Foundation has received $400,000 in total pandemic support despite being awarded $443m government grant three years agoLabor has asked the Morrison government to explain why a Great Barrier Reef-focused charity received jobkeeper despite still having hundreds of millions of dollars remaining from a nearly $500m grant it received three years ago.The Great Barrier Reef Foundation, which expanded from six to 38 full-time staff after accepting a $443m grant that it did not request from the Turnbull government in 2018, confirmed it received about $351,000 in jobkeeper payments in the 2019-20 financial year. Continue reading...

Civil servants decline to release letters thought to detail why monarch wanted to exempt her land from green energy initiativeThe Scottish government is refusing to publish details about the Queen’s secret lobbying of ministers because it would undermine “the appearance of political neutrality” that the monarch adopts in public.Civil servants made the startling admission when they refused to release private letters from the Queen’s Scottish lawyer that are thought to detail why she wanted to amend a bill dealing with green energy earlier this year. Continue reading...

‘Unreasonable’ court ruling does not need new strategy, Van Beurden says, as firm reveals multibillion-dollar shareholder windfallRoyal Dutch Shell has no plans to change its strategy despite a landmark Netherlands court ruling calling for the company to make a 45% cut to its carbon emissions by the end of the decade, according to the oil giant’s chief executive.Ben van Beurden denied the company would need to change its plans to meet the tougher court-ordered climate targets on Thursday, as he revealed a multibillion-dollar shareholder windfall for investors and better-than-expected quarterly profits. Continue reading...

Financial burden of ‘alien’ animals and plants such as Japanese knotweed and European rabbit is rising, researchers warnInvasive species such as the grey squirrel, Japanese knotweed and the European rabbit have cost the UK economy at least £5bn since the mid 1970s, according to research.Ecosystem-altering plants and animals that wipe out native wildlife, often introduced by humans, have cost the country at least £122m a year on average since 1976, causing structural damage to buildings, clogging waterways and ruining crops. Continue reading...

At Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border, the water line has dropped to a historic low, taking a heavy toll on the local industryChaos erupted at Bill West’s business in Page, Arizona, last week when he was forced to tell dozens of paid clients their summer vacations were either canceled or on hold – effective immediately.Related: ‘I can see the industry disappearing’: US fishermen sound alarm at plans for offshore wind Continue reading...

Action alleges federal minister’s grants decision for Northern Territory basin plan was unlawful and failed to ensure ‘proper’ use of public fundsEnvironmental groups will go to court in an attempt to stop resources minister Keith Pitt handing $21m in grants to a gas company seeking to frack the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory.The Environment Centre Northern Territory (ECNT) and the Environmental Defenders Office on Thursday launched urgent proceedings in the federal court alleging the minister’s decision to award the grants to gas company Imperial Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of Empire Energy, was unlawful. Continue reading...

Volunteers use drones to capture headshots of the endangered mammal, of which there are under 300 in Australia’s south-eastCitizen scientists have captured spectacular footage of southern right whales and their calves swimming off the south coast of New South Wales.Among the animals in the footage, taken near Jervis Bay, are a mother and calf that were recently spotted frolicking in the Hawkesbury River. Continue reading...

Billions to be spent over six years with significant sums for regions hit hard in recent yearsThe government will spend a record £5.2bn on reducing flooding in England over the next six years, as the climate crisis increases the risk to homes and businesses.The Environment Agency will spend £860m next year to support more than 1,000 schemes, with significant funds for Yorkshire and the Humber and the north-west, regions that have been hit hard in recent years. Continue reading...

Manufacturer halts shipments of some Alienware Aurora R10 and R12 PCs because they use so much energy they breach state standardsPC maker Dell says it has stopped shipping some versions of its powerful gaming systems to California and five other US states because the products do not meet new energy efficiency standards.Dell said in a statement sent to Reuters the regulations affected “select configurations” of its Alienware Aurora R10 and R12 gaming PCs. Continue reading...

