Environment | The Guardian

Fears of growing urban/rural divide as workers take to tractors to protest against measures they say are unfairThousands of farmers have descended on dozens of towns and cities across New Zealand in their tractors in a nationwide protest against a swathe of new environmental regulations.The Howl of a Protest event was tipped to be the largest of its kind for the rural sector, with motorcades expected in 51 towns and cities. Continue reading...

Public urged to join world’s biggest butterfly count to help collect data on impacts of climate crisisButterflies across the UK have been hit hard by unseasonably cold and wet spring weather, conservationists have warned.April was the sunniest on record but it also had a record number of frosts followed by the wettest May for England in 54 years. Native butterflies such as the small tortoiseshell, large white, and red admiral have been badly affected, with numbers down compared with 10-year averages, according to the wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation. Continue reading...

Energy firms hope to produce world’s first large-scale floating turbines in north-east ScotlandRoyal Dutch Shell has joined forces with Scottish Power to develop the world’s first large-scale floating offshore windfarms in the north-east of Scotland.The energy companies have submitted multiple plans for a string of large floating offshore windfarms to Crown Estate Scotland as part of the property manager’s latest leasing round for access to the coastline. Continue reading...

Parts of Belgium, France and Netherlands also badly affected as unprecedented rainfall wreaks havocAt least 58 people have died and dozens more are missing in Germany after much of western Europe was inundated by record rainfall that brought devastating floods.“Climate change has arrived in Germany,” the environment minister said, as the country reeled from the sight of destroyed buildings, upended cars and people stranded on rooftops. Continue reading...

Its favourite thing to do is to crawl inside a flower, where petals turn light pink, yellow or redA small girl is eating ice cream. She is at a lake, “Zoo Lake”, in the middle of a city. People who live nearby hear the Zoo’s lions roaring at night. (A world and a century away, in Innisfree, Yeats lives “alone in the bee-loud glade”.)The principal activities at this lake are learning to ride bikes, riding bikes, and walking. Ice-cream sellers pedal their cooler boxes round and round the water. Bees hover over the rubbish bins full of ice-cream wrappers. Continue reading...

Newark, New Jersey, has removed more than 20,000 lead water lines while the White House pushes national plan

Coalition’s Great Barrier Reef envoy also said Australia was a ‘victim of our own success’ when it came to coral bleaching• Download the free Guardian app; get our morning email briefingCoral and ocean scientists have described statements on coral bleaching from the government’s reef envoy, Warren Entsch, as “far-fetched” and “ill-informed” on the day he accompanied more than a dozen ambassadors on a snorkelling trip to the Great Barrier Reef.Entsch told the ABC on Thursday warm water originating in the northern hemisphere and flowing across the Pacific to the reef was a chief cause of mass coral bleaching. Continue reading...

At $42bn, the Harvard endowment exceeds the combined monetary value of many small countries. But it stubbornly refuses to speed up divestmentOn display in every corner of the Harvard University campus, carved in stone, students find a shield with three books and the inscribed school motto: “Veritas.” Latin for truth.Ah yes, truth. Continue reading...

Conviction of businessman who conspired in murder of indigenous rights activist Berta Cáceres raises hopes of end to impunityWhen Bertha Zuñiga heard that a former Honduran army intelligence officer and businessman had been found guilty of collaborating in the murder of her mother, Berta Cáceres, she breathed a big sigh of relief. Five years after the environmental campaigner was assassinated by hired hitmen, this was the verdict her family and friends had been waiting for.“I know there is still a long road, maybe very long and very hard, but to have achieved a guilty verdict against the [former] president of a corporation, [who is] connected to the armed forces: it is unprecedented in our country,” says Zuñiga, 30. Continue reading...

More than 100 poorer nation governments demand action from rich world before Cop26 climate talksRich countries must move faster to cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide financial assistance to their less wealthy counterparts to cope with the climate crisis, governments from the developing world have said.Poor nations have been frustrated with the slow progress at the recent G7 leaders’ summit and meetings of the G20 group of major economies. Continue reading...

