Identification of Galápagos tortoise celebrated by scientists as a big deal for island’s biodiversityA rare Galápagos species, the “fantastic giant tortoise”, long thought extinct, has been officially identified for the first time in more than a century in what scientists called a “big deal” for the famed islands’ embattled biodiversity.The animal is the first Chelonoidis phantasticus to be seen since a male specimen was discovered by the explorer Rollo Beck during an expedition in 1906. The newcomer has been named Fernanda, after the Fernandina Island, a largely unexplored active volcano in the western Galápagos Archipelago that she calls home. Continue reading...

Sian Phillips joins London vigil for Briton and the Brazilian Bruno Araújo Pereira who have vanished in AmazonThe sister of a British journalist missing in the Amazon has said she still has hope he will be found.Sian Phillips was joined by supporters at a vigil for her brother Dom Phillips, who has worked as a freelance correspondent for the Guardian, and the Brazilian Indigenous affairs official Bruno Araujo Pereira outside the Brazilian embassy in central London on Thursday. Continue reading...

Coastguard checking ships’ routes and says samples being sent for analysisA massive spill of an unknown substance has been detected in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Sweden, the country’s coastguard said on Thursday.Covering a surface area of 30 sq miles (77 sq km) in both Swedish and Finnish waters, the spill was detected on Wednesday in the Bothnian Sea. Continue reading...

Researchers call for recognition of latest online strategies used to derail climate actionClimate policy is being dragged into the culture wars with misinformation and junk science being spread across the internet by a relatively small group of individuals and groups, according to a study.The research, released on Thursday, shows that the climate emergency – and the measures needed to deal with it – are in some cases being conflated with divisive issues such as critical race theory, LGBTQ+ rights, abortion access and anti-vaccine campaigns.Elitism and hypocrisy: these posts focused on the alleged wealth and double standards of those calling for action, and in some cases referenced wider conspiracies about globalism or the “New World Order”. The study identified 199,676 mentions of this narrative on Twitter (tweets and retweets) and 4,377 posts on Facebook around the time Cop26 took placeAbsolution: it found 6,262 Facebook posts and 72,356 tweets around Cop26 which absolved one country of any obligation to act on climate by blaming another. In developed western countries this often focused on the perceived shortcomings of China and, to a lesser extent, India, claiming they were not doing enough so there was no point in anyone acting.Unreliable renewables: over a longer period – from 1 January to 19 November 2021 – the study found 115,830 tweets or retweets were shared, alongside 15,443 posts on Facebook, that called into question the viability and effectiveness of renewable energy sources. Continue reading...

We must restore our largely broken relationship with nature if we are to ensure the planet’s future – and our ownAsked to consider the value of animals, many people’s first thought would be about money. During the Covid-19 pandemic, for example, the price of dogs became a popular talking point. Others might think of the less tangible, but also very real, value they place on their relationships with companion animals, especially pets such as cats and dogs. Fewer would immediately consider the ways in which our entire civilisation rests on animals. The fact is, though, that our society and economy are embedded in a natural system that is maintained by the activities of animals, and without them, we would not be here.Animals are vital to the functioning of the biosphere in innumerable ways. Their interactions with plants, fungi and microbes sustain the conditions on which we, along with all other life, depend. For example, the great whales that sit at the pinnacle of marine food webs are linked to some of the most fundamental processes that shape conditions in our world. They eat other marine creatures, including krill, and in the process take nutrients from deeper water to be released via their faeces into the ocean, where they fertilise blooms of planktonic algae. Continue reading...

Exclusive: study of London schemes says local communication should be improved but that benefits are clearLow-traffic neighbourhoods boost cycling, reduce car use and make roads safer, but councils could do more to make the schemes more palatable and comprehensible to local people, the most thorough study yet of the concept has concluded.The report by the Centre for London thinktank about the interventions, which use planters or other filters to stop through-traffic by motor vehicles on smaller residential streets, also found no evidence they disproportionately benefited richer people. Continue reading...

Even if Millmerran power station’s carbon capture plan succeeds, it will only eliminate 2.1% of emissions. Plus: nuclear still costlier than renewables

Consent decree would settle two lawsuits against EPA brought by Louisiana residents in one of most polluted parts of USA proposed legal settlement between the Environmental Protection Agency EPA and residents of the town of Reserve, Louisiana could significantly reduce toxic emissions in one of the most polluted parts of the US.Announced on Tuesday via the federal register, the proposed agreement, known as a consent decree, would settle two lawsuits partly brought against the EPA by members of the predominantly Black community in St John the Baptist parish, the epicenter of the region known colloquially as “Cancer Alley”. Continue reading...

