Environment | The Guardian

Sobering new report says world is failing to grasp the extent of threats posed by biodiversity loss and the climate crisis

Loophole means asset manager can hold shares in firms earning less than a quarter of revenues from coalBlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, holds investments worth $85bn in coal companies, a year after it promised to sell most of its shares in producers of the fossil fuel.A loophole in the asset manager’s policy means it is still allowed to hold shares in companies that earn less than a quarter of their revenues from coal, meaning it has held on to shares or bonds from some of the world’s biggest coalminers and polluters. Those companies included the Indian conglomerate Adani, the UK-listed commodities companies BHP and Glencore, and the German energy company RWE, according to research by Reclaim Finance and Urgewald, two campaign groups. Continue reading...

Exclusive: applications to explore Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin submitted by energy company last July but previously unreportedThe energy company Origin wants to search for fossil fuels across 225,000 hectares of the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin in Queensland’s channel country – part of one of the world’s biggest free-flowing river systems.The company is waiting to hear if the Queensland government will grant the applications for 10 petroleum leases, which were submitted in July last year but have not been previously reported. Continue reading...

WWF report finds area six times the size of Tasmania has been cleared globally since 2004Australia remains one of the world’s hotspots for deforestation according to a new report by WWF, which finds an area six times the size of Tasmania has been cleared globally since 2004.The analysis identifies 24 “deforestation fronts” worldwide where a total of 43 million hectares of forest was destroyed in the period from 2004 until 2017. Continue reading...

A £2.5m scheme in the Skell Valley hopes to protect Fountains Abbey and the city of RiponFountains Abbey, near Ripon, North Yorkshire, was originally set up by 13 Benedictine monks seeking refuge from the more extravagant, rowdy monks in York. Eight hundred years later, the abbey ruins and its gardens face another threat: the climate crisis.The Skell Valley, where the ruins stand, has been flooded several times in recent years, raising fears that the UK’s largest monastic ruins are at risk of irreparable damage. Now a £2.5m National Trust project – aided by a £1.4m lottery grant – has been greenlit to improve the landscape’s resilience to changing weather. Continue reading...

Judges order committee to look into grievances, but unions vow further demonstrations until laws repealedIndia’s supreme court has suspended a series of controversial new agriculture laws that had prompted hundreds of thousands of farmers to stage a months-long protest in Delhi over fears their livelihoods were at stake.Since November, upwards of half a million farmers had marched to the peripheries of Delhi and occupied roads and highways going into the capital, setting up a 24-hour protest camp and refusing to move until the new laws were repealed. Continue reading...

But emissions reductions came at huge cost and will likely rebound as vaccines are distributed, authors of report sayPlanet-heating emissions in the US fell by more than 10% in 2020, a record drop generated by extraordinary reductions in travel and industrial activity in the teeth of the coronavirus pandemic, new figures show.The historic jolt to American life, which has resulted in more than 375,000 deaths and a huge surge in joblessness, caused many states to impose travel restrictions and curbs on business activity. This resulted in greenhouse gas emissions dropping by 10.3% last year, according to a new estimate by Rhodium Group. Continue reading...

Polyester fibres that injure marine life were found in sea water across regionThe Arctic is “pervasively” polluted by microplastic fibres that most likely come from the washing of synthetic clothes by people in Europe and North America, research has found.The most comprehensive study to date found the microplastics in 96 of 97 sea water samples taken from across the polar region. More than 92% of the microplastics were fibres, and 73% of these were made of polyester and were the same width and colours as those used in clothes. Most of the samples were taken from 3-8 metres below the surface, where much marine life feeds. Continue reading...

Court says man would face ‘worsening of his respiratory pathology due to air pollution’ in country of originA Bangladeshi man with asthma has avoided deportation from France after his lawyer argued that he risked a severe deterioration in his condition, and possibly premature death, due to the dangerous levels of pollution in his homeland.In a ruling believed to be the first of its kind in France, the appeals court in Bordeaux overturned an expulsion order against the 40-year-old man because he would face “a worsening of his respiratory pathology due to air pollution” in his country of origin. Continue reading...