Study citing ‘perilous state’ of industrial civilisation ranks temperate islands top for resilienceNew Zealand, Iceland, the UK, Tasmania and Ireland are the places best suited to survive a global collapse of society, according to a study.The researchers said human civilisation was “in a perilous state” due to the highly interconnected and energy-intensive society that had developed and the environmental damage this had caused. Continue reading...

High court allows Greenpeace UK and others to seek judicial review of support for fossil fuel industryThe government will face a legal challenge over its continuing support for North Sea oil and gas production despite its legally binding target to end the UK’s contribution to the climate crisis.The high court agreed on Wednesday to allow a judicial review against the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), which set out a strategy earlier this year to continue to encourage the production of North Sea oil and gas while moving to a net zero carbon future. Continue reading...

Scientists record fin-to-fin contact in gentle giants, most likely part of courtship, for first timeFin-to-fin synchronised swimming, thought likely to be part of courtship, has been seen in groups of basking sharks for the first time. Video cameras attached temporarily to the sharks gave scientists an unprecedented view of their hitherto secret underwater world.The gentle giants are usually solitary creatures and virtually nothing is known about their breeding behaviour. The researchers also recorded one shark shooting out above the water, the first time a full breaching has been captured from the shark’s point of view. This may also be part of wooing a mate, perhaps by showing off the fish’s size. Continue reading...

Whatcom county’s council passed measure that bans new refineries, coal-fired power plants and other related infrastructureA county in Washington state has become the first such jurisdiction in the US to ban new fossil fuel infrastructure, following a lengthy battle over the impact of oil refineries on the local community.In a vote on Tuesday night, Whatcom county’s council unanimously passed a measure that bans the construction of new refineries, coal-fired power plants and other fossil fuel-related infrastructure. The ordinance also places new restrictions on existing fossil fuel facilities, such as a requirement that any extra planet-heating gases emitted from any expansion be offset. Continue reading...

Experiment using caffeine concoction on bees’ nests may help farmers ensure crops are pollinatedThe caffeine in the morning coffee that primes many humans for the day appears to inject bumblebees with a similar dose of purpose, helping them pollinate more effectively, a study has found.The impact of the climate crisis, habitat loss and pesticide use has strained wild pollinator populations, including bees, moths, wasps, butterflies, beetles and birds. As a result, some fruit growers have resorted to relying on “managed pollinators” such as commercial bumblebee colonies to pollinate their crops. Continue reading...

Allegra Stratton, Boris Johnson’s former press secretary, responds to question on Tories’ ‘unambitious’ climate policiesBoris Johnson’s former press secretary, who is now his spokesperson for the Cop26 climate summit, has said people could join the Green party as a way of saving the planet – while also saying joining the Tories would help as well.Allegra Stratton, who moved from Downing Street to the Cop26 team in April, after plans were axed for daily TV briefings which she had been expected to front, made her comments to the Independent. Continue reading...

Monarch used secretive procedure to become only person in country not bound by a green energy ruleThe Queen’s lawyers secretly lobbied Scottish ministers to change a draft law to exempt her private land from a major initiative to cut carbon emissions, documents reveal.The exemption means the Queen, one of the largest landowners in Scotland, is the only person in the country not required to facilitate the construction of pipelines to heat buildings using renewable energy. Continue reading...

The mayor of the Norwegian capital argues that the ‘moral’ duty to cut emissions from burning waste can be met by carbon captureThe city of Oslo was built on wealth generated by the North Sea, which for decades has produced billions of barrels of oil and gas. But Oslo now hopes to lead Norway’s transformation from one of the world’s largest exporters of fossil fuels to a global green pioneer.For Raymond Johansen, Oslo’s governing mayor, helping to lead global efforts to tackle the climate crisis is both a pragmatic economic response to Norway’s declining fossil fuel industries, and a moral obligation to provide solutions for a crisis it helped to create. Continue reading...

Conservation tool will focus on recovery efforts to give a fuller picture of threats to plant and animal populationsA new conservation tool could help put thousands of threatened animal and plant species on the road to recovery, allowing creatures such as the Sumatran rhino and the California condor to flourish once again.Scientists have typically focused on monitoring how close endangered species are to extinction, regularly updating the severity of the risk on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list, which includes iconic wildlife such as the mountain gorilla and rare flowering plants such as the Bayard’s adder’s-mouth orchid. Continue reading...

