The external door-to-door agents are accused of using fake accents to transfer customers to new contractsAn Australian energy company has been fined $2.5m after two external door-to-door sales agents allegedly used false names and made-up accents to switch customers to new contracts without their consent.The Victorian essential services commission says it slapped Simply Energy with the record fine because the “rogue” agents’ alleged conduct “struck at the heart” of integrity in energy retailing. Continue reading...

Facing a reckoning over their contribution to the climate emergency, companies are coming out with a record number of pledgesFor climate campaigners, 26 May seemed like the start of a long-awaited reckoning for oil and gas companies.Over a single 24-hour period, a Dutch court ordered Shell to dramatically cut emissions, shareholders voted to force Chevron to reduce emissions from the products it sells, and a tiny activist investment firm secured three positions on ExxonMobil’s 12-member board for candidates committed to climate action. Continue reading...

A new Guardian series explores companies’ accountability for the climate emergency and their efforts to tackle itEvery day the world fails to adequately address the climate emergency, the timeframe needed to drastically cut emissions shrinks and the likelihood of increasingly devastating climate impacts grows. No solution to this crisis will be possible without a wholesale change in the way corporations do business.Related: Green, empty promises? The truth behind corporate climate pledges Continue reading...

A healthy ocean is vital for a healthy planet, and healthy coral reefs lie at the heart of ocean biodiversityWe are fast approaching unstoppable climate change. If we don’t take drastic action to cut our global greenhouse gas emissions at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this November, our children and grandchildren will pay dearly for this failure.Already, average surface temperatures globally have risen 1.1C above the preindustrial levels of the late 1800s and limiting global warming to 1.5C is becoming increasingly challenging. Continue reading...

Threatened species scientific committee recommends that the birds be listed as endangered

Secretive tribunals allow fossil fuel companies to sue governments for passing laws to protect environmentItaly could be forced to pay millions of pounds in damages to a UK oil company after banning new drilling near its coast.The case has sparked outrage at the secretive international tribunals at which fossil fuel companies can sue governments for passing laws to protect the environment – amid fears that such cases are slowing down action on the climate crisis. It is also fuelling concern that the UK is particularly exposed to the risk of oil firms suing to prevent green policies, potentially hampering climate action. Continue reading...

The fire that devastated Lytton is still burning – and First Nation residents say the lack of help from the British Columbia government has been ‘sickening’Vince Abbott had an afternoon of fishing planned – he was going angling for spring salmon in the nearby river – when he heard shouts of panic and felt a searing heat.After three punishing days of record-breaking temperatures in the Canadian village of Lytton earlier this month, Abbott was accustomed to the discomfort of the dry, sometimes overpowering, summer heat. But this felt different. Continue reading...

A growing Latino population is slowly shifting the demographics of US dairyland – and keeping the industry going

Oxford Botanic Garden is 400 years old, but the climate emergency is forcing a review of what seeds it sows for the futureIt has survived for 400 years – the oldest of Britain’s botanical gardens, a haven of medicinal plants and ancient trees enjoyed through the centuries by famous names such as JRR Tolkien and Lewis Carroll. Yet after the Oxford Botanic Garden’s anniversary today things may look substantially different in future, due to the impact of the climate crisis on British weather.“We have to consider very carefully what we plant for the future,” said Prof Simon Hiscock, the garden’s director. “Particularly so with trees, because you have to think of not just a few years but in some cases hundreds of years ahead. Continue reading...

As temperatures rise, a new book delves into the environmental toll of America’s favorite way to cool offThe widespread reliance on air conditioning in the US is explored in Eric Dean Wilson’s book After Cooling: on Freon, Global Warming, and the Terrible Cost of Comfort. The book explores how air conditioning has become one of the most effective ways to cool off – and explains how harmful chemicals that make our lives comfortable also contribute to the climate crisis.The modern refrigerant – gas in fridges, freezers and air conditioners – was first introduced in 1930s in the form of a chemical called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), better known as Freon. This chemical escaped into the air over time, ripping a hole in the ozone layer. In 1987, a global agreement was reached to ban the production of CFCs – although every year an ozone hole reappears over Antarctica in October. Continue reading...

A controversial MIT study from 1972 forecast the collapse of civilization – and Gaya Herrington is here to deliver the bad newsAt a UN sustainability meeting several years ago, an economic policy officer came up to Gaya Herrington and introduced himself. Taking her name for a riff on James Lovelock’s earth-as-an-organism Gaia hypothesis, he remarked: “Gaya – that’s not a name, it’s responsibility.”Herrington, a Dutch sustainability researcher and adviser to the Club of Rome, a Swiss thinktank, has made headlines in recent days after she authored a report that appeared to show a controversial 1970s study predicting the collapse of civilization was – apparently – right on time. Continue reading...