The Rio Grande used to flow freely, but now in Las Cruces, humans, fish and plants are vying for water in the arid landscapeImagine the world without its most famous rivers: Egypt without the Nile, or London without the Thames. In Las Cruces, New Mexico, residents don’t have to envision the American west without the Rio Grande – it runs dry in their city almost every single year.Related: Hope grows that Biden will restore US national monuments shrunk by Trump Continue reading...

Weaker sharks are less effective hunters, which can upset the balance of the ecosystem, say authors of study into impacts of hotter oceansBaby sharks will emerge from their egg cases earlier and weaker as water temperatures rise, according to a new study that examined the impact of warming oceans on embryos.About 40% of all shark species lay eggs, and the researchers found that one species unique to the Great Barrier Reef spent up to 25 days less in their egg cases under temperatures expected by the end of the century. Continue reading...

Analysts say Origin’s plan for 700MW battery at Lake Macquarie Eraring power station and Neoen’s proposal for a 500MW storage project near Lithgow will accelerate the state’s energy transitionTwo new large-scale batteries that would be Australia’s biggest battery storage projects are proposed in New South Wales in a bid energy analysts say will accelerate the state’s energy transition.Origin Energy is moving forward with its plans for a 700MW battery at its Lake Macquarie Eraring power station, which the company said would be the largest battery project currently under consideration in Australia. Continue reading...

‘Frightening’ global decline is ‘tearing apart tapestry of life’, with climate crisis a critical concernInsect populations are suffering “death by a thousand cuts”, with many falling at “frightening” rates that are “tearing apart the tapestry of life”, according to scientists behind a new volume of studies.The insects face multiple, overlapping threats including the destruction of wild habitats for farming, urbanisation, pesticides and light pollution. Population collapses have been recorded in places where human activities dominate, such as in Germany, but there is little data from outside Europe and North America and in particular from wild, tropical regions where most insects live. Continue reading...

Disposal of radioactive waste is one of six issues to be addressed before plant in Essex can go aheadThe Environment Agency has told the Chinese nuclear developer behind plans to build a new reactor in Essex that it must resolve at least six safety issues before it can move forward.The issues identified by the environment watchdog in its early assessments of the plans for the site in Bradwell include concerns over how China General Nuclear Group (CGN) will dispose of radioactive waste. Continue reading...

Coalition says promise is key to preventing mass extinctions and ensuring clean air and waterA coalition of more than 50 countries has committed to protect almost a third of the planet by 2030 to halt the destruction of the natural world and slow extinctions of wildlife.The High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People, which includes the UK and countries from six continents, made the pledge to protect at least 30% of the planet’s land and oceans before the One Planet summit in Paris on Monday, hosted by the French president, Emmanuel Macron. Continue reading...

In response to articles on the risk of air pollution from wood-burning stoves, Simon Tate tested his own, but was surprised at the resultsAs an owner of a wood burner, your articles (Wood burners triple harmful indoor air pollution, study finds, 18 December; Avoid using wood burning stoves if possible, warn health experts, 1 January) caused great concern. We live in a rural area and would struggle without our stove. But according to a Sheffield University study, we are endangering our health by flooding our lounge with levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) that may far exceed the World Health Organization’s safe limit of 25 micrograms per cubic metre. I purchased a £200 air quality monitor, convinced that it would confirm that there was a problem with PM2.5 levels. I was therefore astonished to discover that our wood burner had no effect on PM2.5 levels, even when the door was opened for refuelling. For reference, I lit a match and the PM2.5 level shot up to 165 micrograms per cubic metre.We only burn wood and kindling that contain less than 20% moisture. We operate the stove at optimum temperature by using a stovepipe thermometer and spent as much on the flue as the stove. More in-depth research is needed before conclusions can be drawn about whether all wood burners cause indoor air pollution.

