Environment | The Guardian

Exclusive: executives demand meaningful action to protect ecosystems as UN biodiversity summit opensWorld leaders must do more to prevent the destruction of nature, business leaders have warned before a summit in China that aims to draw up a draft UN agreement for biodiversity.In an open letter, the chief executives of Unilever, H&M and nine other companies have called on governments to take meaningful action on mass extinctions of wildlife and the collapse of ecosystems or risk “a dead planet”. Continue reading...

Winged mammal is the first non-bird to be included in the beloved annual poll, which has been running for 16 yearsNew Zealand’s bird of the year competition has been hit with a flurry of controversy, after a species of native bat was granted entry into the polls.Candidates for the beloved annual election released today included shock newcomer the long-tailed bat, or pekapeka-tou-roa. It is the first time a New Zealand native land mammal has been included in the competition, which has been running for 16 years. Continue reading...

Letter from 2019 reveals business secretary supported £1.2bn project linked to Conservative donorA cabinet minister has been accused of making misleading claims about a £1.2bn cable project linked to a Conservative donor.Almost one in 10 Conservative MPs had taken money from firms linked to Viktor Fedotov, revealed in the Pandora papers to have secretly co-owned a company once accused of participating in a massive corruption scheme. One of those firms included Aquind. Continue reading...

The National Farmers’ Federation is demanding Nationals MPs drive a hard bargain for agriculture in any deal ahead of Cop26 climate talks

Activists, including veteran Swampy, barricade themselves inside tunnel at site in BuckinghamshireA group of environmental activists are facing eviction after barricading themselves inside a tunnel to protest against the HS2 rail project.The protesters, who include Dan Hooper, the veteran activist also known as Swampy, are involved in a tunnel protest in Buckinghamshire.

The tax concession scheme specifically excludes ‘prospecting, exploring or drilling activities’ but the company claims new well is clearly for R&D

BBC Springwatch presenter says car set alight and gate burned down at New Forest propertyThe BBC Springwatch presenter Chris Packham has said he will carry on his activism after an arson attack on his home.Packham said arsonists set fire to a car and burned down the gate to his property, in full view of his CCTV cameras. Hampshire constabulary said it was investigating the fire. Continue reading...

Environmentalist and landowner Isabella Tree says that ‘troubling’ relationship with housebuilders calls the party’s environmental credentials into questionThe prominent role played by a large housebuilding company and Tory donor in last week’s Conservative party conference has been called “terrifying” by a leading environmentalist who founded one of the most successful rewilding projects in England.Isabella Tree, co-owner of the Knepp estate in West Sussex and author of Wilding, her 2018 book about how turning loss-making farmland into the largest rewilding experiment in lowland England, said the “cosy” relationship between developers such as Thakeham, which in effect sponsored parts of the conference, and the Tory party, was deeply worrying and threatening to green causes. Continue reading...

Marine photographer Angel Fitor first saw endangered cichlids in a pet shop. Now his award-winning images could help save these fishLake Tanganyika is the world’s longest freshwater lake. It stretches for more than 400 miles across central Africa and provides a home for some of the planet’s most extraordinary aquatic creatures. But this remarkable refuge – and its inhabitants – are under threat.Pesticide runoffs from farms, sewage and overexploitation by collectors for the ornamental fish trade are devastating life in the lake. In particular, these forces are driving many populations of cichlid fish – of which there are more than 240 species in Lake Tanganyika – to extinction. Continue reading...

Conservationist delivers petition to Buckingham Palace and urges royals to set example before Cop26Chris Packham has called on the royal family to “step up” by committing to rewilding their estates before the Cop26 climate summit.The conservationist and broadcaster delivered a petition signed by more than 100,000 people to the gates of Buckingham Palace on Saturday, accompanied by more than 100 school strikers. Packham said “the time for talking is finished” and urged the royal family to lead by example by improving the ecological condition of their land. Continue reading...

Over the last five years, the 100 top law firms in the US represented fossil fuel clients in 358 legal cases and transactions worth $1.36tnThe world’s biggest corporate law firms have been making millions of dollars representing fossil fuel companies but, as the climate crisis intensifies, this work is coming under increasing scrutiny.Over the last five years, the 100 top ranked law firms in the US facilitated $1.36tn of fossil fuel transactions, represented fossil fuel clients in 358 legal cases and received $35m in compensation for their work to assist fossil fuel industry lobbying, according to a “climate scorecard” published in August. Continue reading...

The state’s ageing oil infrastructure means more disasters are likely as companies move away from fossil fuelsA gash in an underwater pipeline sent tens of thousands of gallons of oil rushing into the waters near Los Angeles last weekend, blackening beaches and endangering wildlife.While the US Coast Guard believes a ship’s anchor may have damaged the pipeline months ago, California’s ageing oil infrastructure will also bear increasing scrutiny. Experts say that the devastating spill is unlikely to be the last, especially in a rapidly changing industry where equipment is primed to suffer from underinvestment and lack of attention. Continue reading...

