Environment | The Guardian

Europe’s second-largest financier of fossil fuels faces a vote to ramp up its climate commitmentsHSBC could be forced to slash its exposure to fossil fuels – starting with coal – from next year, after an influential group of investors filed a shareholder vote urging the bank to ramp up its climate commitments.Fifteen pension and investment funds are pushing HSBC to reduce the loans and underwriting services offered to clients which rely heavily on fossil fuels within a timeline consistent with Paris climate goals. Continue reading...

Unmanaged animals from Britain’s largest herds for 1,000 years are no longer needed with restaurants in lockdownUnmanaged wild deer herds could soon pose a threat to woodlands and important wildlife habitats in Britain because the commercial market for venison has collapsed during the pandemic.Many in the game industry as well as conservationists fear too few deer are being culled to keep the estimated two-million-strong wild herd, the largest for 1,000 years, at a sustainable size. Continue reading...

Situation in Mead, Nebraska, where AltEn has been processing seed coated with fungicides and insecticides, is a warning sign, experts sayFor the residents of Mead, Nebraska, the first sign of something amiss was the stench, the smell of something rotting. People reported eye and throat irritation and nosebleeds. Then colonies of bees started dying, birds and butterflies appeared disoriented and pet dogs grew ill, staggering about with dilated pupils.There is no mystery as to the cause of the concerns in Mead, a farming community so small that its 500 residents refer to it as a village and not a town. Continue reading...

Farmers ‘relieved’ as chemical sanctioned for emergency use, despite EU-wide ban backed by UKA pesticide believed to kill bees has been authorised for use in England despite an EU-wide ban two years ago and an explicit government pledge to keep the restrictions.Following lobbying from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and British Sugar, a product containing the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam was sanctioned for emergency use on sugar beet seeds this year because of the threat posed by a virus. Continue reading...

Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers have threatened federal employees and institutions that steward public landsWhen the full story of the 6 January storming of the US Capitol building is told, historians will have to make sense of what might seem an odd footnote. The two most prominent rightwing militia groups that participated in the mob onslaught on Congress – the Three Percenters, based in Idaho, and the Oath Keepers, based in Nevada – cut their teeth in obscure corners of the American west, where for close to a decade they have threatened violence against federal employees and institutions that steward the nation’s public lands.Related: 'It was just a free-for-all': my day photographing the Capitol attack Continue reading...

Two-thirds of sales at end of 2020 were battery electric vehicles despite dependence on oil and gas drillingNorway became the first country to sell more electric cars than petrol, hybrid and diesel engines put together last year, new data shows, with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounting for two-thirds of sales in the final months of 2020.Norway has one of the world’s most ambitious green targets, planning to phase out sales of all new fossil-fuel vehicles by 2025, five years earlier than the UK. Continue reading...

Report shows US was battered by punishing extreme weather on both the east and west coasts in 2020The US was battered by a record number of weather and climate-driven disasters in 2020 as extensive wildfires scorched the west, hurricanes in quick succession pummeled the east and extreme heat swept across the heart of the country, a new federal government report has shown.A total of 22 major disasters, defined as each causing at least $1bn in damage, swept the US last year, six more than the previous record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Continue reading...

Decision to move business secretary follows pressure from environment experts due to scale of roleBoris Johnson has moved his business secretary, Alok Sharma, to work full-time on preparations for the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow this November, a change urged by environmental experts given the scale of the role.For the past 11 months, Sharma has combined being Cop26 president with his job as business secretary. He will now undertake the Cop role full-time, with Kwasi Kwarteng taking the business brief. Continue reading...

Firefighters called to 755 animal incidents in 2020, with cats most commonly in need of help

Impossible Foods working on milk and fish substitutes as Patrick Brown pledges to put an end to animal agriculture industryPatrick Brown is on a mission: to eradicate the meat and fish industries by 2035. The CEO of Impossible Foods, a California-based company that makes genetically engineered plant-based meat, is deadly serious. No more commercial livestock farming or fishing. No more steak, fish and chips or roast dinners, at least not as you know them.In their place, his company’s scientists and food technicians will create plant-based substitutes for every animal product used today in every region of the world, he promises. Continue reading...

