Environment | The Guardian

The idea of being able to put a price on nature is dividing opinion, but the financial value of ‘ecosystem services’ is increasingly guiding policyIn 1996, Prof Shahid Naeem was part of a team of researchers who set out to value the Earth. Specifically, they were trying to establish the dollar value of all of the “ecosystem services” the planet provides to humans every year. Around $33tn, they concluded, nearly double global GDP at the time.“The team was half ecologists and half economists. The ecologists found the exercise really scary but understood the utility of it. The economists felt nature could be valued but they disagreed about how it could be done,” Naeem says. Continue reading...

Border communities, Native Americans and experts want the president to reverse damage done by construction under TrumpBorder communities and environmentalists are urging Joe Biden to take immediate steps to remediate the environmental and cultural destruction caused by construction of the border wall during the previous administration.Donald Trump sequestered $15bn – most of it from military funds – to partially fulfill an anti-immigration campaign promise to build a “big beautiful wall” along the southern border with Mexico. Continue reading...

Robert Jenrick accused of ‘massive intervention’ on scheme incompatible with commitment to climate crisisA plan to build more than 20,000 homes in rural Oxfordshire, championed by secretary of state for housing Robert Jenrick, is facing a legal challenge from residents who say it is incompatible with the government’s legally binding commitments to tackle the climate emergency.Campaigners have issued a legal claim against South Oxfordshire district council’s decision to go ahead with the local plan – which sets out proposals to build 24,000 new homes in the area by 2035. Continue reading...

Dozens of villagers, including children, claim they suffered severe burns and sickness after contact with contaminated waterThe UK government has accepted a human rights complaint against mining and commodities giant Glencore regarding a toxic wastewater spill in Chad, where dozens of villagers – among them children – claim they suffered severe burns, skin lesions and sickness after contact with contaminated water.The complaint, brought by three human rights groups on behalf of affected communities, alleges environmental abuses and social engagement failures by the FTSE-100 company in relation to two spillages, the wastewater spill and an alleged oil spill, both in 2018. Continue reading...

Graeme Samuel makes 38 recommendations to transform the EPBC Act, including new independent oversight bodiesThe Morrison government must overhaul Australia’s environmental laws, including establishing new independent bodies to take on responsibility for monitoring the environment and enforcing compliance with the law, a once-in-a-decade independent review has found.The final report from the review of the laws finds the environment is suffering from two decades of failure by governments to improve protection systems meant to ensure the survival of the country’s unique wildlife. Continue reading...

The man escaped with minor injuries after feeling the ‘sudden impact’ of the crocodile bite to the top of his head during a swim in Lake PlacidA man has escaped with minor injuries after reportedly prising the jaws of a crocodile off his head during an attack in far north Queensland.Paramedics say the 44-year-old man was bitten by a crocodile near Lake Placid Road, in the Cairns suburb of Caravonica, about 12.45pm on Thursday. Continue reading...

Rangers are investigating mystery deaths at Djoudj bird sanctuary, a migratory pitstop for hundreds of bird speciesSeven hundred and fifty pelicans have been found dead in a Unesco world heritage site in northern Senegal that provides refuge for millions of migratory birds, the country’s parks director has said.Rangers found the pelicans on Saturday in the Djoudj bird sanctuary, a remote pocket of wetland near the border with Mauritania and a resting place for birds that cross the Sahara into west Africa each year. Continue reading...

In 2020 wind turbines provided almost a quarter of electricity, and in EU renewable energy outperformed fossil fuelsThe UK’s renewable electricity outpaced its fossil fuel generation for the first time in 2020 and could remain the largest source of electricity in the future, according to an independent climate thinktank.The thinktank behind the report, Ember, revealed that renewable energy generated by wind, sunlight, water and wood made up 42% of the UK’s electricity last year compared with 41% generated from gas and coal plants together. Continue reading...

His comments come as Mark Butler is set to be bumped out of the climate portfolio in the reshuffleVeteran rightwinger Joel Fitzgibbon says Labor needs to consider changing the rules governing the selection of federal party leaders because the current system is “very untidy” – but he says his observation isn’t connected to “media hype about current leadership issues”.Fitzgibbon told Guardian Australia on Thursday there was a case for overhauling the rules imposed by the former prime minister Kevin Rudd in an effort to stabilise the party’s “coup” culture. He characterised the current leadership selection process as “flawed”. Continue reading...

