Federal judge rules that Biden administration did not properly consider the leases’ impact upon the climate crisisA US federal judge has blocked a highly controversial sale of oil and gas drilling leases across 80m acres of the Gulf of Mexico, ruling that Joe Biden’s administration did not properly consider the leases’ impact upon the climate crisis.The decision, handed down by the DC court late on Thursday, represents a landmark victory for environmental groups that had sued the government to prevent what was the largest ever auction of oil and gas leases in the gulf’s history. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a big-headed frog, a relocated rhino and a hungry swan Continue reading...

Savings come largely from efficient electrical appliances and boilers but insulation could halve future billsEnergy efficiency measures have already saved the average British household about £1,000 a year in energy bills, and further insulation and home improvements could halve future bills, analysis has shown.But the future savings are unlikely to be realised unless the government focuses swiftly on insulation, as the savings to date have come largely from efficiency improvements in electrical appliances and boilers, which will not be repeated. Continue reading...

North Yorkshire fishers found pots heavy not with brown crab but with prized invaderInvasive king crabs have made their way to British shores, sparking fears that local brown crab and scallop populations could be decimated.This week, fishers in North Yorkshire found their pots heavy not with brown crab, but with the bright-red invader with long, spindly legs prized for their sweet flesh. London restaurants have already snapped up the haul, ready for weekend menus. Continue reading...

Country’s ‘corrupt’ approach to conservation leaves protected forests facing ‘oblivion’, human rights watchdog warnsRampant illegal logging of protected forests is threatening the cultural survival and livelihoods of indigenous people in Cambodia, according to Amnesty International.Members of the Kuy people, one of the largest of Cambodia’s 24 indigenous groups, told Amnesty how deforestation in two protected forests, along with government restrictions on access have undermined their way of life and violated their human rights. Continue reading...

Average Briton produces more carbon in two days than Congolese person does in entire year, study findsIn the first two days of January, the average Briton was already responsible for more carbon dioxide emissions than someone from the Democratic Republic of the Congo would produce in an entire year, according to analysis by the Center for Global Development (CGD).The study, which highlights the “vast energy inequality” between rich and poor countries, found that each Briton produces 200 times the climate emissions of the average Congolese person, with people in the US producing 585 times as much. By the end of January, the carbon emitted by someone living in the UK will surpass the annual emissions of citizens of 30 low- and middle-income countries, it found. Continue reading...

Many teachers and pupils frustrated over climate education despite ministers’ pledge to prioritise itBritain’s children are being failed by schools when it comes to learning about the climate crisis, with the subject often wholly missing from the curriculum, sidelined, or mistaught, students and education experts have said.A private member’s bill that would require basic knowledge of climate issues to be taught in the national curriculum receives its second reading in parliament on Friday with cross-party support. But it is unlikely to make it to the statute books, despite promises at Cop26 last November that ministers would prioritise climate education in schools. Continue reading...

New restrictions on administering drugs to healthy animals come into force across EU to tackle critical overuse, but UK fails to follow suitThe reputation of British farming is at risk after its failure to follow the EU in curbing the overuse of antibiotics in healthy animals, say campaigners.

National Trust plan for England, Wales and Northern Ireland aims to help people reconnect with the countrysideA “green corridor” inspired by the 18th-century fashion of perambulating for both pleasure and therapy is to be created, linking the city of Bath with the rolling hills that surround it.The corridor is the first of 20 projects that the National Trust is planning to design to connect urban areas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to green spaces on their fringes. Continue reading...

When the drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico exploded in 2010, Stephen Stone escaped with his life. But in the years that followed, he came to feel deeply betrayed by the industry he had once trusted. By Eyal Press• Read the text version here Continue reading...

Barrier will stretch for almost half the length of the border and cost 10 times migration department’s budgetPoland has started building a wall along its frontier with Belarus aimed at preventing asylum seekers from entering the country, which cuts through a protected forest and Unesco world heritage site.The Polish border guard said the barrier would measure 186km (115 miles), almost half the length of the border shared by the two countries, reach up to 5.5 metres (18ft) and cost €353m (£293m). It will be equipped with motion detectors and thermal cameras. Continue reading...

Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique worst affected with 77 people reported dead and 80,000 more forced from their homesHumanitarian agencies have mounted an emergency response across southern Africa this week as the death toll from tropical Storm Ana reached 77.Officials reported that at least 41 people had been killed in Madagascar, 18 in Mozambique and 11 in Malawi. The EU’s aid agency Echo said on Thursday that at least 350,000 people have been affected across the three countries, including more than 80,000 displaced from their homes. Flooding has cut off roads and damaged power and water supplies. Continue reading...

Aemo report shows renewable energy accounted for record share of generation as NEM emissions fell to lowest quarterly total on record

Coalition investment includes funding for water quality projects, pest management and reef science

Tiny steps towards net zero are being undermined by new fossil fuel projects. An election year offers the chance to hold our politicians to accountEven during the summer holiday switch-off it was impossible to miss the takes about the Netflix satire Don’t Look Up.Climate scientists related to the helplessness and panic felt by the astronomers in the movie who discovered a “planet killing” comet about to hit Earth, only to have their warnings mocked and ignored. Continue reading...

Findings are result of first major study into link between premature death in older people and unconventional drillingElderly people living near or downwind from unconventional oil and gas wells such as fracking sites are more likely to die prematurely, according to a major new US study.Extracting oil and gas through newer or unconventional methods like fracking has expanded rapidly across America over the past two decades with at least 17.6 million people now living within one kilometer of an active well. Continue reading...

Research is first to document coordinated female-led pods ramming world’s largest animal and eating its tongue before it diesFrom snatching sea lions off beaches to stunning fish with a strike of their tails, orcas are renowned for their highly specialised hunting techniques passed down over generations. Now, for the first time, killer whales have been recorded hunting the planet’s largest animal – the blue whale – in coordinated and brutal attacks.Female-led pods of killer whales, also known as orcas, have been recorded killing and eating blue whales in three separate attacks off the coast of Australia since 2019, according to a paper published in Marine Mammal Science. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Climate Emergency UK’s analysis finds regional variations, with a Somerset council scoring bestMore than one in five of all councils in the UK have no climate action plan, research shows.In 2019, Theresa May’s government committed the UK to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Since then, hundreds of local authorities have published plans to show how they intend to become carbon neutral. Continue reading...

In Puerto Viejo, scuba diving was once just for tourists, but a centre is training young people with few opportunities to care for the ocean on their doorstep“I put fresh almond leaves in your underwater masks as anti-fogging – a way to avoid using chemicals. You can remove them once in the water, just before diving,” says Salim Vasquez, 14, pushing her dreadlocks away from her mask.She distributes the equipment to her fellow divers, who are aged between 14 and 24, and Ana María Arenas, a group coordinator. It is 8am on a cloudy Sunday morning in Puerto Viejo, a Jamaican-inspired city in the south of Costa Rica. The young conservationists are preparing to dive into the Caribbean water for their weekly reef monitoring. Continue reading...

Speaking on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Peterson claimed the climate was too complex to be modelled accurately, which was quickly shot down by scientists

Species that disappeared from Northants woods in 1977 is thriving four years after its reintroductionNature lovers will be able to enjoy the high-speed flight of the chequered skipper butterfly in an English woodland for the first time in more than 45 years this summer.Such is the success of a four-year reintroduction programme to return the rare insect to the woods of Northamptonshire, where it fell extinct in 1977, that its secret site can be revealed to the public. Continue reading...