European parliament defeats centre-right lawmakers’ attempts to weaken climate targetThe European parliament has voted to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2035, defeating attempts by centre-right lawmakers to weaken the target.Lawmakers hailed a major victory for the climate after an intense day of votes on a set of laws that make up the EU green deal, the bloc’s main response to the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Energy and climate change minister, Chris Bowen, has held an emergency meeting with state and territory ministers about the impending energy crisis, with electricity prices soaring up to 18% as supply issues plague much of the country. Laura Murphy-Oates speaks with economics correspondent, ​​Peter Hannam, about what’s really behind this crisis and how we could prevent another oneRead more: Continue reading...

CSIRO researchers say efforts to raise public awareness have quickly led to improvements in the environment

UK cabinet minister who led Cop26 understood to have been approached and expressed interest in the roleAlok Sharma, the UK cabinet minister who led last year’s Cop26 climate summit, is in the running to be the UN’s global climate chief, at a crucial time for international action on greenhouse gas emissions.The UN’s current top climate official, Patricia Espinosa, will step down next month, leaving a vacancy as the world prepares for the next stage in vital negotiations to stave off climate breakdown. Continue reading...

Charles Secrett says exposing those behind these disastrous fossil fuel projects and drawing the public into the fight are essential to prevent runaway global heatingIt is great news that a global coalition of activists and experts is to confront the governments and corporations responsible for the mega-carbon projects, recently exposed by the Guardian, that threaten life on Earth (Environmentalists join forces to fight ‘carbon’ bomb fossil fuel projects, 6 June).Exposing the politicians and executives behind these madcap schemes, challenging them in court, organising shareholder and investor rebellions, and running activist campaigns to draw the wider public into the fight are essential measures if we are to avoid irreversible, runaway global heating. Continue reading...

Biden officials make announcement on World Oceans Day in effort to stem huge tide of pollution from plastic bottles and packagingThe Biden administration is to phase out single-use plastic products on US public lands, including the vast network of American national parks, in an attempt to stem the huge tide of plastic pollution that now extends to almost every corner of the world.The US Department of the Interior will halt the sale of single-use plastics in national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands, though not entirely until 2032, with a reduction planned in the meantime. The government will look to identify environmentally preferable alternatives to plastic bottles, packaging and other products, such as compostable materials. Continue reading...

Lib Dems and environmental campaigners condemn central government after Tory-run council overruledCampaigners and the Liberal Democrats have criticised the government after a minister overruled a Tory-run council to approve gas drilling on the edge of the Surrey Hills, despite accepting the scheme would cause harm to the natural landscape.The decision, formally announced in a written statement by the housing minister Stuart Andrew, gives the green light to three years of exploratory drilling at a site near the edge of the Surrey Hills area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB). Continue reading...

Southern Company spent $62.1m over the years to deny the impact of fossil fuel combustion on climate crisisIn 1980, a report circulated to a division of one of the biggest coal-burning utilities in the US warned that “fossil fuel combustion” was rapidly warming the atmosphere and could cause a “massive extinction of plant and animal species” along with a “5 to 6-meter rise in sea level” across the world.Several years later an official at the utility co-chaired a conference where scientific researchers fretted that “as we continue to exploit the vast deposits of fossil fuels” it could cause “disruptive climate changes”. Continue reading...

Unchecked water use by companies like Exxon risks saltwater intrusion and undrinkable tap waterFlowers seem to live longer in vases filled with Baton Rouge water, according to Dominique Rogers, 36, a florist in Louisiana’s capital city with 14 years of experience.The city pulls its water deep underground from the Southern Hills aquifer, which requires little to no treatment to drink, unlike other Louisiana communities such as New Orleans, which draws its water from the Mississippi River and requires heavy treatment. Continue reading...

Regulator upholds complaints that marketing by Evergreens UK Ltd was unsubstantiated and misleadingAdverts claiming plastic grass is “eco-friendly” and “purifies” the atmosphere must be removed after the Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints of greenwashing.The ASA upheld concerns that adverts claiming artificial grass produced by Evergreens UK Ltd was eco-friendly were unsubstantiated and misleading. The product was made of plastic, the ASA said, and, taking into account its whole lifecycle, it “had a negative impact on the environment”. Continue reading...

