Environment | The Guardian

Six people have died across state, while Gympie records highest flood level in more than 100 years

Only £320m of £4bn needed to build flagship vehicles for ‘green transport revolution’ has been committed by chancellor Rishi SunakOne of Boris Johnson flagship “green” pledges – to provide 4,000 new zero-emission, British-built buses by the end of 2024 – has been cast into serious doubt by UK manufacturers who say they have yet to receive any orders for new vehicles.MPs and campaigners are pressuring ministers for information on when money will be committed to allow the manufacture of the zero-emission buses, which the prime minister promised would form part of a green transport revolution in his first term in Downing Street. He made the pledge in February 2020, just before the Covid pandemic, when he was keen to promote his environmental credentials and show how green policies could benefit people’s lives whileboosting British businesses. Continue reading...

Petroleum lobby calls for looser regulation and drilling on public lands to ‘ensure energy security’

Without fossil fuel, and Europe’s dependence on it, Putin wouldn’t have so much power. We need clean energy now, but big oil has other plansNever ones to let a good crisis go to waste, the fossil fuel industry and their allies have taken to the airwaves over the last few days to try and use the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an excuse for greater oil and gas development.It’s the classic shock doctrine that we’ve come to expect from big oil, and unless our politicians are wise enough to see through it, it’s a strategy that will continue to undermine our ability to take action on climate change over the decade to come.Jamie Henn is the founder and director of Fossil Free Media Continue reading...

Poorer residents have a mental and physical health disadvantage that leads to worse outcomes throughout their livesHomes in the poorest areas of England have less than a third of the private garden space enjoyed by those in the richest, giving those residents a mental and physical health disadvantage that leads to worse outcomes from the cradle to the grave.According to a Guardian analysis, in the richest 10% of areas in England, properties had 379m sq on average, compared with 114m sq in the poorest 10%. The analysis, based on data from the Office for National Statistics, also found that areas with the highest proportion of addresses without any garden space at all were often in more deprived areas. Continue reading...

Sussan Ley says number of humpback whales in Australian waters has grown from 1,500 at height of the commercial whaling industry to estimated 40,000Humpback whales have been removed from the threatened species list after a significant increase in numbers in the 60 years since they were first protected, but green groups warn populations could decline again as oceans warm.Global heating is predicted to have a significant impact on krill populations in Antarctica, a major feeding ground for humpback whales. Continue reading...

Report says average 4% of GDP will be spent on adapting to climate breakdown, risking deeper povertyAfrican countries are being forced to spend billions of dollars a year coping with the effects of the climate crisis, which is diverting potential investment from schools and hospitals and threatens to drive countries into ever deeper poverty.Dealing with extreme weather is costing close to 6% of GDP in Ethiopia alone, equating to a spend of more than $1 repairing climate damage for every $20 of national income, according to research by the thinktank Power Shift Africa. Continue reading...

Grower says quick crop is down to weather conditions as well as use of coconut fibreBritish asparagus is landing on supermarket shelves eight weeks earlier than usual after the mild winter weather quickened the arrival of this year’s first spears.The traditional start to the season is 23 April but Waitrose will have homegrown asparagus in its shops from Saturday. It has been grown in polytunnels in Hampshire where the grower reported “unseasonably warm” January temperatures. Continue reading...

Damian Hinds challenged schools to ditch disposable plastics by 2022 but goal is still long way offThe UK government has failed to back up its call for schools to ditch plastic, say campaigners, despite setting a 2022 target.Three years ago Damian Hinds, then the education secretary, challenged headteachers in England to ditch disposables such as straws, bottles, bags and food packaging by this year. But campaigners say that without tangible targets, funded resources and a realistic strategy, this goal is still a long way off. Continue reading...

The influence of Caribbean horticulture has often been missing from histories of British gardening. Now a south London exhibition aims to shine a light on this rich heritageFrom yams to chocho to ackee, a new exhibition is shining a light on south London’s Caribbean gardens, created by the Windrush generation who moved to Britain after the second world war.The Sowing Roots exhibition at the Garden Museum in Lambeth explores how Caribbean horticultural heritage has enriched British gardening. It tells the stories of 15 individuals through interview extracts, photographs and artefacts – including a pair of dirty gardening gloves, horticulture books and herbal teas. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including firefall, rock goats and a pack of grey wolves Continue reading...

