Environment | The Guardian

Bike-friendly measures introduced during lockdown have led rightwing populists to revive much-disproved mythsIf you’re a fan of the historical notion that progress doesn’t move as a straight, upward line but tends to be a bit more wiggly, then there was an article about cycling in this week’s Mail on Sunday that very much proved the point.Anti-cyclist pieces in the Mail are not exactly uncommon, but this one was notable because its key argument was that cyclists should “pay road tax”. Continue reading...

Joe Biden has vowed to return US to Paris agreement and result brightens prospects for Cop26Preparations for the next vital UN summit on the climate – one of the last chances to set the world on track to meet the Paris agreement – have been given a boost by the election of Joe Biden as president.The election caps a remarkable few weeks on international climate action, which have seen China, the EU, Japan and others commit to long-term targets on greenhouse gas emissions to fulfil the Paris climate agreement. Continue reading...

Experts accuse government of using EVs as ‘a scapegoat for falling fuel excise taxes’South Australia’s controversial new electric vehicle charge has been labelled “a big tax on not polluting” by policy analysts and the EV industry.It comes as MG launches the lowest price electric vehicle on the market in Australia yet – a $40,000 SUV crossover – that is about $10,000 cheaper than its nearest rival, the Nissan Leaf. Continue reading...

The shadow attorney general says his factional colleague represents only a ‘handful of views’ in the Labor partyMark Dreyfus has declared the former shadow resources minister Joel Fitzgibbon represents only a “handful of views” in the Labor party and insists Labor cannot opt out of taking action on climate change because “change is coming, and we can either drive the change, or … have it imposed on us”.The Victorian rightwinger and shadow attorney general blasted his factional colleague on the ABC on Wednesday after Fitzgibbon confirmed on Tuesday he would go to the backbench after a significant blow up in shadow cabinet on Monday night. Continue reading...

Exclusive: ‘Later development plan’ for Carmichael mine says Adani’s long-term goal is to ramp up production to 55m tonnes per year

Washington state scientists found about 500 live specimens in various stages of development inside the basketball-sized nestWhen scientists in Washington state destroyed the first nest of so-called murder hornets found in the US, they discovered about 500 live specimens in various stages of development, officials said Tuesday.Among them were nearly 200 queens that had the potential to start their own nests, said Sven-Erik Spichiger, an entomologist leading the fight to kill the hornets. Continue reading...

In the UK, we face a long, cold winter without these travellers and I cannot wait for their returnDuring the summer, as swallows hawk for insects high over our Somerset home, they are a daily embodiment of hope and joy. When they disappear, for the colder, darker half of the year, they leave a corresponding gap in our hearts.We often say that swallows fly south for the winter. Yet, although they do travel 6,000 miles to South Africa, it is only our winter they miss – when they arrive, they enjoy a second spring and summer. Continue reading...

Prime minister tweets that US and UK share priorities on climate crisis and CovidBoris Johnson has spoken to Joe Biden to congratulate him on his victory over Donald Trump and allay fears Brexit could damage the Northern Ireland peace process, as world leaders lined up to speak to the US president-elect.Johnson was the second world leader to reveal he had spoken to Biden, after the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, did so on Monday. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, French president, Emmanuel Macron, and Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said they had also received a call on Tuesday. Continue reading...

At least 40 parrots returned to a remote breeding site in Tasmania so far this year following intense efforts to boost numbersScientists are cautiously celebrating the best year in a decade for what may be the world’s most critically endangered parrot after at least 40 birds returned to a breeding site in remote Tasmania.Orange-bellied parrot numbers have fallen so sharply in recent years that scientists consider it at risk of extinction within five years. Just 23 birds arrived at the species’ breeding site at Melaleuca, deep in the Tasmanian world heritage wilderness area, last spring. Continue reading...

Research shows birds also flock to waste centres on weekdays when rubbish is deliveredSuper-smart gulls flock to school playgrounds shortly before break times in order to hoover up the scraps, a study has shown. The birds also target rubbish dumps, but mainly on weekdays when fresh waste is being delivered.Having a snack snatched from your hand by a greedy gull is already a common, if unwelcome, occurrence. But the latest research shows the birds are even smarter than thought: they know where and when their meals are being served. Continue reading...

Tally of culled animals 2.5 million and rising, as confusion mounts over bid to stamp out Covid variant among animalsDenmark’s prime minister has admitted the massive mink cull she authorised last week was illegal, as opposition parties called for the resignation of the agriculture minister who has been overseeing the policy.Mette Frederiksen announced last week that all the country’s mink would have to be culled due to fears that a Covid-19 mutation moving from mink to humans could jeopardise future vaccines. Continue reading...

