UK’s only large-scale supplier is understood to have suffered multiple outbreaks over the past weekShoppers could face shortages of British goose this Christmas after the UK’s biggest producer is understood to have been hit by multiple bird flu outbreaks.
Decision described as a compromise by several European countries who wanted a more ambitious targetA United Nations body has agreed to a long-term aspirational goal for aviation of net-zero emissions by 2050, despite challenges from China and Russia, as countries aligned overwhelmingly with airlines amid pressure to curb pollution from flights.Nevertheless, environmentalists criticised the non-binding nature of the agreement as toothless. Continue reading...
New Yorker accused of hiding large Burmese pythons in trousers while crossing from Canada in July could face 20-year sentenceA New York City man faces up to 20 years in prison for allegedly attempting to smuggle three large snakes across the US-Canada border – in his pants.Queens resident Calvin Bautista, 36, is accused of hiding three Burmese pythons while on a bus crossing into the US at the Champlain port of entry in New York state on 15 July 2018, the Associated Press reported. Continue reading...
Supporters of Just Stop Oil displayed banners and glued themselves to roads leading to Vauxhall BridgeTwo dozen environmental protesters have blocked central London roads for a seventh day, continuing a week of disruptive action that has led to at least 150 arrests.Just after 10am on Friday, several groups of supporters of the Just Stop Oil campaign blocked roads leading to Vauxhall Bridge. They glued themselves to the road and displayed banners. Continue reading...
Large area destroyed in September, as environmental criminals raced to wreck the region before possible change of presidentAmazon deforestation has soared ahead of Brazil’s environmentally vital presidential election, with an area almost the size of Greater London lost last month alone.Government satellites show a 1,455-sq km area of rainforest was destroyed in September, as environmental criminals raced to wreck the region before a possible change of president could bring Jair Bolsonaro’s era of destruction to an end. Continue reading...
Reliance on desalination comes with a big environmental cost for the region’s marine environmentAs the World Cup approaches, Qatar is going to need at least 10,000 litres of water every day for each of its stadium pitches. Based in a region with virtually no access to fresh water, it is going to rely on desalination – the practice of debrining saltwater so it is drinkable.It seems like an elegant solution – but the problem is that desalination, which is projected to boom by 37% across the Gulf region in the next five years, has huge environmental costs, in terms of the fossils fuels used to carry out the process, and the marine environment. But without it, how can the arid region possibly quench its thirst? Continue reading...
Greenpeace calls process, which will run until end of June, ‘possibly unlawful’The UK has opened up a new licensing round to allow oil and gas companies to explore for fossil fuels in the North Sea despite threats of a legal battle from climate campaigners.The North Sea Transition Authority has begun a process to award more than 100 licences to companies hoping to extract oil and gas in the area. Almost 900 locations are being offered up for exploration. Continue reading...
‘Screamingly high’ levels of PFOS, one of the most dangerous PFAS compounds, found in six out of 10 insecticides testedToxic PFAS chemicals have been detected in seven out of 10 insecticides tested in the US, according to new research. Six contained what the study’s lead author characterized as “screamingly high” levels of PFOS, one of the most dangerous PFAS compounds.The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has known about the findings for more than 18 months but appears to have not yet investigated the products or taken any action against the manufacturer. Continue reading...
Observers say cabinet rows and PM’s comments so far could undermine global consensus forged at GlasgowThe UK is in danger of ending its presidency of the UN climate talks next month in disunity and disarray, amid cabinet rifts on green policy, and confusion over who will attend the Cop27 summit.Rows over climate policy threaten to hamper the UK’s ability to hold together the fragile coalition of developed and developing countries it built at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow last year. Failure to do so will not only cast a pall over the UK’s achievements there, but will add further tensions to already troubled global climate talks. Continue reading...
by Alex Lawson, Rowena Mason and Jamie Grierson on (#64FFS)
Graham Stuart’s remarks come amid reports No 10 has blocked public information campaignSenior Conservative MPs have urged Liz Truss to launch a public information campaign to encourage people to reduce their energy use after No 10 blocked the idea over fears it would seem like the actions of a “nanny state”.Iain Duncan Smith, a former cabinet minister and supporter of Truss was one of several MPs suggesting the government was wrong to rule out a campaign, from warnings from National Grid of potential blackouts this winter. Continue reading...
This year’s iteration of the popular Alaskan tournament pits 435 Holly against four-time winner 480 OtisThousands of people are tuning in this week to watch Fat Bear Week, the popular competition to vote for the largest bear at the Katmai national park in Alaska.The annual tournament evaluates a bear’s “success in preparation for winter hibernation”, according to the tournament’s website. Continue reading...
‘Sustainability incentive’ aims to cut emissions on farms of its 8,900 European members, including in UKThe dairy co-operative Arla Foods has announced it will pay its farmers more money for the milk they produce if they meet new environmental sustainability targets.Arla is introducing the “sustainability incentive” with the aim of promoting and funding the reduction of emissions on the farms of its 8,900 members, based in the UK and six other European countries including Denmark, Sweden and Germany. Continue reading...
