Environment | The Guardian

Organisers of Glasgow climate talks said to blame Brexit and the pandemic for fees up to 30% higher than Cop25Countries and organisations planning to host events at vital UN climate talks in Glasgow next month have said they fear that increased costs at this year’s event will cause problems for developing nations.Multiple participants said that the cost of renting Cop26 pavilions – event spaces for hosting workshops, panel discussions and keynote speeches during the conference – is considerably higher than it was at Cop25 in Madrid, with some saying it had increased by as much as 30%. Continue reading...

The Nature Conservation Council will argue decision-makers failed to properly consider climate change

Kit Malthouse draws contrast between causing disruption and causing damage, as crackdown is announced

Global chip shortage helps push car registrations to lowest level for more than two decadesThe number of electric cars sold in the UK last month neared the figures for the whole of 2019, with panic-buying at the petrol pumps expected to accelerate consumer appetite to switch to cleaner vehicles.Nearly 33,000 pure electric cars were registered in a record month for EVs, almost 50% more than last year, as sales of new cars otherwise tumbled to the weakest September total for more than two decades. Continue reading...

Farmers warned that up to 120,000 animals face being slaughtered as they lack space to house themThe culling of healthy pigs has begun on British farms, with farmers forced to kill animals to make space and ensure the continued welfare of their livestock, amid an ongoing shortage of workers at slaughterhouses.Pig farmers have been warning for several weeks that labour shortages at abattoirs have led to a backlog of as many as 120,000 pigs left stranded on farms long after they should have gone to slaughter. Continue reading...

Industry calls for levy to fund new technologies – but environmentalists say proposal blocks climate progressThe global shipping industry has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by mid-century – but only if governments impose a mandatory levy on shipping fuel to fund the development of new low-carbon technology.The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which represents the majority of the global shipping industry, submitted the plans to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the worldwide regulator and part of the UN. Continue reading...

100-member group will be representative of world’s population and will present their findings to Cop26One hundred people from around the world are to take part in a citizens’ assembly to discuss the climate crisis over the next month, before presenting their findings at the UN Cop26 climate summit.The Global Citizens’ Assembly will be representative of the world’s population, and will invite people chosen by lottery to take part in online discussions that will culminate in November, during the fortnight-long climate talks that open in Glasgow on 31 October. Continue reading...

Criminal disruption prevention orders to restrict individuals’ movement are response to Insulate Britain blocking motorways

Controversial plan should not proceed if it impacts Blue Mountains world heritage area, parliamentary committee that includes Coalition MPs says

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema says access to Covid jabs for developing world will be critical to the success of in-person Kunming Cop15 summitGovernments hoping for a global agreement to halt biodiversity loss must put more effort into access to Covid-19 vaccines for developing countries, the UN’s biodiversity chief has warned.Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said the Kunming Cop15 summit, at which governments will try to forge a “Paris agreement for nature”, was vital for halting the global crisis of species loss. Continue reading...

Many scientists and environmental campaigners question the industry’s claims to offer a clean, renewable energy source that the planet desperately needsThick dust has been filling the air and settling on homes in Debra David’s neighborhood of Hamlet, North Carolina, ever since a wood pellet plant started operating nearby in 2019.The 64-year-old said the pollution is badly affecting the health of the population, which has already been hit hard by Covid. Continue reading...

Six of top 10, including China and Russia, yet to show ambition on emissions cuts before Cop26Analysis of the total carbon dioxide emissions of countries since 1850 has revealed the nations with the greatest historical responsibility for the climate emergency. But six of the top 10 have yet to make ambitious new pledges to cut their emissions before the crucial UN Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.The six include China, Russia and Brazil, which come only behind the US as the biggest cumulative polluters. The UK is eighth and Canada is 10th. Carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for centuries and the cumulative amount of CO emitted is closely linked to the 1.2C of heating the world has already seen. Continue reading...

Decarbonisation plan, with almost 40% of power sourced from fossil fuels, is a monumental challenge

In lockdown, every day is the same. Unless it’s a day when a bird has visited – these I recall instantly, and with joy

The company will tie executive pay to emissions reduction and eliminate deforestation through its supply chainThe chief executive of Mars, one of the world’s largest consumer products companies, has warned that “all too often” corporate commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions fall short and threaten to undermine their credibility and necessary change on climate action.Grant Reid’s comments, and those of Mars’s chief sustainability and procurement officer, Barry Parkin, come after the climate activist Greta Thunberg condemned many of the climate actions promised by global leaders as so much “blah, blah, blah”.Eliminate deforestation in its supply chainLink executive pay to cutting greenhouse gas emissionChallenge its 20,000+ suppliers to take climate action and set meaningful targets. Continue reading...

