Minister says he has ‘had enough’ of company’s failure to deal with waste dump that was almost breached by South Island floodsNew Zealand’s environment minister has threatened the mining conglomerate Rio Tinto with legal action over what he says is an “outrageous” failure to deal with toxic waste from an aluminium plant.Recent South Island floods – in which the waste’s storage facility was nearly inundated, bringing ecological and human tragedy – have infuriated locals in Mataura, where 10,000 tonnes of “ouvea premix” resides. Continue reading...

Cause of rise was ocean warming of less than 2C, which has major implications for future, researchers warnMass melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet, driven by warmer ocean temperatures, was a major cause of extreme sea level rise more than 100,000 years ago, according to new research.A research team, led by scientists at the University of New South Wales, examined the cause of high sea levels during a period known as the last interglacial, which occurred 129,000-116,000 years ago. Continue reading...

The town at the center of a Guardian series, where the cancer risk is 50 times the national average, is critical of a planned monitoring systemEnvironmental Protection Agency officials on Tuesday pleaded with community members in Reserve, Louisiana, to back a new air monitoring system being installed by the agency, which they claim will better measure pollutants from a nearby chemical plant emitting the likely human carcinogen chloroprene.Reserve, the subject of a year-long Guardian series, Cancer Town, is home to the highest risk of cancer due to airborne toxins, according to EPA data, which found that a census tract next door to the plant has a cancer risk 50 times the national average. Continue reading...

Research shows abundance at sites in Europe has plunged by up to 80% in two decadesTwo scientific studies of the number of insects splattered by cars have revealed a huge decline in abundance at European sites in two decades.The research adds to growing evidence of what some scientists have called an “insect apocalypse”, which is threatening a collapse in the natural world that sustains humans and all life on Earth. A third study shows plummeting numbers of aquatic insects in streams. Continue reading...

Nicola Sturgeon criticises PM as officials look at London back-up for Glasgow summitThe government has warned that staging the COP 26 climate summit must represent “value for taxpayers’ money”, amid friction with the Scottish government over the policing costs of holding the event in Glasgow.It emerged on Wednesday that government officials have been scoping out the ExCeL Centre in London’s Docklands for the high-profile international summit, which the UK is due to host in November. Continue reading...

Europe’s biggest asset manager backs vote calling for bank to end services to energy firmsEurope’s largest asset manager is backing a shareholder vote urging Barclays to stop offering loans to fossil fuel companies.Amundi, an influential investor with more than €1.65tn (£1.4tn) in assets under management, is the latest shareholder to throw its weight behind a resolution calling on Barclays to phase out services to energy companies that fail to align with Paris climate goals. Continue reading...

Acting Lib Dem leader Ed Davey calls for action as he lambasts ‘shambolic’ approach to talksA cross-party committee of MPs, green campaigning groups, business leaders and climate experts is needed to advise the government on crunch UN climate talks later this year to put the UK’s hosting of the COP26 talks back on track, the Liberal Democrat acting leader, Sir Ed Davey, is expected to say.His call, which will form part of a speech on climate delivered at Birkbeck College in London on Thursday, comes after the energy minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, told a meeting of ambassadors that the UK could not afford to allow the talks to fail because of the additional pressures of Brexit. Continue reading...

MEPs support €29bn schemes, ‘locking Europe into burning fossil fuels for generations’The EU has given its formal backing to 32 major gas infrastructure projects in a move critics say will lock Europe into burning fossil fuels for generations.MEPs voted to support the European commission’s proposal by 443 votes to 169 on Wednesday, with 36 abstentions, provoking environmental groups to lament Brussels’ “hypocrisy” over the climate emergency. Continue reading...

Dams between Scotland, Norway, France and England ‘a possible solution’ to problemA Dutch government scientist has proposed building two mammoth dams to completely enclose the North Sea and protect an estimated 25 million Europeans from the consequences of rising sea levels as a result of global heating.Sjoerd Groeskamp, an oceanographer at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, said a 475km dam between north Scotland and west Norway and another 160km one between west France and south-west England was “a possible solution”. Continue reading...

Jonathan Watts breaks down the oil company’s statements on its plans to cut carbon emissions in the coming decadesBP’s new chief executive, Bernard Looney, has announced plans to make it a net zero company by 2050, and outlined its strategy in a document. The Guardian’s global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, examines what it says – and what it means:BP today set a new ambition to become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner, and to help the world get to net zero.The ambition is supported by 10 aims.

