Environment | The Guardian

Prominent members of farmers’ union express dismay after comments by Minette BattersFarmers are threatening to quit the National Farmers’ Union after its leader said she supported the UK government’s apparent move to scrap post-Brexit nature subsidies.This weekend, the Observer revealed that the government was poised to abandon the “Brexit bonus”, which would have paid farmers and landowners to enhance nature, in what wildlife groups have described as an “all-out attack” on the environment. Continue reading...

Nature protection rules in proposed investment zones would in effect be suspendedThere was little room for doubt about the reaction to the prime minister’s plans to scrap environmental regulations this weekend. “Make no mistake, we are angry. This government has today launched an attack on nature,” tweeted the RSPB, its most forceful political intervention in recent memory.Liz Truss’s proposals to create investment zones, where green rules on nature protection would in effect be suspended, represented a step too far for some of Britain’s biggest environment charities. “As of today, from Cornwall to Cumbria, Norfolk to Nottingham, wildlife is facing one of the greatest threats it’s faced in decades,” the RSPB went on. Continue reading...

Exclusive: major supplier to brands including KFC and Nando’s used offshore companies allowing them to reduce UK tax payments, investigation suggestsThe global megacompanies supplying some of Britain’s most popular meat brands, including KFC, Nando’s chicken and Sainsbury’s organic range, appear to have been using offshore companies that allow them to avoid paying millions of pounds in tax in the UK.An investigation by the Guardian and Lighthouse Reports has found that two companies – Anglo Beef Processors UK and Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (owned by Brazilian beef giant JBS) – appear to have reduced their tax bill by structuring their companies and loans in a way that allows them to take advantage of different tax systems, in what one expert has described as “aggressive tax avoidance”. Continue reading...

Parents, teachers and anti-hunger advocates hail new free-meal system, saying it improves academic performance and wellbeingBefore California became the first state to implement a universal meals program for its 6.2 million public school students, Alyssa Wells would keep granola bars in her classroom for students who complained of being hungry.When the new program began in August at Foussat elementary school in Oceanside, California, which is primarily attended by Latino students from low-income families, the teacher noticed immediate changes in her students. “The kids are eating way more and they’re more focused, eager to learn and they’re just happier,” she said. “They’ve got one less thing to worry about.” Continue reading...

Movement aims to make the mass damage and destruction of ecosystems a prosecutable, international crime against peaceCalifornia winemaker Julia Jackson has long grasped the threats posed by the ongoing global climate change crisis, from more intense wildfires and hurricanes to rising sea levels. But for her, those ideas crossed over from the abstract to the tangible when her home was razed by the Kincade wildfire that devastated her native Sonoma county in 2019.“I lost everything – all my belongings,” Jackson said. “It shook me to my core.” Continue reading...

The power station has paid out millions over alleged overpollution in US south, investigation findsThe UK government has been accused of funding environmental racism by giving £2m a day in subsidies to an energy company that has paid out millions over claims it breached pollution limits in the US south.An investigation by Unearthed, Greenpeace’s investigative unit, found Drax Biomass paid millions of dollars to US regulators over claims it exceeded limits on chemicals emissions at wood chip plants close to black and low-income communities.Sam Quashie-Idun is a journalist with Unearthed. Continue reading...

The deaths within days of 11 sturgeon, a species unchanged for thousands of years, have puzzled scientistsWhen the first spindly, armour-clad carcass was spotted in the fast-flowing Nechako River in early September, Nikolaus Gantner and two colleagues scrambled out on a jet boat, braving strong currents to investigate the grim discovery.Days later, the remains of 10 others were spotted floating along a 100km stretch of the river in western Canada. Continue reading...

Government says the 150-turbine windfarm could generate enough electricity to power 230,000 homes

Using hydrogen would add about 70% to home energy bills, according to a report by a renewable energy charity

Latest updates: all the developments from UK politics as the Labour party conference starts in LiverpoolQ: Does Labour support cutting the 45% top rate of income tax?Miliband says that cutting the 45% rate is the wrong thing to do.We’re going to be consistent in our election manifesto with our opposition to the 45p tax cut. We think it is the wrong thing to do for the country.No, we don’t think that should be reversed. Remember, we are talking about this basic rate cut. People start paying that at £12,500. Continue reading...