Indigenous peoples say that resurrecting the two Utah monuments should be the start of a sea change in how US treats tribal nationsIt was one of Donald Trump’s most controversial early moves as president: to radically shrink two national monuments in the American west.Now indigenous peoples are hopeful that Joe Biden will undo that decision – and more broadly effect a sea change in how the US treats the interests of tribal nations. Continue reading...

The best of the week’s wildlife pictures from around the world including sparring elk, dove v chipmunk and a playful elephant

People may have to travel to London despite pandemic in one of biggest protest crackdowns in UK legal historyMore than 1,000 people who took part in environmental direct action organised by Extinction Rebellion have been taken to court in what experts say is one of the biggest crackdowns on protest in British legal history.Hundreds of cases are ongoing and lawyers say that despite the pandemic, some defendants may still be asked to travel to court in London from across the UK to appear in person. Continue reading...

Country accounts for less than 0.1% of global emissions but suffers disproportionately from related disasters, say new reportKenya needs $62bn (£46bn) to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis in the next 10 years, according to a government document sent to the UN framework convention on climate change. It equates to almost 67% of Kenya’s GDP.The report illustrates the scale of the challenge as the country aims to cut greenhouse gases by 32% within the next decade. It will rely on international sources to fund close to 90% of the expenditure. Securing such a colossal amount of often contentious climate financing from rich countries yet to honour their commitments to the $100bn target pledged during the 2015 Paris agreement will be a tall order. Continue reading...

Global heating continued unabated despite Covid lockdowns, with record Arctic wildfires and Atlantic tropical stormsThe climate crisis continued unabated in 2020, with the the joint highest global temperatures on record, alarming heat and record wildfires in the Arctic, and a record 29 tropical storms in the Atlantic.Despite a 7% fall in fossil fuel burning due to coronavirus lockdowns, heat-trapping carbon dioxide continued to build up in the atmosphere, also setting a new record. The average surface temperature across the planet in 2020 was 1.25C higher than in the pre-industrial period of 1850-1900, dangerously close to the 1.5C target set by the world’s nations to avoid the worst impacts. Continue reading...

Head of World Food Program USA says 235 million people ‘marching toward starvation’

Maximum and minimum temperatures were above average for all states and territories, Bureau of Meteorology says

Cattle can fertilise land but consumption of other meat, milk and eggs must fall by 50%The UK’s beef herd could be at the heart of a sustainable farming system that tackles both the climate and wildlife crises while producing sufficient healthy food, according to a report.However, production and consumption of other meat, milk and eggs would have to fall by half, and large forests of new trees would have to be planted, the analysis from the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission charity (FFCC) found. Continue reading...

Coastal plain was up for sale as part of the Trump administration’s plan to pay for Republicans’ tax cuts with oil revenueThe Trump administration’s last-minute attempt on Wednesday to auction off part of a long-protected Arctic refuge to oil drillers brought almost zero interest from oil companies, forcing the state of Alaska into the awkward position of leasing the lands itself.The coastal plain of the Arctic national wildlife refuge was up for sale to drillers as part of the Trump administration’s plan to pay for Republicans’ tax cuts with oil revenue. Conservatives argued the leases could bring in $900m, half for the federal government and half for the state. Continue reading...

Environmental campaigners say failure to call in West Cumbria Mining planning application ‘jaw-dropping’Environmental campaigners and a local MP have criticised the government’s “jaw-dropping” decision not to block the building of a “climate-wrecking coal mine”.The communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, decided on Wednesday not to challenge the planning application for a new coal mine in Cumbria, despite opposition from Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, Tim Farron. Continue reading...

We are working hard to change the government’s mind on carbon fee and dividend, writes Catherine Dawson. The climate crisis cannot be solved within a continuing market economy, says Frank JacksonIn his article (There’s a simple way to green the economy – and it involves cash prizes for all, 5 January), Henry D Jacoby gives a brilliant analysis of the benefits of a carbon fee and dividend (or climate income) carbon-pricing policy and why there are some psychological barriers to its wider adoption. Citizens’ Climate Lobby is an international grassroots environmental group which has been encouraging politicians to consider adopting carbon fee and dividend (CF&D) since 2007.CF&D has been adopted in Canada and Switzerland – although the latter does not currently tax fuel for energy while it moves towards the development of more renewable energy systems. Canadians could have replaced its implementer, Justin Trudeau, last year and ditched the policy. They didn’t. Continue reading...