Alessandra Sampaio, whose husband Dom Phillips was last seen in the Amazon on Sunday, makes appeal in tearful video messageThe wife of the British journalist who has vanished in a remote corner of the Amazon with a celebrated Indigenous expert has issued an emotional plea for Brazilian authorities to work harder to find “the love of my life”.“I want to make an appeal to the federal government and the relevant organs to intensify their search efforts, because we still have some hope of finding them,” Alessandra Sampaio, the wife of longtime Guardian contributor Dom Phillips, said in a tearful video message. Continue reading...

Residents of the New Mexico canyon scorched by the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fires blame the government for the acres they lostThe air smells of ash and the landscape is leached of color. Spots of green punctuate the valley floor in places. But along the ridges, the powdery residue of charred trees has fallen like snow, accumulating up to 4 inches deep. These are the slices of forest where the fire burned the hottest, scorching ponderosa pines from crown to root. Once titans, they are now matchsticks.Pola Lopez gestures in their direction, southward toward Hermits Peak. Before a tsunami of flames ripped through this canyon in Tierra Monte, the canopy was so thick that it was impossible to see the nearby mountain. But two prescribed burns set by the US Forest Service (USFS) – one on Hermits Peak, the other in Calf Canyon to the south-west – have changed all that. Continue reading...

Increasing spare electricity capacity and the development of a transition plan to reduce emissions among decisions at ‘very collegiate’ energy ministers meeting

Chris Bowen says ‘no silver bullet’ to energy crisis; NAB the last of big four banks to lift home loan interest rates; treasurer warns of budget pressure from rate rises; at least 59 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

New dash for gas driven by energy disruption and rising prices spurns warnings to cease exploration to meet 1.5 heating limitCountries around the world are pouring funds into new natural gas facilities that could destroy the chances of limiting global heating, in response to soaring energy prices and the war in Ukraine.Governments including the US, Germany, the UK and Canada are investing in new gas production, distribution and use as they seek to sanction Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, according to new research. Continue reading...

Parks Victoria intends to remove 500 horses from state’s eastern Alpine region this year as part of feral horse management plan

Gesture announced at Copenhagen sustainability summit earns praise – and some cries of ‘greenwashing’Chinese fashion behemoth Shein might be the organisation least expected to win applause at an international conference on fashion sustainability, but that’s what happened at this week’s global fashion summit in Copenhagen.The industry’s largest forum for sustainable progress saw the ultra-fast fashion brand praised for making a donation of $15m (£12m) over three years to a charity working at Kantamanto in Accra, the world’s largest secondhand clothing market.

As Europe’s only Jewish farm faces closure, its founder explains why reviving Judaism’s ancient precepts of sustainable agriculture and conservation has never been more urgentWhile for most British Jews, synagogue is the focal point for religious life, Talia Chain finds her faith in nature. It’s why, in 2018, she founded Sadeh Farm in Kent, currently Europe’s only Jewish farming community.On the edge of Sadeh’s plot is its forest garden – a low intervention and sustainable agronomic system based on trees, shrubs and perennials. Perched on a seat, 33-year-old Chain is describing one of her most treasured Jewish customs. “It’s called the law of orlah,” Chain says, “where you don’t pick or eat the fruit from a fruit tree for its first three years producing. Instead, you let the fruit ripen and fall to the ground to rot naturally.” Continue reading...

Matt Kean’s comments come after Peter Dutton indicated support for nuclear energy could be part of future Coalition policy

Saving energy is ‘utterly essential’ to cut bills, end reliance on Russian oil and gas and slash emissions says agencyThe failure by governments and businesses to accelerate energy efficiency efforts is “inexplicable”, according to the head of the International Energy Agency.Fatih Birol said saving more energy was “utterly essential” in cutting household’s rocketing bills, ending reliance on fossil fuel regimes such as Russia, and rapidly lowering the CO2 emissions driving the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Treasurer Cameron Dick says government is talking to industry ahead of ‘announcement’ on royalties

New Zealand researchers identified tiny plastics, which can be toxic to plants and animals, in 19 snow samplesMicroplastics have been found in freshly fallen snow in Antarctica for the first time, which could accelerate snow and ice melting and pose a threat to the health of the continent’s unique ecosystems.The tiny plastics – smaller than a grain of rice - have previously been found in Antarctic sea ice and surface water but this is the first time it has been reported in fresh snowfall, the researchers say. Continue reading...