Oil company aims to create clean-burning gas using wind power at German refinery

The opposition leader’s comments follow Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation from the frontbench in a dispute about climate policyThe federal Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has declined to say whether Labor will articulate a medium-term emissions reduction target before the next federal election.Albanese’s sidestep followed Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation from the Labor frontbench on Tuesday after a lengthy internal dispute about climate policy that culminated in a blow-up at shadow cabinet on Monday night. Continue reading...

Three tourists boiled dinner in national park, leading to fines, a ban and some apt punsWhen it comes to unthinking human behavior in America’s premier nature preserve, the retired Yellowstone historian Lee Whittlesey can reel off the examples.There is the tourist who took a selfie in front of a bison only to be tossed in the air by it. There is the drone that crashed into bubbling park waters. And then there’s the latest story, which has driven him both to vexation and to punning. Continue reading...

Spending on green infrastructure likely under Biden, but any hopes for climate requirements for businesses much farther offClimate advocates rejoicing at Joe Biden’s presidential victory are also quietly absorbing the blow of Republicans possibly keeping control of the US Senate – which would kneecap significant efforts to fight globe-heating pollution.If Joe Biden is president and Congress is still divided, there will probably still be large-scale spending on green infrastructure, like renewable power, electric vehicles and transit. But any hopes for climate requirements for businesses, like a clean energy standard, would feel much farther off. Continue reading...

Water biodiversity is on the brink, with dire consequences for the region known for the zebra and wildebeest migration, says WWFFish are being driven to extinction in the Mara River basin, putting the livelihoods of more than a million people in Kenya and Tanzania in jeopardy, according to WWF.A report by the wildlife NGO details how farming, deforestation, mining, illegal fishing and invasive species could sound a death knell for the transboundary river. Continue reading...

Former PM says Murdoch media has become ‘pure propaganda’ and is doing enormous damage to the world’s ability to respond to climate changeMalcolm Turnbull says News Corp has become an organisation for “pure propaganda” that has done enormous damage through its promotion of climate change denial.In a heated exchange on Monday night’s Q+A, the former prime minister and the Australian’s editor-at-large, Paul Kelly, clashed over the media organisation’s treatment of climate science. Continue reading...

Report warns of ‘yawning gap’ between government rhetoric on environment and reality of years of underfundingThe government’s conservation watchdog has been “cut to the bone”, with staff underpaid, undervalued and overworked and feeling unable to protect England’s most valuable wildlife sites, according to a new report and testimony from workers.Natural England, which is sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), has a range of responsibilities, including monitoring and protecting the country’s most valuable habitats such as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) and national nature reserves (NNRs). It also works with farmers to protect biodiversity and advises the government on environmental policy, planning and licensing. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Gap between actions and beliefs threatens green recovery from pandemic

Frustrated by postponement of UN talks, young people have organised their own virtual conferenceLike many young climate activists around the world, 14-year-old Lavinia Iovino was exasperated when Cop26, the annual UN climate summit due to take place in Glasgow in November, was postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.“I was very disappointed because it showed that political leaders think we can give ourselves a year more, when we just can’t do that; the climate crisis is happening right now,” she said. Continue reading...

International Energy Agency expects green electricity to end coal’s 50-year reign by 2025

Small bird with unusually large genitals receives a boost as competition is also rocked by vote-rigging rowThe competition to elect New Zealand’s bird of the year has intensified with a vote-rigging scandal and an adult toy store endorsing a small, polyamorous bird with unusually large genitals.The annual competition, which began 15 years ago to draw attention to native birds, many of which are endangered, has grown into a national obsession. Different types of birds have their own campaign managers and the competition is so fierce that this year has seen record early voting – with 40,000 ballots cast so far and five days still remaining Continue reading...

MP says he remains supportive of Anthony Albanese’s leadership, but he is open to throwing his hat in the ring if ‘drafted’ by colleagues• Follow the latest developments liveJoel Fitzgibbon has made good his threat of stepping down from the shadow cabinet after a protracted internal dispute over climate policy, declaring he regrets not running for the party leadership in 2019.Fitzgibbon’s announcement on Tuesday morning followed a significant argument in shadow cabinet on Monday night, which was preceded by a boilover in the left caucus about the shadow resources minister’s constant frontrunning of the climate policy debate. Continue reading...

Climate policy experts say Australia needs to set a more ambitious 2030 climate commitment to reach a carbon neutral economyAustralia could become a carbon neutral economy by 2050 thanks to an abundance of cheap solar and wind energy but will need a more ambitious 2030 climate target to get there, according to a report from international climate policy experts.A path to net zero emissions is technically and economically feasible for Australia, the report says, and would align the country with the Paris climate agreement it signed in 2016. Continue reading...