Approval granted for Mangoola Coal to extract 52m tonnes over eight years – weeks before major global talks on climate crisis

PM implies he won’t attend Glasgow climate summit, saying people in the Hunter, Queensland and Victoria’s west are his first responsibility – after he’s met with the Nationals

Largest analysis of reef health reveals equivalent of more than all living coral in Australia was lost in 2009-18About 14% of the world’s coral has been lost in less than a decade, a study of the health of coral reefs has found.In the largest analysis of coral reef health ever undertaken, scientists found that between 2009 and 2018 the world lost about 11,700 sq km of coral – the equivalent of more than all the living coral in Australia. Continue reading...

An estimated 126,000 gallons leaked from an underwater pipeline in one of the largest spills in recent state historyTemperatures in southern California surged on Sunday, but Huntington state beach was devoid of the umbrellas and beach blankets that would typically line its shore.Instead, public works officials were working feverishly to stop the spread of an estimated 126,000 gallons of heavy crude oil that leaked from an underwater pipeline over the weekend in one of the largest spills in recent California history. Continue reading...

An estimated 126,000 gallons of crude oil has leaked from an underwater pipeline near Los Angeles in one of the largest disasters in recent state history. The spill near Huntington Beach has created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and washed ashore, threatening the coastal ecosystem and marine wildlife. Crews are scrambling to clean up the area, which officials say could take weeks or even months

Concrete and asphalt as well as scarce vegetation in urban areas lead to higher temperatures, study showsExposure to deadly urban heat has tripled since the 1980s, and now affects nearly a quarter of the world’s population, a study has found.Scientists put the worrying trend down to the combination of rising temperatures and growing numbers of people living in urban areas, and warned of its potentially fatal impact. Continue reading...

Retired admiral says alternatives needed to deal with extreme weather events so defence force can be ready for security emergencies

A new Australian thinktank says ditching domestic gas and petrol use would slash national greenhouse emissions by a third

Conflicting accounts about how violence broke out around convoy of minister Ajay MishraNine people have been killed in violent clashes during a protest by hundreds of farmers in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, in a deadly escalation of year-long demonstrations against contentious agriculture laws.The farmers had gathered for a demonstration on Sunday in Lakhimpur Kheri district, where the junior home affairs minister Ajay Mishra and the state’s deputy chief minister, Keshav Prasad Maurya, were due to visit. Continue reading...

PM tells Conservative conference that removing gas as power source will help protect against price surgesThe prime minister has confirmed plans to eliminate fossil fuels from UK electricity generation by 2035.Speaking during the Conservative party conference, Boris Johnson said the proposed shift would help the UK decarbonise, while softening the impact of the kind of gas price fluctuations that have prompted fears of a winter energy crisis in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Council plans to divert car traffic from city via a ring road while providing more buses and cycle linesBirmingham has announced what it calls a “transformative” transport plan that will see the car-centric city becoming a super-sized low-traffic neighbourhood.City officials hope that closing roads to through motor traffic, introducing a fleet of zero-emission cross-city buses and building additional protected cycleways will create a more liveable city. Continue reading...

Protesters stop traffic at Hanger Lane, the Blackwall tunnel and Wandsworth BridgeInsulate Britain activists have staged three morning roadblocks in central London, leading to dozens of arrests and confrontations with drivers stuck in heavy traffic at the height of rush-hour.The climate activist group said 54 supporters had blocked Hanger Lane in north London, the Blackwall tunnel in south-east London, and Wandsworth Bridge in south-west London, as they began a fourth week of their campaign for government action on home insulation. Continue reading...

As the Morrison government invests $250m in the technology, the Fortescue metals chief says ‘it’s a good soundbite but it doesn’t work’

Growing fears of energy security are leading a rethink on Chinese involvement in atomic plans. But what alternative are there?Among the subjects preoccupying delegates at the Conservative party conference in Manchester on Monday, energy will be near the top of the list.Soaring global gas prices, a lack of windpower and surging household bills have focused minds on Britain’s energy needs – and the role of nuclear power in particular. Continue reading...