Despite chequered history the 329-year-old private bank has secured the sought-after B Corp statusPrivate bank Coutts will offer carbon credits and green mortgages to its ultra-wealthy clients after becoming one of the largest UK banking brands to secure B Corp status.Coutts, known as the Queen’s bank for having served every member of the royal family since George IV, is trying to bolster its environmental and social reputation after being dogged by a series of scandals in recent years, including sexual harassment allegations against its former star banker Harry Keogh, who was sacked in 2018. The bank was also fined by Swiss regulators in 2017 over alleged money laundering and for illegally profiting from transactions associated with the 1MDB scandal. Continue reading...

This heavily exploited insect is the larva of the yellow mealworm beetle, whose numbers are declining in the wildMealworms seen in pet shops everywhere are the larva of a species of darkling beetle, the yellow mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor. They are heavily exploited and easy to breed – sold live for feeding fish, reptiles, and as bait, and dried for wild bird food. People also eat them in restaurants, baked, toasted or fried.In the wild, however, the adult beetles – pale brown to black and shiny – are in short supply. Like so many other insects, numbers are declining. The beetles are 12-18 mm long and can be found between May and September occurring over most of the northern hemisphere, although in pockets. For example, in the UK they can be found in the Midlands, East Anglia and the south-east and only occasionally elsewhere. They are attracted to light and fly so may be found in houses before disappearing into dark corners. Continue reading...

Carbon emissions, ocean acidification, Amazon clearing all hurtling toward new recordsA new study tracking the planet’s vital signs has found that many of the key indicators of the global climate crisis are getting worse and either approaching, or exceeding, key tipping points as the earth heats up.Overall, the study found some 16 out of 31 tracked planetary vital signs, including greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat content and ice mass, set worrying new records. Continue reading...

Conservationists offer €18,000 bounty for information about who harpooned Kostis in AlonissosA reward has been announced by a Greek environmental group intent on finding “all those responsible” for the brutal death of a celebrated monk seal discovered harpooned in waters off the island of Alonissos.MOm, the Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal, said it was offering a €18k (£15k) bounty for information, or evidence, that “will lead to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for the killing of the seal, known as Kostis”. Continue reading...

A conservation group recorded the video after a heatwave in the Pacific north-west on a day when water temperatures breached 70FSalmon in the Columbia River were exposed to unlivable water temperatures that caused them to break out in angry red lesions and white fungus in the wake of the Pacific north-west’s record-shattering heatwave, according to a conservation group that has documented the disturbing sight.In a video released on Tuesday by the non-profit organization Columbia Riverkeeper, a group of sockeye salmon swimming in a tributary of the river can be seen covered in injuries the group say are the results of stress and overheating. Continue reading...

E-highway study given £2m to draw up plans for overhead electric cables on motorway near ScunthorpeThe government will fund the design of a scheme to install overhead electric cables to power electric lorries on a motorway near Scunthorpe, as part of a series of studies on how to decarbonise road freight.The electric road system – or e-highway – study, backed with £2m of funding, will draw up plans to install overhead cables on a 20km (12.4 miles) stretch of the M180 near Scunthorpe, in Lincolnshire. If the designs are accepted and building work is funded the trucks could be on the road by 2024. Continue reading...

In Bulgaria and southern Siberia, conservationists are finding innovative ways to halt decades of decline for the endangered speciesLarge and powerful with a wing span of more than a metre, the saker falcon is one of the fastest birds in the world. They soar high in the air before diving at up to 200mph to catch small mammals and birds.These predators used to be plentiful, from the grasslands and forest steppes of central and eastern Europe to the semi-desert and mountain plateau regions of east Asia, but over the past few decades human activities have devastated numbers. The global population declined by nearly half between 1993 and 2012 and saker falcons are now listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with only about 10,500 breeding pairs left in the wild. Continue reading...