‘We need to be bold,’ Biden says, signing orders to halt fossil fuel activity on public lands and transform the government’s fleet of cars into electric vehicles

Campaigners say system risks becoming greenwashing exercise unless loopholes closedThe leaders of two UK environmental charities have written to Mark Carney, the UN climate envoy and former governor of the Bank of England, to raise concerns over a blueprint for carbon offsetting that could result in billions of new carbon credits being sold around the world.Carney presented plans at the virtual Davos meeting of global business and political leaders on Wednesday evening for vast increases in the number of carbon offsets sold, aiming to expand the market from about $300m at present to between $50bn and $100bn a year. Continue reading...

As HS2 protesters dig down in London, veteran activists explain why the tactic can be so effective

Drive to eradicate TB in cattle will instead focus on vaccination and limiting livestock movementsNo new mass culls of badgers will be allowed in England after 2022, under government plans announced on Wednesday.Since 2013 more than 100,000 badgers have been killed in culls that are intended to reduce tuberculosis infections in cattle. About 30,000 cattle are slaughtered each year at a cost of £150m. Continue reading...

A 2030 target of between 50% and 74% is needed to limit global heating to 2C and 1.5C respectively, the Climate Targets Panel saysAustralia will effectively be abandoning the Paris agreement unless it makes at least a 50% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reaches net zero well before 2050, according to an analysis by policymakers and scientists.A report by a new group calling itself the Climate Targets Panel found the Morrison government should be setting a 2030 emissions reduction target of between 50% and 74% if Australia was to comply with goals of limiting global heating to 2C and 1.5C respectively. Continue reading...

Increase in fishing since the 1970s has ravaged abundance of sharks and rays in oceansThe global population of sharks and rays has crashed by more than 70% in the past 50 years, researchers have determined for the first time, with massive ongoing losses pushing many species towards extinction.A huge increase in fishing since 1970 has ravaged the abundance of sharks and rays in our oceans, with previously widespread species such as hammerhead sharks now facing the threat of being wiped out, the study found. Half of the world’s 31 oceanic shark species are now listed as either endangered or critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The giant manta ray is also endangered. Continue reading...

Tunnel was secretly constructed to prevent next phase of work on HS2 high speed rail linkThe activists who secretly built a tunnel under a busy London square by Euston station have said they believe they can withstand eviction attempts and occupy it for weeks.Despite a number of police evictions from the protest site, at least at least four protesters remain inside the long tunnel which was constructed in order to try to prevent the next phase of work on the HS2 high speed rail link from taking place. Continue reading...

Scientists say decline in calves born in past 15 years due to diminishing herring stocks in warming north AtlanticHumpback whales could be struggling to breed due to rapid environmental change in the ocean caused by the climate crisis, a study suggests.Scientists have confirmed a significant decline in the number of calves born to female humpbacks over the past 15 years in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Canada, an important summer feeding ground for migrating whales. They said the climate crisis has led to rapid sea temperature and sea level rise in this area of the north Atlantic, with knock-on effects for the ecosystem that include decreasing numbers of herring, a vital food source for humpback whales. Continue reading...

Environmental groups in Canada applaud decision, but country’s western provinces left in disbeliefJoe Biden’s move to cancel a controversial pipeline project has hit Canada like “like a gut punch”, according to one political leader, and left the country to weigh the future prospects of its ailing oil and gas industry.On 20 January, one of the US president’s first executive orders was to reverse approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, making good on a campaign promise to kill the project as part of a broader strategy to address the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Cross-party group sign joint letter after inquest into death of nine-year-old Ella Kissi-DebrahCity mayors representing more than 17 million people across the UK are urging Boris Johnson to commit to tougher air pollution targets after the inquest into the death of nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah.The cross-party group, including the Labour mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and the Conservative mayor of the West of England combined authority, Tim Bowles, have signed a joint letter along with city leaders from Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and the North of Tyne to urge Boris Johnson to enshrine in law a commitment to achieve World Health Organization air pollution guidelines by 2030. Continue reading...

These hardy animals, a third the size of a Friesian, are popular in conservation projectsDexters are the smallest breed of cattle in Europe and among the hardiest, which makes them popular in conservation and rewilding projects. They are a third the size of a Friesian milking cow and other European commercial breeds of cattle. All these varieties go by the same Latin name, Bos taurus taurus, to distinguish them from Asiatic and African species.Although they are now bred all over the world, dexters originated in the west of Ireland and are believed to be the domesticated cattle of the Celts. Curiously, about half have a genetic trait that gives them short legs, making them seem even smaller. Continue reading...

Biggest ever survey finds two-thirds of people think climate change is a global emergencyThe biggest ever opinion poll on climate change has found two-thirds of people think it is a “global emergency”.The survey shows people across the world support climate action and gives politicians a clear mandate to take the major action needed, according to the UN organisation that carried out the poll. Continue reading...