Minister says waste ‘weighs on everyone’s conscience’ as draft measures go to MPs for approvalSpain is aiming to crack down on food waste, with draft legislation setting out stiff fines for supermarkets that bin leftovers and requirements for bars and restaurants to offer doggy bags so that customers can take home leftovers.The goal of the draft bill, adopted on Tuesday by Spain’s Socialist-led government, is to reduce the figure of 1,300 tonnes of food wasted annually across the country, said Luis Planas, Spain’s agricultural, fisheries and food minister. That figure equates to 31kg a person. Continue reading...

Lord mayor says residents should make green choices but tenant’s union says onus should be on owners and government

University of Sydney’s Dr Hoan Dinh finds gene which makes barley resistant to fungal rust, a disease that decreases global food production by a tenth

Bird, named Noble X3C, landed unharmed and made successful first flight three days laterThey are known as agile, powerful and rapid flyers. But a young peregrine falcon has undermined the image of its species after an ungainly tumble from a cathedral tower.Named Noble X3C, the bird is one of four that hatched high on Salisbury Cathedral this spring, and was days away from being big enough to soar gracefully into the Wiltshire sky. Continue reading...

At least 15 people were killed last week and new low pressure system across region will bring more disruptionRecord-breaking rains that have battered parts of China and east Asia in the last week are expected to worsen, with authorities warning of an increased risk of floods.In the first week of China’s flood season, extreme rainfalls have caused floods and landslides, destroyed roads and infrastructure, and led to the deaths of at least 15 people. Floods, landslides and disruptions to water and electricity were reported in Shaoguan, in northern Guangdong province, and more than 800,000 people in Jiangxi were reportedly affected by torrential rains that have so far hit 80 of the province’s counties and damaged more than 76,000 hectares (188,000 acres) of cropland. Continue reading...

Artists, professors and environmentalists appeal to world body to remind council of duty to clean up messCulture sector workers, artists, professors and environmentalists living in Rome’s historic centre have urged Unesco to remind the city’s council of its duty to protect the world heritage site as they decried “mortifying” scenes of rubbish and other signs of decay.In a letter addressed to Lazare Eloundou Assomo, the chief of Unesco’s world heritage centre, and signed by 150 people, the group said its complaints to authorities in the Italian capital had been ignored. Continue reading...

President invokes Defense Production Act to increase production of solar panels, building insulation and other equipmentEnvironmental groups have welcomed Joe Biden’s invoking of national security powers to rapidly expand the production of clean energy technology as a significant advance in the effort to curb dangerous climate breakdown.Biden has triggered the Defense Production Act, a cold war-era law used to compel businesses to ramp up production of certain materials to aid national security, to boost the output of solar panels, building insulation, transformers for power grids and heat pumps, which are used to efficiently heat and cool homes. Continue reading...

People working with government on strategy say ambitious plans to tackle nature, climate and health crises have been ditchedThe government is expected to water down its upcoming food strategy for England, ignoring the ambitious recommendations proposed in two government-commissioned reports, campaigners say.The white paper, due later this month, was supposed to be a groundbreaking plan to tackle the nature and climate emergencies in response to eye-catching recommendations urged by the restaurateur Henry Dimbleby in his reports. Continue reading...

Edinburgh palaeontologist says smaller mammals are better able to cope with increased temperaturesThe climate crisis may lead the human race to shrink in size, as mammals with smaller frames appear better able to deal with rising global temperatures, a leading fossil expert has said.Prof Steve Brusatte, a palaeontologist at the University of Edinburgh, suggested that the way in which other mammals have previously responded to periods of climate change could offer an insight into humans’ future. Continue reading...

A Los Angeles-area air board faces questions over grant spending amid some of the worst air pollution in the USIn the course of an hour, more than a hundred big rig trucks chug through the aptly named city of Commerce. The heavily Latino community in Los Angeles intersects Interstate 710 – the main highway that moves cargo shipments from the nearby ports to their final destinations.Along with the merchandise they deliver – Amazon shipments, produce and Mitsubishis – the trucks emit significant amounts of air pollutants. As do the dozens of cargo ships that cluster outside the ports and the freight trains that transport goods. Continue reading...

