Disaster looms if big finance is allowed to game the carbon offsetting markets to achieve ‘net zero’ emissionsAn astonishing global shift is under way: 127 countries have now stated that by mid-century their overall emissions of carbon dioxide will be zero. That includes the EU, US, and UK by 2050 – and China by 2060. Companies are enthusiastically signing up to similar “net zero” goals. Finally the international community seems to have accepted the scientific fact that we need to stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere to stabilise our climate. Dare we hope that the climate crisis can be brought under control?Perhaps, but big problems remain. Long-term commitments have not resulted in sufficient near-term actions. The world is on track for emissions to be just 0.5% below 2010 levels by 2030, compared with the 45% needed on the road to net zero by 2050. The pivotal Glasgow Cop26 climate talks in November will need to tackle this. But a more insidious problem is emerging. Net zero increasingly involves highly questionable carbon accounting. As a result, the new politics swirling around net zero targets is rapidly becoming a confusing and dangerous mix of pragmatism, self-delusion and weapons-grade greenwash. Continue reading...

Ojok Okello is transforming his destroyed village into a green town where social enterprises responsibly harness the shea treeThe village of Okere Mom-Kok was in ruins by the end of more than a decade of war in northern Uganda.Now, just outside Ojok Okello’s living-room door, final-year pupils at the early childhood centre are noisily breaking for recess and a market is clattering into life, as is the local craft brewery, as what has become Okere City begins a new day. Continue reading...

The pygmy hog is still endangered but a reintroduction programme in Assam, India, has given it a greater chance of survivalThe greyish brown pygmy hog (Porcula salvania), with its sparse hair and a streamlined body that is about the size of a cat’s, is the smallest wild pig in the world, and also one of its rarest, appearing on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list as endangered.Named after the sal grasslands where they were first found, they once thrived in the lush plains of the sub Himalayas from Nepal to Uttar Pradesh. But today, there are thought to be less than 300 in the wild, in Assam, India. Continue reading...

Drivers of decline likely to be habitat loss, intensive farming, climate change and light pollutionMoths in Britain have declined in abundance by a third over the past 50 years, according to a new study.The declines of 39% in the abundance of larger moth species over southern Britain and a 22% fall across northern Britain add to the picture of calamitous declines in flying insects in the industrialised world. Continue reading...

Greenhouse gas stored in country’s marine world heritage sites about same as four years of national emissionsThree of Australia’s world heritage-listed marine sites have more than 2bn tonnes of carbon dioxide locked away in their vast seagrass meadows, coastal mangroves and tidal marshes, according to a new report from a UN agency.Unesco has for the first time calculated all the so-called “blue carbon” stored across its 50 world heritage marine sites and finds they contain about 5bn tonnes of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Continue reading...

UK campaigners seeking ban on lower-standard imports dismayed by agriculture and trade commission’s adviceMinisters have been advised to consider tariffs on imports of lower-standard food and farm produce from overseas, in order to protect the UK’s high standards of food safety and animal welfare.The recommendation, by an independent commission advising the government, was greeted with dismay by some farmers and food campaigners, who wanted an outright ban and regulations to prevent lower-standard imports in trade deals after Brexit. Continue reading...

Call comes at event hosted by UK government, which is under pressure over planned coalmine in CumbriaAll planned coal projects around the world must be cancelled to end the “deadly addiction” to the most polluting fossil fuel, the UN secretary-general António Guterres said on Tuesday.Phasing out coal from the electricity sector is the single most important step to tackle the climate crisis, he said. Guterres’s call came at the opening of a summit of the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), a group of governments and businesses committed to ending coal burning for power. Continue reading...

Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband says Conservatives are ‘allergic’ to required interventionPublic investment is desperately needed to kickstart a green economic recovery in the UK, but the government is stuck in the past and reluctant to make the interventions needed, Labour has warned.Ed Miliband, shadow business secretary, told the Guardian: “We need a proper green stimulus. Governments all around the world are recognising that if you want to do the transition [to net zero carbon emissions] governments need to step up. But this government is incredibly reluctant to do what is necessary.” Continue reading...