In Wisconsin, hunters are allowed to use hound dogs to kill wolves. In the midst of a politically volatile context, activists are now filming the hunts to raise the alarmThe woods were full of the sounds of snowmobiles and baying hounds. A group of perhaps a dozen hunters had gathered to give chase to big game along a frozen creek in north-eastern Wisconsin.Hound hunting, chiefly for black bear and coyote, is a popular pastime in this part of the state. But the houndsman who emerged from the hemlocks onto a snowy road around twilight held a different kind of trophy. Continue reading...

The grounds of the city’s 100-year-old convalescent hospital, under threat from development, are home to thousands of trees, some endangeredFiona Brownlee and her grandchildren were among the first to sign up to help protect the rare and endangered trees that populate the grounds of Astley Ainslie, a century-old convalescence hospital in south Edinburgh being eyed up by housing developers.Harry Brownlee, four, befriended a Lawson cypress; Carys, seven, a Holm oak; Ella, five, a white willow and Ava Strachan, eight, a horse chestnut. Fiona, a retired paediatric occupational therapist who started her training at Astley Ainslie in 1966, grabbed a Spanish chestnut. Her grandchildren, who live locally, play in the landscaped grounds of the hospital. Continue reading...

Alok Sharma ‘disappointed’ after ministers from more than 50 countries closed two-day meeting without full agreementGovernments around the world must agree to end the use of coal power to avoid the worst ravages of climate breakdown, the UK’s president of vital UN climate talks has said.Ministers from more than 50 countries closed a two-day meeting in London on Monday without full agreement on phasing out coal, but with all countries agreeing to limit global heating to 1.5C, with fewer than 100 days to go before the Cop26 UN climate conference in Glasgow this November. Continue reading...

• Level likely to drop further in coming months, official says• Millions of birds rely on lake as boats left high and dryThe water levels at the Great Salt Lake have hit a historic low, a grim milestone for the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River that comes as a megadrought grips the region.On Saturday, the US Geological Survey announced average daily water levels had dropped about an inch below the previous record of 4,191.4ft (1,278 meters) above sea level, which was set in 1963. Continue reading...

Climate campaigners appeal against judgment saying ministers are being ‘let off the hook’Campaigners have lost a legal challenge to the government’s £27bn roadbuilding programme after the high court dismissed their application for a judicial review.Lawyers for Transport Action Network (TAN) argued that the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, had drawn up the roads investment strategy for England, known as RIS2, without taking into account the UK’s environmental commitments or assessing the additional carbon emissions and climate impact of another 4,000 miles of road. Continue reading...

Overhaul of UK infrastructure needed to ensure it is not overwhelmed by impact of extreme weatherFlash flooding of the type seen in London this weekend will become a more common occurrence as the climate crisis worsens, scientists have warned, and the UK government, businesses and householders must do much more to protect against future harm.Dr Jess Neumann, a hydrologist at the University of Reading, said: “Flooding from intense summer rainfall is going happen more frequently. No city, town or village is immune to flooding and we all need to take hard action right now if we are to prevent impacts from getting worse in the future.” Continue reading...

Ministers looking at ways to exclude state-owned China General Nuclear from future UK involvementChina’s state-owned nuclear energy company could be blocked from building a nuclear reactor due to rising security concerns over Chinese involvement in critical national infrastructure.Ministers are reportedly looking for ways to move ahead with plans for EDF Energy to build the £20bn Sizewell C nuclear plant on the Suffolk coast without China General Nuclear (CGN), which owns a one-fifth stake in the project. Continue reading...

Reporters confronted in street and accused of ‘smearing China’ amid increasing sensitivity to any negative portrayals of ChinaForeign journalists reporting on the aftermath of China’s flooding disaster have faced hostile confrontations in the street and been subjected to “vicious campaigns”, amid increasing nationalistic sensitivity to any negative portrayals of China.Reporters from the Los Angeles Times and German outlet Deutsche Welle were confronted by an angry crowd in Zhengzhou on Saturday, who filmed and questioned them, and accused them of “rumour mongering” and slandering China. Other journalists have also been targeted, with a specific focus on the BBC. Continue reading...

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...