A primitive Australian fish living in a San Francisco museum is believed to be the oldest living aquarium fish in the world. Methuselah is a four-foot-long (1.2-meter) Australian lungfish, weighing around 40lb (18.1kg). The species has both lungs and gills and is believed to be the evolutionary link between fish and amphibians. The lungfish was brought to the San Francisco museum in 1938 from Australia and now lives at the California Academy of Sciences. The species is threatened and can no longer be exported from Australian waters so biologists at the academy say it's unlikely they'll get a replacement once Methuselah passes away

Government’s cash injection is designed to ‘maximise investor confidence’ while the company courts private investorsMinisters have thrown further support behind EDF Energy’s £20bn Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk with a £100m investment to help develop the project while the company courts private investors.The government’s cash injection is designed to “maximise investor confidence” in the project while French state-owned EDF works towards setting out a funding plan which satisfies investors and UK ministers. Continue reading...

Development money for nuclear power station is an attempt to draw in investors that could replace China’s CGNA sum of £100m is peanuts in the expensive world of nuclear power stations, so regard the business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng’s funding for a round of development work on Sizewell C as a form of advertising. The cash is intended to send a message that the government is serious about getting the plant built in Suffolk. And it is an appeal for outside investors to volunteer to sit alongside developer EDF, the French state-backed group.There was also a definition of a desirable investor: “British pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors from like-minded countries”. Note the nationality test. It is the closest we have come to official confirmation that China General Nuclear (CGN), originally slated for a 20% stake in Sizewell, will be kicked off the project. It remains to be seen how, legally, the government will rip up the 2015 deal with CGN signed by David Cameron’s government, but the intention is clear. Continue reading...

Soaring oil and gas prices may tempt investors to plough more funds into long-term projects, warns thinktankGlobal oil prices have climbed to $90 a barrel, which could tempt investors to pile more cash into long-term fossil fuel projects, dashing the world’s hopes to limit carbon emissions in line with climate targets and wasting billions in investment, according to a report.Recent price rises could mean more potential projects appear to be lucrative investments in the short-term, the report by the financial thinktank Carbon Tracker says. But the analysis suggests demand for fossil fuels could begin to dwindle by the time these projects begin, creating “a nightmare scenario” for investors and climate campaigners. Continue reading...

The ordinance will also look at how to decommission existing wells operating across the cityThough better known as the homeland of Hollywood, Los Angeles was built on oil. More than 5,200 oil and gas wells sprawl across the city, making it one of the largest urban oilfields in the country.But on Wednesday, the Los Angeles city council voted unanimously to phase out drilling in the city, a move environmental justice advocates have been working toward for years. Continue reading...

A study that could lead to a 20-year ban on mining upstream from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness was green lightedThe Biden administration on Wednesday canceled a move by former president Donald Trump to renew mineral rights leases for a proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in north-eastern Minnesota.Trump had signed an order a month before the 2020 presidential election declaring a national emergency over the country’s reliance on imported metals used to manufacture computers, smartphones, batteries for electric cars and other items. Continue reading...

Biologists believe the Australian lungfish, a primitive species with lungs and gills, is about 90 years old with no known living peersMeet Methuselah, the fish that likes to eat fresh figs, get belly rubs and is believed to be the oldest living aquarium fish in the world.In the Bible, Methuselah was Noah’s grandfather and was said to have lived to be 969 years old. Methuselah the fish is not quite that ancient, but biologists at the California Academy of Sciences believe it is about 90 years old, with no known living peers. Continue reading...

The ANU’s Dr Fiona Beck says turning fossil fuels into hydrogen is always going to be dirtier than using renewablesA world-first shipment of liquid hydrogen from Australia was declared momentous – a pivotal moment as the world clambers for clean liquid fuels to bring global greenhouse gas emissions to zero.Prime minister Scott Morrison said the consignment – loaded on to a purpose-built Japanese ship at the Port of Hastings in Victoria – marked the beginning of a new clean energy export industry for Australia. Continue reading...

Scientists at University of Sydney found fish exposed to industrial chemical BPA in warmer waters need more food to reach a given size

Coalition announces extra $2bn for Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and won’t rule out Beetaloo basin funding

Exclusive: Campaigners fight decision that United Utilities cannot face private legal action for outflows of sewage into canalEnvironmental campaigners are fighting to stop a water company being given almost total immunity from any private legal action for discharging untreated sewage into waterways.The Good Law Project (GLP) and the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) are challenging a decision by the high court that the water company United Utilities cannot be subject to any private legal action for its discharges of raw sewage from storm outfalls into the Manchester ship canal. Continue reading...