Parts of handover had been rushed in waning days of Trump to give Resolution Copper control over Arizona’s Oak Flat regionThe Biden administration has put the brakes on a controversial land exchange that would have given a sacred Native American site to a multinational mining company by 11 March.Parts of the handover had been rushed to completion in the waning days of the Trump administration, in an effort to give Resolution Copper control over Arizona’s Oak Flat region before or soon after Trump left office. Oak Flat sits atop one of the largest untapped copper deposits in the world, estimated to be worth more than $1bn. Continue reading...

Grant used to develop case to lobby federal government to weaken native grassland protection came as separate Taylor-family controlled company was facing investigations for illegal clearingAn agricultural group associated with Angus Taylor’s family thanked the New South Wales deputy premier, John Barilaro, for a $107,000 grant that was used to fund research to support lobbying efforts for the watering down of protections for endangered native grasslands.At the time, in late 2016, a separate Taylor family-controlled company, Jam Land, was under investigation for illegal clearing of native grasslands, in breach of the same grassland protections. It was facing potential fines of up to $1m. Continue reading...

Study finds five in 100,000 Australians taken to hospital for bee and wasp stings, twice the rate for spiders and snakesAustralia is home to the 11 most venomous snakes in the world, the deadliest spider in the world, and some of the most venomous marine life. And yet according to a study released on Wednesday, Australians are twice as likely end up in hospital because of a bee or wasp sting than an encounter with any other venomous creature.The study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare examined hospital records from 2017-2018 for reports of people being admitted to hospital – not just treated in the emergency department – after contact with a venomous creature. Continue reading...

UK researchers find link between regular meat intake and nine non-cancerous illnessesEating meat regularly increases someone’s risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, pneumonia and other serious illnesses, research has found.It is already known that intake of red and processed meat heightens the risk of being diagnosed with bowel cancer. But these findings are the first to assess whether meat consumption is linked to any of the 25 non-cancerous illnesses that most commonly lead to people being admitted to hospital in the UK. Continue reading...

The financial industry regulator says insurers may be able to pay future claims, but fewer people will be able to secure coverageMillions of Australians could be left uninsured as the effects of climate change put increasing pressure on the financial system, the industry’s regulatory body has warned.The Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (Apra) executive director Dr Sean Carmody told a Senate hearing on Tuesday the nation’s insurers and banks were taking steps to prepare for worsening bushfire seasons and more extreme weather events. Continue reading...

Swedish carmaker also says it will sell its vehicles to consumers online onlyVolvo plans to sell only electric cars by 2030 in the latest move by a legacy carmaker to abandon fossil fuels that contribute to global heating.The Swedish carmaker also said it would sell its electric cars direct to consumers or via dealerships through the same simplified online portal, in a blow to the traditional model of selling vehicles via independent dealerships. Continue reading...

International Energy Agency data shows steady climb over second half of 2020

An ancestor of the sand monitor interbred with the world’s largest lizard, research revealsThe world’s largest living lizard – the Komodo dragon – reproduced with a species of lizard only found in Australia, a new study into its unusual breeding habits reveals.While fossil findings have previously shown the three-metre-long Komodo dragon, now only found on a handful of Indonesian islands, originated in Australia, researchers from the Australian National University have established a genetic link. Continue reading...

Representatives say regulators need to ensure there is no contamination from windblown seeds and pollen from genetically modified produceOrganic farming representatives say a decision by the New South Wales government to lift a ban on genetically modified crops will hurt its thriving industry.NSW agriculture minister Adam Marshall announced Tuesday the state’s 18-year moratorium on GM crops would be lifted on 1 July. Continue reading...