From the time it was created, the mechanism has been subject to obfuscation. Labor is about to try and make it work, but it won’t be smooth sailing

Experts say ditching concrete and creating mini wetlands could help water systems cope better with effects of extreme weatherThis year has seen one of the driest summers on record, with most of the country still officially in drought. Millions of people in England are under hosepipe bans because of water shortages, and reservoir and river levels remain low.The solution to this? People should flood their gardens and create bogs in order to stop the effects of drought and reverse biodiversity loss, according to the head of Natural England. Continue reading...

From fracking to bankers’ bonuses, we know where this government’s interests lie. It must be stopped

Wildlife groups concerned by apparent plans to loosen protections in 38 ‘investment zones’

David Malpass apologises after saying he ‘doesn’t know’ if he accepts climate scienceDavid Malpass, president of the World Bank, faces an uncertain future this week, after the White House joined a chorus of influential figures in condemning his apparent climate denialism.Malpass remains in post for now but under severe pressure, despite issuing an apology and trying to explain his refusal last week to publicly acknowledge the human role in the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Assistant treasurer says Labor can’t keep the fuel relief going, despite cost-of-living pressures. This blog is now closed

Warren and Wee Waa, in state’s north, expected to be inaccessible by road for days to comeThe ongoing flood emergency in New South Wales is expected to continue due to a new trough forecast to bring further wet weather across the state from Monday.The towns of Warren and Wee Waa, in the state’s north, are cut off by road and expected to remain that way for days. Emergency services are using aircraft to delivery water, medicine, food and other supplies to residents.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

Ian Gowrie-Smith says he was frustrated the Australian government did not respond to urgent funding request for turtle conservation

Labour pledges a revolution in green energy to ‘boost jobs and slash emissions’

World’s desire to wean off over-reliance on China could be a boon for local producers, according to the Australian PV Institute

RSPB, Wildlife Trusts and National Trust criticise plans to create 38 ‘investment zones’ across EnglandThe government has been accused of launching an “attack on nature” with its mini-budget, which conservationists warn could roll back environmental rules.Groups including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the Wildlife Trusts and the National Trust have criticised plans, announced on Friday, to create 38 “investment zones” across England. Continue reading...

President of Pacific island nation urges countries to join bid for nonproliferation treaty at UN general assembly

Pontiff tells young people he is pinning his hopes on their efforts to safeguard environment and help the poorPope Francis has called for courage in abandoning fossil fuels and lamented that older generations did not know how to protect the planet and secure peace.The pope, who was visiting Assisi, the birthplace of his namesake saint who was close to nature, told young people on Saturday that he was pinning his hopes on their efforts in working to save the planet and to make the world’s economy more attentive to the poor. Continue reading...

Defra accused of ‘all-out attack’ on environment by wildlife groupsThe government is to scrap the “Brexit bonus” which would have paid farmers and landowners to enhance nature, in what wildlife groups are calling an “all-out attack” on the environment, the Observer can reveal.Instead, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) sources disclosed, they are considering paying landowners a yearly set sum for each acre of land they own, which would be similar to the much-maligned EU basic payments scheme of the common agricultural policy. Continue reading...

Bee bus stops first appeared in the Dutch city of Utrecht. Now the UK is planning for more than 1,000 and there is growing interest across Europe and in Canada and AustraliaButterflies and bees are getting their own transport network as “bee bus stops” start to pop up around UK cities and across Europe. Humble bus shelter roofs are being turned into riots of colour, with the number of miniature gardens – full of pollinator-friendly flora such as wild strawberries, poppies and pansies – set to increase by 50% in the UK by the end of this year.Leicester is leading the charge with 30 bee bus stops installed since 2021. Derby has 18, and there are others in Southhampton, Newcastle, Sunderland, Derby, Oxford, Cardiff and Glasgow. Brighton council installed one last year after a petition was signed by almost 50,000 people. Continue reading...

The British public should enjoy the full benefit of the energy that is generated here, and help plan its future

Emergency services rescued four people clinging to trees after two vehicles became trapped in floods

Ex-chair of Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation says hydrogen plant, gas facility and proposed urea plant are all threats to cultural sites

The way Queensland Labor reacts to rising pressure from landlords and coalminers will determine if it is a government of principle or politics

Fridays for Future ‘strikes’ in about 450 places demanded rich countries pay for damage from global heatingThousands of young people have staged a coordinated “global climate strike” across Asia, Africa and Europe in a call for reparations for those worst affected by climate breakdown.From New Zealand and Japan to Germany and the Democratic Republic of Congo, activists walked out of schools, universities and jobs to demand rich countries pay for the damage global heating is inflicting on the poor. Continue reading...