French president vows to overhaul France-Africa event to help mobilise Africa’s young peopleThe French president, Emmanuel Macron, has pledged to invite young Africans rather than their political leaders to a key France-Africa summit in a video call with the actor Idris Elba.The Élysée Palace said Elba, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations’ international fund for agricultural development, had asked to speak to the French leader. The Guardian was the only newspaper invited to attend the discussion at the Élysée, which marked the start of the One Planet biodiversity summit in Paris. Continue reading...

The race is on to find a steady source of lithium, a key component in rechargeable electric car batteries. But while the EU focuses on emissions, the lithium gold rush threatens environmental damage on an industrial scale. By Oliver Balch. Continue reading...

Magna Carta-style project aims to ‘bring prosperity into harmony with nature’Prince Charles is urging businesses to invest in the health of the planet and people at the launch of a sustainable finance charter backed by several international institutions.Evoking the history of Magna Carta, the Prince of Wales is launching the Terra Carta – the Earth charter – that will ask signatories to agree to almost 100 actions to become more sustainable by 2030. Continue reading...

Chinese growth and plans for post-Covid recovery powering commodities boom, say analystsThe global economy could be on the brink of a new commodity “supercycle” as governments prepare to use a green industrial revolution to kickstart growth following the coronavirus pandemic.The price of commodities, such as energy and metals, have reached record highs in recent weeks despite the ongoing spread of Covid-19 and are expected to climb further as countries embark on plans for a green economic recovery. Continue reading...

Europe’s second-largest financier of fossil fuels faces a vote to ramp up its climate commitmentsHSBC could be forced to slash its exposure to fossil fuels – starting with coal – from next year, after an influential group of investors filed a shareholder vote urging the bank to ramp up its climate commitments.Fifteen pension and investment funds are pushing HSBC to reduce the loans and underwriting services offered to clients which rely heavily on fossil fuels within a timeline consistent with Paris climate goals. Continue reading...

Unmanaged animals from Britain’s largest herds for 1,000 years are no longer needed with restaurants in lockdownUnmanaged wild deer herds could soon pose a threat to woodlands and important wildlife habitats in Britain because the commercial market for venison has collapsed during the pandemic.Many in the game industry as well as conservationists fear too few deer are being culled to keep the estimated two-million-strong wild herd, the largest for 1,000 years, at a sustainable size. Continue reading...

Situation in Mead, Nebraska, where AltEn has been processing seed coated with fungicides and insecticides, is a warning sign, experts sayFor the residents of Mead, Nebraska, the first sign of something amiss was the stench, the smell of something rotting. People reported eye and throat irritation and nosebleeds. Then colonies of bees started dying, birds and butterflies appeared disoriented and pet dogs grew ill, staggering about with dilated pupils.There is no mystery as to the cause of the concerns in Mead, a farming community so small that its 500 residents refer to it as a village and not a town. Continue reading...

Farmers ‘relieved’ as chemical sanctioned for emergency use, despite EU-wide ban backed by UKA pesticide believed to kill bees has been authorised for use in England despite an EU-wide ban two years ago and an explicit government pledge to keep the restrictions.Following lobbying from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and British Sugar, a product containing the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam was sanctioned for emergency use on sugar beet seeds this year because of the threat posed by a virus. Continue reading...

Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers have threatened federal employees and institutions that steward public landsWhen the full story of the 6 January storming of the US Capitol building is told, historians will have to make sense of what might seem an odd footnote. The two most prominent rightwing militia groups that participated in the mob onslaught on Congress – the Three Percenters, based in Idaho, and the Oath Keepers, based in Nevada – cut their teeth in obscure corners of the American west, where for close to a decade they have threatened violence against federal employees and institutions that steward the nation’s public lands.Related: 'It was just a free-for-all': my day photographing the Capitol attack Continue reading...

Two-thirds of sales at end of 2020 were battery electric vehicles despite dependence on oil and gas drillingNorway became the first country to sell more electric cars than petrol, hybrid and diesel engines put together last year, new data shows, with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounting for two-thirds of sales in the final months of 2020.Norway has one of the world’s most ambitious green targets, planning to phase out sales of all new fossil-fuel vehicles by 2025, five years earlier than the UK. Continue reading...