New CEO Bernard Looney reveals plan to invest more in low-carbon businessesBP’s new chief executive has set an ambitious target to shrink the oil firm’s carbon footprint to net zero by 2050 by cutting more greenhouse gas emissions every year than produced by the whole of the UK.Bernard Looney, who replaced Bob Dudley as chief executive this month, said it was clear that BP needed to change. He said BP would aim to become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner by tackling “all the carbon we get out of the ground as well as all the greenhouse gases we emit from our operations”. Continue reading...

Johnson told MPs figure was £350m but sources say he made error in ‘car crash of an announcement’The government has earmarked £1bn for safe cycling and walking routes in the next five years – not £350m, as Boris Johnson mistakenly told parliament in what one expert called “a car crash of an announcement”, the Guardian has learned.But £1bn is still not enough to even build Greater Manchester’s 1,800-mile Bee Network of safe paths, according to its architect, Chris Boardman, a former Olympic cycling champion who is the region’s walking and cycling commissioner. He has asked Johnson for £1.2bn and says he will continue to do so. Continue reading...

Transport secretary’s disclosure of earlier target likely to rattle carmakersThe government could ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars in 2032, three years earlier than previously suggested, the transport secretary has said.A consultation launched last week suggested all cars with internal combustion engines could be banned from 2035 but Grant Shapps told BBC radio on Wednesday the ban could come within 12 years. Continue reading...

BP, Shell, Chevron and Exxon accused of making huge profits while ‘passing the buck’ on climate changeBP, Shell, Chevron and Exxon have made almost $2tn in profits in the past three decades as their exploitation of oil, gas and coal reserves has driven the planet to the brink of climate breakdown, according to analysis for the Guardian.The scale of their profits is revealed as experts say the fossil fuel boom is coming to an end, with big oil entering a “death knell” phase, according to one prominent Wall St commentator. Continue reading...

Buying up unused fabrics and repurposing old stock is part of the designer’s sustainability missionGabriela Hearst, a favourite fashion designer of Oprah Winfrey and the Duchess of Sussex, describes her business model as “cooking with leftovers”.Cashmere leftovers, that is. With her husband, John Augustine Hearst, scion of the magazine empire, the fashion designer has a net worth estimated at £1.5bn, and has made it her mission to develop a sustainable methodology for the fashion industry. Continue reading...

The beach that lost some 20,000 cubic metres of sand to large swells last year has been battered again“Devastating” erosion at Newcastle’s Stockton beach has put the future of surfing and surf live saving in jeopardy, as anxious residents await further damaging swells at the end of the week.The director of education at the Stockton surf life saving club, Willow Forsyth, said 3,600 cubic metres of sand that was injected into targeted areas of the beach in December had been swept away, and even more damage done by this week’s storms. Continue reading...

Nationals MP also calls for expansion of Australia’s coal seam gas industryThe new minister for resources, Keith Pitt, says he sees no case to increase the level of taxation on the booming gas industry, despite concerns from experts that large multinationals are avoiding paying tax, and the budget is missing out on valuable revenue.The Queensland National, who replaced Matt Canavan in the portfolio after Canavan resigned to back Barnaby Joyce’s unsuccessful tilt at the party leadership, told Guardian Australia: “I think the taxation levels are reasonable where they are, and it will be steady as she goes.” Continue reading...

Energy companies have leased 9.9m acres from the administration – and the fossil fuels extracted could equal half a year of emissions from China

A report shows that when bike lanes are built, people cycle more and drive lessIf you took a time machine back to John Dobson Street in central Newcastle in 2013, you’d be struck by its transformation in the years since.An inhospitable dual carriageway has been replaced by a single carriageway with wider pavements and a 400m bike lane. The result: a fourfold increase in people cycling along the route. Continue reading...

Damage to environment could wipe £368bn a year from growth by 2050 and UK will be hard hit, WWF warnsLoss of nature will wipe £368bn a year off global economic growth by 2050 and the UK will be the third-worst hit, with a £16bn annual loss, according to a study by the World Wildlife Fund.Without urgent action to protect nature, the environmental charity warned that the worldwide impact of coastal erosion, species loss and the decline of natural assets from forests to fisheries could cost a total of almost £8tn over the next 30 years. Continue reading...