Tremors above magnitude 3 could be destructive – not least to the Tory party if people’s houses start crumbling, writes David NowellHaving been taught seismology by Prof Peter Styles, who developed a traffic-light monitoring system in the 1980s that dramatically reduced the impact of coal mining under Swansea for local residents, I believe Jacob Rees-Mogg has a risible scientific understanding about shale gas extraction (Tory MPs angrily challenge Rees-Mogg’s fracking revival plan, 22 September). Vibrations from quarries and building sites tend not to be widespread, compared to shaking generated a few kilometres beneath an area.The current 0·5 magnitude limit was set so tremors should not rise above 2·5, “because of the increased risk of larger magnitude events”, according to a recent British Geological Survey report. Proposing a higher limit would be reckless, as any anthropogenic tremors above 3 could prove to be destructive – not least to the Tory vote, if people’s houses start crumbling. Continue reading...

In my group, Nanas Against Fracking, we know community organising is not easy. But we are a force to be reckoned withHysterical “luddites” funded by Russia was how Jacob Rees-Mogg, in parliament yesterday, described concerned residents opposed to fracking in England. What a slap in the face for those of us who have spent more than a decade trying to protect our communities from the dangerous, polluting shale gas industry. We have never received so much as a rouble or a vodka shot for our efforts.Here in Lancashire, we actually believed we had won this fight – twice. Our first victory was in 2015, when Lancashire county council rejected planning applications from the fracking firm Cuadrilla for two large sites between Preston and Blackpool. This decision was overruled by Westminster in 2016, and work began in 2017 to transform the Preston New Road site from a field where cows graze into a shale gas site. Nanas Against Fracking, a group I co-founded, started protesting at the site that day too, and continued for more than 1,000 days.Tina Rothery is a Blackpool resident, campaigner and co-founder of Nanas Against Fracking

Participants view Milky Way and Andromeda galaxy as campaigners bemoan restrictions on right to roam“Welcome to the night,” beamed a right to roam campaigner welcoming a coach load of city dwellers to the pitch dark stillness of remote Northumberland countryside on a chilly September evening.The passengers had been attracted by a secretive offer spread on Instagram and by old-school posters pinned up in Newcastle. Continue reading...

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng poised to lift de facto ban on new onshore farms as part of his growth planKwasi Kwarteng looks likely to lift a de facto ban on new onshore windfarms after the UK government said it would bring planning consent into line with that for other infrastructure.It has been very difficult for onshore windfarms to get planning permission since David Cameron put in place a tough consent regime in 2015. Earlier this year, Kwarteng pushed for the restrictions to be lifted but he encountered cabinet opposition. Continue reading...

While not devoid of green measures, Kwarteng’s announcement was more notable for what it did not include

Leaked video shows business secretary ‘greenwashing fossil fuels’ and putting ‘ideology before climate’, say critics

Studies collectively examined nearly 30,000 samples over the past five years in ‘disturbing’ findingsToxic PFAS chemicals were detected in every umbilical cord blood sample across 40 studies conducted over the last five years, a new review of scientific literature from around the world has found.The studies collectively examined nearly 30,000 samples, and many linked fetal PFAS exposure to health complications in unborn babies, young children and later in life. The studies’ findings are “disturbing”, said Uloma Uche, an environmental health science fellow with the Environmental Working Group, which analyzed the peer-reviewed studies’ data. Continue reading...

Cost of safely clearing waste from ageing power stations is soaring, sayexpertsThe cost of decommissioning the UK’s 20th-century nuclear waste could rise to £260bn as the aged and degrading sites present growing challenges, according to analysis presented to an international group of experts.As the government pursues nuclear energy with the promise of a new generation of reactors, the cost of safely cleaning up waste from previous generations of power stations is soaring. Continue reading...

The release by a Greta Thunberg-inspired activist group was timed with the global climate strike protests launching FridayIn a chilling new video released by Fridays for Future, the youth-led climate movement inspired by Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, filmmakers capture how escalating wildfires have devastated California’s picturesque landscapes in the hopes of igniting an urgent call to action.The short video, titled “I love you, California,” sees the camera pan slowly over the aftermath of megafires: apocalyptic scenes of smoldering canyons, communities reduced to rubble and once lush hillsides turned to blackened moonscapes. The film is soundtracked by a haunting rendition of California’s state song, accompanied only by the sounds of quiet, rustling wind. Continue reading...

