven hours. If BST was kept during these months, the sun wouldn’t rise until almost 10am in Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland. Homes, schools and businesses would need to keep their lights on until mid-morning. We have already tried the year-round BST experiment – 50 years ago. It was abandoned after three years.

Supplier tells people living in and around city that blackouts could last ‘a lot longer’ than previously planned• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesUkrainians living in and around Kyiv have been told of a “sharp deterioration” in the region’s electricity supply after a fresh wave of Russian strikes aimed at sapping public morale as the country’s cold winter approaches.A local energy supplier, Yasno, warned that existing blackouts could last a lot longer than a previously planned schedule of four-hour outages and that the capital already faced an electricity deficit of about 30% or more. Continue reading...

Temperatures expected to hit 20C in UK, Germany and France this weekendThree months ago, Britain experienced its hottest day on record. Records were similarly broken in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands as an extreme heatwave swept across much of Europe.Now, with much of western Europe experiencing unusually mild autumnal temperatures caused by the jet stream – strong winds blowing from west to east – figures are expected to reach 20C this weekend in parts of Britain, Germany, France and elsewhere, according to national weather services. Continue reading...

Downing Street announcement follows UK prime minister’s promise to prioritise environmentRishi Sunak will not attend the Cop27 climate summit, Downing Street has said, despite the new British prime minister having promised this week to prioritise the environment.His predecessor, Liz Truss, had reportedly planned to go to at least one day of the summit, but Sunak’s spokesperson said he had “other pressing domestic commitments”. Continue reading...

MPs and peers say Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s life is seriously at risk and his sister is being ignoredThe foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has been accused by MPs and peers of ignoring the case of jailed British-Egyptian hunger striker Alaa Abd El-Fattah.He has also been accused of failing to engage with the activist’s sister, Sanaa Seif, who has camped outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office for 10 days in an effort to force the British government to act. Continue reading...

In the first of a new series celebrating the re-emergence of species feared extinct, we follow the story of the Batman River loach, last seen in 1974“Holy loach!” … “Batman loach returns” … “Tiny superhero fish rediscovered” … It was almost inevitable that the rediscovery of the Batman River loach in a stream in eastern Turkey would spawn a slew of comic book puns in headlines around the world.“Batman is a city and province in Turkey with the same name, and the name of the stream is Batman,” says Dr Cüneyt Kaya, associate professor at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University. “For Turkish people, the name seems normal, but for foreigners, of course, people find it strange or funny.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Organiser says income from gas company was tied to deal and ‘we are now searching for a new sponsor’

Exclusive: Removing incentives due to replace EU scheme would leave rivers in ‘even more degraded state’Weakening or scrapping the nature-friendly farming payment schemes could increase river pollution by up to 20%, an analysis has found.The payments are due to replace the EU’s area-based payments scheme, in which farmers are paid for the amount of land they manage. The new system would instead pay land managers to provide “public goods” such as enhanced nature and clean rivers. Continue reading...

Research suggests visits to places with birdlife could be prescribed by doctors to improve mental wellbeingOne swallow may not make a summer but seeing or hearing birds does improve mental wellbeing, researchers have found.The study, led by academics from King’s College London, also found that everyday encounters with birds boosted the mood of people with depression, as well as the wider population. Continue reading...

Exclusive: move affecting 65% of institutions means endowments worth almost £18bn out of reach for firmsOne hundred universities in the UK have pledged to divest from fossil fuels, the Guardian can reveal.This equates to 65% of the country’s higher education sector refusing to make at least some investments in fossil fuel companies, and endowments worth more than £17.6bn now out of reach for the corporations. Continue reading...

International Energy Agency says Ukraine invasion boosted state spending on clean energy and ‘will accelerate transition to renewables’Global carbon emissions from energy will peak in 2025 thanks to massively increased government spending on clean fuels in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to analysis by the world’s leading energy organisation.The International Energy Agency (IEA) said that government spending on clean energy in response to the crisis would mark a “historic turning point” in the transition away from fossil fuels, in its annual report on global energy. Continue reading...

Locals say they have never seen so many SES vehicles and army troops but feel uneasy due to a lack of information

With famine in Somalia almost inevitable, Martin Griffiths criticises opaque handling of $100bn a year promised to poorer countriesThe UN’s humanitarian chief has questioned why billions of dollars pledged to tackle the climate crisis have not been used to fight famine in Somalia.Martin Griffiths said he did not know where the promised $100bn (£87bn) a year to fight the impact of global heating in poorer countries had gone, and called for greater transparency around climate finance. Continue reading...

Australian Securities and Investments Commission fines Tlou Energy for misleading statements about green credentials

Experts say crude oil pipeline from Uganda to Tanzania will produce 25 times host nations’ combined annual emissionsAn oil pipeline under construction in east Africa will produce vast amounts of carbon dioxide, according to new analysis. The project will result in 379m tonnes of climate-heating pollution, according to an expert assessment, more than 25 times the combined annual emissions of Uganda and Tanzania, the host nations.The East African crude oil pipeline (EACOP) will transport oil drilled in a biodiverse national park in Uganda more than 870 miles to a port in Tanzania for export. The main backers of the multibillion dollar project are the French oil company TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). Continue reading...

Joint committee on national security strategy says evasion of responsibility by UK government is ‘severe dereliction of duty’Britain’s national security is being jeopardised because of the failure of ministers to prepare for the increasing risks of extreme weather events due to climate change, a parliamentary inquiry has warned.The joint committee on the national security strategy said the UK’s critical national infrastructure (CNI) had been left exposed because of “extreme weakness” at the heart of government. Continue reading...

Owners mourn ‘modern-day classic’ as last factory in Germany switches to new electric models“I don’t know what I’d go for if I didn’t have the Fiesta,” said Karen Fox, a civil servant in Edinburgh. She is due to pick up her fourth version of the model on Saturday, but it is likely to be her last: Ford on Wednesday confirmed it will end production of the UK’s all-time bestselling car next June.The model’s end will become only the latest symbol of the shift from internal combustion engines to batteries: the factory in Cologne, Germany, where the last Fiestas are being made will switch to producing two new electric models. Continue reading...