Only 10% of $17tn global bailout directed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions and restoring nature, report findsTrillions of dollars poured into rescuing economies around the world from the Covid-19 crisis have been spent in ways that worsen the climate crisis and harm nature because governments have failed to fulfil promises of a “green recovery” from the pandemic.Only about a tenth of the $17tn in bailouts provided by governments since the start of the pandemic was spent on activities that reduced greenhouse gas emissions or restored the natural world, according to analysis from Vivid Economics, published on Thursday. Continue reading...

Prime minister offers funding in bid to centralise how country deals with storm, drinking and wastewater but plan has already met oppositionNew Zealand has ringfenced $2.5bn to ease financial pressures on councils as they deal with a controversial shake-up of the water industry.With $1.5bn already allocated to the Three Waters Reform program, prime minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday that councils would be given $500m to cushion extra costs and another $2bn for future investment. Continue reading...

Health officials face anger over hours-long delay before notifying public of dangerSeventeen million gallons of untreated sewage were discharged into California’s Santa Monica Bay between Sunday evening and early Monday morning, spurring beach closures, as well as criticism of how health officials notified the public about potential safety risks.The problems came to a head at Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant, located in the Playa del Rey area of Los Angeles, on Sunday evening. An “unusual amount of debris” – including construction waste and grease, among other refuse – entered the plant through its sewer lines, said Elena Stern, a senior public information director for the city’s department of public works. Continue reading...

Recommendations include extending free school meals to more children and a reboot of food educationThe 290-page National Food Strategy proposes four main objectives: escaping the junk food cycle to protect the NHS; reducing diet-related inequality; making the best use of Britain’s land and protecting the environment; and creating a long-term shift in UK food culture. Here are some of the key recommendations. Continue reading...

Report says changes in eating habits must be accelerated to meet targets on health and climateMinisters are being urged to levy a £3bn sugar and salt tax as part of a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to break Britain’s addiction to junk food, cut meat consumption by nearly a third and help tackle climate change.The government-commissioned National Food Strategy, drawn up by the restaurateur Henry Dimbleby, says the UK population’s “malfunctioning” appetites and poor diets – fuelled by consumer and manufacturer’s reliance on processed food – place an unsustainable burden on the NHS and contribute to 64,000 deaths each year. Continue reading...

The government-commissioned review lays out the damage our diet and farming system wreaks on the environmentThe new food strategy for England, commissioned by the government, lays out in stark detail the damage the current food and farming system wreaks on the environment, as well as our health. It is the biggest destroyer of nature and a major source of climate warming, it says.The report takes aim at overconsumption of meat. “Our current appetite for meat is unsustainable,” it says. “85% of farmland is used to feed livestock [and] we need some of that land back.” Continue reading...

Brazilian academics and activists issue warning amid fresh assault on environmental protectionsThe collapse of the Amazon rainforest is inevitable if Jair Bolsonaro remains president of Brazil, academics and environmental activists have warned amid a fresh government assault on protections for the forest.Despite evidence that fire, drought and land clearance are pushing the Amazon towards a point of no return, they say the far-right leader is more interested in placating the powerful agribusiness lobby and tapping global markets that reward destructive behaviour. Continue reading...

