Travel firm amends animal welfare policy to no longer offer activities involving captive cetaceansThe travel company Expedia has stopped selling holidays that include performances by captive dolphins and whales.There have been growing calls in recent years, including from the prime minister’s wife, Carrie Johnson, to ban attractions and experiences that involve captive sea creatures. Continue reading...

In the six years since the Paris agreement, the climate crisis has rapidly accelerated. From catastrophes to slow transformations of familiar landscapes, lives everywhere have been upendedThe jubilation of the Paris climate agreement, where delegates from around the world triumphantly declared the climate crisis would finally be tamed, will have felt very hollow to many in the US in the six years since.Following the landmark 2015 deal to curb dangerous global heating, the US has experienced four of its five hottest years ever recorded. A drought of a severity unprecedented in modern civilization has tightened its grip upon the American west, parching cities and farms, fueling the eight largest wildfires on record in California and smothering much of the rest of the country in a choking pall of smoke. Continue reading...

Promised an income, those affected by $20bn oil project are losing their land and resources insteadA bumpy, mud-spattered road leads deep into Kakumiro district in western Uganda, where the longest heated oil pipeline in the world will pass through its homes, farms and wetlands.The villagers in the Kijungu settlements welcomed the project when the route was announced in 2017, hoping that the government and companies involved would buy their land and change their lives for good. Their optimism has since given way to frustration. Continue reading...

Coalition aims to give voice to ideas and solutions it believes are largely absent from the Cop talksA counter climate summit kicks off in Glasgow on Sunday amid mounting criticism from activists about greenwashed solutions and stalled action from corporations and rich nations inside Cop26.The People’s Summit for Climate Justice will bring together movements and communities from across the world to amplify voices, ideas and solutions it believes are largely absent from Cop – including the global green new deal, polluters’ liability, indigenous ecological knowledge and the gulf between net zero and real zero emissions. Continue reading...

The likes of BP and Shell promise a ‘transition’ to green energy backed by their revenues. They need to convince us furtherExecutives at big oil and gas companies, at least the European ones, have spent the past two years trying to change the narrative. The likes of BP and Shell have trumpeted their net zero plans, declared themselves to be “transitioning” to a cleaner energy future and talked up the historical significance of new targets. Think of us as part of the solution, was the message.To climate activists and politicians demanding faster decarbonisation, the industry’s reply has been that switching off investment in oil and gas too quickly would create a supply crisis: instead what’s needed are “integrated” energy companies that can recycle cashflows from hydrocarbons and build the green infrastructure of tomorrow. Continue reading...

Move would encourage landowners to repair peatlands, restore woods and cut carbon emissions, says conservation groupTaxing deer and grouse estates for failing to ensure their land properly locks up carbon dioxide could play a crucial role in fighting the climate crisis, a leading conservation group has said.The John Muir Trust, a charity set up to protect wild places in Britain, says such a plan could help to absorb millions of tonnes of carbon every year, and help the UK – in particular Scotland – achieve its goal of reaching net zero emissions as soon as possible. Continue reading...

The ‘ecotype’, thought to have been wiped out by disease and invasive species, is thriving in the estate’s ancient woodlandsThousands of rare forest honeybees that appear to be the last wild descendants of Britain’s native honeybee population have been discovered in the ancient woodlands of Blenheim Palace.The newly discovered subspecies, or ecotype, of honeybee is smaller, furrier and darker than the honeybees found in managed beehives, and is believed to be related to the indigenous wild honeybees that foraged the English countryside for centuries. Until now, it was presumed all these bees had been completely wiped out by disease and competition from imported species. Continue reading...

As Cop26 reached halfway stage, rallies were held around the world, with actor Idris Elba among those calling for African voices to be central to public debateTens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Glasgow on Saturday to demand stronger climate action from world leaders as the climate crisis summit reached its halfway stage.Protests were also held in London and other parts of Britain. There were rallies in South Korea, Indonesia, the Netherlands and France. Environmental groups, charities, climate activists, trade unionists and indigenous people all joined the Glasgow march in heavy rain. Extinction Rebellion activists dressed as Ghostbusters while another group, Scientist Rebellion – wearing white lab coats – blocked King George V bridge, one of the city’s busiest routes. Continue reading...