Menindee’s Graeme McCrabb, who raised awareness of mass fish kills, says he is heartbroken by the state government’s decisionThe New South Wales government has given the green light to irrigation farmers in the north-west of the state to harvest the recent rainfall, pleasing some but causing anger in towns such as Menindee and Wilcannia and on the lower Darling where the river has not flowed for a year.The lifting of the embargo for three days will be welcomed particularly by cotton farmers who have lobbied the NSW water minister, Melinda Pavey, warning that unless they are able to harvest the water their infrastructure will be damaged. Continue reading...

In the wake of destruction caused by wildfires, most recently in Australia, experts are seeking ways of limiting their impact by managing forests betterVast waves of fire have torn through Australia in recent months, leaving forests of skinned trees in their wake. The wildfires have been one of the most damaging in the country’s history – more than 11m hectares (27m acres) have burned, killing 33 people and decimating wildlife populations.But they are just the latest in a succession of destructive blazes that have been flaring across the planet – even in the Arctic circle – in the past five years. The response from authorities, in Australia, the Americas and the Mediterranean often seems scrambled and ineffective. Continue reading...

Power baron questions whether there is sound business case for project, saying government would need to indemnify itPolitically connected power baron Trevor St Baker says there is no way a new coal-fired power plant will proceed at Collinsville unless the Morrison government agrees to shield the project from a change of climate policy.A day after Scott Morrison left open the option of his government indemnifying a new coal plant in Collinsville from future carbon risk, St Baker told Guardian Australia no project at that scale could proceed without an indemnity from the commonwealth. Continue reading...

Burning gas, coal and oil costs global economy $8bn a day and particularly harms childrenAir pollution from burning fossil fuels is responsible for more than 4m premature deaths around the world each year and costs the global economy about $8bn a day, according to a study.The report, from Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, found that burning gas, coal and oil causes three times the number of deaths as road traffic accidents globally. Continue reading...

PM brushes off Tory objections and says work on laying track could begin in AprilBoris Johnson has staked his political reputation on delivering a “new anatomy of British transport” that will boost capacity and cut fares and journey times, as Downing Street seized control of the HS2 project and promised massive new spending on infrastructure.Brushing off the objections of Tory MPs who warned him that the rail scheme would become an albatross around the government’s neck, the prime minister announced on Tuesday that work on laying the track could start as soon as April. Continue reading...

Campaigners concerned about lack of urgency over talks due to be hosted in GlasgowClimate protesters and youth activists must play a leading role in the UN climate talks to be hosted in Glasgow this year, Nicola Sturgeon has said, as she vowed to find ways to include civil society more fully in the negotiations.“It’s very important that we make sure COP26 is inclusive. I want a broad range of events to help ensure that everyone feels they have a part to play in this,” Scotland’s first minister said at a conference in London. “That’s the kind of movement we need to create around this, that can be a hugely powerful voice for change.” Continue reading...

The 93-year-old naturalist will look at how forces including weather, volcanoes sunlight and human activity shape the worldDavid Attenborough will host a “super-landmark” series for the BBC, A Perfect Planet, examining how forces including oceans and volcanoes shape the world’s ecosystems. The 93-year-old – who recently warned that humans had “overrun the world” while promoting another upcoming project, A Life on Our Planet, with Netflix and the WWF – will look at phenomena including the Indian monsoon and Arctic winters in the five-part series.The series will explore how weather, oceans, volcanoes and sunlight shape the natural world, from a weather system that effectively distributes water to “marine currents [which] deliver nutrients to even the deepest reaches of the ocean”. It will also focus on animals and how they react to their ecosystems, including the white wolves of Ellesmere Island in Canada and Chinese golden snub-nosed monkeys. Continue reading...

The hike in industrial carbon pollution over the past 15 years sets Australia on a path to missing its Paris targetIndustrial greenhouse gas emissions in Australia have risen 60% in the past 15 years, putting the country on a path that, if it continues, will lead to it missing the target set at the Paris climate conference.That is the conclusion of an analysis by energy and carbon consultants RepuTex, which examined the rise in industrial carbon pollution – including from oil and gas extraction, mining and large-scale transport – in the period covered by Australia’s 2030 emissions target, starting in 2005. Continue reading...

Stress, financial hardship and ill-health among lasting effects, researchers findChronic ill-health, loss of financial stability and anxiety brought on by heavy rainfall are just some of the enduring effects of flooding on individuals, according to the first UK study to examine the long-term impact on communities.As the aftermath of Storm Ciara brings disruption to Scotland and the north of England, the report highlights the importance of ongoing support for flooded households and communities. Continue reading...