Setting ambitious goals and relying on future technical innovation is not enoughLast month, the Climate Change Committee delivered a withering verdict on the government’s failure to come up with a proper plan to deliver on its admirably ambitious net zero targets. As the committee released two dismal progress reports, which showed Britain behind on its goal of a 78% cut to greenhouse gases by 2035, its chairman, Lord Deben, observed: “The policy is just not there. It’s clear we need to step up very rapidly.”On Wednesday, ministers were at it again. As they contemplate a societal transition on an epochal scale, affecting all aspects of people’s everyday lives, Boris Johnson and his ministers appear to believe they can get by through a combination of setting dates and making heroic technological assumptions. This time it was the turn of the transport minister, Grant Shapps, to unveil eye-catching net zero pledges. According to the government’s delayed transport decarbonisation plan, polluting diesel and petrol lorries are to be banned in Britain by 2040 at the latest, and all types of transport will be decarbonised by 2050. Yet as the Road Haulage Association pointed out, zero-emissions heavy goods vehicles are still an aspiration rather than a reality, and Mr Shapps has delivered no detail on how the bill for this hypothetical transition will be met. In aviation, where the government has pledged net zero internal UK flights by 2040, there is a similar gap between rhetoric and reality. The notion that hydrogen aircraft and sustainable aviation fuels can obviate the need to fly less, at least in the medium term, is fanciful. Continue reading...

‘Fundamental changes’ to travel patterns due to the pandemic and environmental goals prompted rethink of spending on roadsBritain’s £27bn roadbuilding strategy will have to be redrawn to take account of environmental commitments, the government has admitted, in a victory for campaigners who sought a judicial review.The government’s transport decarbonisation plan, published on Wednesday, pledged to review the national networks national policy statement, which outlined a strategy of major spending on roads. Continue reading...

Reflective surfaces, green roofs can lower temperatures in sweltering citiesThe sweltering heat endured by major American cities is being fueled by vast swaths of concrete and a lack of greenery that can ratchet up temperatures by nearly 9F (5C) compared with surrounding rural areas, new research has found.In the past month, Phoenix experienced a string of four days above 115F (46C) for the first time and Boston hit 100F for the first time in a decade. A deadly heatwave in the US north-west, which scientists say would have been “virtually impossible” without human-induced climate change, baked Seattle at a record 108F, while Portland, where roads buckled and power cables melted in the heat, reached an incredible new high of 116F. Continue reading...

Ambition to expand offshore wind energy will cause huge displacement to industry, UK fishing federation claimsThe government has been accused of sacrificing the fishing industry for a second time since Brexit in order to burnish its green credentials with a huge programme for offshore wind turbines.The prime minister, Boris Johnson, last year said the UK had an opportunity to become “the Saudi Arabia of wind”, as part of a goal to become carbon neutral by 2030. Continue reading...

Rejection of planned scheme on outskirts of Newcastle upon Tyne said to confirm industry’s demiseCampaigners are hailing the end of opencast coal mining in Britain after a long battle to see off the final applications for new mines in former coal heartlands.The Banks Group’s decision not to appeal against the rejection of a proposed scheme on the outskirts of Newcastle upon Tyne means England joins Scotland in apparently reaching the end of the road for surface coalmining. Continue reading...

Trent Zimmerman and Bridget Archer said net zero was not only the right thing to do but would create opportunities for AustraliaTwo Liberal backbenchers have called on Scott Morrison to set the long-mooted climate target of net zero emissions by 2050 before a major UN conference in November, and to restore funding and advisory powers to the Climate Change Authority.Trent Zimmerman, the member for North Sydney, and Bridget Archer, the member for Bass in northern Tasmania, made the call in a joint response to an inquiry into climate change legislation proposed by the independent MP Zali Steggall. Continue reading...

The agency places no limits on PFAS in drinking water, despite research suggesting the entire class of chemicals is toxicThe Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that it’s considering drinking water limits for the entire class of PFAS compounds, which public health advocates say are categorically toxic.The chemicals are used to make products resistant to water, stain and heat, and are known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t fully break down or degrade. They are linked to a range of serious health problems such as cancer, liver disease, kidney problems, heart disease, decreased immunity and more. Continue reading...

MPs and builders want tax cut included in government strategy to cut emissions from home heatingMinisters are resisting calls to reduce VAT on green home improvements, despite pleas from MPs and builders, as they prepare to set out a national strategy for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from home heating.Heating Britain’s homes accounts for about 14% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, and that number has barely budged in the past decade. This year, ministers scrapped the green homes grant, a scheme to subsidise insulation and low-carbon heating systems, after only six months. This left the UK with no plan to bring homes into line with the government’s commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Continue reading...