After Hitler invaded the Sudetenland, America turned its industrial prowess to building tanks, bombers and destroyers. Now, we must respond with renewablesThe pictures this morning of Russian tanks rolling across the Ukrainian countryside seemed both surreal – a flashback to a Europe that we’ve seen only in newsreels – and inevitable. It’s been clear for years that Vladimir Putin was both evil and driven and that eventually we might come to a moment like this.One of the worst parts of facing today’s reality is our impotence in its face. Yes, America is imposing sanctions, and yes, that may eventually hamper Putin. But the Russian leader made his move knowing we could not actually fight him in Ukraine – and indeed knowing that his hinted willingness to use nuclear weapons will make it hard to fight him anywhere, though one supposes we will have no choice if he attacks a Nato member. Continue reading...

PFAS chemicals detected in 20% of private wells and 60% of public wells sampled in 16 eastern statesPollution by toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in America’s aquifer system has led to widespread contamination of private and public drinking water wells, data from a new study by the US Geological Survey finds.The study, published in Environmental Science and Technology, detected PFAS chemicals in 20% of private wells and 60% of public wells sampled in 16 eastern states, and offered new insights on how to predict which drinking water sources may be contaminated. Continue reading...

Rightwing groups are urging the supreme court to hobble not just environmental regulation, but Biden’s ability to governOn Monday the US supreme court will hear arguments in a group of cases that could have an immediate impact on the American government’s ability to respond to the climate emergency.The consequences could be even more substantial, however, reaching deep into the Biden administration’s authority to govern. Continue reading...

Analysis: Nord Stream 2 was meant to deliver 70% of country’s gas and switch to renewable energy has been slow

Tony Juniper says he has high hopes for scheme obliging new developments to factor in 10% nature increaseDemand for nature is exceeding supply but new wildlife areas can be created by regulations to ensure housing estates bring about “biodiversity net gain”, according to the chair of England’s nature watchdog.Tony Juniper said the post-pandemic surge in people visiting wild places for their mental and physical wellbeing – and to walk lockdown puppies – was concentrating footfall in relatively few nature reserves, which were increasingly used like public parks. Continue reading...

Officials say a trio of oversized bears is responsible for home invasions that had been blamed on a 500lb black bear dubbed Hank the TankDNA evidence has shown that the 500-pound black bear the public had nicknamed Hank the Tank is, in fact, at least three not-so-little bears who have damaged more than 30 properties around Lake Tahoe in recent months.The Department of Fish and Wildlife on Thursday said it would soon begin trapping bears in the South Lake Tahoe area to tag the animals and collect evidence for genetic analysis. The bears will be released in a “suitable habitat” and the agency said no trapped animals will be euthanised as part of the project. Continue reading...

World leaders to gather in Nairobi next week to discuss first global treaty to combat plastic waste

Adam Bandt says Australia must quit coal and take advantage of ‘enormous opportunities’ in critical minerals and green metals

First two months of 2022 alone have seen more than 300 manatee deaths as major conservation effort to rescue populationMore than 80 Florida manatees are currently in rehab centers across the US as officials and conservations work to rescue a population that has been hit hard by starvation.The data, released by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and US Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday, underscores the peril facing the manatees, and comes amid a major conservation effort that includes a feeding program distributing 3,000lb of lettuce daily at a site by the Florida coast. Continue reading...

GPs tell London mayor the ‘environmental hazard’ will disproportionately affect capital’s poorest peopleDoctors have accused Sadiq Khan of betraying his commitment to view pollution as a social justice issue, as they handed in a letter to his office calling for him to cancel a major new road tunnel.The Silvertown tunnel will pass beneath the Thames between Greenwich and Newham, one of London’s most deprived riverside boroughs. Experts say it will massively increase air pollution faced by some of the capital’s poorest people. Continue reading...

Firm makes apparent concession to boycott that began over untreated discharges into coastal watersSouthern Water is offering discounts on bills to some people engaged in a non-payment protest campaign over raw sewage discharges, in an apparent concession to the boycott.The non-payment protest, which was backed by Sir Bob Geldof, began because of anger at the level of untreated sewage discharged into coastal waters. Continue reading...

Report finds 99.5% of pheasants in Cambridge University study contained pellets made of the toxic metalA voluntary phasing out of lead shot in the UK has had almost no impact according to a report, with 99.5% of birds killed found to contain the toxic metal.While other industries have been forced to phase out lead, with the material banned from paint and fuel decades ago, shooters are still allowed to use it despite the fact it could poison soil and wildlife. Continue reading...