Only ecodesign stoves can be legally sold from 2022 – but experts say the standard is shockingly weakNew wood burning stoves billed as more environmentally friendly still emit 750 times more tiny particle pollution than a modern HGV truck, a report has shown.Only stoves that meet the ecodesign standard can be legally sold from the start of 2022 in the UK and EU, but experts said the regulation was shockingly weak. Continue reading...

‘My fear is that we will see fewer delegates from some of the most afflicted countries,’ a Cop26 insider from a developing nation saysCop26 will be a “conference of the parties” like no other, as this is a year like no other. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way Cop26 will operate, and that has many worrying implications.Cop26 should have taken place in November 2020, but the decision was taken in May 2020 to delay it by a year, because of Covid. However, the extra time has not meant that the negotiations have advanced more. The negotiators have not been able to meet in person, which has been difficult. We had online discussions and pre-meetings but these were very different from the formal negotiations that would normally have taken place to prepare the ground for Cop26.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 will be attending the Cop26 climate conference. Continue reading...

Big business says accelerating emissions cuts would leave Australians better off by an average of $5,000 per person each year by 2050Big business has thrown its weight behind a 50% emissions reduction by 2030 to avoid a “costly and damaging” game of climate catch-up.The Business Council of Australia believes a cut of between 46% and 50% on 2005 levels within the decade is pragmatic, ambitious and will drive investment. Continue reading...

Human rights council also appoints special rapporteur to monitor impact of climate crisis on rightsThe UN’s main human rights body has overwhelmingly voted to recognise the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right, and to appoint an expert to monitor human rights in the context of the climate emergency.The human rights council passed the clean-environment resolution, which also calls on countries to boost their abilities to improve the environment, by 43-0 while four member states – China, India, Japan and Russia – abstained. Continue reading...

Restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante represents victory for advocates after protections were slashedJoe Biden restored environmental protections on Friday to three national monuments and their vast expanse of vital ecosystems and sacred Indigenous spaces, reversing cuts made by Donald Trump.“These protections provide a bridge to our past, but they also build a bridge to a safer and more sustainable future,” said Biden. “One where we strengthen our economy and pass on a healthy planet to our children and our grandchildren.” Continue reading...

Residents set up traffic patrol to challenge drivers forming long polluting queues near London schoolBounds Green primary school sits on a road so busy it has a bridge for a pedestrian crossing. Even on a good day the air is acrid, suffused by mephitic fumes belched continuously by traffic on the A109, which bisects this north London neighbourhood.But over recent weeks, with the fuel crisis turning the nearby petrol station into a magnet for drivers scouring the city for fuel, good days have been seldom. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a rescued sloth, a hidden alligator and a jellyfish swarm Continue reading...

A century ago, women activists planted an arboretum outside Bath. Only one tree survived – now it’s generating seeds for a new woodland and a new causeIn a sunny back garden north-east of Bath stands a 30-metre pine tree. Its widespread branches are home to squirrels, magpies and nuthatches, and in late summer it sheds its needles to thatch the lawn below. The tree has seen enormous political and social change over its 100-year lifespan and, if the women who come to visit it have a say, has yet to see a lot more.When midwife Eileen Paddock moved to Batheaston village 43 years ago, her two young boys wasted no time climbing the tree in their new home. But she knew nothing about its history until a Canadian professor of art history got in touch three decades later. Continue reading...

UK firm says windfarm project that could help power British homes could be completed by 2030The prospect of an energy island in the North Sea surrounded by windfarms with the ability to power British homes has taken a step closer after National Grid, the UK energy company, revealed that it is in talks about helping to build the project – and claimed it could be done before 2030.“We are in tripartite discussions over an energy island that the UK would likely connect to,” Nicola Medalova, the company’s managing director of interconnectors, told New Scientist. She declined to name the two other parties in the talks. Continue reading...

Campaigners say combination of waste from local plant as well as private septic tanks to blameWindermere could become “ecologically dead” because of the amount of sewage being pumped into its waters, campaigners have warned.Pictures show algal blooms across the surface of the lake. Campaigners say there is also evidence of dead fish and invertebrates, indicating the waters are not healthy. Continue reading...

Record high prices and shortages of electricity have crippled industrial outputChinese officials have ordered more than 70 mines in Inner Mongolia to increase coal production by almost 100m tonnes, with the country battling its worst power crunch and coal shortages in years.The move is the latest attempt by Chinese authorities to boost coal supply amid record high prices and shortages of electricity that have led to power rationing across the country, crippling industrial output. Continue reading...

