Environment | The Guardian

David Littleproud tells ABC that McKenzie’s method ‘not the best’, while calling for new coal-fired power stationDavid Littleproud has rebuked Bridget McKenzie for her handling of the sports grants saga, saying partisan allocation of projects by party representation in marginal seats is not “the best way to do it”.In a wide-ranging interview with ABC 7.30 the newly elected deputy Nationals leader also defended his record on climate change and advocated for the proposed new Collinsville coal-fired power station in Queensland. Continue reading...

Claire O’Neill says prime minister’s promises of action are not close to being metBoris Johnson has shown a “huge lack of leadership and engagement” over the UK’s hosting of the COP 26 global climate change conference and admitted he does not understand the issue, according to Claire O’Neill, the sacked head of the summit.The former minister, who was leading efforts to hold the COP gathering of world leaders in Glasgow in November, said the UK was “playing at Oxford United levels when we really need to be Liverpool” in terms of the effort to tackle the climate emergency. Continue reading...

The popular HBO series about the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster has led to a surge in tourists to the site and nearby town of Pripyat Continue reading...

Michael McCormack sees off Nationals leadership challenge from Barnaby Joyce, while Adam Bandt is elected Greens leader. This blog is now closed

British Heart Foundation says 15m Britons are exposed to toxic levels of pollutionAlmost a quarter of people in the UK are being exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution with potentially devastating health consequences, according to analysis.The study by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) found that about 15 million people in the UK live in areas where average levels of PM2.5 – a tiny toxic particle that predominantly comes from vehicle emissions, wood burning and construction – exceeds guidelines set by the World Health Foundation. Continue reading...

Indigenous representative will tell Siemens it is wrong to say traditional owners support Adani’s Carmichael mineAn envoy from an Australian Indigenous group has travelled to Germany to push for a meeting with the head of technology giant Siemens, claiming the company failed to properly check that traditional owners supported Adani’s controversial Carmichael coal project in Queensland.The Wangan and Jagalingou Family Council, which has spent years challenging the Adani mine, says the company was wrong to claim the project had been approved by its people. Continue reading...

As PM announces Glasgow plan, much diplomatic work remains to be doneBoris Johnson’s first steps on the international stage after Brexit will be to hail Britain’s role in forging a new global consensus on the climate crisis – although he has not yet said who will lead that charge.The UK will host the crunch UN climate talks, COP 26, this November in Glasgow, in what experts say is the last chance for international cooperation on the crisis. The prime minister, in launching the UK’s strategy for the talks on Tuesday, stops short of promising to “get climate done”, but in making his own involvement clear he will at least reassure climate activists and governments concerned at a hitherto confused and chaotic start to the UK’s presidency. Continue reading...

Body of part-time tour guide Raúl Hernández found days after that of reserve manager Homero Gómez González in MichoacánA second worker at Mexico’s famed monarch butterfly sanctuary has been found murdered, sparking concerns that the defenders of one of Mexico’s most emblematic species are being slain with impunity.The body of Raúl Hernández Romero, a part-time tour guide, was found on Saturday, showing injuries possibly inflicted by a sharp object, according to prosecutors in the western state of Michoacán. Continue reading...

Bulldozed trees on Ron Greentree’s property caused loss of habitat for koalas and brolgas, NSW authorities allegeThe biggest wheat farmer in Australia, Ron Greentree, is again facing charges of illegal land clearing, this time in relation to a property in western New South Wales.Greentree, the former chair of Graincorp, along with his business partner Ken Harris and their companies trading under the name the Greentree Partnership, are facing 32 charges of unauthorised land clearing at Boolcarrol, near Moree, which is alleged to have occurred between 2016 and 2019. Continue reading...

About 700 PFAS-contaminated sites have been identified across the US while those exposed to enough chemicals can face devastating health consequencesIn 2002, the French multinational Saint-Gobain boosted production of chemically weatherproofed fabrics that it produced in its Merrimack, New Hampshire, plant. Soon after, serious health problems began hitting residents living near the facility.The Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water (MCCW) advocacy group says people there suffer from high levels of cancer, cardiovascular issues, autoimmune disorders, kidney disease and developmental disorders. That includes an alarming number of children facing rare and aggressive cancers, said MCCW’s Laurene Allen, who lives in the city of about 30,000 that sits an hour north of Boston. Continue reading...

Victorian environment minister ‘appalled’ by allegations and her department is investigatingInvestigators at the scene of a “koala massacre” at a cleared gum tree plantation in Victoria say the number of animals killed is likely to rise above 40 as they make their way through 10 kilometres of felled timber.A major incident response has been set up at the site, on private land near Cape Bridgewater, with koalas being treated by vets for starvation and broken bones. Continue reading...

New rules do not contain same level of safeguards as under common agricultural policyBritain’s hedgehogs could be at greater risk after Brexit because hedges may no longer be protected by agriculture regulations, a report says.Under EU law, hedgerows cannot be cut during the bird nesting season and two-metre wild “buffer” strips cannot be doused with pesticides or ploughed up. This is designed to protect hedgerow habitats that provide refuge for 80% of woodland birds and 50% of all mammals. Continue reading...

Regulator aims to support investment in low-carbon technology while protecting households from price risesBritain’s energy regulator has said it will change how it governs the industry to help meet the government’s climate targets, after coming under fire for failing to prioritise the climate emergency.The regulator published a wide-ranging climate action plan on Monday, which aims to help get 10m electric vehicles on our roads by 2030 and support a fourfold increase in offshore wind generation, while protecting homes from rising energy bills. Continue reading...