Beijing Games will require almost 49 million gallons of water to create conditions for Alpine eventsThe mountains that will be the setting of the Alpine events for the forthcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing boast spectacular scenery and breathtaking runs, but lack just one vital ingredient: real snow.Between January and March this year, the National Alpine Ski Centre in Yanqing, about 55 miles north-west of Beijing, had just 2cm of snow. London, Paris and Madrid all recorded greater snowfalls, according to data compiled by the website worldweatheronline.com. Continue reading...

These elegant birds have long held a special place in the nation’s heart and imagination. But now they are dying in untold numbersTo the British, the swan is not so much a bird as a national treasure – the avian equivalent of Dame Judi Dench or Sir David Attenborough. Its unique status is a result of its long and complex history living alongside us, a relationship that goes back well over a thousand years.Alarm at reports last week that dozens of swans and cygnets have died of bird flu in Shakespeare’s home town of Stratford-upon-Avon – up to half of the town’s population – reminded us just how passionate the British public are about the bird. Continue reading...

A growing number of brands are switching to recycled fibers but experts worry people may believe their purchases are impact-free – when that’s far from trueWoven into your clothes is a material that takes on many disguises. It may have the texture of wool, the lightness of linen or the sleekness of silk. It’s in two-thirds of our clothing – and yet most of us don’t even know that it’s there. It’s plastic, and it’s a big problem.Today, about 69% of clothes are made up of synthetic fibres, including elastane, nylon and acrylic. Polyester is the most common, making up 52% of all fiber production. Plastic’s unique durability and versatility have made it indispensable to the fashion industry. Continue reading...

Up to 100,000, including Kahnawake Mohawk delegates, brave Glasgow rain as 22 arrested after scientists blockade bridgePeople on almost every continent were gathering for marches and rallies on Saturday to mark a Global Day for Climate Justice, halfway through the Glasgow climate change summit.Activists in the Philippines, eight hours ahead of the UK, had already finished their rally as protesters gathered in Scotland. There were also rallies in South Korea, Indonesia, the Netherlands and France. The Belgian arm of Extinction Rebellion occupied a street in Brussels. Continue reading...

Many of the UK’s biggest lenders now offer deals that reward buyers of energy efficient propertiesHomes account for more than a fifth of the UK’s total CO2 emissions, which may help explain why the government and others believe green mortgages could be a gamechanger for moving to a sustainable future.Although they have been around in one form or another for some time, environmentally friendly mortgages have yet to take off in a big way: a poll published this week found that 94% of brokers had never sold one. Continue reading...

Open and fair reporting of progress on targets is crucial for any climate deal to succeed, says an insiderOne of the key negotiating issues for Cop26 remains unresolved at this late stage: transparency. Under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, nations set targets on their future greenhouse gas emissions, but we don’t yet know how we will ensure that the ways they report and account for those targets and emissions are transparent and fair.The discussions on transparency to finalise the nuts and bolts of the framework set up in Paris are stalled. Discussions should have been finalised in 2020 but were postponed owing to the pandemic. We are a year behind in the mandate and with most talks happening in a challenging virtual format throughout last year and this one, there is still no clear path toward agreement. If we do not get this right it threatens to undermine any agreement to close the gap between the targets countries set and the emissions cuts needed to keep warming to 1.5C.Every week we’ll hear from negotiators from a developing country that is involved in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations and is attending the Cop26 climate conference. Continue reading...

Despite rescue efforts to plant ‘twite meadows’ only 12 pairs of seed-eating bird bred this summerA small bird once so abundant it was called “the Pennine finch” is teetering on the brink of extinction in England after just 12 pairs bred this summer.The twite, an inconspicuous, seed-eating bird that nests in the uplands and spends winters on coastal marshes, has suffered a precipitous decline this century, with the breeding population falling by 75% between 1999 and 2013. Continue reading...

