Environment | The Guardian

Search continued for two people swept off ute near Boorowa as prime minister said he hoped for positive news

Exclusive: Peter Hain to table amendment in House of Lords to protect single energy marketA Labour peer is launching a bid to avert a fresh energy crisis with potential power cuts and drastic electricity price rises in Northern Ireland as a result of proposed Brexit legislation.The former Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain will table an amendment to the Northern Ireland protocol bill in the House of Lords on Wednesday to protect the so-called single energy market (SEM), which allows power to be traded with the island of Ireland as one economic unit. Continue reading...

Committee says vague guidance and lack of follow-up make it hard for public to hold government to accountThe UK government is failing to lead by example on taking action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and meet a legally binding target of reaching net zero by 2050, a watchdog has said.Across Whitehall departments the rules for reporting, gathering data and taking action are vague, there is a free-for-all on reporting emissions reductions or the lack of them, and oversight is fragmented and ineffective, the public accounts committee said on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Effort to end fossil fuels may bring rapid industry expansion and chance to stop workers leaving ‘in droves’, EITI chair Helen Clark says

Berlin urges International Seabed Authority to prioritise nature as it debates rules and warns seabed mining may ‘destroy ecosystems’Germany has called for a pause in the controversial deep-sea mining industry, saying not enough is known about the likely impacts of digging up the ocean floor for metals.While other nations, including Spain and New Zealand, have previously called for a temporary halt to any exploitation of deep-sea metals, Germany, the world’s fourth biggest economy, is the most significant nation to voice its opposition to date. The country holds two of the 22 licences for exploration of the seabed. Continue reading...

Concern over country’s human rights record after Indian Ajit Rajagopal arrested on walk to raise awareness about climate crisisThe arrest of an Indian climate activist by Egyptian security forces has renewed alarm about the regime’s dire human rights record as it prepares to host the Cop27 UN climate summit.Ajit Rajagopal, an architect and activist from Kerala in south India, was arrested on Sunday afternoon shortly after setting off on an eight-day walk from Cairo to Sharm el-Sheikh as part of a global campaign to raise awareness about the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Green Alliance lists measures that could cut emissions of gas that has 80 times global heating power of COMethane emissions in the UK could be cut by more than 40% by 2030 with a raft of inexpensive policies, according to an environmental thinktank.The government has pledged to cut emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that has more than 80 times the global heating power of CO, by at least 30% by 2030. The move was trumpeted by Boris Johnson when he was prime minister after the UK joined more than 100 other countries to make the pledge at Cop26 in Glasgow. Continue reading...

People can seem immune to the news of catastrophic climate breakdown, but that’s a very human response. There is hopeLast Friday the Guardian published a story under the headline “World close to ‘irreversible’ climate breakdown”. This was not a quote from Greta Thunberg or Extinction Rebellion, but the central message from three United Nations agencies.They found there was “no credible pathway to 1.5C in place” and current pledges for action, even if honoured, would result in global heating of around 2.5C – in other words, a catastrophic climate breakdown, with devastating consequences for societies around the globe. Continue reading...

Environment committee chair says crab die-offs in north-east having ‘profound impact on fishing communities’The chair of the House of Commons environment select committee has called for an urgent investigation into whether dredging around a freeport development in Teesside has caused mass die-offs of crabs on the north-east coast.In a letter sent on Tuesday, Sir Robert Goodwill told Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, his committee had heard evidence that the repeated mass deaths were having a “profound and long-lasting impact … on fishing communities”. Continue reading...

Fewer than 2,000 farms have applied to sustainable farming scheme replacing EU system in EnglandFarmers may miss out on thousands of pounds after government chaos over the post-Brexit nature-friendly farming schemes caused them not to apply.These schemes were developed to replace the EU’s old subsidy system for farmers, which paid according how much land they managed. The new English system would instead pay for public goods such as improving the environment and enriching biodiversity. Continue reading...

Blue whales consume up to 1bn particles over a feeding season with as-yet-unknown impacts on healthFilter-feeding whales are consuming millions of particles of microplastic pollution a day, according to a study, making them the largest consumers of plastic waste on the planet.The central estimate for blue whales was 10m pieces a day, meaning more than 1bn pieces could be ingested over a three- to four-month feeding season. The weight of plastic consumed over the season was estimated at between 230kg and 4 tonnes. Continue reading...