Firms including Woodside, Chevron, Shell and Exxon Mobil, told they could be downgraded within weeksRating agency S&P has warned 13 oil and gas companies, including the some of the world’s biggest, that it may downgrade them within weeks because of increasing competition from renewable energy.On notice of a possible downgrade are Australia’s Woodside Petroleum as well as multinationals Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Imperial Oil, Royal Dutch Shell, Shell Energy North America, Canadian Natural Resources, ConocoPhillips and French group Total. Continue reading...

International report attributes spike in deaths in Australia to ‘chance’, saying the country’s 18 unprovoked attacks in 2020 was only slightly above averageUnprovoked shark bites killed 10 people around the world in 2020 with six of the deaths in Australian waters, according to international figures.The number of unprovoked shark bites and encounters in Australia was only slightly above average, with 18 incidents recorded by the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File (Isaf). The average over the last five years is 16. Continue reading...

New Drive Anytime rate bids to mirror rivals’ off-peak tariff with savings of 60% a year, supplier claimsOvo Energy plans to launch an electric vehicle charging tariff, at half the usual price, to compete with typical off-peak rates even when electricity demand is at its highest.The UK’s second-largest energy supplier will set the tariff at a flat rate of 6p per kilowatt-hour no matter what time of day their customers choose to charge their vehicle, in direct competition with suppliers which offer cut-price charging during set hours overnight. Continue reading...

World’s biggest investor vows to support net zero carbon pledge amid pressure to divest from fossil fuelsBlackRock, the world’s biggest investment fund manager, has threatened to sell shares in the worst corporate pollutersin a bid to support the goal of net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.Larry Fink, BlackRock’s chief executive, said the investor would ask companies whose shares it holds to disclose their plans to achieve net zero emissions. The new approach is set out in Fink’s annual letter to CEOs around the world. BlackRock could then divest from polluting companies in its actively managed funds – which represent about a tenth of its assets – if they did not improve. Continue reading...

Virginia-based ICF has been awarded more than 80 government contracts in the last five years

Exclusive: firms out of pocket and losing faith in scheme administered by US-based corporation

Green campaigners attack further delay ‘to most important piece of legislation for decades’

Last such event for 15 states including New York, Ohio, Illinois and Georgia occurred in 2004Billions of cicadas that have spent 17 years underground are set to emerge across large areas of the eastern US, bringing swarming numbers and loud mating calls to major towns and cities.The periodic cicadas – bugs with strikingly red eyes, black bodies and orange wings – burrow underground as nymphs and suck fluids from the roots of plants as they grow, eventually bursting into the open as adults in mass synchronized events. Continue reading...

Ten biggest retailers produced 900,000 tonnes of packaging and 2bn plastic bags in 2017

Enforcement of rules and boosting numbers of vets to help with inspections, quarantines and general animal health seen as criticalChina’s attempts to prevent another zoonotic disease outbreak will fail without deep changes in enforcement, oversight, and extensive investment to ramp up veterinary capacity, say experts.

Crowds outside parliament demand government take the same science-led approach on climate as it did on CovidSchool climate strikes have resumed in New Zealand, with young people calling on the government to turn the “can-do Kiwi attitude” that beat Covid-19 towards tackling the climate emergency.A group of about 200 taking part in the School Strike 4 Climate NZ gathered outside parliament on Tuesday afternoon to present a group of politicians with a list of demands for “transformative action” on the climate crisis within the government’s first 100 days. Continue reading...

Regulator says there could be conflict of interest in company also owning energy networksNational Grid could lose its role of keeping Britain’s lights on after the energy regulator called for a new and independent electricity system operator to help steer the UK towards its climate targets.Ofgem has called for National Grid to be stripped of its role after 30 years balancing the electricity grid because the energy company also owns energy networks. Continue reading...

At virtual Global Adaptation summit, John Kerry says ‘we’re proud to be back’ after four-year absence

Committee urges governor to ‘show leadership’ on climate change and forge new path to net zero goal

Rate of loss now in line with worst-case scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeThe melting of ice across the planet is accelerating at a record rate, with the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets speeding up the fastest, research has found.The rate of loss is now in line with the worst-case scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s leading authority on the climate, according to a paper published on Monday in the journal The Cryosphere. Continue reading...

Paris-based company worth €70bn now seen as world’s most sustainable company on Global 100 indexA Paris-based tech company has seen off competition from the world’s best-known green businesses to be named the most sustainable corporation on the planet.Schneider Electric has climbed the annual Global 100 index, from a ranking of 29 last year, offering the technology and energy solutions needed by the likes of retailer Walmart, hotel group Marriott and steel business ArcelorMittal to meet their climate targets. Continue reading...