Report shows US was battered by punishing extreme weather on both the east and west coasts in 2020The US was battered by a record number of weather and climate-driven disasters in 2020 as extensive wildfires scorched the west, hurricanes in quick succession pummeled the east and extreme heat swept across the heart of the country, a new federal government report has shown.A total of 22 major disasters, defined as each causing at least $1bn in damage, swept the US last year, six more than the previous record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Continue reading...

Decision to move business secretary follows pressure from environment experts due to scale of roleBoris Johnson has moved his business secretary, Alok Sharma, to work full-time on preparations for the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow this November, a change urged by environmental experts given the scale of the role.For the past 11 months, Sharma has combined being Cop26 president with his job as business secretary. He will now undertake the Cop role full-time, with Kwasi Kwarteng taking the business brief. Continue reading...

Firefighters called to 755 animal incidents in 2020, with cats most commonly in need of help

Impossible Foods working on milk and fish substitutes as Patrick Brown pledges to put an end to animal agriculture industryPatrick Brown is on a mission: to eradicate the meat and fish industries by 2035. The CEO of Impossible Foods, a California-based company that makes genetically engineered plant-based meat, is deadly serious. No more commercial livestock farming or fishing. No more steak, fish and chips or roast dinners, at least not as you know them.In their place, his company’s scientists and food technicians will create plant-based substitutes for every animal product used today in every region of the world, he promises. Continue reading...

Indigenous peoples say that resurrecting the two Utah monuments should be the start of a sea change in how US treats tribal nationsIt was one of Donald Trump’s most controversial early moves as president: to radically shrink two national monuments in the American west.Now indigenous peoples are hopeful that Joe Biden will undo that decision – and more broadly effect a sea change in how the US treats the interests of tribal nations. Continue reading...

The best of the week’s wildlife pictures from around the world including sparring elk, dove v chipmunk and a playful elephant

People may have to travel to London despite pandemic in one of biggest protest crackdowns in UK legal historyMore than 1,000 people who took part in environmental direct action organised by Extinction Rebellion have been taken to court in what experts say is one of the biggest crackdowns on protest in British legal history.Hundreds of cases are ongoing and lawyers say that despite the pandemic, some defendants may still be asked to travel to court in London from across the UK to appear in person. Continue reading...

Country accounts for less than 0.1% of global emissions but suffers disproportionately from related disasters, say new reportKenya needs $62bn (£46bn) to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis in the next 10 years, according to a government document sent to the UN framework convention on climate change. It equates to almost 67% of Kenya’s GDP.The report illustrates the scale of the challenge as the country aims to cut greenhouse gases by 32% within the next decade. It will rely on international sources to fund close to 90% of the expenditure. Securing such a colossal amount of often contentious climate financing from rich countries yet to honour their commitments to the $100bn target pledged during the 2015 Paris agreement will be a tall order. Continue reading...

Global heating continued unabated despite Covid lockdowns, with record Arctic wildfires and Atlantic tropical stormsThe climate crisis continued unabated in 2020, with the the joint highest global temperatures on record, alarming heat and record wildfires in the Arctic, and a record 29 tropical storms in the Atlantic.Despite a 7% fall in fossil fuel burning due to coronavirus lockdowns, heat-trapping carbon dioxide continued to build up in the atmosphere, also setting a new record. The average surface temperature across the planet in 2020 was 1.25C higher than in the pre-industrial period of 1850-1900, dangerously close to the 1.5C target set by the world’s nations to avoid the worst impacts. Continue reading...

Head of World Food Program USA says 235 million people ‘marching toward starvation’

Maximum and minimum temperatures were above average for all states and territories, Bureau of Meteorology says

Cattle can fertilise land but consumption of other meat, milk and eggs must fall by 50%The UK’s beef herd could be at the heart of a sustainable farming system that tackles both the climate and wildlife crises while producing sufficient healthy food, according to a report.However, production and consumption of other meat, milk and eggs would have to fall by half, and large forests of new trees would have to be planted, the analysis from the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission charity (FFCC) found. Continue reading...

