Dannenröder tree felling will be a catastrophe, say environmental campaignersThousands of climate activists gathered in a stretch of woodland north of Frankfurt on Sunday as a planned motorway extension through the Dannenröder forest pits the autobahn against 250-year-old oak trees.About 27 hectares (67 acres) of forest are to supposed to cleared by next February to make way for a new 3km stretch of the A49 dual carriageway. Police in the state of Hesse are preparing for months of stand-offs with protesters, who say the erosion of a healthy mixed forest makes a mockery of the German government’s ambitious climate targets. Continue reading...

The city plans to build Britain’s biggest zero-carbon housing project, boasting 600 homes in car-free cycling paradises full of fruit trees and allotments. When will the rest of the UK catch up?

Government must ‘put down a red line’ in the agriculture bill, says NFU president

Populations of mountain ringlet in Lake District face being wiped out as cooler habitats disappearThe diversity and resilience of cold-loving butterfly species is threatened by global heating which will destroy genetically unique populations, according to a study.Native mountain-dwelling butterflies such as the mountain ringlet, the bright-eyed ringlet and the dewy ringlet will have to be translocated to higher altitudes as their cooler habitat disappears to avoid extinction. Continue reading...

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s three children quiz veteran broadcaster on his passion for natureThe Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children have shared their passion for animals with Sir David Attenborough in an adorable video.Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, quizzed the 94-year-old broadcaster in a video recorded at Kensington Palace in August. Princess Charlotte revealed that she likes spiders, and Attenborough told Prince Louis that his favourite animals were monkeys. Continue reading...

Rapid industrialisation in Gujarat threatens the mangroves that kharai camels and their nomadic herders depend on

Exclusive: Number of people living with illegal pollution levels has fallen by 94% since Sadiq Khan became mayorAir pollution in London has plunged since Sadiq Khan became mayor, with a 94% reduction in the number of people living in areas with illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide. The number of schools in such areas has fallen by 97%, from 455 in 2016 to 14 in 2019.Experts described the reductions as dramatic and said they showed the air pollution crisis was not intractable. More than 9,000 people in the capital were dying early each year due to dirty air in 2015. Continue reading...

Government has nominated ‘clean hydrogen’ using gas and CCS but for many countries ‘clean’ already means without fossil fuels“Green hydrogen” made with wind and solar electricity could become the cheapest form of what the Australian government has described as a “transformative fuel” much faster than expected, analysts believe.Chinese manufacturers have reported making systems to create hydrogen with renewable energy for up to 80% less than official Australian estimates from just two years ago. Continue reading...

Planning permission granted to Cumbria project that will extract 2.7m tonnes of coal per yearPlans to open the UK’s first new deep coalmine in 30 years have been given the go-ahead by councillors in Cumbria.West Cumbria Mining (WCM) said it plans to mine under the seabed to extract around 2.7m tonnes of metallurgical coal annually, which is solely for use within industry and not for power stations. Steel and chemical factories in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire and Port Talbot are expected to burn the coal’s output, with the company arguing that the coal will replace imports and will not increase emissions because it will not be shipped over from the US. Continue reading...

Cllr Richard Robertson says the environmental impact of air travel needs to be recognised, while Matthew G Andersson thinks the most central question is whether airlines are really for-profit commercial businesses any longerYour long read on the airline industry’s collapse was really quite depressing (Inside the airline industry’s meltdown, 29 September). Yes, the airlines are suffering huge losses and many jobs have been lost, but the assumption that passenger numbers will eventually return to pre-pandemic levels would be to throw away one of the only big gains from the lockdown.Airlines pay no duty on fuel and their tickets are very cheap, but they are costing the Earth as a result. It is disingenuous to assume that biofuel will ever be available in sufficient volume or that enough trees be planted (and survive) to offset the carbon released by the air industry. There is no place in a sustainable future world for the scale of flying that had been reached prior to the pandemic. Continue reading...

Environment Agency says pollution from nine companies at worst level in five yearsWater companies in England were responsible for their worst levels of environmental pollution in five years in 2019, leading to condemnation from ministers and the Environment Agency.In its annual assessment of the nine privatised water and sewerage companies, Emma Howard Boyd, the chair of the EA, said their performance continued to be unacceptable. More investment was needed by several of the companies wich were failing to protect the environment, she said. Continue reading...

While the US closes the doors on climate migrants from abroad, it must acknowledge that the problem has already come homeIn November 2018, I traveled with a caravan of thousands of Central American migrants as they marched across Mexico towards the US border. While some were seeking refuge in the US from gang violence or political persecution, many others were looking to escape something much more subtle: climate change. The Trump administration decried these climate migrants as “invaders” and attempted to build a wall to keep them out.But today, as much of the western US burns, and the country looks on in horror as San Francisco suffocates in an orange cloud of ash, we see that the US way of life is also gravely threatened by climate change. More than 8,100 wildfires have burned over 3.9m acres in California this year. The fires have killed 30 people, destroyed more than 7,500 structures, and displaced thousands in the state. Meanwhile in Oregon, half a million people were put under an evacuation order. Continue reading...