At least 250 unaccounted for after heavy rainfall across Pacific north-west overwhelmed cage of fish waiting to be releasedA pioneering tribal biodiversity project to restore the sacred Pacific lamprey population has been dealt a major blow after huge floods washed away hundreds of fish before they could be released into the wild.The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) have spent two decades reintroducing the lamprey into tributaries of the Columbia River after US government dams and industrial fishing wiped out the endemic species. Continue reading...

Breathe GB warns of damage to lungs and performance in survey of training groundsBritain’s future sporting performance could be hampered by air pollution because some training grounds are in areas with dangerously high pollution levels, a report has revealed.The Breathe GB study analysed pollution levels at 94 sporting sites, with one of the highest recorded levels at Birmingham’s Perry Park, host of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Continue reading...

Dozens of flood warnings still in place with heavy wind and rain due on SaturdayMPs have condemned the “completely unacceptable” failure of flood defences after parts of Yorkshire were under water for the second time in four years, with further downpours forecast.A second person died following Storm Ciara’s passage through Britain when a dog walker in his 60s was hit by a falling tree branch in Liverpool on Tuesday. Continue reading...

The Kangaroo Island dunnart is among the animals most in need of assistance, a government analysis has foundThe Kangaroo Island dunnart, the northern corroboree frog and the Blue Mountains water skink are among 113 species that need urgent attention after the bushfire crisis, according to a government analysis.Nineteen mammals, 13 birds, 20 reptiles, 17 frogs, five invertebrates, 22 crayfish and 17 fish species have been identified as the animals most in need of assistance in coming weeks and months. Continue reading...

PM says government is ‘not currently’ considering taxpayer indemnity from carbon risk, estimated at $17.5bnScott Morrison has left open the option of his government indemnifying a new coal plant in Collinsville from future carbon risk, despite moderate Liberals declaring there should be zero taxpayer support for the project.With Nationals and Liberals publicly at odds over new coal investments, and whether the government’s current climate change policies need a reboot, Labor asked the prime minister in question time whether the government was prepared to give the Collinsville project a taxpayer indemnity from carbon risk. Continue reading...

Co-chair of all-party parliamentary group on cycling and walking sets out a manifesto for active travelThe all-party parliamentary group for cycling and walking has, in collaboration with its 80 member groups, set out a manifesto for cycling and walking. The economic case for investment in these modes of travel is strong. We get £5.50 for every £1 we invest and the benefits are cross-cutting: a healthier population; stronger, safer local communities; better access to jobs and education; and lower levels of pollution.Almost three years ago the government committed to a cycling and walking investment strategy for England, with a stated aim to return walking levels to 300 stages (ie part of a journey) per person per year, double cycling stages by 2025 and increase walking to school. As many people pointed out at the time, the investment strategy had little in the way of actual investment. Indeed, dedicated funding for cycling from government since then has been sporadic and meagre, with only a handful of cities investing at the levels required to catch up with the level we see in neighbouring, successful countries for active travel such as the Netherlands. Continue reading...

Lost paths must be identified by government deadline to be added to official recordWalkers are being urged to help identify 10,000 miles of historic footpaths that are missing from the map in England and Wales and could be lost for ever.All rights of way must be identified before a government deadline of 2026, after which it will no longer be possible to add old paths to the official record. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Atlassian co-founder says the MP’s bill is the exact type of action we need and deserves bipartisan supportAtlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has thrown his support behind a climate action bill proposed by the independent Zali Steggall and has urged the major parties to put down the cudgels and support it.And the Australian Energy Council, representing major electricity and gas businesses, said the Steggall bill deserved to be seriously considered as it had the potential to deliver certainty and a path forward for the national economy. Continue reading...

Rainfall across the east coast is welcome news for the water grid as Sydney’s Warragamba dam levels reach 69% and continue to riseQueensland is bracing for more wild weather with storms forecast to lash the state’s southeast.Heavy falls are expected daily this week before becoming isolated to the state’s south-east corner into the weekend, bureau forecaster Kimba Wong said. Continue reading...

Global heating suspected to be behind sharp decline in populations across Antarctic islandsColonies of chinstrap penguins have fallen by more than half across islands in Antarctica, prompting scientific concern that “something is broken” in the world’s wildest ecosystem.After more than a month counting chicks in the South Shetland Islands, researchers suspect global heating is behind the sharp fall in numbers of the distinctive birds, which get their name from a black line that runs below the beak from cheek to cheek. Continue reading...