Chemicals used in everyday products have been associated with ‘a range of serious health problems’ including cancer and birth defectsA new analysis of popular brand name products detected toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in nearly 75% of items labeled stain- or water-resistant. The study’s authors say the companies are needlessly putting customers’ health at risk.The findings highlight how the compounds are widely used in everyday products and clothing despite mounting evidence that the entire class of PFAS chemicals is associated with a range of serious health problems, and safer alternatives exist. Continue reading...

Volkswagen-owned British brand plans for battery electric vehicle to roll off production line in 2025The luxury carmaker Bentley has announced that its first fully electric car will be developed and built at its Crewe factory.The British brand’s first battery electric vehicle is scheduled to roll off the production line in 2025. Continue reading...

Environmentalists fear a proposal to allow boundary changes to protected areas will open the door to deforestationEnvironmentalists are deeply concerned by the Kenyan government’s move to allow boundary changes to protected forests, watering down the powers of conservation authorities.The forest conservation and management (amendment) bill 2021 seeks to delete clause 34(2) from the 2016 act, which makes it mandatory for authorities to veto anyone trying to alter forest boundaries. The same clause protects forests from actions that put rare, threatened or endangered species at risk. Continue reading...

Themes of making a small change for a big impact and joining a movement are effective in nudging consumers, research findsSimple changes to messages on restaurants’ menus can double the frequency of customers choosing plant-based options instead of meat, research on the impact of food on the climate crisis has found.The production, transportation and consumption of food has become an increasing focus for climate researchers, with a recent study finding the food industry accounts for more than a third of the world’s total annual planet-heating emissions. Continue reading...

The West Virginia senator’s name is reviled on the streets of Bangladesh and other countries facing climate disaster as he blocks Biden’s effort to curb planet-heating gasesWithin the brutal machinations of US politics, Joe Manchin has been elevated to a status of supreme decision-maker, the man who could make or break Joe Biden’s presidency.Internationally, however, the Democratic senator’s new fame has been received with puzzlement and growing bitterness, as countries already ravaged by the climate crisis brace themselves for the US – history’s largest ever emitter of planet-heating gases – again failing to pass major climate legislation. Continue reading...

Report by the World Wildlife Fund also identifies new reptiles, fish and plants in the region of southeast AsiaA monkey with ghostly white circles around its eyes is among 224 new species listed in the World Wildlife Fund’s latest update on the greater Mekong region.The conservation group’s report, released on Wednesday, highlights the need to protect the rich biodiversity and habitats in the region, which includes Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. Continue reading...

Overwintering insects in the state rise to 247,000 a year after fewer than 2,000 appeared but numbers are still historically lowThe number of western monarch butterflies overwintering in California rebounded to more than 247,000 a year after fewer than 2,000 appeared, but the tally remained far below the millions that were seen in the 1980s, leaders of an annual count said on Tuesday.The Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count revealed the highest number of butterflies in five years but it is still less than 5% of the 1980s population, said Emma Pelton, senior endangered species biologist with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Continue reading...

Group of 10 tribes inhabiting the area since thousands of years will be responsible for protecting the land dubbed Tc’ih-Léh-DûñThe descendants of Native American tribes on the northern California coast are reclaiming part of their ancestral homeland, including ancient redwoods that have stood since their forebears walked the land.Save the Redwoods League, a non-profit conservation group, announced Tuesday that it is transferring more than 500 acres (202 hectares) on the Lost Coast to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council. Continue reading...