Crews scramble to contain 126,000 gallons of crude oil that spilled in waters off Orange county before it spread further into wetlandsOne of the largest oil spills in recent southern California history fouled popular beaches and killed wildlife while crews scrambled on Sunday to contain the crude before it spread further into protected wetlands.At least 126,000 gallons (572,807 liters) of oil spilled into the waters off Orange county, according to a statement from the city of Huntington Beach. Continue reading...

Government will introduce tougher powers to deal with climate change activists who block major roadsProtesters disrupting motorways will face up to six months in prison or unlimited fines under plans to stop climate campaigners bringing traffic to a halt, Priti Patel will say this week.The home secretary said she would amend new legislation to bring in tougher sentences and give police powers to seize equipment that protesters could use to lock themselves on to fixed objects. Continue reading...

Human activity disturbs nesting of puffins and rare roseate terns at Coquet Island in NorthumberlandA bird sanctuary island in Northumberland, home to Britain’s rarest nesting seabird, is being threatened by an influx of “rogue” paddleboarders and kayakers who are causing major disturbances.Dr Paul Morrison, the site manager of Coquet Island, said in his 37 years in the job he had seen a lot of changes, but “this is one of the most serious ones”. Continue reading...

BBC One natural history series relied on local film-makers to be in the right place at the right timeAfrican bullfrogs converging on pools in South Africa and fighting like bar room brawlers; a school of ghostly-looking manta rays assembling off the Australian coast; vivid images of amphibious snot otters working co-operatively in a cold north American river.These are all scenes from the new BBC One David Attenborough blockbuster series The Mating Game, filmed during the Covid crisis using a markedly different approach to the 50-year-old tried-and-tested way of doing things. Continue reading...

A water industry group is calling for legislation and planning controls to protect waterways from climate change and pollutionEngland’s rivers are facing a crisis from climate change, agricultural pollution and lack of effective planning controls. That is the key warning of Water UK, the industry group that represents the nation’s water suppliers.In a report to be published this week, the authority will call for the government to set up a national rivers plan and enact a rivers act to ensure the health of the country’s waterways. “We are calling for a new deal for rivers in England,” it states. Continue reading...

A majority of voters in the Conservative party’s key 41 constituencies believe the UK should be a world leader on climateVoters in Tory heartlands want the government to do more to tackle the climate crisis, and support measures that many backbench Conservative MPs have balked at, from ditching gas boilers to taxing flights, new polling shows.The government has delayed or dialled back key measures in recent weeks. There is no sign of the long-awaited heat and building strategy,the net zero strategy has been postponed to later this month, while the environment bill is stuck in parliament as ministers rejected strengthening amendments from the Lords. Continue reading...

Miner says group is ‘trespassing’ but police have acknowledged their cultural rights under human rights actQueensland police have told a group of First Nations people occupying the site of Adani’s Carmichael coalmine for the past five weeks that they have no intention of removing them from the area “at this time”.The group of Wangan and Jagalingou traditional owners opposed to the coalmine project began an ongoing cultural ceremony within the boundary of Adani’s mining lease in late August. Continue reading...

Monarch urges MSPs to build ‘fairer and greener future’ as she opens parliament ahead of Cop26The Queen has urged Scotland’s MSPs to tackle climate change and “help create a better, healthier future” in a speech ahead of the Cop26 climate conference.The Queen also reflected on the “deep and abiding affection” and happy memories she and the late Duke of Edinburgh shared of Scotland as she formally opened the new session of the Scottish parliament. Continue reading...

Homes in America are changing, inevitably and irreversibly. We want to hear from you what this looks and feels likeFor many in America, 2021 has been the year that the climate crisis matured from a worrying abstraction into a very present catastrophe, with much of the country ensnared in a vicious cycle of heatwaves, drought, wildfires and flooding.As ever, the effects have not been evenly distributed. Poorer people are the worst hit – more likely to work outside, with less access to air conditioning and public services, and fewer resources to relocate to safer ground. But the emergency has never felt so close for so many people. Continue reading...

Project has trained more than 21,000 staff and pupils, aiming for changes on whole-organisation levelThe cobbled streets of Coronation Street may not be the most obvious platform for conversations about the climate crisis, but the UK’s longest-running soap opera has increasingly turned its attention to the environment in recent years.From smaller plot points such as Sally Metcalfe discussing climate change with her partner over dinner, to 10-year-old Liam Connor collapsing on the street from an asthma attack caused by air pollution, environmental issues frequently crop up on the show. Continue reading...