The financial system is what’s driving the climate emergency. It needs a complete structural overhaulIt’s been a year of considerable blows to the fossil fuel industry. Thursday’s announcement that the University of Cambridge will divest its endowment fund from fossil fuel corporations is another considerable win for campaigners, who have spent many years doggedly demanding change from an institution that – despite being a global leader in scientific research and education – has been obstinate about severing its many ties to the fossil fuel industry, including significant research funding from Shell and BP.Of course, serious questions will doubtless be raised about why a full decade is needed to shift money out of direct fossil fuel investments, and until 2038 to arrive at a “net-zero portfolio”. And the absence of a commitment on cutting the university’s close research ties with fossil fuel companies is also sure to draw some ire. Continue reading...

Michael Mann, one of the world’s most eminent climate experts, says Earth’s future ‘is in the hands of American citizens’This article is published as part of Covering Climate Now, a collaboration of 400-plus news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. The Guardian is the lead partner of CCN.Michael Mann, one of the most eminent climate scientists in the world, believes averting climate catastrophe on a global scale would be “essentially impossible” if Donald Trump is re-elected. Continue reading...

The cruise ships that normally throng south-eastern waters are absent, giving researchers a unique opportunity to eavesdropSign up for monthly updates on America’s public lands Continue reading...

Woods that inspired Beatrix Potter and John Constable in danger after hot, dry spring speeds up diseaseWoods that inspired Beatrix Potter and John Constable could be lost because of a surge in a disease affecting ash, the National Trust has warned.The conservation charity said it faced its worst year on record for felling trees owing to ash dieback, in part due to one of the warmest and driest springs on record. Increased prolonged hot and dry conditions driven by the climate crisis were putting trees under stress and making them more susceptible to disease, dramatically speeding up the impact of ash dieback, the trust said. Continue reading...

Labor MP for Port Stephens alleges NSW Nationals accepted nearly $20,000 despite ban on developers donating to political partiesThe NSW Labor party has written to the state’s electoral commission asking it to investigate allegations the NSW National party accepted nearly $20,000 in breach of the ban on donations by property developers.In a letter submitted on Tuesday, the local MP for Port Stephens, Kate Washington, alleged the NSW branch of the Nationals accepted $19,350 between 2013 and 2018 from David Maurice (Maurie) Stack, the chairman of Stacks Law Firm on the mid-north coast, and Paul Stack, who runs Stacks Finance. Continue reading...

Mark Coulton says the Santos project will benefit the entire country as the PM obfuscates on the cost of the ‘gas-led recovery’The Nationals frontbencher Mark Coulton has declared the controversial Narrabri gas project is a winner for his community, despite continuing opposition from landholders, environmentalists and Indigenous traditional owners.With coal seam gas development a divisive issue in regional Australia, the National Farmers Federation last week warned the Morrison government to tread carefully with its much-vaunted “gas-led recovery” after the coronavirus pandemic. NFF affiliate NSW Farmers has voiced its opposition to the Narrabri gas project. Continue reading...

Freedom of information request shows dramatic fall in number of inspectors and 30% rise in whistleblower complaintsThe safety of US meat plant workers is at risk, workers and campaigners believe, because of a triple whammy of increased line speeds, higher turnover and fewer workers due to coronavirus.Authorities, meanwhile, are failing to keep up with the problem. A freedom of information request to the US government shows a dramatic decrease in the number of plant inspectors, while the number of whistleblower complaints has increased by 30% over the past year. Continue reading...

Documents show BP, Shell and Equinor had several meetings with government officials

Future research funding will also be scrutinised in response to climate crisisCambridge University is to divest its multibillion-pound endowment fund from fossil fuel corporations after a five-year campaign by students, academics and politicians.The vice-chancellor, Prof Stephen Toope, said that the university would divest from all direct and indirect investments in fossil fuels by 2030 and cut its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2038. Continue reading...

Efforts in the US to oversee one PFAS compound from chemical company Solvay illustrate challenges officials face

When Covid-19 hit, the islands were locked down, giving the environment time to recover and residents a chance to thinkWill Benson stands on the platform of a mint green fishing boat, under a white-hot sun, and whipsaws a fly fishing rig over azure waters as glassy as an aquarium. The water is no more than 10 feet deep. Dreadlock Holiday plays on the radio. His son Luke, six, watches.He lets the lure fly – wheeeeeeeeesh. It sails over the silhouettes of two nurse sharks, one lemon shark and to the immediate left of an elusive school of permit, sparking some interest but no bites. They roll over, silvery fins glancing at the surface. Continue reading...