Beloved small bird known for its polyamory and shared household labour narrowly beats tawny frogmouth and gang-gang cockatoo in Guardian Australia/Birdlife Australia poll

The final 10 birds in contention in the Guardian/BirdLife Australia poll were the Australian magpie, gang-gang cockatoo, regent honeyeater, Australian brush turkey, Gouldian finch, superb fairywren, galah, tawny frogmouth, peregrine falcon and laughing kookaburra

Emissions reduction minister told to expect more vigorous calls for ambitious targets before Barnaby Joyce declined to endorse findings

Fishmeal exports to EU from west Africa have grown sharply, depleting stocks and posing threat to livelihoodsGreenpeace activists have intercepted a 96-metre tanker in the Channel carrying fish oil from west Africa to Europe, to highlight the threat they say industry poses to food security and to livelihoods in the region.Trade figures analysed by Greenpeace Africa show that fishmeal and fish oil exports from Mauritania alone have grown by an “alarming” 16% during 2020. Activists and locals say the industry pushes up prices and depletes stocks of fish eaten by local people across poor communities in Mauritania, Senegal and the Gambia. Continue reading...

Convenor Simon Holmes à Court says more than 2,000 donors kicked in funds for looming election campaigns against Coalition incumbents

US federal judge rules law violates right to abortion in first legal challenge to Senate Bill 8. Plus, Alaska hospitals ration care

Climate groups concerned about presence in Glasgow of officers from forces known for heavy-handed tacticsClimate campaigners are worried an influx of officers from elsewhere in the UK will undermine Police Scotland’s commitment to rights-based policing of protests at Cop26.Groups planning protests around the critical November conference have told the Guardian they are concerned about the presence of officers from forces known for their use of heavy-handed tactics and that it is unclear how they will be held to account for their behaviour. Continue reading...

Drought, rising temperatures and poor farming practices are taking a devastating toll on the country’s wildlife“If we stood in this spot a few years ago, the water would be up to your armpits,” says vet Isa Agit, standing on sun-hardened and cracked mud that used to be part of a lake in eastern Turkey, with his hands firmly wrapped around a long-legged buzzard. “That’s the last of the flamingos over there,” he adds, pointing to what is left of the lake in the village of Enginsu – a patch of water just visible in the distance.Over the past 50 years, 60% of Turkey’s 300 natural lakes have dried up and the loss is devastating for birds and other wildlife. Reduced rainfall, rising temperatures, the mismanagement of public land and poor agricultural practices have caused water levels, even in the Middle East’s second largest lake, Lake Van, to recede by as much as 200 metres. Continue reading...

Deputy PM calls for rapid clearance from German regulator after prices reach an all-time highRussia’s deputy prime minister has said certification of the Nord Stream 2 undersea gas pipeline, which is awaiting clearance from Germany’s regulator, could cool soaring European gas prices.Prices have risen sharply in response to a recovery in demand, particularly from Asia, with storage levels low. Continue reading...

Keith Pitt’s proposal, which suggests huge loans for resources sector in return for his party backing net zero, left on table by Scott Morrison

Banning fishing does not mean populations simply bounce back, as scientists found off Scotland’s west coastThe closure of the Clyde fishery has led to the recovery of marine species – but not the same species as lived there before, according to a report.Published in the journal Current Biology, the paper found the marine ecosystem of west Scotland’s Clyde Sea shows signs of recovery after a reduction in fishing pressure, but with sprat now the dominant species instead of herring. Continue reading...

Experts say results of Butterfly Conservation’s latest survey signal that nature is ‘in crisis’The UK has recorded its lowest ever number of butterflies in an annual survey of the insects, prompting conservationists to warn that nature is in crisis.Butterfly Conservation, which counted butterflies and moths between 16 July and 8 August, said the results, released on Thursday, marked the lowest numbers since the Big Butterfly Count started 12 years ago and called for urgent action to be taken. Continue reading...

Wet wipes are the main culprit, but Sydneysiders have also been sending jewellery, watches, money and even a brick down the toilet

Although not a diagnosable condition, experts says climate anxiety is on the rise worldwideThe climate crisis is taking a growing toll on the mental health of children and young people, experts have warned.Increasing levels of “eco-anxiety” – the chronic fear of environmental doom – were likely to be underestimated and damaging to many in the long term, public health experts said. Continue reading...