Demonstrations from Falmouth to Whitstable to demand water firms do more to reduce pollutionProtests against sewage discharges blighting English beaches will take place across the country this weekend to highlight what demonstrators say is the failure of water companies to reduce pollution.From Falmouth in Cornwall, where bathers, lifeguards and synchronised swimmers are demonstrating, to Whitstable in Kent, where protesters will turn a beach into a crime scene, activists say the problem of sewage discharges by water companies has not improved. Continue reading...
Ian is the second-deadliest storm to strike the US in the 21st centuryResidents of south-west Florida were on Thursday returning for a first look at damage wreaked on their homes by Hurricane Ian, as the storm’s death toll continued to rise and details emerged about the victims.Inhabitants of Sanibel, Captiva and Pine Island were among the first to get a glimpse after authorities still searching for survivors from the 28 September storm gave the go-ahead for civilians to return.The Associated Press contributed to this report Continue reading...
Experts claim deadly spillovers of disease between livestock and wildlife are increasing with the growth in intensive methodsCatastrophic declines in the number of birds and other wildlife are likely if countries do not act urgently to change the way animals are farmed, wildlife health scientists have warned.The unprecedented die-off of seabirds from highly pathogenic avian flu (HPAI) being witnessed in breeding colonies across Europe, North America and Africa has been traced back to a commercial goose farm in southern China where a relatively mild bird disease mutated into a killer in 1996.
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#64EVZ)
G15 group of big housing associations warn 5% cap would also hinder green ambitions and new-buildsEfforts to make social housing safer, greener and more livable will be significantly delayed if ministers cap rent rises at 5% next year, according to landlords who fear the move would cost them £3.5bn over the next decade.Projects to make housing blocks safe after the Grenfell Tower disaster are among those that will be slowed down, according to a coalition of housing associations based in London, if the proposed plan to protect millions of England’s poorest households from soaring rents is confirmed. Continue reading...
In its role as president, China has sent invitations only to ministers and NGO heads, raising fears it is downplaying the crucial talksChina has not invited world leaders to a major nature summit being held this year, raising concerns Beijing is downplaying the crucial Cop15 meeting in order not to embarrass Xi Jinping.In December, governments will finalise a UN agreement to halt the destruction of the natural world at a summit organised by China but hosted in Canada. Because of Beijing’s zero-Covid policy and after several delays, Cop15 was moved to Montreal, the seat of the UN convention on biological diversity. It was meant to take place in Kunming, Yunnan province, in 2020. Continue reading...
Met police confirm arrest of 25 climate campaigners for blocking road in central LondonTwenty-five supporters of Just Stop Oil have been arrested after blocking traffic in central London, on the sixth consecutive day of protest by the group.At about midday on Thursday, two groups of protesters with the climate activist campaign walked into the road and stopped traffic at the roundabout by Trafalgar Square. Continue reading...
Campaigners say marine protected area set up to save UK’s only fan mussels exists merely as a ‘paper park’New underwater footage taken by environmental campaigners in Scotland has revealed severe damage to marine life and habitats wreaked by scallop dredgers in “marine protected areas” (MPAs).The Scottish government designated the seabed around the islands of Canna and Rum, on Scotland’s west coast, as the Small Isles MPA in 2014, to conserve Britain’s only colony of rare fan mussels and other features. The islands host a large breeding colony of black guillemots. Continue reading...
From solar farms to floating arrays, from Australia to Bedfordshire, Lightsource BP is ramping up its renewable energy push“He’s scaring me now,” laughs Mark Davis, as a menacing-looking ram takes a step towards him from underneath an angled solar panel. The burly operations manager is touring Manor Farm near Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, where sheep are using the solar arrays for shade and a remote-controlled cleaning robot with the appearance of a mini tank steadily sloshes water down the panels.A persistent hairdryer-like hum comes from the huge boxy green inverter, which converts the direct current electricity that the panels generate to the alternating current used by the electrical grid. This is one of about 270 solar farms that have been developed by Lightsource BP in the UK. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#64E50)
Coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels and investors must stop funding it, say campaignersHundreds of coal companies around the world are developing new mines and power stations, according to a study. The researchers said the plans were “reckless and irresponsible” in the midst of the climate emergency.Coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels and its use must be quickly phased out to end the climate crisis. However, almost half the 1,000 companies assessed are still developing new coal assets, and just 27 companies have announced coal exit dates consistent with international climate targets. Continue reading...
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Shah Meer Baloch in Laho on (#64E20)
Shehbaz Sharif says he wants ‘climate justice’ from rich polluting countries after monsoons put a third of his country under waterShehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, has said Pakistan should not be forced to go out with a “begging bowl” to rich polluting nations after the floods that have devastated the country and said he would be seeking “climate justice” from the international community.Speaking from his home in Lahore, Sharif warned that Pakistan is facing an unprecedented crisis of health, food security and internal displacement after the “apocalyptic” monsoons which put a third of Pakistan’s regions under water. Some areas were hit by 1.7m of rainfall, the highest on record. Continue reading...
by Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent on (#64DZC)
A group of 50 NGOs found that bank and subsidiaries had funded oil refinery and gas processingThe World Bank has provided nearly $15bn of finance directly to fossil fuel projects since the Paris agreement was signed in 2015, and is likely to have spurred far greater investment indirectly, new research has found.Funding for “upstream” oil and gas projects from the World Bank was meant to stop from 2019, but the Big Shift Global, a coalition of more than 50 NGOs, has found the bank and its subsidiaries funding oil refinery and gas processing since then. Continue reading...