Mark Menzies challenges business secretary to ‘lead by example’ and start drilling in North East SomersetJacob Rees-Mogg should “lead by example” and make his the first constituency to be fracked, a Conservative MP has said.Mark Menzies, the MP for Fylde, challenged the business secretary to start drilling in North East Somerset before imposing fracking on other constituencies. Continue reading...

The landmark ruling found the Morrison government had violated the rights of the Indigenous people by failing to take adequate action to cut emissions

Hurricane causes blackout across Puerto Rico while typhoon forces 8m to flee homes in JapanIt has been very active across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in recent days with more than five storms officially named.Hurricane Fiona in the Caribbean was the first storm of the tropical Atlantic season to strengthen into a major hurricane. Fiona made landfall on Sunday across south-western Puerto Rico, where it dumped 762mm (30in) of rain with sustained gusts of 115mph. Continue reading...

Campaigners say revoking of post-Brexit protections amounts to legislative vandalismHundreds of Britain’s environmental laws covering water quality, sewage pollution, clean air, habitat protections and the use of pesticides are lined up for removal from UK law under a government bill.Environmentalists accused Liz Truss’s government of reneging on a commitment made after Brexit to halt the decline of nature by 2030. They say the revoking of 570 environmental laws that were rolled over from EU law after Brexit amounts to a deregulatory free-for-all leaving the environment unprotected. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a rescued fox, a snub-nosed monkey and beached whales Continue reading...

The Underground in Bloom competition showcases the talents of green-fingered TfL staff, who have turned tube and bus stations across the capital into havens for plants and trees, and even fruit and vegThe first official garden popped up at a London Underground station more than a century ago. Now, there is an annual Underground In Bloom competition, run by Transport for London (TfL), for the many stations going green.With plants grown in everything from used mayonnaise pots to old food delivery crates, makeshift station gardens are sprouting up around the capital, all managed by volunteer staff. Competition categories include the best indoor garden, best fruit and vegetables, best hanging baskets and best window baskets.South Tottenham station, with Sasha Diamond, whose garden backs on to the station’s green plot, tending to the flowers. A pelargonium and petunia peep through the fence Continue reading...

This weekend’s ballot could see Switzerland also giving farm animals the constitutional right ‘not to be intensively farmed’Swiss voters will vote on Sunday on whether to ban factory farming as unconstitutional and end imports of intensively farmed meat.The latest polling shows 52% of voters oppose a ban, and 47% support one. If the factory-farming ballot initiative is passed, Switzerland’s constitution, which already protects the “welfare and dignity of animals”, would be modified to include an animal’s right “not to be intensively farmed”, and new laws would lower animal stocking rates to meet organic standards. Continue reading...

See Monster, on a decommissioned North Sea gas platform, is one of the UK’s biggest ever public art worksIt looms high above the Grand Pier and makes the big wheel on the seafront look tiny. As it has taken shape on the beach at Weston-super-Mare, See Monster – a decommissioned North Sea gas platform converted into one of the UK’s biggest public art installations – has provoked a heady mix of head-scratching, interest and ire.Finally, after delays caused by the vagaries of this summer’s extreme weather (too hot at times, too windy at others), visitors are being invited this weekend to clamber onboard. Continue reading...

Campaigners say protesters arrested for blocking roads getting ‘lost in prison system’ while on remandClimate campaigners arrested on suspicion of blocking roads or other offences are waiting up to six months in prison before being tried.Josh Smith, a 29-year-old stonemason from Manchester, has been held on remand in HMP Peterborough for more than two months. Continue reading...

English Heritage identifies six most vulnerable sites as climate change intensifies coastal erosionThe wonderful wildness of the spot, a rocky Cornish headland pounded relentlessly by Atlantic breakers, has inspired poets, artists and dreamers for many a century.But Tintagel, immortalised in British mythology as the place of King Arthur’s conception, is one of a string of castles at risk of tumbling into the sea as climate change increases the pace of coastal erosion. Continue reading...

Energy secretary considers bypassing local planning rules as backbenchers voice oppositionMinisters face a furious backlash from Conservative MPs after overturning a manifesto pledge to pause fracking until it is proved safe, and then indicating drilling could be imposed without local support.Outlining a return to shale gas extraction in England after three years, Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed worries about earthquakes caused by the practice as “hysteria”, claiming this was often down to a lack of scientific understanding. Continue reading...