Danger of young people’s futures being blighted by climate and Covid crises, say campaigners

Research suggests pollution from the vehicles could be worse than advertisedPlug-in hybrid cars burn significantly more fuel than official tests record, according to research that suggests pollution from the vehicles could be much worse than advertised.Tests of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) by Which?, the UK consumer group, found that some popular cars achieved as little as a third of the fuel economy advertised in official tests. Continue reading...

Average weather temperature across the continent was slightly above averageThe summer just gone was Australia’s wettest in four years, with official data showing there was above average rainfall as a cooling La Niña imposed itself across much of the continent.The average temperature across the continent was slightly above average, representing a respite from the previous two summers that remain in the nation’s top two on record for heat. Continue reading...

A landmark class action against the Australian government, led by eight teenagers, begins in the federal court on Tuesday. The case could set a precedent that would stop the government from approving new fossil fuel projects because of their contribution to climate change. Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to 16-year-old Anj Sharma about the action.Read Adam Morton’s story about the landmark case and other legal challenges over government’s inaction on climate change here. Continue reading...

The condor, a vulture threatened by giant wind turbines, may be helped by energy company’s breeding projectAn energy company in California is teaming up with federal wildlife officials and the Oregon Zoo in an innovative project to ease the plight of the mighty, soaring condor, a critically endangered species of vulture threatened by giant wind turbines in the Tehachapi mountains north-east of Los Angeles.Avangrid Renewables, which operates 126 turbines as part of its Manzana wind power project, will finance the breeding of birds in captivity to replace any that might be killed by the 252ft diameter turbine blades. Continue reading...

Analysis shows emissions from 31 FTSE 100 companies are well above what’s needed to hit Paris targetsThree out of 10 of the UK’s biggest public companies emit carbon dioxide at a rate that would contribute significantly to the climate crisis, according to analysis that shows the scale of the challenge for corporate Britain to cut emissions to zero.Thirty-one members of the FTSE 100, the index of Britain’s largest listed companies, are emitting carbon dioxide at a rate consistent with global temperature increases of 2.7C or more by 2050, according to analysis by Arabesque, a company that provides climate data to investors. Continue reading...

Spanish officials say animals must be put down after two months at sea as owners struggled to find buyer because of disease fears

The fossil fuel industry is using the same playbook to fight city climate plans around the countryWhen the city of Austin drafted a plan to shift away from fossil fuels, the local gas company was fast on the scene to try to scale back the ambition of the effort.Like many cities across the US, the rapidly expanding and gentrifying Texas city is looking to shrink its climate footprint. So its initial plan was to virtually eliminate gas use in new buildings by 2030 and existing ones by 2040. Homes and businesses would have to run on electricity and stop using gas for heat, hot water and stoves. Continue reading...

Activists oppose metal shredder moving to East Side, a low-income Latino community reeling from the effects of industrial pollutionHunger strikers on Chicago’s Southeast Side have gone nearly four weeks without food to protest against environmental racism, and now the city is beginning to reconsider its stance on the controversial metal shredder that started it all.“I share your commitment to equity and fully understand that our frontline communities, particularly on the South and West Sides of Chicago, have been significantly impacted by environmental pollution and other compounding environmental issues, for multiple generations,” wrote Lori Lightfoot, the city’s mayor, in a letter from last Tuesday. Continue reading...

When flamingos migrate to the southern Iraqi marshes in the winter months, the poachers are waiting – and so are the customers who want them to decorate their gardensPhotographs by Chloe Sharrock. Words by Quentin Müller and Sylvain Mercadier“Is it flamingos you’re looking for? Come to my place after 1pm,” whispers Mustafa Ahmed Ali from inside his small shop, which is buzzing with bird sounds of all kinds. He has been selling birds – wild and bred – at the bird market in Amara, in Iraq’s Maysan province, for more than 30 years. Continue reading...

The 1,270sq km chunk separated from Brunt Ice Shelf near a British Antarctic Survey station on FridayAn iceberg almost the size of Greater London has split off from Antarctica, near a British Antarctic Survey station.Related: Researchers rethink life in a cold climate after Antarctic find Continue reading...