A flash of colour that caught my eye at the age of 10 in 1968 – that’s how far back I trace a sense of obligation to care for the biodiversity that was here first

Charges against six protesters dropped as HS2 was not carrying out work on the site at the timeSix environmental protesters who occupied a tunnel close to Euston station in protest against the HS2 high-speed link earlier this year walked free from court after charges in connection with the occupation were dismissed by a judge.Daniel Hooper, 48, also known as “Swampy”; Dr Larch Maxey, 49; Isla Sandford, 18; Lachlan Sandford, 20; Juliett Stevenson-Clarke, 22; and Scott Breen, 47, faced charges of aggravated trespass at Highbury Corner magistrates court in central London for their 31 days underground in January and February of this year. A separate charge against Maxey of damage to a mobile phone was also dismissed. Continue reading...

Beefy brown bear, missing two canine teeth, prevails in vote that compares pre-hibernation weight gain in Katmai national park

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer says Line 5 of pipeline is a ‘ticking time bomb’ and has ordered it shut downThe Canadian government has invoked a decades-old treaty with the United States in its latest bid to save a pipeline that critics warn could be environmentally catastrophic if it were to fail.For nearly 67 years, Calgary-based Enbridge has moved oil and natural gas from western Canada through Michigan and the Great Lakes to refineries in the province of Ontario. Continue reading...

Spill off California coast will be difficult to clear from areas that are home to diverse array of birds and endangered plants and animalsThe full scale of the ecological damage from the Huntington Beach oil spill will take some time to become clear, with birds and marine mammals hardest hit in the short term.That’s the view of experts with experience of other incidents as they consider a suspected underwater pipe leak that spilled roughly 126,000 gallons of crude oil just miles off the southern Californian coast. Continue reading...

Petition to forbid private car use in area equal in size to London’s zones 1 and 2 has collected 50,000 backersA citizens’ initiative calling for a ban on private car use in central Berlin would create the largest car-free urban area in the world.The campaign group Berlin Autofrei has taken the first step in a process known as the people’s referendum, submitting a petition with more than 50,000 signatures calling for a ban covering the 88 sq km (34 sq mile) area circled by the “S-Bahn ring” trainline – an area roughly equal in size to all the boroughs in London’s zones 1 and 2. Continue reading...

Product will be made using almond paste and cost double the price of a standard Dairy Milk chocolate barIt is Dairy Milk but without the dairy. A plant-based version of Cadbury’s classic bar is to go on sale in the UK next month as part of a drive by major food companies to expand their vegan ranges.The company, which used to make much of the “glass and a half” of milk in every bar, is using almond paste in the Cadbury Plant Bar, which has taken two years to develop. It said the new recipe “provides a similar taste and texture to milk ingredients while offering a hint of nuttiness”. Continue reading...

Unstable property rights mean Black southerners may survive a flood but lose their home, and it’s causing the racial wealth gap to grow largerMargaret Alston doesn’t remember the night that Hurricane Matthew hit, but she remembers how afraid she was of the flooding that followed.The biggest hurricane to hit South Carolina since 1999, the storm caused massive inland flooding across large swaths of the south-east. In Bucksport, the small, unincorporated town where Alston grew up, the Wacamaw River overflowed, inundating the street Alston’s house is on and making it impassable. Continue reading...

Some old favourites have fallen by the wayside, but it’s all to play for on Thursday as supporters of eliminated birds decide which finalist to backVote now for your chosen birdThe cassowary is long gone. So too the sulphur-crested cockatoo, the swift parrot, the shy albatross and the spotted pardalote.No, there hasn’t been (another) mass extinction (yet) but the new voting format in the 2021 Guardian Australia/Birdlife Australia bird of the year poll means the competition has morphed into a brutal kind of ornithological Game of Thrones. Continue reading...

Catastrophes like fires and floods could set the economy back more than $1.2tn by 2060, even if action is taken

Trillions of dollars a year are ‘adding fuel to the fire’ of the climate crisis, experts sayThe fossil fuel industry benefits from subsidies of $11m every minute, according to analysis by the International Monetary Fund.The IMF found the production and burning of coal, oil and gas was subsidised by $5.9tn in 2020, with not a single country pricing all its fuels sufficiently to reflect their full supply and environmental costs. Experts said the subsidies were “adding fuel to the fire” of the climate crisis, at a time when rapid reductions in carbon emissions were urgently needed. Continue reading...

Thirty-five organisations implore Australia, which is ADB’s fifth-largest shareholder, to help the region ‘make a just and equitable low-carbon transition’

Authorities face questions over how much damage could have been prevented after 126,000 gallons of crude seeped into oceanMore than 12 hours passed after officials were notified of a sheen on the water off the coast of southern California before a response to the Huntington Beach oil spill began, records show. Questions are now arising over why the response took so long and how that might have intensified the ecological disaster taking form on the Orange county coastline.The US Coast Guard said in a statement on Tuesday that the initial reports of a spill weren’t enough to warrant sending out boats to look for a leak. Continue reading...