Ex-UN climate envoy says continent’s need for energy is so great it should be able to widely use the fossil fuelAfrican countries should be able to exploit their vast natural gas reserves despite the urgent need to cut global greenhouse gas emissions, the former UN climate envoy Mary Robinson has said.Robinson, the chair of the Elders group of former world statespeople and business leaders, said African countries’ need for energy was so great that they should use gas widely, in contrast to developed countries that must halt their gas use as quickly as possible to stave off climate breakdown. Continue reading...

Abandoned marsupials and other trafficked species reveal the country’s growing illegal trade, driven by a desire for exclusive and costly status symbolsFrom the red-eared slider turtle, cockatoo and falcon to the yellow-cheeked gibbon, capuchin monkey and orangutan, nothing is too much for those demanding unusual pets in India. But it was the sight of three kangaroos wandering the streets of West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district in April that brought home the extent of the country’s exotic pet trade.The malnourished kangaroos were intercepted after tipoffs from local residents. One of the rescued marsupials later died, while the remaining two are recovering and will be rehomed at a nearby zoo. Continue reading...

Only about half the funds required are being provided by rich countries, according to a report by OxfamThe funding needed by UN climate disaster appeals has soared by more than 800% in 20 years as global heating takes hold. But only about half of it is being met by rich countries, according to a new report by Oxfam.Last year was the third costliest on record for extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and wildfires with total economic costs estimated at $329bn, nearly double the total aid given by donor nations. Continue reading...

NGOs argue priority list was drawn up without consideration of methane emissionsAn EU plan to fast-track funding and permits for 30 gas projects is facing a legal challenge from NGOs including ClientEarth and Friends of the Earth Europe.The European Commission has been asked to review its backing for infrastructure projects such as the EastMed pipeline, a 1,180-mile (1,900km) gas pipeline to connect offshore gas fields in Israel and Cyprus to Italy. Continue reading...

Santos has reported attempt to contact Tiwi land council over $4.7bn Barossa gasfield but federal court challenge claims it did not meet its legal obligationsTraditional owners from the Northern Territory’s Tiwi Islands have launched a legal challenge to the $4.7bn Barossa offshore gas project, saying they were not consulted about plans to drill the gas field.The project is a joint venture between Santos and SK E&S and will involve drilling for gas in the Timor Sea and transporting it via a 260km pipeline to the existing Darwin LNG facility.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...

Alessandra Sampaio, wife of Dom Phillips, tells Brazilian authorities: ‘Please answer the urgency of the moment with urgent actions’The wife of a British journalist who has gone missing in a remote corner of the Brazilian Amazon notorious for illegal mining and drug trafficking has urged authorities to intensify their search efforts.Dom Phillips, a longtime Guardian contributor, vanished on Sunday morning while journeying by boat through the Javari region of Amazonas state where he was reporting for a book he is writing about conservation. Continue reading...

World risks ‘sleepwalking to disaster’, officials told, as Bonn summit envoys walk out during Russian addressDelegates have walked out of a session at a climate summit in Bonn on Monday as a Russian official made a speech, in a sign of the geopolitical tensions overshadowing the negotiations.The low-key protest marked the first intervention by Russia in a UN climate forum since the invasion of Ukraine, but it did not stop the talks. Continue reading...

Previous environment minister, Sussan Ley, declined to issue emergency protection to halt $4.5bn development on Western Australia’s Burrup peninsula

Analysts’ forecast comes as campaigners warn windfall tax package could harm climate effortsMore than £8bn of North Sea energy projects could now be given the green light rapidly as fossil fuel firms take advantage of a tax break in Rishi Sunak’s windfall tax, analysts have forecast.Last month the chancellor introduced the one-off levy on North Sea oil and gas operators who have raked in outsized profits as energy prices have boomed with the aim of raising £5bn to help fund measures to offset rising household bills. Continue reading...

City abandons €72m scheme to develop area and create huge garden in time for 2024 OlympicsProtesters in Paris are celebrating having saved more than 40 trees – one of them over 200 years old – from being chopped down or threatened with damage around the Eiffel Tower as part of a €72m scheme to create a huge garden.Paris’s city hall has been forced to row back on plans to clear the area around the structure on the Champ-de-Mars to improve access to the tower and make the traffic-clogged area greener in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Continue reading...