BioAmmo aims to make 50m of its plastic-free, biodegradable cartridges this yearOne day a little over 12 years ago a Spanish entrepreneur, Enrique López-Pozas, was playing Airsoft when he was struck not by an opponent’s shot but by an equally uncomfortable realisation.What, he wondered, would become of all the little plastic pellets being fired? And, come to that, what about all the shotgun cartridges discarded by hunters and sports shooters around the world? Continue reading...

Kristalina Georgieva says investing to create resilient economies is a ‘win-win-win-win’ scenarioHelping the most vulnerable people to cope with the climate crisis can boost the global economy during the Covid crisis and governments should make this a priority, the head of the International Monetary Fund has said.Kristalina Georgieva said international responses to the pandemic must urgently take account of the need to adapt to the impacts of extreme weather and other climate shocks, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

Data from Environment Agency shows thousands of people and businesses ‘at risk from ruined assets’Thousands of England’s vital flood defences were in such a state of ruin last year they would fail to protect communities from extreme weather, an investigation has found.More than 3,400 of England’s “high consequence” flood assets, defined as those where there is a high risk to life and property if they fail, were judged by the Environment Agency to be in such a bad condition they were almost useless. Continue reading...

Announcement could inflame tensions between Liberals and Nationals, who have criticised banks for asking businesses for carbon transition plansAustralia will sign up to two international agreements that aim to integrate climate risk into investment decision-making including through pricing risk, Sussan Ley will announce.The environment minister will tell the 2021 Climate Adaptation Summit on Monday that Australia will join the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment and the Call for Action: Raising Ambition for Climate Adaptation and Resilience. Continue reading...

Community says boom in renewable energy means Bradwell B in Essex is not neededFor the 55 years that Tim Fox has worshipped at St Peter-on-the-Wall, his only neighbours have been a farm and a birdwatchers’ shelter.Now, the tranquil surroundings of the salt marsh and the Essex sea wall at Bradwell-on-Sea are threatened by a new arrival: a sprawling nuclear power station, Bradwell B. Continue reading...

We must do more to combat effects of global heating on housing, says climate expertSubstantial work still needs to be done to protect houses from flood damage and to ensure homes do not dangerously overheat in summer as climate change intensifies storms and heatwaves in the UK. That is the key message from one of the country’s leading experts on climate change adaptation.Speaking on the eve of the Climate Adaptation Summit, which opens tomorrow in the Netherlands, Julia King told the Observer that although some improvements had been made to Britain’s preparations for dealing with global heating, some important protection was still lacking. Continue reading...

New guidelines say pictures posted on social media by primatologists and researchers can inadvertently damage conservation effortsCelebrity primatologists and scientists have been urged not to post selfies with chimpanzees, orangutans and other primates on social media to help conservation efforts for threatened species.Cuddling baby monkeys on camera and sharing Instagram posts interacting with primates at sanctuaries is strongly discouraged under new guidelines aimed at scientists, researchers and TV presenters from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on protecting the natural world. Continue reading...

National government-backed initiative will replace ‘use by’ with ‘best before’ and urge people to judge for themselvesWorried about whether the yoghurt, milk and cheese sitting in your fridge is still safe to eat? Rather than rely on the misleading “best by” date stamped on the side, perhaps its time to “sniff and taste” your staple foods.That’s the aim behind a new initiative to fight the UK food-waste mountain, by reducing the amount thrown away in the home. Continue reading...

Indigenous leaders and human rights groups accuse Brazilian president of crimes against humanityJair Bolsonaro could face charges in the international criminal court (ICC) after being accused of crimes against humanity.Indigenous leaders in Brazil and human rights groups are urging the court to investigate the Brazilian president over his dismantling of environmental policies and violations of indigenous rights, which they say amount to ecocide. Continue reading...

Sweden’s announcement this week that it is to build a series of animal bridges is the latest in global efforts to help wildlife navigate busy roadsEvery April, Sweden’s main highway comes to a periodic standstill. Hundreds of reindeer overseen by indigenous Sami herders shuffle across the asphalt on the E4 as they begin their journey west to the mountains after a winter gorging on the lichen near the city of Umeå. As Sweden’s main arterial road has become busier, the crossings have become increasingly fractious, especially if authorities do not arrive in time to close the road. Sometimes drivers try to overtake the reindeer as they cross – spooking the animals and causing long traffic jams as their Sami owners battle to regain control.“During difficult climate conditions, these lichen lands can be extra important for the reindeer,” says Per Sandström, a landscape ecologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences who works as an intermediary between the Sami and authorities to improve the crossings. Continue reading...