Orca cared for by hundreds of volunteers and experts in bitter cold after becoming separated from its pod two weeks agoAn orphaned baby orca that captured the hearts of people across New Zealand has been farewelled at a special ceremony and taken away for burial, ending a desperate mission to reunite it with its pod.The young calf, named Toa – which means brave or strong in Māori – was thought to be between two and six months old, and became stranded on rocks north of Wellington two weeks ago with minor injuries. Continue reading...

Death toll from heavy monsoon rains on western coast climbs to 115, with nearly 90,000 people evacuatedRescuers in India combed through mud and debris on Saturday in a desperate search for survivors as the death toll from heavy monsoon rains climbed to 115, with nearly 90,000 people evacuated.Torrential downpours have lashed India’s western coast in recent days, leaving dozens missing near the financial capital of Mumbai and causing the worst floods in decades in the resort state of Goa. Continue reading...

Fishermen say their concerns, from safety issues to how offshore wind will alter the ocean environment, aren’t being meaningfully considered by regulatorsFor the past nine years, Tom Dameron has managed government relations for Surfside Foods, a New Jersey-based shellfish company. If you asked him five years ago what his biggest challenge was at work, the lifelong fisherman would have said negotiating annual harvest quotas for surf and quahog clams.Today, he’d tell you it is surviving the arrival of the offshore wind industry, which is slated to install hundreds of turbines atop prime fishing grounds over the next decade. Continue reading...

Former detective says he was asked to inform on fellow Extinction Rebellion campaignersA former police officer who is now a prominent climate crisis campaigner has accused the Metropolitan police of attempting to recruit him to spy on Extinction Rebellion.Former detective sergeant Paul Stephens, who joined XR after he retired from the London force in 2018, claims he was approached by an officer he knew near Parliament Square during the group’s campaign of non-violent mass civil disobedience in London in October 2019. Continue reading...

The number of beehives in Britain’s cities is growing rapidly, putting pressure on native bees ‘that really need our help’, say scientists and experienced beekeepers“Dinosaurs, robots and honeybees. I don’t know why, but everyone is fascinated,” says Richard Glassborow, chair of the London Beekeepers’ Association (LBKA). When it comes to beekeeping, what was once a niche hobby has flourished, especially in Britain’s cities.But there is growing concern from scientists and experienced beekeepers that the vast numbers of honeybees, combined with a lack of pollinator-friendly spaces, could be jeopardising the health and even survival of some of about 6,000 wild pollinators across the UK. Last year, Kew Gardens’ State of the World’s Plant and Fungi report warned: “Campaigns encouraging people to save bees have resulted in an unsustainable proliferation in urban beekeeping. This approach only saves one species of bee, the honeybee, with no regard for how honeybees interact with other, native species.” Continue reading...

The shrinking Salton Sea was once a tourist destination. Now it’s home to dangerous algal blooms, endless dust and noxious airJust to be safe, Noemí Vázquez keeps inhalers in almost every room of her house. She stashes them in her kitchen cupboard, a couple in her purse, one in the bathroom, and, of course, by her bedside.And then there’s the large, black Puma knapsack where she keeps her nebulizer, several inhalers, and the montelukast pills she takes to treat her wheezing. Her four-year-old granddaughter has her own asthma kit – a neon pink and purple Trolls-themed lunch box that holds a small, child-sized nebulizer and a few inhalers. “She’s smart! She knows: this is her bag,” Vázquez said. Continue reading...

UN human rights experts decry arrests and evictions of ethnic Karen from Kaeng Krachan national parkUN human rights experts have urged Unesco not to grant World Heritage Site status to a national park in Thailand, where they said Indigenous people are being arrested and evicted from their traditional lands.The UN experts said in a statement: “This is an important precedent-setting case, and may influence policies on how Indigenous peoples’ rights are respected in protected areas across Asia. Continue reading...

Unesco says ‘the facts are the facts and the science is the science’ after its recommendation is ignoredThe Great Barrier Reef will not be placed on a list of world heritage sites “in danger” after a global lobbying effort from Australia against the proposed listing.The 21-country World Heritage Committee on Friday ignored a scientific assessment from the UN’s science and culture organisation, Unesco, that the reef was clearly in danger from climate change and so should be placed on the list. Continue reading...