Analysis: the ‘significant outcomes’ came thick and fast but there are question marks about credibilityLong before delegates gathered in Glasgow, the scene for Cop26 was set by the starkest warning yet from the world’s scientists that human activity was unequivocally disrupting the climate, extreme weather was growing more intense, and urgent action was needed to prevent still worse chaos in the future.“Code red,” declared the UN secretary general, António Guterres, as evidence mounted this summer of ever fiercer heatwaves and increasingly deadly storms and floods. No pressure, then, on the climate diplomats who were told they represented the “last best chance” of holding global heating to 1.5C. Continue reading...

A livestreamed session at Cop26 sets out to educate and inspire tomorrow’s leaders, from Ukraine to Peru“Type your favourite crunchiness of peanut butter into the chat thread,” says Matthew Shribman to a global classroom of children, as the scientist and teacher kicks off the Great Big Lesson for Nature at Cop26 in Glasgow.Thousands of schoolchildren from across the world have joined the virtual lesson broadcast live from the nature pavilion in the blue zone, right next to where world leaders make decisions that affect these young people’s future. Continue reading...

Politician says droughts and climate-induced famine in the country are a result of the behaviours of rich nationsMore than a million people facing the first climate-induced famine in Madagascar are paying the price for cheap flights in Europe and appliances such as gas heaters, the country’s environment minister has said.For several years now, the south of Madagascar has suffered successive droughts of increasing severity, and the situation has deteriorated sharply over the last few months. In August, the UN said the country was facing the world’s first climate change famine. On Tuesday, a World Food Programme representative spoke of a “heartbreaking” visit to the country. Continue reading...

Critics say the decision comes at a high cost to both the climate and human healthCalifornia regulators voted Thursday to increase the capacity of a Los Angeles natural gas storage field, where a 2015 blowout caused the nation’s largest-ever methane leak and forced thousands from their homes.Locals, environmental advocates, and lawmakers have called for the closure of the facility, which has been approved to increase more than 20% in capacity. Continue reading...

Laurent Fabius says countries must be open and accountable about how they will deliver pledges in fullProspects of limiting global heating to 1.8C on the basis of commitments made at the Cop26 climate summit are only “a hypothesis”, the godfather of the Paris climate agreement has warned.Laurent Fabius, the former French prime minister who was president of the 2015 Paris summit, said he was “very impressed” by the commitments made in the first week of the Cop26 conference, including a deal to reduce the potent greenhouse gas methane, a net zero target from India, plans from China to reduce emissions and commitments on coal. Continue reading...

Pledges made during Cop26’s first week were encouraging. But without adequate finance and monitoring they don’t mean muchIf week one of the climate conference in Glasgow set out a strong outline, the task for next week is to fill in as many details as possible. The long-term ambition of the global environmental policy now being negotiated would have been hard to imagine just a few years ago. While it is not yet clear exactly where the various pledges will get us to in terms of limiting temperature rises, the new agreement on methane spearheaded by President Joe Biden and a commitment by India to get half of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 are highly significant.Also encouraging is the more integrated approach to the many environmental challenges humanity faces. Previously, conservation and biodiversity were to some extent viewed as separate issues from the changing atmospheric chemistry that drives global heating. Now, with a promise to reverse deforestation and provide funding directly to indigenous people to help them protect their lands, there is greater recognition of the vital part that nature plays in regulating the climate. Continue reading...

Follow Ocean Day events at the climate summit in Glasgow for day five

Representatives of almost 500 parent groups tell Alok Sharma their children’s health depends on an end to funding for fossil fuel industries

Document says it would not be appropriate for schools to encourage children to join campaignsSchools in England should not encourage pupils to take part in climate protests or join campaigns, according to a draft strategy paper on sustainability and climate change published by the Department for Education.The document was published after Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, said students concerned by climate change should consider careers in science and technology, and warned they risked incurring fines if they skipped classes to join protests. Continue reading...

I was trying to chart the peculiar dream-like state we seem to be in, says the poet laureateI wanted to react to Cop26 – so many of my friends and colleagues have been emboldened by the conversation it has generated. And strange times sometimes lead to strange poems.I was trying to chart the peculiar dream-like state we seem to be in, where the rules and natural laws of the old world feel to be in flux, one of those dreams which are full of danger, but not completely beyond the control of the person who sleeps. Continue reading...