Texas freezes and the power goes off across much of the state. Whose fault was it? Donald Trump knows

Invasive bug that creates marks on fruit and vegetables probably hitched ride into Britain on packaging cratesIt is brown, stinky and will strike fear into the hearts of apple and other fruit growers.Scientists have now confirmed that the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), a small flying insect that emits an unpleasant almond-like odour, has arrived in Britain, after most probably hitching a ride on packaging crates. Continue reading...

Asset manager tells 30 biggest carbon dioxide emitters in its portfolio to set net zero goals

Report says country set to cut carbon emissions by 54% compared with 1990 levels, not 70% as plannedThe Danish government’s efforts towards meeting the country’s ambitious target of reducing emissions by 70% by 2030 have been judged “insufficient” by the body tasked with monitoring its progress, with measures so far announced only likely to take it a third of the way.In its first annual status report, the Danish Council on Climate Change said new laws, inter-party agreements and initiatives announced since the country’s climate law came into effect last June would reduce emissions by the equivalent of 7.2m tonnes of CO2 by 2030, which is only enough to reduce Denmark’s emissions by 54% compared with 1990 levels. Continue reading...

Predominantly Latino towns in California like East Orosi face huge obstacles getting clean drinking waterAn invisible line splits the rural road of Avenue 416 in California’s Tulare county, at the point where the nut trees stretch east toward the towering Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance.On one side of the line, residents have clean water. On the other side, they do not. Continue reading...

Joe Biden’s progressive nominee for interior secretary faced harsh questions from lawmakers with deep industry tiesPartway through the sometimes contentious confirmation hearing for Deb Haaland as US secretary of the interior last week came an acknowledgement of the two powerful forces, with very different attitudes to the climate crisis, that have squared off over the nomination.“I almost feel like your nomination is a proxy fight over the future of fossil fuels,” Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, told Haaland during the Senate hearing. Continue reading...

City to plant shadier trees to preserve its environment, keep people cool, reduce urban warming and improve air qualityAs a poster child for the climate emergency, Miami Beach has become a world leader in mitigating the effects of sea-level rise. Now the subtropical Florida city is cutting back on its famous swaying palm trees as it seeks shadier alternatives to preserve its environment and try to keep residents and visitors cool.Related: Republicans push 'blue-collar comeback' – but is the party a true friend of the worker? Continue reading...

Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant is one of many whose future lies in the hands of the merged auto giantCarlos Tavares is an unashamed petrolhead, with a rally-racing hobby that harks back to an earlier automotive age. Yet carmakers like Stellantis, which he leads, and its rivals have had to set aside affection for roaring internal combustion engines as environmental rules set the limits for the industry.Stellantis was formed in January in a €50bn (£43bn) merger between France’s Peugeot and Italian-American Fiat Chrysler, in one of the clearest responses to the Tesla-driven electric revolution: the merger will allow them to share expensive investments in battery technology. Continue reading...

Male called OR-93 makes longest tracked journey of any wolf in a century but elsewhere in US killing of wolves resumesA grey wolf has made the longest tracked journey of any wolf over the last century, venturing hundreds of miles from its home range in Oregon to California’s Sierra Nevada.Related: 'There's a degree of mistrust': a third of US military personnel refuse Covid vaccine Continue reading...

The gull that ‘won’t eat your fish and chips’ is about to make its annual return to the UK – but a favourite nesting spot is under threatDaniel Turner first became enamoured with the kittiwake when he was a teenager growing up in North Shields in the 1970s, where the North Sea meets the River Tyne.“I would cross the Tyne on the Shields ferry and on the way I would also observe some of the plant life of the limestone grassland at the clifftops,” he remembers. Continue reading...