Attorneys for BP, Exxon and Shell claim city of Baltimore’s case over ‘deception and failure to warn’ could kill offshore drillingUS oil firms have been accused of using scare tactics after telling a federal court on Tuesday that lawsuits alleging fossil fuel companies lied about the climate crisis could threaten America’s oil supply.At a closely watched appeals court hearing to decide whether a lawsuit by the city of Baltimore should be heard in state or federal court, an attorney for BP, Exxon, Shell and other energy firms painted the case as a threat to America’s energy independence. Continue reading...

Search and rescue operations under way as dozens reported missing in region battered by extreme weather in recent yearsAt least four people have died and dozens are missing after strong winds and heavy downpours wreaked havoc in Malawi and Mozambique as Tropical Storm Ana made landfall on Monday.Almost 16,000 people in the south of Malawi have been affected, according to the Red Cross, as search and rescue operations continue after the first cyclone of the region’s season. At least two people were killed and 66 injured in Mozambique on Monday and a further two people died on Tuesday in Malawi. Continue reading...

‘Shark bites dropped drastically in 2020 due to the pandemic – this past year was much more typical,’ says researcherShark attacks increased around the world in 2021 following three years of decline, though beach closures in 2020 caused by the coronavirus pandemic could make the numbers seem more dramatic, officials in the US said on Monday.Researchers with the International Shark Attack File recorded 73 unprovoked incidents last year compared to 52 in 2020, according to a new report administered by the Florida Museum of Natural History and the American Elasmobranch Society. Continue reading...

$9tn of annual investment required to avoid most catastrophic climate impacts, consultancy saysReaching net zero climate emissions by 2050 will require a “fundamental transformation of the global economy”, according to a report by McKinsey, one of the world’s most influential consulting firms.It estimates that $9.2tn will need to be invested every year for decades to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5C and end the climate emergency. The sum is a 60% increase on current investment levels and equivalent to half of global corporate profits. Continue reading...

Cycling festival begins as campaigners push to end sponsorship deal and oil company boss says there’s ‘no alternative’ to fossil fuels

Six years ago poachers hacked off Sehawukele’s horns; now he’s back in a game reserveA 10-year-old white rhino whose horns were brutally hacked off has returned to the wild after 30 operations over six years to repair the gash in his face.His rescuers named the bull Sehawukele, meaning “God have mercy on us”. Called Seha for short, he was found by police stumbling near a fence in a reserve, so disfigured that he could barely hear or eat. Continue reading...

Shoots cause stress for migratory species such as Svalbard barnacle goose, whose numbers are down 38%The RSPB has called for an emergency shooting ban after an “unprecedented” outbreak of bird flu that has left wildfowl populations in “catastrophic decline”.Migratory geese that overwinter on the Solway Firth, which stretches between Scotland and Cumbria, are being hardest hit, with a 38% decline in the Svalbard barnacle goose breeding population from winter last year. Continue reading...

Aviva Investors says voting at AGMs will be influenced by policies on climate, human rights, biodiversity and executive payAviva Investors, an important UK asset manager, has put the directors of 1,500 companies on notice that it is willing to seek their removal if they fail to show enough urgency in tackling issues including the climate crisis and human rights.The firm said the way it votes on the re-election of company board members in the upcoming AGM season would be heavily influenced by its four key stewardship priorities for the year, which also include biodiversity and executive pay. Continue reading...

TV gardener points to shipping footprint and rainforest destruction, saying he also finds the fruit ‘insipid’The TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh has said he refuses to eat avocados for breakfast because of their “enormous carbon footprint” and much prefers Shreddies.Writing in Gardeners’ World magazine, Titchmarsh said he could not bear the idea of “forcing” down the “insipid” fruit first thing in the morning, before suggesting that he believed it should be boycotted on environmental grounds. Continue reading...

Activists say bill being presented to parliament sanctions irreversible destruction of environmentA nationwide day of action against HS2 – involving banner drops, solidarity protests and a “Twitter storm” – is planned for Monday as the bill to expand the line beyond Crewe is presented to parliament.Environmental activists say the bill will “sanction immense and irreversible destruction to the environment” and want to raise awareness of HS2’s “continuing ecocide, corruption and financial mismanagement”. Continue reading...