With stripes showing temperature rise in the polar regions, the shirts are designed to start conversations about global heatingCop26 may not be the first place that springs to mind when thinking about fashion, but stripes were all the rage in Glasgow this week, where striking white, blue and red shirts were the latest must-have piece for fashion-forward scientists. These statement shirts may look like some 70s throwback but they have been designed using the latest polar data.Climate data is not a natural conversation starter but the shirts, made by Cambridge-based company DressCode Shirts, are designed to get people’s attention. They tell the story of two datasets, which show how rapidly polar regions are warming, using soft blues to represent colder temperatures and reds to show hotter ones. Continue reading...

PM could not resist wheeling out the usual jokes and antics at crucial summit, but the laughs never cameIt was one of the defining images from Cop26.Seated next to Boris Johnson on Monday and wearing a mask was 95-year-old David Attenborough. The prime minister, however, was maskless. At one point, Johnson seemed to have nodded off. Continue reading...

Environment minister of country home to world’s third-biggest rainforest says deforestation pledge must not halt developmentIndonesia has questioned the terms of a Cop26 deal to end deforestation by 2030, days after joining more than 100 countries in signing up to it.The nations agreed on the multi-billion-dollar plan at the climate conference in Glasgow this week to stop cutting down trees on an industrial scale in under a decade. Continue reading...

Richest 1% will account for 16% of total emissions by 2030, while poorest 50% will release one tonne of CO a yearThe carbon dioxide emissions of the richest 1% of humanity are on track to be 30 times greater than what is compatible with keeping global heating below 1.5C, new research warns, as scientists urge governments to “constrain luxury carbon consumption” of private jets, megayachts and space travel.In keeping with the Paris climate goals, every person on Earth needs to reduce their CO emissions to an average of 2.3 tonnes by 2030, about half the average of today. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a baby orangutan, wandering rhino and competing pelicans Continue reading...

Bank says Queensland mine and rail line do not fit in with its environmental, social and governance principles

From a Grade II-listed cottage to a sprawling new-build timber-clad house Continue reading...

Narendra Modi’s Cop26 promise has proved divisive but many observers say only western help can ensure its success

As yet unnamed company claims it could enable ‘clean’ flights running on liquid ammonia by 2030A British company being launched at the Cop26 summit on Friday will unveil technology it claims could enable zero-carbon emission flights running on liquid ammonia by 2030.It aims to build lightweight reactors to “crack” the chemical to produce hydrogen to burn as fuel, a design it says could allow existing planes to be modified to store liquid ammonia rather than paraffin. Continue reading...

At the UN climate summit in Glasgow, global environment editor Jonathan Watts examines the emissions-cutting pledges from world leaders as time runs out to prevent catastrophic global heatingBoris Johnson began the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow by telling fellow world leaders the world was at “one minute to midnight” on the Doomsday Clock and must act now to avert a climate disaster.The Guardian’s global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, has been in Glasgow all week to follow the events as they unfolded. He tells Nosheen Iqbal there have been significant announcements on deforestation, methane reduction and climate finance, but the final week of the conference must have more commitments on reducing global emissions if the target of limiting global heating to 1.5C is to be kept alive. Continue reading...

Australia accused of going backward as Cop26 pledge backed by five of world’s biggest coal power users

‘Gas is the new coal’, says Climate Analytics report that finds it the fastest growing source of carbon dioxide emissionsThe escalating rollout of gas for heating, electricity and cooking is turning it into the “new coal” and its use worldwide must be slashed by nearly a third this decade to avoid disastrous climate effects, according to a new report.Gas has often been referred to as a “bridge fuel” as it emits around half the carbon dioxide of coal, and many countries have embraced it while also promising to transition to renewable energy in order to cut planet-heating emissions. Continue reading...