No ships left the big ports in Queensland and NSW in December ahead of Beijing resetting coal import quotas for the new yearHopes of an early resumption in the Australian coal trade to China have been dashed after analysis revealed no ships had left the largest export terminals in Queensland and New South Wales bound for the country last month.Market watchers say that goes against the annual trend of ships setting off for China in December, so that they arrive for the resetting of coal import quotas at the beginning of a new calendar year. Continue reading...

Workers on farms supplying world’s biggest meat firms allegedly paid £8 a day and housed in shacks with no toilets or running waterBrazilian companies and slaughterhouses including the world’s largest meat producer, JBS, sourced cattle from supplier farms that made use of workers kept in slavery-like conditions, according to a new report.

Researchers find invasive felines hunt with greater intensity, in broader environments and in greater numbers than equivalent native marsupial predatorAustralia’s wildlife are at least 20 times more likely to come across a deadly feral cat than one of the country’s native predators, according to a new study.Invasive cats, which kill billions of native animals each year, form a triple threat, the study finds, by hunting with greater intensity, in broader environments and in greater numbers than an equivalent native marsupial predator – the spotted-tailed quoll. Continue reading...

Mediterranean study finds subtidal populations of cockles, whelks and other species have collapsed by 90%The world’s most devastating climate-driven loss of ocean life has been reported in the eastern Mediterranean, one of the fastest warming places on Earth.Native mollusc populations along the coast of Israel have collapsed by about 90% in recent decades because they cannot tolerate the increasingly hot water, according to a new study, which raises concerns about the wider ecosystem and neighbouring regions. Continue reading...

National Grid issues urgent call for suppliers to generate extra 524MW of electricity capacityPlunging temperatures and a drop in wind turbine power generation have pushed UK electricity market prices to a new high and prompted the National Grid to put out an urgent call for suppliers to provide extra capacity.The National Grid control room warned that its spare electricity supplies would be “tight” this week, and on Tuesday issued an official call for generators to bring forward an extra 524 megawatts of electricity capacity within 24 hours. Continue reading...

Nordic country becomes first in the world where electric car sales outstrip those powered by other means

Veganuary taken up by rising number of people trying plant-based alternatives to meatA record 500,000 people have signed up to the Veganuary challenge to eat only plant-based foods for a month. The milestone is double the number who pledged to go vegan for January in 2019.A quarter of those taking up the challenge – 125,000 – are in the UK, and this year British supermarkets including Tesco have run television and radio adverts promoting Veganuary for the first time. Other supermarkets such as Aldi, Asda and Iceland have produced dedicated pages including information and recipes in 2021, again for the first time. Continue reading...

Sales of drilling rights are the climax to one of the nation’s highest-profile environmental battles

Business secretary should focus on making Glasgow climate summit a success, say experts

Up to 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats descend on Zambia’s Kasanka national park every year, dispersing millions of seeds as they go

Labor says the Coalition is isolated on climate change and needs to commit to net zero emissions by 2050Australia has formally updated its United Nations climate policy without fanfare and without any improvement to its 2030 target to cut emissions, sparking criticism from Labor, the Greens and climate policy experts and campaigners.Repeating language heard frequently in recent months, the document, submitted to the United Nations on New Year’s Eve, says Australia will “meet and beat” its declared 2030 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels. Continue reading...

Birders headed to Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park to view brightly coloured painted buntingHundreds of people have flocked to the Washington DC area to catch a glimpse of a new, celebrated arrival who has offered some welcome relief following a bruising year. No, it’s not Joe Biden.Excited birders have crammed into a Maryland park, braving rain and dismally low temperatures, to witness the painted bunting, a brightly coloured bird that usually reserves its elan for the warmer climes of Florida. Continue reading...

‘The whole thing that is great about the teeth of the narwhal is that nothing makes sense’

Head of Energy Security Board calls for ‘agreed national emissions reduction trajectory’ among federal, state and territory governmentsThe Morrison government appears to be inching closer to committing to net zero emissions by 2050 as it comes under growing international pressure over climate policy, a top energy adviser has said.Kerry Schott, head of the government’s Energy Security Board (ESB), called for national unity on energy policy after the body published a new report citing differences among Australian governments as a “challenge” to the national electricity market. Continue reading...