Native millet found to be easy to grow, harvest and turn into flour and ‘significantly more nutritious’ than wheatNative grasses could be grown for mass consumption, a one-year feasibility study has found, after researchers tested 15 different species “from paddock to plate” in north-west New South Wales.Native millet, or panicum, turned out to be the best all-rounder: easy to grow and harvest, easy to turn into flour and “significantly more nutritious” than wheat, lead researcher Dr Angela Pattison from the University of Sydney said. Native millet is also gluten free, she added. Continue reading...

Gladys Berejiklian’s government says it will support 12 gigawatts of wind and solar and 2 gigawatts of energy storageMore renewable energy will be built in New South Wales than in Victoria and Queensland combined after the Berejiklian government committed to support 12 gigawatts of wind and solar and 2 gigawatts of energy storage, the state’s energy minister says.Matt Kean said a 20-year NSW electricity infrastructure roadmap released on Monday would lower the cost of electricity, create jobs in regional areas and avoid the state having to rush to build new generation as ageing coal plants closed in the years ahead. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak says disclosures will be mandatory within five years as part of net-zero plansLarge companies and financial institutions in the UK will have to come clean about their exposure to climate risks within five years under the terms of a tougher regime announced by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak.In an attempt to demonstrate the government’s commitment to tackling global heating, Sunak said the UK would go further than an international taskforce had recommended and make disclosure by large businesses mandatory. Continue reading...

Animals have ventured back into areas largely emptied of people by Boko Haram insurgencyA herd of hundreds of elephants that have returned to north-east Nigeria are under threat from jihadist groups and increasingly in conflict with thousands of refugees whose crops they have trampled weeks before harvest.More than 250 elephants ventured last month from Chad and Cameroon into Kala-Balge, a district in Nigeria’s Borno state. Continue reading...

Former senior officers of renewable energy agencies say government’s bill would undermine Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s independenceFormer leaders of Australia’s renewable energy agencies have called on MPs to reject the Morrison government’s changes to the publicly owned green bank that would explicitly allow it to fund fossil fuel projects.Under the changes, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) would take responsibility for a long-promised $1bn “grid reliability fund” to underwrite new electricity generation, including fossil fuel power plants that run on gas. Continue reading...

Researchers say trend could lead to supply problems and hinder efforts to promote healthy eatingThe UK is increasingly reliant on fruit and vegetables imported from countries most vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis, which could lead to supply problems, experts say.A study published in Nature Food on Monday found that the proportion of fruit and vegetables supplies in the UK that was grown domestically dropped from 42% in 1987 to 22% in 2013. At the same time, the proportion imported from “climate-vulnerable” countries – those worst hit by climate breakdown – increased from 20% to 32%. Continue reading...

Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty to assaulting a Guardian reporter, has previously tried to strip environmental protectionsAdmirers of national parks and world-class trout streams in the state of Montana have expressed alarm over the election of a new Republican governor and his environmental plans.The governor, former software developer Greg Gianforte, has in the past sought to strip protections from 700,000 acres of wilderness, and his conservative “Montana Comeback Plan” election platform promises to “streamline” permitting processes to increase logging, coalmining, and oil and gas production. Continue reading...

In wake of Covid, leading figures call for bold green measures to boost economyWorld leaders are running out of time to forge a green recovery from the Covid-19 crisis, with only a year to go before a crunch UN summit that will decide the future of the global climate, leading experts have warned.Progress on a green recovery, which would reduce emissions while repairing the damage from the pandemic, has been hampered by the need for an emergency rescue of stricken economies around the world and the resurgence of the coronavirus in Europe, the US and some other countries. Continue reading...

The climate won’t wait for us to sort out coronavirus, but rich people are still destroying it

Liberal MP says there is ‘real concern’ if the Coalition signed up for the net zero commitment as the PM continues to field questions on climate policyScott Morrison says Australia would like to achieve a net zero emissions reduction ambition “as quickly as possible” – but one of his own backbenchers has declared signing up to net zero would be an act of “political suicide”.The Australian prime minister has faced sustained questions about the government’s climate commitments since Joe Biden was projected as the winner of the American presidential election at the weekend. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Australian Conservation Foundation also finds growing delays in processing requests by departments and agenciesAustralia’s freedom of information system is increasingly hiding documents about climate and other environmental issues from the public, a trend driven by skyrocketing refusal rates, widespread delays and rising costs, an audit has found.The audit, conducted by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), examined five years of FOI requests for environment-related documents across federal and state departments and agencies. Continue reading...

Most Britons see their car as more important now and would not choose greener alternative

Physicist has spent the past two years as the CSIRO’s chief scientistCathy Foley has been appointed Australia’s next chief scientist, taking over from Alan Finkel when his five-year tenure ends in December.The physicist, who has spent the past two years as the CSIRO’s chief scientist, is the second woman appointed to the role. She has been at the national science agency for 36 years. Continue reading...