Fatih Birol says ‘big step forward’ is possible only if all commitments are implemented in fullThe climate pledges agreed so far at the Cop26 conference could keep the world’s rising temperatures to within 1.8C of pre-industrialised levels, according to the International Energy Agency – but only if the commitments are implemented in full.Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, told delegates at the conference that despite the pessimism ahead of the Cop26 talks, a “big step forward” was possible if all the pledges set out to date were “fully achieved”. Continue reading...

We’ll be following events in Glasgow and around the UK today

Problem is causing £8bn a year in health damage but can be tackled cost-effectively, say scientistsSixty per cent of the tiny particles polluting the air in the UK are from ammonia leaking from farms, according to research.The ammonia is released from livestock manure and urine and the overuse of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers. The gas drifts into cities and reacts with other air pollutants to form tiny particulate matter, called PM2.5, which is the deadliest form of air pollution. Continue reading...

Exclusive: The Institute of Public Affairs paid for ads that experts say are based on ‘faulty analysis’ on job losses

New research comes months after Australian government lobbied to keep coral reef off world heritage ‘in danger’ list

How much time do we have and what needs to be done to avoid catastrophic consequences of global heating?

$11tn fossil fuel asset crash could cause 2008-style financial crisis, warns new study

Pictures from day four of the UN climate change summit in Glasgow, as the focus turns to accelerating the global transition to clean energy Continue reading...

The financial sector is helping to drive the climate crisis. Radical government action is needed to overhaul the systemDespite the stark warnings of climate breakdown from the IPCC and the UN, it’s business as usual for fossil fuel capitalism. An astonishing 56% of the G20 nations’ Covid-19 recovery funds for energy have gone to fossil fuel companies.In April, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) chaired by Mark Carney was launched to bring together leading financial corporations to redirect finance towards achieving net zero by 2050. Yet many of its signatories remain among the world’s top backers of fossil fuels. Some have even issued new financing to companies expanding fossil fuel infrastructure since signing up with the GFANZ.Mariana Mazzucato is professor in the economics of innovation and public value at University College London, and the founding director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). Her latest book is Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism; Matthew Thompson is Research Fellow in Rethinking Public Value at IIPP.

Actors, politicians and firms lend support to 21x Club’s call to pull investments out of industries that harm planetThe actors Stephen Fry and Kelly Macdonald and the former Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson have joined a coalition of campaigners calling on the public to harness the untapped power of their pensions to tackle the climate crisis.They are among the celebrities, activists and businesses joining the 21x Club, launched at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow by the Make My Money Matter campaign, set up by Richard Curtis, the screenwriter, director and Comic Relief co-founder. Continue reading...

Cop26 is told that millions of lives at risk without focus on preparing for problems that are already inevitable

If an ageing pipeline under the Great Lakes spills, it would be devastating. But Canada is trying to block Michigan from shutting it downCanada would be apoplectic if the US government marched into a Canadian court and argued that the province of Ontario has zero authority over an American company operating an aging, corroded pipeline under Canada’s pristine Georgian Bay. Yet this is the exact approach Canada is taking in US courts by arguing that the state of Michigan has zero authority to order the shutdown of an aging and dangerous pipeline operated by a Canadian company under the Straits of Mackinac – where any spill would have catastrophic ramifications for the Great Lakes.Canada’s strained position is premised on ignoring the plain text of the 1977 US Canada Pipeline Treaty: “Pipeline[s] shall be subject to regulations by the appropriate governmental authorities … with respect to such matters as the following: (a) pipeline safety … ; (b) environmental protection.”Lana Pollack was appointed by President Obama to chair the US Section of the International Joint Commission. The IJC was established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to assist the US and Canadian governments in managing and protecting waters shared by the two countries. The views expressed are Pollack’s, not those of the IJC Continue reading...

Oil companies and the banks that finance them are making empty promises – and getting credit for them tooJPMorgan Chase won glowing headlines last year when the global investment bank unveiled a commitment to counter the climate crisis.The press amplified JPMorgan’s message – sometimes in JPMorgan’s own words. Fortune published a commentary article trumpeting the bank’s plans to “tackle climate change”. Six paragraphs into the piece, the writers noted they worked for the investment firm. (They were actually its top executives.) Continue reading...