Allegations grow against online giant as new footage appears to show good food and electronic equipment marked as waste at a depot in ScotlandCharities have written to the prime minister calling for a new anti-waste, or “Amazon law”, to be introduced in the UK as the online retailer was forced to deny new allegations that it destroys in-date groceries – as well as household goods such as laptops and TVs.Footage and photographs of Amazon’s Dunfermline depot in Fife, taken by one of its workers, appear to show boxes of groceries, including crisps, tinned food and soft drinks, being earmarked as waste. They included products with intact packaging that had not passed their best-before date, according to the video recordings obtained by ITV News and the Times newspaper. Continue reading...

Greek capital is first in Europe to create role, which will involve finding new ways to cool the cityAthens has appointed a chief heat officer to protect people from soaring temperatures and try to find ways to adapt the city to the heatwaves and extreme weather that are striking the capital more frequently as the result of the climate emergency.The appointment, made on Friday by the mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakoyannis, is the first in Europe and believed to be only the second in the world, after Miami-Dade county in Florida appointed a chief heat officer earlier this year. Continue reading...

• California official: ‘Water stealing has never been more severe’• Water taken from hydrants, homes, rivers and wellsExtreme and prolonged drought in the American west is prompting water thieves to tap into other people’s scarce supplies.More than 12bn gallons of water have been stolen in California in the past eight years, according to state officials, but the issue has been further exacerbated by the ongoing drought and recent searing early summer heatwaves. Continue reading...

Torrential rains cause landslides as military personnel assist with rescue operations in coastal regionsAt least 112 people have died in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, authorities have said, after torrential monsoon rains caused landslides and flooded low-lying areas, cutting off hundreds of villages.Parts of India’s west coast received up to 594mm (23in) of rainfall over 24 hours, forcing authorities to evacuate people from vulnerable areas as they released water from dams that were threatening to overflow. Continue reading...

Researchers suggest net increase would mostly occur in renewables sector, with decline in fossil fuelsIf some politicians are to be believed, taking sweeping action to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement would be calamitous for jobs in the energy sector. But a study suggests that honouring the global climate target would, in fact, increase net jobs by about 8 million by 2050.The study – in which researchers created a global dataset of the footprint of energy jobs in 50 countries including major fossil fuel-producing economies – found that currently an estimated 18 million people work in the energy industries, which is likely to increase to 26 million if climate targets are met. Continue reading...

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a bear cub, a released howler seal and hot dogs Continue reading...

Competition watchdog investigates dominance of one provider across motorway service stationsThe UK’s competition authority has called for the government to intervene in the electric car charger market to prevent “charging deserts” and increase availability in locations outside London, which remain underserved.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also said it had opened an investigation into the dominance of one provider, Electric Highway, in the fast-charging network at motorway service stations. Continue reading...

Bootleg fire is generating enough energy and extreme heat that ‘it’s changing the weather’, says expertIn southern Oregon, the Bootleg fire has now burned a swath of land larger than the city of Los Angeles. It has forced at least 2,000 residents from their homes and burned 160 houses and buildings. And it’s not alone – there are more than 80 fires burning across the United States.Some of these fires are now so intense and large they can create their own weather systems, including fire tornadoes, clouds and other weird phenomena – including smoky haze that has reached New York City, 3,000 miles from where the fires started. New York City now has some of the world’s worst air quality, prompting state officials to issue an alert for residents with underlying health conditions, such as asthma, to avoid the outdoors. Continue reading...

With 100 days to go to crucial UN crisis summit in Glasgow, PM is accused of lack of leadershipProtesters will fill London’s Parliament Square on Friday morning, calling on the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to make the climate crisis his top priority, as the UK prepares to host UN talks that will determine whether the world tips into environmental catastrophe this decade.Giant alarm clocks will show time running out, while 100 protesters chant that Johnson and his chancellor, Rishi Sunak, are “missing in action” on the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Greenpeace threatens to take government to court as approval risk undermining climate targetsThe government faces the threat of legal action over plans to allow exploration at the Cambo oilfield near Shetland after promising to put an end to new oil exploration licences that do not align with the UK’s climate goals.Greenpeace has threatened to take the government to court over the decision, which has triggered an outcry from climate experts and green campaigners in Scotland and across the UK in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Coal plants and nuclear reactors shut down while energy demand expected to rise after Covid restrictionsGreat Britain faces its greatest risk of blackouts for six years this winter as old coal plants and nuclear reactors shut down and energy demand rises as the economy emerges from Covid-19 restrictions.National Grid’s electricity system operator, which is responsible for keeping the lights on, said it expected the country’s demand for electricity to return to normal levels this winter, and would be braced for “some tight periods”. Continue reading...