Uncontrolled release of birds for shooting threatens UK’s only venomous snake, expert warnsThe adder, Britain’s only venomous snake, could become extinct across much of Britain within 12 years because of the uncontrolled release of millions of game birds, according to an expert.The warning comes at the start of the pheasant shooting season, during which 47 million non-native pheasants and 10 million partridges will be released into the countryside by estates and shoots across Britain. Continue reading...

Big is beautiful in the public vote for the brown bear piling on the most pounds before hibernation in Alaska’s Katmai national parkDeep into a tumultuous and often harrowing year, it will be a relief to many that America has now finally arrived at a cherished annual highlight: fat bear week.Related: US government issues bear advice: friends don't let friends get eaten Continue reading...

Scientists look forward to data from tags tracking captive-bred white storks at a West Sussex farmMarge, a white stork released onto a rewilded farm in West Sussex, is shedding light on the birds’ unpredictable migratory habits by flying to Morocco for her first winter and spending the summer in Spain.Scientists are using satellite tags to track white storks released onto the Knepp estate to learn what migratory habits the captive-bred birds will develop. Continue reading...

Half of all confirmed persecution reports in the past seven years occurred in protected nature areasThere were 85 confirmed incidents of the illegal shooting, trapping and poisoning of birds of prey in Britain in 2019, according to the RSPB’s annual Birdcrime report.Half of all confirmed persecution incidents in the past seven years have occurred in landscapes supposedly already “protected” for nature, such as national parks. Continue reading...

Products will have to prove they break down into harmless wax containing no microplasticsA new British standard for biodegradable plastic is being published which scientists say will cut through a jungle of classifications that leave consumers confused.Plastic claiming to be biodegradable will have to pass a test to prove it breaks down into a harmless wax which contains no microplastics or nanoplastics in order to make the grade, published by the British Standards Institute. Continue reading...

Brazilian leader vows to continue to exploit country’s natural resources in combative comments at UN biodiversity summit

The question framed the existence of a human-made climate crisis as something that is for some Americans still debatableThe long-awaited climate question in last night’s presidential debate broke a 20-year silent streak from moderators on the crisis – thrusting it into prime time but also revealing just how stuck in the past much of the US is on the issue.After more than an hour of chaos as the candidates talked over each other, the Fox News anchor Chris Wallace asked Donald Trump: “What do you believe about the science of climate change and what will you do in the next four years to confront it?” Continue reading...

Paul Stein QC is ‘deeply concerned’ the IPC has been diminished by recent changes introduced by the government

Consumers can get vouchers to install insulation, double glazing, smart controls and moreHomeowners in England can now apply for vouchers worth between £5,000 and £10,000 to make their homes more energy efficient under the government’s Green Homes Grant scheme.From Wednesday, homeowners can apply for a government grant to fund energy efficient improvements. Continue reading...

UK retailer worked with dairy farms to end use of destructive cattle feed, but critics say move could ‘shift problem elsewhere’UK retailer Marks & Spencer has eliminated soya from the production of all its milk as part of its commitment to end deforestation in its supply chain.The high street chain says it has worked with the 44 British farmers producing M&S RSPCA Assured milk to replace soya feed with alternatives such as rapeseed oil and sugar beet – avoiding the use of nearly 4,000 tonnes of soya each year. The retailer sells an estimated 160m pints of milk in its UK stores and through Ocado annually. Continue reading...

Anglo-Dutch oil firm expects to save up to $2.5bn a year through restructuring plan

Record-breaking wildfires and hurricanes were just the most high-profile effects of global heating – and this is only the startIn a flurry of recent fires and storms, the climate crisis has left unmistakable wounds on America. Even in a tumultuous year not short of anguish elsewhere, scientists warn the climate-fueled disasters of 2020’s summer point to major shifts that will upend Americans’ lives like no other threat.The American west has experienced its biggest year of fire on record, with blazes the collective size of Connecticut roaring across a tinderbox-dry landscape, consuming thousands of buildings, claiming several dozen lives and turning the Bay Area’s sky an eerie orange. Continue reading...

Proposal was backed by federal and state governments, but the public response has been overwhelmingly against it due to environmental concernsA controversial proposal for a coal seam gas development at Narrabri, in northern New South Wales, has won final approval from state authorities subject to what they described as stringent conditions.The state’s independent planning commission announced on Wednesday a “phased approval” under which the controversial $3.6bn project proposed by the oil and gas company Santos must meet specific requirements at each stage of development before it can proceed. Continue reading...

Race against time to save plants and fungi that underpin life on Earth, global data showsTwo in five of the world’s plant species are at risk of extinction as a result of the destruction of the natural world, according to an international report.Plants and fungi underpin life on Earth, but the scientists said they were now in a race against time to find and identify species before they were lost. Continue reading...