Environment minister Lily D’Ambrosio says single-use plastics such as straws and plastic cups make up a third of the state’s litterVictoria has become the third Australian jurisdiction to ban single-use plastics, including polystyrene containers, straws, cutlery, plates and plastic cotton bud sticks.On Saturday the environment minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, announced a phase-out and ban of specific single-use plastics by 2023, including at bars, cafes and restaurants, in a bid to reduce the amount of plastic waste that goes to landfill each year. Continue reading...

Large land protection package combines various bills that languished under Trump – but now must pass a divided SenateThe US House of Representatives has passed a historic public lands preservation bill that pledges to protect nearly 3m acres of federal lands in Colorado, California, Washington and Arizona.The act combines various bills that languished without Senate approval during the Trump administration. Key provisions include permanently banning new uranium mining on land surrounding the Grand Canyon, giving wilderness designation to 1.5m acres of federal land, and preserving 1,000 river miles by adding them to the Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Continue reading...

United Nations calls on all countries to have ‘concrete plans to phase out fossil fuels as fast as possible’

The Queensland government has allowed the Central Queensland Coal project to move to the assessment stageConservationists are urging the Queensland government to block plans by Clive Palmer to build a major coalmine 10km from the waters of the Great Barrier Reef after the proposal moved to a decisive stage of environmental assessment.Palmer’s Central Queensland Coal project would mine 10m tonnes of coal a year for 18 years to be used in power plants and steelmaking from two open-cut pits north of Rockhampton. Continue reading...

The revised emissions data reflects better understanding of the role highly potent methane gas plays in global warmingThe Australian government has acknowledged it previously underestimated the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and has increased the official estimate for every year on record.Revised data in the latest quarterly emissions update shows Australia pumped out the equivalent of 272.5m more tonnes of heat-trapping gas between 2000 and 2020 than suggested in the last report three months ago. Continue reading...

Judge says firm’s breach of environmental standards in 2016 amounted to ‘high negligence’Thames Water, the UK’s largest water company, has been fined £2.3m for a pollution incident in 2016 that resulted in the death of 1,200 fish and damaged the environment.The incident, involving a leak of untreated sewage with a high ammonia content into the Fawley Court ditch and stream that flows into the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames, happened between 21 and 24 April 2016. Continue reading...

Luke air force base said studies showed high levels of contaminants had affected drinking water for about 6,000 peopleThe US air force says it will be distributing bottled water to thousands of residents and business owners near its base in suburban Phoenix until at least April, marking the latest case of chemicals from military firefighting efforts contaminating the water supply in a nearby community.Luke air force base announced this month that studies showed high levels of contaminants had affected drinking water for about 6,000 people in roughly 1,600 homes as well as a few neighboring businesses. Continue reading...

The best of the week’s wildlife pictures, including a bat rescue mission and knitted nests for injured birds Continue reading...

Secretary general António Guterres says first assessment of promises amounts to ‘red alert for our planet’The first assessment of countries’ pledges to cut their greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade, a vital component of the Paris climate agreement, has found they are only a fraction of the effort needed to avoid climate breakdown.If all of the national pledges submitted so far were fulfilled, global emissions would be reduced by only 1% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels. Scientists have said a 45% reduction is needed in the next 10 years to keep global heating to no more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, in line with the Paris agreement. Continue reading...

All eyes on budget as seaside town seeks funds for ‘once in a generation opportunity’ to boost local economyWhen Rishi Sunak stands up to deliver the budget on Wednesday, the chancellor’s speech will be watched with particular interest in one northern English seaside town.For several years, plans have been under way to build Eden Project North on Morecambe’s somewhat doleful seafront, a sister to the eco-friendly original in Cornwall, which has brought in more than £2bn to its local economy. Continue reading...

The congresswoman has faced hostile questioning from senators during her confirmation for interior secretary. Some of them are personally invested in fossil fuelsRepublicans appear eager to derail the cabinet nomination of Deb Haaland, a Native American congresswoman who wants to conserve federal lands and slow climate change as secretary of the interior to Joe Biden. Continue reading...

Emissions releases affected communities that are already disproportionately exposed to pollution