Sulphur-crested cockatoos’ ability to pry open bins has spread across 44 suburbs in only two yearsSulphur-crested cockatoos are learning from each other to open wheelie bins in order to scavenge for food and the behaviour is rapidly catching on across Sydney, according to new research.With help from the public, Australian and German ecologists have documented cockatoos learning the bin-diving behaviour through social interactions, with reported sightings of the behaviour growing across Sydney in recent years. Continue reading...

Government urged to speed up transition to green energy as Australia’s biggest market shifts away from LNG and coalA Japanese pledge to wind down gas and coal-fired electricity much faster than previously planned has sparked warnings Australia needs to speed up a transition away from fossil fuel exports.A draft revised energy mix released by Japanese officials on Wednesday said the country – Australia’s biggest market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and thermal coal – would cut gas-fired electricity generation nearly in half and reduce coal power by more than a third by 2030. Continue reading...

Environmental campaigners welcome announcement saying ‘the vast majority of the toys were either littered or dumped in landfill’Coles has announced it will no longer give away plastic toys as it looks to become more sustainable and reduce its contribution to plastic waste.The retailer has long been criticised for promotions such as its Stikeez and Little Shop ranges which were denounced for being environmentally damaging. Continue reading...

Chancellor says record on reducing carbon emissions ‘not sufficient’ as she reflects on 16-year leadershipAngela Merkel has conceded Germany’s record on reducing carbon emissions was “not sufficient” to meet the global warming targets of the Paris climate agreement, as the chancellor reflected on the achievements and missed opportunities of her 16-year leadership.Speaking at the last of her annual summer press conferences on Thursday before stepping down as leader of Europe’s largest economy after federal elections on 26 September, Merkel said Germany “has done a lot” to recalibrate its economy in the face of the climate crisis, increasing the share of renewables in its energy mix from 10% to 40%, and lowering carbon emission by 20% in the period from 1990 to 2010, and by another 20% in the 10 years since. Continue reading...

Climate Change Committee head says firms must invest in ‘scaleable’ offsets such as carbon captureThe aviation industry must pay for costly carbon removal technologies rather than rely on using the planting of trees to claim they are reducing emissions, the head of the Climate Change Committee has said.Chris Stark said aviation, unlike other transport sectors, was unlikely to meet targets for net zero by 2050. He said instead the industry had to use “scaleable” offsets that matched ongoing emissions into future decades, but that these should be used as a last resort after directly cutting emissions. Continue reading...

A removal project aims to reduce numbers of the unwelcome arrival that has quickly become prevalentNon-native lionfish have become increasingly common in parts of the Mediterranean in recent years, threatening local ecosystems and posing a hazard to humans through their venomous spines.Marine biologist Prof Jason Hall-Spencer first saw a lionfish off the coast of Cyprus in 2016. It was just an individual, but the species – which produce about 2 million eggs each year and lack natural predators in their new environment – have quickly become prevalent. “In some places, I’ve seen 40 on one dive,” said Hall-Spencer, from the University of Plymouth. Continue reading...

Ballywatticock was country’s hottest ever spot last week – but its reign had ended within daysIn the annals of climate change it will be remembered, if at all, as a diverting footnote: the brief reign of Ballywatticock.Few people in Northern Ireland had heard of this townland on the shores of Strangford Lough in County Down until its weather station recorded the hottest temperature for the UK last Saturday: 31.2C (88.16F). Continue reading...

Researchers find ‘significant relationship’ between stony coral tissue loss disease and nearby shippingA virulent and fast-moving coral disease that has swept through the Caribbean could be linked to waste or ballast water from ships, according to research.The deadly infection, known as stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), was first identified in Florida in 2014, and has since moved through the region, causing great concern among scientists. Continue reading...

Residents of the region, known for its mild weather, are facing a shifting realityThe recent heatwave that broiled the US Pacific north-west not only obliterated temperature records in cities such as Seattle and Portland – it also put a torch to a comforting bromide that the region would be a mild, safe haven from the ravages of the climate crisis.Unprecedented temperatures baked the region three weeks ago, part of a procession of heatwaves that have hit the parched US west, from Montana to southern California, over the past month. A “heat dome” that settled over the area saw Seattle reach 108F (42.2C), smashing the previous record by 3F (1.7C), while Portland, Oregon, soared to its own record of 116F (46.7C). Some inland areas managed to get up to 118F (47.8C). Continue reading...