Research shows Zambian species with surgically removed eyes change nest-building habits but other behaviours remain intactNear-blind, underground-burrowing, African Ansell’s mole-rats can sense magnetic fields with their eyes, a study has found.Native to Zambia, the animals have eyes that span just 1.5mm in diameter, live in elaborate underground tunnel systems of up to 1.7 miles (2.8km) long and feed on plant tubers and roots. Continue reading...

Expert believes this small, dynamic butterfly is breeding here but spending winter in warmer climesShould Britain be celebrating its 60th native butterfly species? For years, the long-tailed blue was considered a Mediterranean butterfly but global heating has enabled this rare migrant to become a regular one. Big influxes occurred in 2013, 2015, 2019 and again this year. This small, dynamic butterfly flies over the Channel in early August and lays eggs on everlasting pea. British-born migrants emerge in September, October and even November.“I’ve seen long-tailed blues chasing clouded yellows on the South Downs,” says butterfly expert Neil Hulme. “That’s what you expect to see from your sunbed in the Canary Islands and we’re getting it in Britain.” This year’s hotspot is Whitehawk Hill in Brighton; the species was first discovered nearby in 1859 and named “the Brighton Argus”. Continue reading...

The NSW independent planning commission is due to hand down a decision on the proposed gas development at Narrabri. Here’s what is at playThe New South Wales independent planning commission is due to make a decision on a proposed new gas development at Narrabri, in northern NSW, on Wednesday. Here is what is at play. Continue reading...

The ‘five for animals’ bill was tabled by the country’s rightwing coalition and seeks to ban fur farming within a yearPoland’s fur farms could be in their final year in operation if a bill banning production of fur clears legal hurdles next month. And France looks set to follow suit.The Polish bill, dubbed “five for animals” (because it has five main objectives, including the ban) was tabled in early September, much to the dismay of fur farmers. The bill was announced as undercover footage from the largest fur farm in Poland was released, which campaigners said appeared to show “cannibalism, aggression, self-aggression, open wounds and paralysis of minks’ limbs”. Continue reading...

Researchers have drawn up a blueprint of areas that need additional conservation to stem biodiversity and climate crisesWorld leaders are preparing to join a key summit on biodiversity being hosted in New York amid mounting evidence that governments are failing to halt the unprecedented loss of species around the world.Earlier this month, a UN report revealed that the international community had failed to fully achieve any of the 20 biodiversity targets agreed in 2010. Continue reading...

Covid has hit the industry hard, but the shift to renewables is inevitable. We need government-funded retraining

Thames Water says design is more likely to leak as Waterwise warns 400m litres are being lost from UK toilets a dayToilets specially designed to save water are wasting more than they conserve, the UK’s largest water firm has warned.Campaigners have warned for years that dual-flush toilets, introduced as more efficient alternatives that were expected to use less than half the amount of water per flush, are more prone to leaks. Continue reading...

Everything you need to know about who will be there, who’s staying away and what the hot topics will be at Wednesday’s virtual event in New York

Debate over how to protect landmark without limiting access comes as Philadelphia parks face $12.5m funding cutThis summer, Devil’s Pool – a basin where the Wissahickon and Cresheim creeks meet in Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Valley park – drew thousands of daily visitors from out of state, leaving mountains of trash and fresh graffiti on rocks and trees. The attention has concerned and frustrated locals, and brought back an unpopular proposal for deterring swimmers: filling the pool with rocks.Many residents say the real issue is not any new influx of people – but how the cash-strapped city doesn’t have enough park rangers. Continue reading...

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says Pembroke Resources can now hire the 500 workers needed to build the Olive Downs mineThe Queensland government has given final approval to a $1bn coalmine in the state’s Galilee Basin.Pembroke Resources has been granted mining leases for its 25,000-hectare Olive Downs coking coal project by the state government following federal environmental approval in May. Continue reading...

The NSW independent planning commission says Lock the Gate’s evidence arrived too late to meet its strict approval timeframeEvidence suggesting the proposed Narrabri coal seam gas development could have a greater impact on groundwater than previously believed has not been considered by authorities due to a strict approval timeframe imposed by the New South Wales government, activists say.The state’s independent planning commission is due to announce on Wednesday its decision on the controversial gas project in northern NSW following a 16-week assessment period in which opponents have raised concerns about implied political pressure on the commission to approve the development. Continue reading...

Atlassian billionaire tells Q+A panel China’s move to become carbon neutral by 2060 spells doom for Australia’s coal and gas productionAustralia’s fossil fuel industry will collapse within 20 years as China abandons coal imports and pledges to become carbon neutral before 2060, businessman Mike Cannon-Brookes has warned.On a climate-focused episode of Q+A, the Atlassian cofounder also criticised the government’s promised “gas-led recovery” and said it was “laughable” Australia did not have a 2050 emissions target. Continue reading...