Court to hear West Virginia case that takes aim at EPA’s ability to issue strict rules to curb pollution from fossil fuel power stationsJoe Biden’s faltering effort to tackle the climate crisis faces a further, potentially devastating, blow on Monday in a supreme court case that experts warn could severely restrict any future US government attempt to limit planet-heating emissions.The court has agreed to hear a case brought by West Virginia, supported by 18 other Republican-led states, that takes aim at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to issue strict regulations to curb pollution from fossil fuel-fired power stations. Continue reading...

Up to 45% of Barataria Bay’s dolphins died after 2010. Now they face the threat of new drilling and a Mississippi River schemeNearly 80% of dolphins exposed to oil in the Deepwater Horizon disaster remain badly affected nearly 12 years later, according to new research, even as the Biden administration continues to approve leases for oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.Scientists looked at the long-term impact of the oil spill on bottlenose dolphins living in Barataria Bay, near New Orleans. Continue reading...

Net zero advisers say refusing new licences would signal green ambition, but final decision must be for ministersThe prospects for an expansion of oil and gas drilling in the North Sea have cleared a major hurdle, as the Committee on Climate Change said “stringent tests” must be applied to any new exploration licences but stopped short of saying they could not be issued.New drilling would not reduce energy bills for UK consumers, the committee found, and its chair, former Conservative environment secretary Lord Deben, said he would “favour” a moratorium on North Sea exploration. Continue reading...

Labor, the Greens and crossbenchers unite to disallow water capturing licences despite minister already moving to issue them

Government says it aims to make code covering VicForests clearer but experts fear that will allow more logging

Research by sustainability charity Wrap debunks idea single-use plastic on fruit and veg helps prevent wasteSupermarkets should stop selling fresh produce such as apples and potatoes in plastic packaging, research suggests, because it does not make them last longer and adds to pollution and food waste.The 18-month study by the sustainability charity Wrap, which also looked at sales of bananas, broccoli and cucumbers, debunks the idea that single-use plastic wrappers help prevent waste. Continue reading...

Police release video of attack on workers’ equipment at camp of Coastal GasLink, a 400-mile pipeline opposed by First Nation groupsPolice in Canada have released footage of axe wielding attackers as they investigate a “calculated and organised” night-time raid on a remote work camp.Up to 20 people are believed to have attacked Coastal GasLink’s pipeline construction camp last week on Marten Forest Service Road in British Columbia. Continue reading...

Bee and butterfly groups are among those asking MPs to ‘defend freedoms’ essential to protecting environmentBumblebee and butterfly conservationists are among dozens of environmental groups calling on MPs to back amendments removing powers to curtail protest from the government’s crime bill.They are among 32 signatories to a letter urging all MPs to back amendments by the Lords that removed clauses giving powers to police to impose restrictions on protests considered too noisy, and to place conditions on static rallies and one-person protests. Continue reading...

Rising temperatures pushing much more freshwater towards poles than climate models previously estimated

Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has made a multibillion-dollar bid to buy energy company AGL – Australia’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter – and speed up its exit from coal. In response, prime minister Scott Morrison and AGL executives have warned this plan could raise electricity prices and cost jobs.Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to Guardian Australia’s climate and environment editor Adam Morton about this historic bid and what it says about Australia’s lack of planning for a cleaner future

Australian Conservation Foundation says blowouts show government’s safeguard mechanism is ‘failing’ to control industrial emissions

Bid by Mike Cannon-Brookes to take over AGL drew some strong words from the prime minister, but do his claims stack up?

Officials finds ‘significant deficiencies’ in decision-making process that approved plan to build road through indigenous landThe Biden administration has halted a Trump-era plan to approve a mining road in Alaska that would cut through indigenous land and alter one of the last roadless wildernesses in the US.The construction of the Ambler Road in northwest Alaska was permitted under Donald Trump over the objections from some native American groups, allowing the laying of 211 miles of road through the traditional homelands of the Koyukon, Tanana Athabascans and Iñupiat peoples. Continue reading...

Stellar results cap mixed year for miner after Serbian lithium project shut down and scandal over poor workplace culture

Advertising watchdog demands company provides proof of its products’ green meritsThe drinks company Innocent has had an advert banned by the Advertising Standards Authority after environmentalists reported it for claiming that drinking its smoothies is good for the environment.In the television ad, a man and his otter companion find that their boat is hijacked by revellers celebrating chaotically as they approach a large waterfall. They sing about “messing up the planet” until they find themselves in peril, hanging off the edge of a cliff. They then row back to safety, clear up the rubbish, and start turning apples on a tree into Innocent smoothies, which they all drink as they “fix up the planet”. Continue reading...