Exclusive: oil rich nations back push against Unesco recommendation to have reef placed on world heritage ‘in danger’ listAustralia has gained the support of oil-rich Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in its lobbying effort to keep the Great Barrier Reef off a list of world heritage sites in danger.The two nations, both members of the 21-country committee, are co-sponsoring amendments seen by the Guardian that back Australia and ask the world heritage committee to push back a key decision until at least 2023. Continue reading...

Passengers face ‘near impossible’ choice between low prices and climate-friendly travel, says Which?Train fares on popular UK routes are 50% more expensive than plane fares despite rail journeys causing 80% lower carbon dioxide emissions, according to analysis by the consumer group Which?.It said passengers face a “near impossible” choice between low ticket prices and climate-friendly travel. More people are taking holidays in the UK due to coronavirus and airlines have launched dozens of new domestic routes. Continue reading...

Landmark report proposes free public transport, more green spaces and cash for home improvementsThe British public should be given a “people’s dividend” worth billions of pounds as part of the national drive to hit targets for net zero carbon emissions and the restoration of nature, according to the most detailed blueprint to date for a green transition.Free public transport, more green spaces and money for improving homes are at the core of a landmark report that proposes one of the greatest advances in the fairness agenda since the creation of the NHS. Continue reading...

Representatives from nine voting nations among guests on snorkelling trip as Morrison government lobbies against Unesco recommendationAmbassadors from more than a dozen countries will fly to the Great Barrier Reef for a snorkelling trip on Thursday as part of the Morrison government’s lobbying campaign to keep the ocean jewel off the world heritage in danger list.The government’s official reef ambassador, Warren Entsch, will host the Canberra-based diplomatic group which, he said, included nine countries with voting rights at the upcoming world heritage committee meeting. Entsch said on Wednesday the diplomats were paying their own airfare. Continue reading...

About 800,000 hectares of forest destroyed so far in region enveloped by smoke as Russia suffers through ‘abnormal heatwave’Russia’s army has sent water-bombing planes to support thousands of firefighters battling huge wildfires in Siberia, a region known for its frozen tundra that is now sweltering under a heatwave.Flames are tearing across 800,000 hectares of forest, and the hardest-hit region of Yakutia in the north has been in a state of emergency for weeks as climate scientists sound the alarm about the potential long-term impact. Continue reading...

Delayed decarbonisation plan for achieving net zero emissions for transport by 2050 is publishedNew diesel and petrol lorries will be banned in Britain by 2040, under a “greenprint” to decarbonise all types of transport by 2050.The British government’s long-awaited transport decarbonisation plan, finally published on 15 July, will include what is being billed as a “world-leading pledge” to end the sale of all new polluting vehicles and move towards net zero domestic aviation emissions by 2040. Continue reading...

Agency says plane drops are ‘less stressful’ way to refill remote ponds for fishingThe Utah division of wildlife resources has released video footage showing what looks like confetti coming out of the tail of a plane – but look closer and the stream actually contains live airborne fish cascading down into the lakes below.The footage is from a drop in the state’s Boulder Mountain region earlier this month, and is part of the agency’s annual effort to restock about 200 high-elevation Utah lakes, which are popular fishing spots but aren’t easily accessible by other vehicles. Continue reading...

The wellspring of Lake Mead created by the dam’s blocking of the Colorado River has plummeted to an historic low as states in the west face hefty cuts in their water suppliesHad the formidable white arc of the Hoover dam never held back the Colorado River, the US west would probably have no Los Angeles or Las Vegas as we know them today. No sprawling food bowl of wheat, alfalfa and corn. No dreams of relocating to live in a tamed desert. The river, and dam, made the west; now the climate crisis threatens to break it.The situation here is emblematic of a planet slowly, inexorably overheating. And the catastrophic consequences of the extreme weather this brings. Continue reading...