Roadmap could increase share of renewable energy in state from 16% today to more than 60% by 2030The New South Wales government is promising a $32bn private investment boom in renewable energy in regional areas under a plan to transform the state’s electricity infrastructure.The state Coalition says an electricity infrastructure roadmap would support 12 gigawatts of renewable energy and 2 gigawatts of energy storage, with a focus on pumped hydro, over the next decade. Continue reading...

Ed Miliband wants Britain’s ‘green recovery’ plan brought forward ahead of Cop26Labour is urging the government to seize on Joe Biden’s presidency to redouble Britain’s efforts to tackle the climate crisis by bringing forward a multibillion pound “green recovery” plan in the run-up to next year’s Cop26 summit in Glasgow.“You can’t overstate the impact a Biden presidency will have on the climate issue,” the shadow business secretary, Ed Miliband, told the Guardian. “There are so many issues on which this is going to make such a big difference. Internationally, climate is top of the list. Continue reading...

Biden’s presidency could help reduce global heating by about 0.1C if plans fulfilled, say expertsThe election of Joe Biden as president of the US could reduce global heating by about 0.1C, bringing the goals of the Paris agreement “within striking distance”, if his plans are fulfilled, according to a detailed analysis.Biden’s policy of a target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and plans for a $1.7tn investment in a green recovery from the Covid crisis, would reduce US emissions in the next 30 years by about 75 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide or its equivalents. Calculations by the Climate Action Tracker show that this reduction would be enough to avoid a temperature rise of about 0.1C by 2100. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson pledged to put environment at centre of post-Covid strategy, but report says funding needed is so far badly lackingBoris Johnson’s government is investing only 12% of the funds needed to tackle the climate emergency and the growing threat to nature, according to a new report that will raise fresh international concerns about the UK’s commitment to the green agenda.The study – released before an expected major speech on the environment by Johnson – says ministers need to commit £33bn each year of this parliament to green causes. So far only £4bn a year has been pledged. Continue reading...

Group of leading vets claim research, not published for two years, shows the mammals would have been unlikely to infect cattleA group of eminent vets claim that the rationale for expanding the badger cull has been undermined by a pair of studies commissioned by the government that ministers have been sitting on for two years.The government says new cull zones should be introduced where there is evidence that badgers are an important factor in spreading bovine TB to cattle, a potentially ruinous scenario for farmers. Continue reading...

Experts say they believe the US president-elect will exert significant pressure on Australia to lift its climate commitments

Transmitter attached to dorsal fin of shark with Twitter following had not sent a definitive message for a year and a halfKatharine, a 14ft-plus great white shark with a Twitter following, appeared again off the US east coast this week. A transmitter attached to her dorsal fin had not sent out a definitive message for a year and a half.The transmitter that was attached off Cape Cod in August 2013 is roughly half the size of an iPhone and is meant to ping whenever the shark breaks the ocean surface. Continue reading...

Action comes after group postponed mass protest due to second England lockdownA teenage Extinction Rebellion protester has climbed a crane in Norwich after the movement postponed a mass demonstration due to the second national lockdown.Alex Sidney, who scaled the crane in Duke Street early on Saturday morning while carrying a sleeping bag and supplies, has vowed to stay put until he has “mild hypothermia”. Continue reading...

Campaigners say visit was ‘media propaganda’ as officials failed to stop at any devastated rainforest areasEnvironmentalists have criticised a three-day tour of the Amazon that the Brazilian government staged for foreign ambassadors as a “sham” and “media propaganda” after it failed to stop at any environmentally devastated areas.The tour ended on Friday and focused on better-protected areas of the northern Amazon. “The government prepared an itinerary that does not show the reality of the Amazon – the abandonment of indigenous peoples, the land grabbing, the illegal mining and the uncontrolled deforestation. It is a sham,” said Marcio Astrini, executive director of the Climate Observatory, an umbrella group of environmental NGOs. Continue reading...

About 40 Extinction Rebellion protesters moved on by police from state Liberal council in Hobart

Rescuers reach remote mountain village in Guatemala where people were buried in their homes

Australian Medical Association, Unilever and Atlassian among groups supporting Zali Steggall’s bill in newspaper adsThe independent MP Zali Steggall has called on Australia’s chief scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, to issue a clear opinion on whether the country should commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.Steggall is due to present to parliament on Monday long-promised climate change legislation that would include a target of net zero by 2050 that could be ratcheted up in line with changing scientific evidence. Continue reading...

The best of the week’s wildlife pictures from around the world, including walruses in Russia and a great fox-spider