Petition signed by 300,000 people demands Home Office drops ‘attempt to overthrow democracy’• UK politics live – latest news updatesCivil rights campaigners and environmentalists have called on peers to kill a public order bill targeting radical climate protesters, as it comes before the House of Lords for its second reading. The bill will make “locking on” – where protesters cuff themselves to a target – a criminal offence, among other measures.A petition signed by more than 300,000 people and coordinated by Liberty and Greenpeace was handed into the Home Office, demanding it drops its “attempt to overthrow democracy”. Continue reading...

Climate minister Chris Bowen says opponents of climate action have seized on cost-of-living crisis to resume campaign against clean energy transition

Mouthe’s temperate autumn is extra proof of climate crisis, say weather expertsFor the first time in 140 years, the village of Mouthe – officially recognised as France’s coldest – reported a frost-free October.A temperate autumn is additional proof of the reality of the climate crisis, weather experts say. Continue reading...

Villagers in the Congo basin rely on the forest for food, medicine and spiritual wellbeing, but an auction of exploration rights could threaten that way of life

Calls by countries such as UK and US to halt auction for drilling permits in the world’s second-largest rainforest branded ‘galling’

Missed deadline for money pledged to assist developing countries sends ‘strong negative signal’ ahead of Egypt summit, say expertsThe British government has come under fire for sending a “strong negative signal” ahead of the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt, by failing to make $300m (£260m) of promised climate finance payments.The UK has already caused upset among developing countries hit hardest by the climate crisis, after a statement from Downing Street that Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, would not attend Cop27 due to his focus on domestic issues. Continue reading...

Activist among 30 people in three states and ACT to report visits from officers at request of NSW police ahead of mining forum

‘Polluting elite’ responsible for same amount of carbon dioxide in a year as poorest 10% are in more than two decades, data showsThe top 1% of earners in the UK are responsible for the same amount of carbon dioxide emissions in a single year as the bottom 10% over more than two decades, new data has shown.The findings highlight the enormous gaps between what have been termed “the polluting elite”, whose high-carbon lifestyles fuel the climate crisis, and the majority of people, even in developed countries, whose carbon footprints are far smaller. Continue reading...

Comes as Victorian and federal governments announce $877m package for flood recovery

Voters want energy networks that support the public good and governments to be accountable for power supply

Merged Australian-UK firm will convert Porsche 911s, Mini Coopers, Land Rovers and Land Rover Defenders into EVs

Company struggling to find investors willing to fund effort to build giant £3.8bn ‘gigafactory’ in north-eastThe UK government-backed battery startup Britishvolt is on the brink of entering administration with the potential loss of almost 300 jobs, after it struggled to find investors willing to fund its effort to build a giant £3.8bn “gigafactory” in north-east England.The company had considered an administration as early as Monday, two sources with knowledge of Britishvolt’s operations told the Guardian. Britishvolt has lined up the accountancy firm EY to carry out the administration if it goes ahead. Continue reading...

Situation ‘under review’ after days of criticism and revelation Boris Johnson is seeking to attend

Order, which applies to all captive birds, comes into force on 7 November amid UK’s largest outbreakLegal requirements for poultry and other captive birds to be housed indoors are to be extended to all areas of England amid the UK’s largest ever outbreak of avian influenza.The mandatory measures are to be introduced from midnight on 7 November. Continue reading...

Before Cop27, Lee White also says broken promises on funding leave sense of betrayalThe world will only take meaningful action on the climate crisis once people in rich countries start dying in greater numbers from its effects, Gabon’s environment minister has said, while warning that broken promises on billions of dollars of adaptation finance have left a “sense of betrayal” before Cop27.Lee White said governments were not yet behaving as if global heating was a crisis, and he feared for the future he was leaving to his children. He said the $100bn of promised climate finance from rich nations was not reaching poor countries, which was driving distrust in the UN climate process. Continue reading...