Environment minister Angus Taylor names former Quadrant Energy boss Katherine Vidgen a member of the body supporting Australia’s emissions reduction goalsEnergy minister Angus Taylor has appointed a founding chair of a major gas and oil producer to Australia’s clean energy regulator.Katherine Vidgen’s extensive job history includes heading up Quadrant Energy, described as a “a large independent oil and gas producer and explorer in West Australia”, as well as serving as the global head of energy principle at Macquarie Capital. Continue reading...

Heavy rain flooded pavements, roads and property in parts of London on Monday nightIt was the speed of the flooding that really scared Joseph Wilkins. The manager of Trailer Happiness, a basement bar in Portobello Road in Notting Hill, watched in disbelief on Monday evening as the flood water rose from 2 inches to 1.5 feet in just five minutes.Ten minutes later, the water was waist-deep. “It was like something out of the Titanic,” said Wilkins. “We had water gushing at us from all angles: from the manhole in our floor to the ceiling, which is at ground level, and everywhere in between.” Continue reading...

Center Parcs proposal for 223-hectare woodland site faces opposition from activists and localsCenter Parcs has been criticised over plans to build a complex on rare bird habitat in Sussex, next to a site of special scientific interest.The holiday company announced it was applying to create its sixth UK holiday village on 223 hectares (551 acres) of woodland in Worth Forest, West Sussex. They hope to attract Londoners down to the wood, which was selected because of its transport links to the capital. Continue reading...

IEA analysis offers hope for climate action but says inflated oil price may slow global economic recovery from Covid-19Rising oil prices could help speed climate action by accelerating the shift to electric vehicles, but would come at the expense of the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the global energy watchdog.The world’s demand for crude surged by an average of 3.2m barrels a day (b/d) in June compared with the previous month but the return of oil production has failed to keep pace, triggering a steady rise in market prices. Continue reading...

Southern Water was one of the worst-performing companies in 2020, according to reportThe water industry in England is failing to cut pollution from spills of raw sewage into rivers and coastal waters, the Environment Agency has said.Southern Water, which was fined a record £90m last week for dumping billions of litres of raw sewage into the sea, was one of the worst-performing companies in 2020, according to the EA report on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Wildfires in several states are burning with worrying ferocity across a tinder-dry landscapeAs fires propagate throughout the US west on the heels of record heatwaves, experts are warning that the region is caught in a vicious feedback cycle of extreme heat, drought and fire, all amplified by the climate crisis.Firefighters are battling blazes from Arizona to Washington state that are burning with a worrying ferocity, while officials say California is already set to outpace last year’s record-breaking fire season. Continue reading...

Six-week-old kit seen on National Trust’s Holnicote Estate in Somerset after pair of adults were reintroducedA baby beaver has been born on Exmoor for the first time in 400 years after two adults were successfully reintroduced by the National Trust in January 2020.Camera footage shows the six-week-old kit swimming to the family lodge with its mother in a large enclosure on the Holnicote Estate in Somerset, where two Eurasian beavers were released for the first time in the trust’s 125-year history. Continue reading...

Severity of hot spell in western US underlines dangerous impact of human-caused climate disruptionExcessive heat warnings remained in place across swathes of the western US on Monday after Death Valley in California registered what could prove to be the highest reliably recorded temperature on Earth.After a cascade of record heatwaves in Canada, north-west US, northern Europe and Siberia, the severity of the hot spell has underlined the dangerous impact of human-caused climate disruption and prompted scientists to consider whether computer models may have underestimated the impacts. Continue reading...

Shareholders want Musk to refund Tesla the $2.6bn the company paid for the ailing solar energy companyElon Musk took the stand on Monday to defend Tesla’s 2016 acquisition of SolarCity against a lawsuit by shareholders seeking to recoup the $2.6bn the company paid for the ailing solar panel maker.Related: Elon Musk leads Tesla effort to build house roofs entirely out of solar panels Continue reading...