A lack of rain on the western coasts saw 65,000 dead salmon wash up on the creekTens of thousands of dead wild salmon scattered along a creek bed are the latest casualty of a drought that has gripped the province of British Columbia for more than a month and left communities bracing for more devastation.In a video clip posted to social media, the carcasses of pink and chum salmon are seen piled near the community of Bella Bella. Continue reading...
Caroline Lucas responds to the business secretary’s claim that only she and ‘the socialists’ do not support his plansIf Jacob Rees-Mogg really believes that the only people who don’t like fracking are “the socialists and Caroline Lucas”, he’s clearly not been paying attention (Rees-Mogg tells Tories he’d welcome fracking in his back garden, 3 October)This may come as no surprise since, until recently, his most memorable position on the green benches at Westminster has been horizontal. But if he couldn’t see the large numbers of his own party’s backbench MPs queueing up to voice their outrage at his proposal to restart fracking when he made his announcement a few weeks ago then he should certainly have been able to hear them. Continue reading...
Hunting lobby, which has support of Emmanuel Macron, claims its members are being ‘stigmatised’French hunters have reacted angrily to suggestions they be stopped from drinking while out shooting to reduce accidental deaths and injuries.The proposal would make those taking part in hunts subject to the same rules on blood alcohol limits and subsequent penalties as motorists. It is one of 30 recommendations made by France’s upper house of parliament, the senate, to address issues with hunt safety and the threat to members of the public. Continue reading...
Herders lodge appeal against ruling in their case against the Tanzanian government, which they say is violently evicting them from ancestral landLawyers for Maasai herders who say the Tanzanian government is trying to violently evict them from their ancestral land to make way for a luxury game reserve have lodged an appeal against a court ruling that dismissed their case.Donald Deya, lead counsel for the herders and chief executive officer of the Pan-African Lawyers Union (Palu), said his team had, on Wednesday, appealed against the verdict of the east African court of justice, which campaigners branded “a shocking blow” to Indigenous land rights. Continue reading...
Chiriquí harlequin frogs went extinct in 1996 due to a fungal disease that has driven the decline of 501 amphibian speciesIt was a remarkably elaborate mating ritual. When a male Chiriquí harlequin frog found its mate, it would climb on to the female’s back, grip its armpits with its forelimbs and hug it. Females of the species were often twice as large as the males, and they would remain in this mating clasp for days or even months – depending on when the female was ready to lay her eggs. During this time, the male might forgo eating and lose up to 30% of its body weight, but it was willing to wait.It has been almost 30 years since a scientist last witnessed this act. In 2019, with little fanfare, the species was declared extinct. Continue reading...
Out of 44 charities, only 4% said they had a consistently implemented action plan to increase ethnic diversityThe environment sector has failed to act on its ambitions to become more inclusive, suggests new research that finds just one in 20 organisations are enacting plans to increase ethnic diversity.According to a sector-wide survey, out of 44 environment charities, 84% had considered or were taking action over a lack of inclusion, but only 4% said they had a consistently implemented action plan. Continue reading...
States have plans to ban gas-powered cars and the White House wants chargers along highways, but implementation is a challengeSpeaking in front of a line of the latest electric vehicles (EVs) at this month’s North American International Auto Show, President Joe Biden declared: “The great American road trip is going to be fully electrified.”Most vehicles on the road are still gas guzzlers, but Washington is betting big on change, hoping that major federal investment will help reach a target set by the White House for 50% of new cars to be electric by 2030. But there are roadblocks – specifically when it comes to charging them all. “Range anxiety,” or how far one can travel before needing to charge, is still cited as a major deterrent for potential EV buyers. Continue reading...
Few in Somerset MP’s constituency share his enthusiasm but some do agree with need for ‘unpopular measures’The sun was shining and the wind blowing steadily across Jacob Rees-Mogg’s manicured garden and the Somerset hills beyond.“It’s obvious on a day like this, isn’t it?” said Gary Marsh, a stonemason and a neighbour of the business secretary and Conservative MP for North East Somerset. “We should be putting more money into solar and wind energy. Plus tidal power on the coast at places like Burnham-on-Sea and Weston-super-Mare. Not fracking, messing with the earth and water.” Continue reading...
Exclusive: Note setting out business secretary’s views looks for ways to accelerate schemes, including streamlining HSE requirementsMinisters are actively examining ways to evade legal, environmental and public scrutiny of new oil and gas projects including fracking, the Guardian has learned, sparking a furious reaction from green groups and opposition parties.Senior staff working on energy projects in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have been instructed to look into ideas raised by Jacob Rees-Mogg, the business secretary, to escape potential judicial review of policies or public consultation. Continue reading...
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