A new study shows carbon pollution on the same route can vary sharply but consumers currently cannot make informed choicesCommercial flying is a real carbon bomb as emissions from commercial aviation are growing rapidly and are on track to triple by 2050, when they could make up about a quarter of the global carbon budget.But now a new study shows how people could reduce their emissions while still flying on airplanes, if they were able to choose the most carbon-friendly routes. Continue reading...

Lead levels increased to 50 times above normal average at site near Camp fire in California, researchers foundSmoke from wildfires – particularly those that burn manmade structures – can significantly increase the amount of hazardous toxic metals present in the air, sending up plumes that can travel for miles, a new study from the California Air Resources Board (Carb) has suggested.The study compared air monitor readings from numerous California fires, such as the devastating Camp fire that decimated the California town of Paradise in 2018 and killed 85 people. Continue reading...

Hunter and Latrobe valleys considered particularly suitable sites as union says industry could offer oil and gas workers a career transitionAustralia has the potential to develop a substantial offshore wind energy industry from scratch, with abundant resources available near existing electricity substations across the continent, according to a new report.The Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre said Australia was yet to capitalise on significant offshore wind capacity despite the International Energy Agency nominating it as one of the “big three” likely sources of renewable energy globally alongside solar and onshore wind. Continue reading...

Agency must apply for retrospective planning permission after filling in railway arch in CumbriaThe government’s roads agency could be forced to remove hundreds of tonnes of concrete it used to fill in a Victorian railway arch in a project that was condemned as the first act of “cultural vandalism” in a nationwide plan.Eden district council told Highways England (HE) this week that it needs to apply for retrospective planning permission for a scheme that involved pouring an estimated 1,000 tonnes of concrete and aggregate under the bridge at Great Musgrave, Cumbria, at the start of nationwide programme to infill scores of historic structures. Continue reading...

Natural England biodiversity metric will let valuable wildlife habitat be logged as ‘degraded’ land and penalise rewilding, warn ecologistsThe government’s new metric for biodiversity will have to be urgently improved if it is going to be fit for purpose, academics and conservationists have warned.The biodiversity net gain (BNG) metric, published by Natural England in July, outlines how new roads, houses and other building projects must achieve no net loss of biodiversity, or achieve a 10% net gain elsewhere if nature is damaged on site. Continue reading...

Torrential rainfall and burst rivers swamp Henan cities, with commuters trapped on subway trainsDays of torrential rain and massive flooding have hit China’s Henan province, bursting the banks of rivers, overwhelming dams and the public transport system and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes.At least 25 people have been killed and seven are missing in the provincial capital, Zhengzhou. The provincial authorities issued its highest level of weather warning. A year’s worth of rain – 640mm – fell in just three days. The city’s weather bureau said more than 552mm of rain had fallen between 7pm on Monday and 7pm on Tuesday, including 202mm between 4pm and 5pm on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Diana Six, an entomologist studying beetles near Glacier national park in Montana, says the crisis has fundamentally changed her professionDiana Six’s love of the outdoors began before she could form words, run, or collect the bugs and fungi that were precious to her as a child. A tough home life eventually led her to drop out of school and live on the streets. But biology classes in community college helped Six discover her calling in studying various forms of life. “They took me right back to how I was as a kid,” she says.Related: Activists fear Biden’s climate pledges are falling apart: ‘We aren’t seeing grit’ Continue reading...

Farming families are facing a choice: compete with high-production outfits, if they can, or abandon generations of dairy farming

Investor action group Market Forces says coal company is ‘building a financial house of cards’ by telling shareholders coal will remain ‘significant’ in energy mixShareholder activist group Market Forces has asked the corporate watchdog to investigate whether coal company New Hope misled investors by claiming that coal would “remain a significant part of the energy mix”.In letters sent to New Hope Corporation and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, lawyers for Market Forces have alleged that statements by the company’s chief executive, Reinhold Schmidt, may amount to “misleading and deceptive conduct” under the Corporations Act. Continue reading...

Australia’s prime minister is under pressure to act on climate change, but resolutions ahead of LNP convention show strong oppositionScott Morrison’s attempt to nudge his government in the direction of a net zero commitment by 2050 is expected to face resistance at this weekend’s annual convention of the Liberal National party in Brisbane.Policy resolutions circulated to LNP members ahead of the event include a proposal originating from George Christensen’s federal divisional council calling for the Morrison government to “oppose net zero emissions if job losses occur for little gain”. Continue reading...

Monitoring suggests toxic smoke in Yakutsk is one of world’s worst ever air pollution events