Research says planting trees in urban areas could mitigate rising temperatures

Flash flooding leaves some rural NSW communities isolated as 1,400 houses left without power in QueenslandFast-moving thunderstorms have lashed much of eastern New South Wales including Sydney, felling trees and causing flash flooding that has left some rural communities isolated.By 6.15pm on Monday the State Emergency Service had responded to 281 callouts across the state, the majority for trees down, leaking roofs and requests for sandbags to prevent property inundations. Continue reading...

Tourist drawcards Kuta and Legian beaches are being overwhelmed by up to 60 tonnes of plastic rubbish every dayBali’s famous beaches are being strewn by plastic rubbish in what experts say is becoming an annual event thanks to monsoon weather, poor waste management and a global marine pollution crisis.Authorities are struggling to keep up with the tide of rubbish washing up on beaches at Kuta, Legian and Seminyak, where about 90 tonnes of rubbish was collected on Friday and Saturday. Continue reading...

Environmental activist says she has stopped buying new clothes but will not criticise those who fly or have childrenGreta Thunberg says she has stopped buying new clothes but does not sit in judgment on others whose lifestyle choices are less environmentally friendly than her own, in an interview to mark her 18th birthday.Thunberg, whose solo school strike in 2018 snowballed into a global youth movement, stopped flying several years ago, travelling instead by boat. She is vegan and said she had stopped consuming “things” . Continue reading...

Brexit deal means from 2024 batteries not containing 50% local materials face EU tariffs

Tourist lodges run out of cash to feed and care for the animals on their land and thousands of villagers lose their jobsImpala run through the thorn bush, ibis fly above the lake and lightning forks over the horizon as a storm rolls in from the Drakensberg mountains.The visitors driven across the 10,000 or more hectares of the Nambiti game reserve in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province see what they think is an unchanged, and unchanging natural landscape. Continue reading...

Co-op finally set to launch own brand plastic-free teabags after outcry over microplasticsThe Co-op is to launch a range of own-brand plastic-free teabags nearly three years after it first pledged an eco-friendly version of the nation’s favourite brew.Mass-produced teabags became an unlikely target in the fight against the global plastic binge, after it emerged that the industry-wide sealant that helps hold their shape is made of polypropylene, and not biodegradable. Continue reading...

GPS collars that alert cows when they reach a boundary are helping to improve habitats and boost biodiversityThere is something missing from the bucolic upland scene of shaggy, bracken-coloured cattle grazing between young trees on the Cumbrian hillside: fencing.When the Highland-cross cows reach a certain point, the blue plastic medallion dangling from their necks plays a melody like a mobile phone ringtone. The cow turns around, and the invisible GPS fence has done its job. Continue reading...

The ambition of the North Sea project promises vast quantities of green energy – and many green jobsBeyond the horizon off the coast of North Yorkshire, a quiet revolution is emerging from the waves of the North Sea.More than 80 miles from land, hundreds of the world’s most powerful wind turbines have begun reaching into the air as construction progresses on the biggest windfarm ever built. Almost 200 turbines, each almost as tall as the Eiffel tower, will soon rise above the submerged Doggerland to populate an expanse of sea as large as North Yorkshire itself. Continue reading...

With protesters camped nearby, two giant 170m machines are being assembledIn a decade’s time, passengers on the new high-speed trains hurtling out of London will get just a burst of daylight and a glimpse of the Colne Valley landscape before disappearing back underground through the Chiltern Hills.Today, in that three-mile stretch between future tunnel openings to the north-west of the capital, the £98bn HS2 project’s scale, engineering might and cost are all evident: both at the vast work site scooped out beside the M25 in Buckinghamshire, and in nearby waters and woods where protesters are still encamped to stop machines coming through. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Environment minister releases reasons for denying Kingvale station owner Scott Harris permission to clear nearly 2,000 hectaresA landholder’s controversial plans to clear almost 2,000 hectares of native vegetation on Queensland’s Cape York were denied after he rejected government advice that it would put five threatened species at risk.Kingvale station owner Scott Harris, who wanted to clear the land for cropping, had also refused to pay for ecological surveys before clearing, according to a detailed statement provided to environmental campaigners by the environment minister, Sussan Ley, and seen by the Guardian. Continue reading...

Project aims to make town often described as one of the unhappiest places in UK a top tourism location