Early sales are surging across a range of goods, from toys to frozen turkeys and festive decorations“Be prepared” is the motto for Christmas this year as British shoppers order favourite foods, trees and lights earlier than ever to ensure they get what they need for the big day. Potential shortages of workers to process and pack meat and vegetables and to deliver presents and decorations have prompted surge in early orders in the following areas: Continue reading...

A Cop26 insider from a developing nation on why the richer world needs to meet its funding targetsOne of the biggest issues at Cop26 is climate finance, the funding that is supposed to be provided by the rich world to developing countries to help us cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impact of the climate crisis.Back at the Copenhagen Cop in 2009, we were promised at least $100bn (£74bn) a year in climate finance by 2020 and every year after that to at least 2025. But that target has been missed. Recently, we saw an OECD report which found that in 2019 only about $80bn was provided.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...

Matt Kean says Matt Canavan and George Christensen ‘never worry about rocking the boat, so why should progressive, economically rational Liberals not do likewise?’

Decision follows lobbying by oil and gas company Santos, who have said they would not start a CCS project without access to carbon credit revenueThe Morrison government has increased support for controversial fossil fuel projects that promise to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions by approving a plan to award them carbon credits.It followed the oil and gas company Santos saying a proposed carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at its Moomba gas well in South Australia hinged on whether it had access to carbon credit revenue. Continue reading...

Climate activists stage 10th day of protests as they call on PM to ‘get on with job’ of insulating homesThirty nine activists from Insulate Britain have been arrested after the climate campaign group staged its 10th day of protest in three weeks, as it called on the prime minister to “get on with the job” of insulating homes.Shortly after 8am on Friday, activists glued themselves to the ground and to each other at junction 3 of the M4 near Heathrow airport, west London, and at junction 1 of the M1, near Brent Cross in north London. At about 11am, a third group blocked junction 25 of the M25, near Enfield. Continue reading...

UK ‘would be seen as worst hypocrite imaginable’ if plans for deep mine are approved, say environmentalistsApproving a new deep coalmine in Cumbria would stifle international efforts to decarbonise industry and could produce a chain-reaction effect boosting prospective overseas mining projects, the public inquiry into the UK scheme has heard.Boris Johnson’s aspirations to cast his government as an international climate leader at the upcoming Cop26 summit would be fatally undermined, the inquiry’s closing session also heard, if the mine were given the green light by the Planning Inspectorate. Continue reading...

National Pig Association fears ‘acute welfare disaster’ within weeks if farmers cannot get stock processedFarmers have warned that up to 120,000 pigs face being culled because of a lack of abattoir workers, as acute labour shortages across supply chains continue to wreak havoc on the UK economy.Rob Mutimer, the chair of the National Pig Association (NPA), said Britain was facing an “acute welfare disaster” within a matter of weeks, with farmers forced to kill their livestock because of an acute shortage of butchers and slaughterers. Continue reading...

Colour-coded labels will show buyers the percentage of renewables and fossil raw materials, and fuel’s originFuel retailers in Sweden are now required to display eco-labels at pumps in what is thought to be the first initiative of its kind in the world.From today, it will be compulsory for dispensers of fluid and gas transportation fuels to be labelled with its climate intensity, renewable share and origin. Continue reading...

Around the world, architects, activists and communities are finding ways to bring wildlife into urban areasMany readers have noticed wildflowers thriving in urban areas as city councils decide to let grass grow wild. These colourful little patches may seem like window dressing in the face of vast decline, but across the world people are welcoming wildlife into cities, where more than half of us live. Here is a look at 10 of the most exciting and innovative urban biodiversity projects popping up. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including Siberian wolves, a long-tailed hummingbird and a hungry polar bear Continue reading...

Party must not back away from ensuring rapid transition to low-carbon economy, say campaignersClimate experts and campaigners have given a cautious welcome to Labour’s proposals to tackle the escalating ecological crisis but urged the party not to back away from a broader “green new deal” agenda to ensure a rapid and fair transition to a low-carbon economy.During its party conference in Brighton, Labour set out measures including an annual £28bn green investment fund, a mass retrofitting programme, a pledge to decarbonise steel and a “net zero and nature test” for every policy. Continue reading...