Joe Biden will fly to Africa to attend the Cop27 talks in Egypt but the US funnels billions to dirty projects in the continentJoe Biden will head to Egypt next week to tout America’s re-emergence as a leader on the climate crisis at the Cop27 talks. But he will be landing in a continent that the US continues to pour billions of dollars into for fossil fuel projects, with seemingly no end in sight despite the president’s promises.The US government has funneled more than $9bn (£7.7bn) into oil and gas projects in Africa since it signed up to restrain global heating in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, a tally of official data shows, committing just $682m (£587m) to clean energy developments such as wind and solar over the same period. Continue reading...

They are weather balloons and they look like hundreds of miniature moonsIf there were no moon, our days would be short – between half and a quarter of the length they are now – and our nights would be dark. The Earth’s tilt would change, which would change the seasons. The seas, the oceans, the lakes would not fall flat, but they would be flatter, milder: lower high tides, higher low tides.This makes me think of the Jorie Graham lines: “And the black ocean shows itself in infinite detail because of the moon. / No matter that all is not lit. Much remains because much remains hidden.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s moon is, “suffused o’er all the sapphire Heaven, / Trees, herbage, snake-like stream, unwrinkled Lake, / Whose very murmur does of it partake.” Continue reading...

Assam, Nagaland and Manipur officials also confiscate catapults and nets to ensure birds can recuperateOfficials in north-east India have banned the use of guns and airguns and confiscated catapults and nets in an effort to safeguard the small Amur falcons that make an autumn pit stop on their way to sunny South Africa.Forest officers were patrolling areas of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur states to make sure no one disturbs the long-distance travelling raptors who stop briefly in India. Continue reading...

Visitors to Sharm el-Sheikh also face extensive searches and video surveillance in taxisAcross Sharm el-Sheikh, a slim strip of manicured resorts, asphalt and concrete near the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula, teams of workers are putting the finishing touches to preparations for the UN’s Cop27 climate conference.Sparkling new buses are ready to drive down the enlarged highways that cut across desert landscape, flanked by smooth shiny new walkways adorned with angular sculptural arches. A field of glittering solar panels run by a company with ties to the Egyptian military will be online in time for the conference, as well as a new shopping mall. Continue reading...

Sixteenth tropical cyclone to affect the Philippines this season caused deadly floods and landslidesTropical Storm Nalgae swept through the Philippines on Saturday with sustained winds of 60mph.Heavy rain caused the most damage, with significant flooding and landslides. Dozens of people have died and 170,000 sought shelter in evacuation centres. Continue reading...

Venture offers outfits on loan from £39 for five days in cheaper, greener way for customers to change their lookMarks & Spencer is to begin hiring out capsule wardrobes of 10 different outfits for up to a month, promising a more environmentally friendly and economical way for shoppers to regularly change their look.The five-, six- or seven-piece womenswear collections – with names such as Comfy Cool, which includes faux leather leggings, a hoodie and baseball cap, and Monochrome Moments, featuring a black-and-white print dress and black padded gilet – can be rented via the specialist site Hirestreet from £39 a capsule for five days. Continue reading...

Single-use plastic straws, cutlery and cotton buds will be among items banned from Tuesday

Figure is 4.6 percentage points higher than previous record from September and compares with maximum of 30% five years ago

Swedish climate activist says the UN’s climate conference will be ‘used as an opportunity for leaders and people in power to get attention’Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has said she will skip next month’s Cop27 talks in Egypt, criticising the global summit as a forum for “greenwashing”.“I’m not going to Cop27 for many reasons, but the space for civil society this year is extremely limited,” she said during a question and answer at the launch of her latest book at London’s Southbank Centre.This article was amended on 31 October 2022: an earlier version stated that Thunberg had criticised Greenpeace for not signing a human rights petition, but that is not in fact the case. Continue reading...

Operation under way to rescue aquatic animals in danger of suffocating after record rainfall produces ‘hypoxic blackwater’

Rare alpine species captures narrow win over kororā penguin after campaign marked by controversyThe pīwauwau rock wren, a diminutive mountain-dwelling underdog, has come out on top in New Zealand’s annual bird of the year competition after a hard-fought campaign again marked by controversy.The rare alpine species – which weighs less than 20g, about as much as a MallowPuff biscuit – beat out a number of higher-profile and charismatic competitors. Continue reading...

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...