Letter to world heritage committee comes as minister embarks on week of lobbying against changeAustralia’s major environment groups have written to the UN’s world heritage committee, urging it to put the Great Barrier Reef on its “in danger” list as the Morrison government ramps up its lobbying against the change.The environment minister, Sussan Ley, was due to land in Europe on Monday evening for a week-long campaign against the in-danger recommendation for the ocean jewel. Continue reading...

Minnesota pet owners warned not to release fish into wild, where they wreak havoc on native speciesAuthorities in Minnesota have appealed to aquarium owners to stop releasing pet fish into waterways, after several huge goldfish were pulled from a local lake.Officials in Burnsville, about 15 miles south of Minneapolis, said released goldfish can grow to several times their normal size and wreak havoc on indigenous species. Continue reading...

Ambitious draft goals to halt biodiversity loss revealed, with proposed changes to food production expected to ‘raise eyebrows’Eliminating plastic pollution, reducing pesticide use by two-thirds, halving the rate of invasive species introduction and eliminating $500bn (£360bn) of harmful environmental government subsidies a year are among the targets in a new draft of a Paris-style UN agreement on biodiversity loss.The goals set out by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)to help halt and reverse the ecological destruction of Earth by the end of the decade also include protecting at least 30% of the world’s oceans and land and providing a third of climate crisis mitigation through nature by 2030. Continue reading...

Five photographers share the story behind their shot, as images go on sale to support conservation charityMore than 150 wildlife photographers are taking part in a sale of wildlife prints to raise money for African Parks, a South Africa-based conservation NGO. In 2020, the first Prints for Wildlife sale raised $660,200 (£479,000), with more than 6,500 prints sold within 30 days.This year, the initiative, founded by two photographers, Pie Aerts from the Netherlands and Austrian Marion Payr, is aiming to raise $1m. The prints will be on sale through the online shop printsforwildlife.org until 11 August. Continue reading...

State officials report ‘unprecedented’ deaths due to starvation as pollution and algal blooms take tollMore manatees have died already this year than in any other year in Florida’s recorded history, primarily from starvation due to the loss of seagrass beds, state officials have said.The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission reported that 841 manatee deaths were recorded between 1 January and 2 July, breaking the previous record of 830 that died during the whole of 2013 because of an outbreak of toxic red tide. Continue reading...

A new report has found that a policy standard would be most effective to reach the goal of 80% renewable energy use by 2030A Biden administration plan to force the rapid uptake of renewable energy would swiftly cut planet-heating emissions and save hundreds of thousands of lives from deadly air pollution, a new report has found amid growing pressure on the White House to deliver a major blow against the climate crisis.Of various climate policy options available to the new administration, a clean energy standard would provide the largest net benefits to the US, according to the report, in terms of costs as well as lives saved. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Environment officials raised concerns that damage to habitat on Robbins Island could be difficult to offsetA proposed new windfarm on Robbins Island off north-west Tasmania could threaten a disease-free Tasmanian devil population, according to federal environment officials, who say the damage to habitat could be difficult to offset.Correspondence obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws shows officials raised concerns that no comparable habitat existed anywhere else to compensate for the effects the project could have on the island’s unique devil colony, which is considered a stronghold for the survival of the species. Continue reading...

Private equity bids for supermarket chain have raised fears among Morrison’s thousands of suppliersMorrisons has written to the UK farmers whose produce fills its supermarket shelves to reassure them that the takeover offer led by US investment firm Fortress will protect the character of the business and its relationship with its suppliers.In a letter to the 3,000 farmers who supply the grocer, seen by the Guardian, Morrison’s chief executive, David Potts, writes that the company’s board believes the Fortress would be a “suitable and responsible owner”, and that its pledges about the future of the company “carry genuine weight”. Continue reading...