Coastal plain was up for sale as part of the Trump administration’s plan to pay for Republicans’ tax cuts with oil revenueThe Trump administration’s last-minute attempt on Wednesday to auction off part of a long-protected Arctic refuge to oil drillers brought almost zero interest from oil companies, forcing the state of Alaska into the awkward position of leasing the lands itself.The coastal plain of the Arctic national wildlife refuge was up for sale to drillers as part of the Trump administration’s plan to pay for Republicans’ tax cuts with oil revenue. Conservatives argued the leases could bring in $900m, half for the federal government and half for the state. Continue reading...

Environmental campaigners say failure to call in West Cumbria Mining planning application ‘jaw-dropping’Environmental campaigners and a local MP have criticised the government’s “jaw-dropping” decision not to block the building of a “climate-wrecking coal mine”.The communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, decided on Wednesday not to challenge the planning application for a new coal mine in Cumbria, despite opposition from Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, Tim Farron. Continue reading...

We are working hard to change the government’s mind on carbon fee and dividend, writes Catherine Dawson. The climate crisis cannot be solved within a continuing market economy, says Frank JacksonIn his article (There’s a simple way to green the economy – and it involves cash prizes for all, 5 January), Henry D Jacoby gives a brilliant analysis of the benefits of a carbon fee and dividend (or climate income) carbon-pricing policy and why there are some psychological barriers to its wider adoption. Citizens’ Climate Lobby is an international grassroots environmental group which has been encouraging politicians to consider adopting carbon fee and dividend (CF&D) since 2007.CF&D has been adopted in Canada and Switzerland – although the latter does not currently tax fuel for energy while it moves towards the development of more renewable energy systems. Canadians could have replaced its implementer, Justin Trudeau, last year and ditched the policy. They didn’t. Continue reading...

No ships left the big ports in Queensland and NSW in December ahead of Beijing resetting coal import quotas for the new yearHopes of an early resumption in the Australian coal trade to China have been dashed after analysis revealed no ships had left the largest export terminals in Queensland and New South Wales bound for the country last month.Market watchers say that goes against the annual trend of ships setting off for China in December, so that they arrive for the resetting of coal import quotas at the beginning of a new calendar year. Continue reading...

Workers on farms supplying world’s biggest meat firms allegedly paid £8 a day and housed in shacks with no toilets or running waterBrazilian companies and slaughterhouses including the world’s largest meat producer, JBS, sourced cattle from supplier farms that made use of workers kept in slavery-like conditions, according to a new report.

Researchers find invasive felines hunt with greater intensity, in broader environments and in greater numbers than equivalent native marsupial predatorAustralia’s wildlife are at least 20 times more likely to come across a deadly feral cat than one of the country’s native predators, according to a new study.Invasive cats, which kill billions of native animals each year, form a triple threat, the study finds, by hunting with greater intensity, in broader environments and in greater numbers than an equivalent native marsupial predator – the spotted-tailed quoll. Continue reading...

Mediterranean study finds subtidal populations of cockles, whelks and other species have collapsed by 90%The world’s most devastating climate-driven loss of ocean life has been reported in the eastern Mediterranean, one of the fastest warming places on Earth.Native mollusc populations along the coast of Israel have collapsed by about 90% in recent decades because they cannot tolerate the increasingly hot water, according to a new study, which raises concerns about the wider ecosystem and neighbouring regions. Continue reading...

National Grid issues urgent call for suppliers to generate extra 524MW of electricity capacityPlunging temperatures and a drop in wind turbine power generation have pushed UK electricity market prices to a new high and prompted the National Grid to put out an urgent call for suppliers to provide extra capacity.The National Grid control room warned that its spare electricity supplies would be “tight” this week, and on Tuesday issued an official call for generators to bring forward an extra 524 megawatts of electricity capacity within 24 hours. Continue reading...

Nordic country becomes first in the world where electric car sales outstrip those powered by other means