Campaigners fear trade bond may damage environment abroad and end up weakening regulations in UKThe UK is exporting its pesticide footprint to other countries, environmentalists say. A new report, from the Pesticide Action Network UK, has found that increasing trade with Brazil could fund the use of harmful pesticides that are banned in Britain.The Brazilian government is currently pushing through a bill that would slash laws to protect human and environmental health from pesticides. Even without this new package of laws, Brazilian farmers are allowed to use almost double the number of hazardous pesticides as those in the UK, including the lethal herbicide Paraquat, which has caused tens of thousands of deaths across the world from acute poisoning, and neonicotinoids, which are toxic to bees. Continue reading...

Even previously unaffected countries likely to see uncontrollable blazes, says study, which calls for shift to spending on preventionWildfires that have devastated California, Australia and Siberia will become 50% more common by the end of the century, according to a new report that warns of uncontrollable blazes ravaging previously unaffected parts of the planet.The escalating climate crisis and land-use change are driving a global increase in extreme wildfires, with a 14% increase predicted by 2030 and a 30% increase by 2050, according to a UN report involving more than 50 international researchers. Continue reading...

International Energy Agency reports nearly all the industry’s methane emissions could be avoided at no net costPlugging methane from leaky oil and gas facilities would be free of cost almost everywhere in the world, and in many cases would produce a significant profit, at today’s soaring gas prices, the International Energy Agency has found, suggesting that governments have few excuses for not taking action to curb emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas.Governments have been underreporting their emissions of methane to a dramatic extent, and those emissions are still rising fast, according to the Global Methane Tracker report from the IEA published on Wednesday. Using satellites and other new data, the energy watchdog found emissions were about 70% higher than national governments had suggested, showing the need for far greater monitoring, as well as efforts to staunch leaks. Continue reading...

Decision to give grants to Liberal-linked Empire Energy for NT exploration prompts anger among environment and Indigenous groups

Australia’s building boom comes amid $485.8bn in pipeline construction activity globally

Pleas for short- and long-term solutions as town is flooded for third consecutive yearTrapped in her home on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Siobhan Connor said this was the 17th time she had been flooded in 14 years – and it was only becoming more frequent.“If you look at all the forecasts, this is going to become an annual or biannual occurrence,” Connor said from her first-floor window, as flood water filled the ground floor up to waist height. “We’ve had four major floods here in two years, and they’re now at record level.” Continue reading...

Pipeline operator sought to overturn 2020 legal victory striking down a key federal permitThe US supreme court has rejected a case by the Dakota Access oil pipeline operator to avoid a legally mandated environmental review, in a major victory for tribes and environmentalists campaigning to permanently shut down the polluting energy project.Energy Transfer, the pipeline operator, had sought to overturn a legal victory won by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in 2020 that struck down a key federal permit that violated the National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa). Continue reading...

Scientists say record drop can’t yet be linked to global heating but urgent research needed to work out cause

Chief operating officer says consortium needs to offer at least 30% premium on share price and ‘engage once more or two times more’

Severe flood warnings in place for parts of River Severn after night of rescues from waterlogged villageResidents were rescued from flood water overnight and others were left marooned in their homes as river levels continued to rise in the wake of Storm Franklin and heavy rain slowed down the recovery.The fire service was called to rescue 14 people and four dogs from a waterlogged village in Shropshire on Monday night after flooding along the River Severn. Continue reading...

Successful trials found growing crops beneath panels – known as agrivoltaics – reduced water loss and resulted in larger plantsSolar panels are not a new way of providing cheap power across much of the African continent, where there is rarely a shortage of sunshine. But growing crops underneath the panels is, and the process has had such promising trials in Kenya that it will be deployed this week in open-field farms.Known as agrivoltaics, the technique harvests solar energy twice: where panels have traditionally been used to harness the sun’s rays to generate energy, they are also utilised to provide shade for growing crops, helping to retain moisture in the soil and boosting growth. Continue reading...

Survey reveals dramatic difference between state of urban and country populations, with rural numbers continuing to plummetBritain’s urban hedgehogs are showing signs of recovery, according to a new report, but rural populations have fallen by as much as 75% in some regions in just 20 years.The charismatic prickly creature, voted the UK’s favourite mammal in 2016, has experienced a dramatic fall in numbers since the turn of the millennium due to loss of habitat, attacks by dogs, vanishing prey and being killed by traffic. However, new analysis of hedgehog surveys has revealed a stark distinction between the fortunes of the town and country hedgehog, with clear signs the urban population has stabilised and may even be on the up. Continue reading...