Jennifer Westacott, the BCA chief, tells audience Australia should aim to meet 2030 targets without using Kyoto carryover creditsAustralia should legislate a target of net zero emissions by 2050, the chief executive of the Business Council of Australia has said.Appearing on Monday night’s Q&A panel, Jennifer Westacott told the audience “we have to do net zero by 2050”. Continue reading...

The series will follow the teenage climate activist on her international crusade, giving an ‘inside view on what it’s like being a global icon’BBC Studios has announced a documentary series about the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg. The new show will follow Thunberg’s “international crusade” against the climate emergency, focusing on her campaign work as well as her “journey into adulthood”. It will also see Thunberg meet with scientists, politicians and businesspeople to explore the evidence around rising global temperatures.

Mytholmroyd community members say slow progress left properties unprotectedSue Slater has been cutting hair at Headquarters on Mytholmroyd’s main street for 38 years. For the first three decades the only real drama came from the gossip at the sink.Then in the summer of 2012 the village flooded, along with nearby Hebden Bridge and much of West Yorkshire’s Calder valley. It was a “one-in-100-years” freak occurrence, residents were told. The community was largely ignored by the government while London prepared to host the Olympics. Continue reading...

Torrential rain over three days has already put out one megablaze, the Gospers Mountain fireA deluge of rain and wild weather could extinguish all remaining fires in New South Wales by the end of the week, the Rural Fire Service hopes.Torrential rain over three days in the state, which has been ravaged by bushfires and endured a prolonged period of drought, has already extinguished one megablaze, with the Gospers Mountain fire that has burned for months in the Hawkesbury declared out on Monday. Continue reading...

A rash of newly approved mines could destroy swathes of the Hasdeo Arand forest – and with it the biodiversity local villagers depend on for survivalWords and photographs by Brian CasseyLaksmi Shankar Porte emerged from the forest. In his hands were an axe, a small scythe and a large crop of grass. Like many of the Gond people living in India’s Hasdeo Arand forest, he will use the grass to make ropes, brooms and mats.The Hasdeo Arand is one of the largest contiguous stretches of dense forest in central India, covering about 170,000 hectares (420,080 acres) of the state of Chhattisgarh. It is rich in biodiversity, contains many threatened species and is home to elephants, leopards and sloth bears. Continue reading...

Experts concerned young people’s mental health particularly hit by reality of the climate crisisOver the past few weeks Clover Hogan has found herself crying during the day and waking up at night gripped by panic. The 20-year-old, who now lives in London, grew up in Queensland, Australia, cheekbyjowl with the country’s wildlife, fishing frogs out of the toilet and dodging snakes hanging from the ceiling.The bushfires ravaging her homeland over the past few weeks have taken their toll. “I’ve found myself bursting into tears … just seeing the absolutely harrowing images of what’s happening in Australia – it is overwhelming and terrifying.” Continue reading...

Northern English towns inundated again as transport systems struggle to cope, but snow expected on Monday as temperatures dropHurricane-force winds and flooding have caused severe disruption across much of Britain, including damage to hundreds of properties and the cancellation of trains, flights and ferries.Storm Ciara brought heavy rain and winds of more than 90mph, knocking out power to homes in some areas. The upheaval is likely to last into the start of the working week and there is more bad weather to come. Continue reading...

512,452 megalitre deluge across all the city’s catchments equivalent of nine months’ worth of water in less than a week• NSW floods and weather: rain eases but chaos continues – live

Now is the time for ‘modern Liberals’ to speak for their community rather than toe the party line, independent MP saysThe woman who toppled Tony Abbott in Warringah at the last election on a platform of climate change action now has the whole parliament in her sights as she seeks bipartisan support for a climate change framework bill aimed at transitioning Australia to a decarbonised economy.Zali Steggall – along with her fellow crossbenchers Rebekah Sharkie, Helen Haines and Andrew Wilkie – will release the climate change national framework for adaption and mitigation bill on Monday, ahead of its introduction to the parliament in March. Continue reading...

Deputy leader says market should be allowed to make its own decisions and coal will play a part in the economy for decadesLabor’s deputy leader has not ruled out the party supporting new coal developments, saying it would be a decision for the markets despite previously declaring it would be a “good thing” if the thermal coal market collapsed.In a somewhat difficult and at times awkward interview with David Speers on the ABC’s Insiders program, Richard Marles struggled to articulate the difference between Labor’s coal policy and the Coalition’s, stating “coal will continue to play a part within our economy for decades to come”, while demanding the government do more on climate policy. Continue reading...