Campaigners are increasingly concerned country lacks clear strategy for Glasgow summitDeveloping countries and climate campaigners are growing increasingly concerned that the UK lacks a clear strategy for hosting vital UN talks on the climate crisis, amid fears of a conflict of interest in government between seeking post-Brexit trade deals and a global climate settlement.Boris Johnson will lead prominent British figures from climate science, business and economics to launch the UK’s strategy for the conference, known as COP26, on Tuesday. The talks, to take place in Glasgow this November, are widely seen as the last realistic chance for countries to pledge the stiff cuts needed in greenhouse gases to stave off climate breakdown. Continue reading...

The ravenous creatures are destroying vast swaths of kelp forests, which are crucial for carbon storage. Is the answer staring us in the plate?Eating as much sushi as humanly possible seems an unlikely way to help save the planet. But one company is hoping fine diners from London to LA to Tokyo will devour enough uni sushi – sea urchin roe – to help restore the planet’s kelp forests.From the North Sea to Tasmania, large parts of these underwater carbon stores – crucial for biodiversity – have vanished, leaving vast “urchin barrens” on the sea floor in their place. In Norway, the expanses of bizarre, prickly orbs are green. In California, they are purple. But wherever the urchins linger, the problems are the same. Continue reading...

It has been promised that any wild space destroyed during HS2’s creation will be replaced. But green opposition is hardeningWhen Labour announced HS2 in 2010, the 153-page launch document contained one mention of wildlife. Only “a few” protected wildlife sites would be affected, it said. There would be a line of concrete and steel crossing middle England, but any wild space that was destroyed would be compensated for with new trees, woods and ponds – “no net loss of biodiversity”, in eco-speak.Related: Will HS2 really help cut the UK’s carbon footprint? Continue reading...

Strongly worded appeal comes as new energy market analysis predicts Australia will hit 50% renewable electricity by 2030A group of more than 200 scientists will on Monday urge returning parliamentarians to urgently reduce Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and work diplomatically to achieve coordinated global climate action, after a catastrophic summer of fires.In an open letter timed to coincide with the resumption of the parliamentary year in Canberra, the group says scientific evidence unequivocally links human-caused climate change to the increasing risk of frequent and severe bushfires in the Australian landscape. Continue reading...

Firms may cut prices on plug-in electric hybrids to escape new EU emissions finesCarmakers are bracing for a hybrid electric car price war this year as they try to avoid steep EU fines for carbon dioxide emissions.Related: 2020 set to be year of the electric car, say industry analysts Continue reading...

Animals worth £3m were stolen from Britain’s farms in 2019, but farmers are fighting backSheep farmer Mark Candy did not realise at first that he had been targeted by rustlers. His Romney ewes graze among trees and rough ground on a Wiltshire country estate, and it was not obvious at first that some were missing.“Then I sensed that something wasn’t quite right,” said Candy, whose family have farmed in the area for five generations. “I did a rough count and it became clear many of them had gone.” Continue reading...

Thirty tortoises partially descended from extinct species found, including one of same species as famed individualConservationists working around the largest volcano on the Galápagos Islands say they have found 30 giant tortoises partially descended from two extinct species, including that of the famed Lonesome George.The Galápagos national park and Galápagos Conservancy said one young female had a direct line of descent from the Chelonoidis abingdonii species of Pinta island. The last of those tortoises was Lonesome George, who died in June 2012 and was believed to be more than 100 years old. Continue reading...

Cruel or kind? Education and conservation are cited as reasons for keeping wild animals in captivity, but many critics say zoos are outdated relics of a less enlightened era. We hear what both sides sayIn a few days, a pair of two-year-old cheetahs, Saba and Nairo, will depart from the UK on a remarkable journey. The brothers will be taken from Howletts Wild Animal Park, in Kent, and flown to South Africa to begin a new life – in the wild.It will be the first time that cheetahs born in captivity have left the UK for rewilding in Africa, says Damian Aspinall, who runs Howletts. “There are only about 7,000 cheetahs left on the planet and they are listed as vulnerable,” he says. “This reintroduction – to a reserve in Mount Camdeboo, in south of the country – is important because it will help to support the small population of cheetahs we have left in the wild.” Continue reading...

Andrea Leadsom and Michael Gove among senior figures touted to replace Claire O’Neill as talks leaderBritain needs to find a new high-level leader of its team preparing for this year’s crunch climate talks in Glasgow as a matter of extreme urgency.That is the clear message from politicians, senior scientists and climate experts following last week’s sacking of Claire O’Neill as president of the climate talks, known as COP26. Continue reading...

Warnings come after discovery of fire-ravaged Anaiwan panel on property in northern NSW that is at least 500 years oldAn important rock art site in northern New South Wales has been discovered after being irretrievably damaged by bushfire, with grave fears held for thousands of other sites.Some of the art at the site, which is on private property west of Armidale on the NSW northern tablelands, was known but had not been fully documented. Fire also destroyed a nearby site which had not been documented. The art is thought to be at least 500 years old. Continue reading...

The Guardian has become the first major global news organisation to institute an outright ban on taking money from companies that extract fossil fuels. Here, we hear from readers on their reaction, and our interim chief executive explains the policy changeIn a bid to reduce our carbon footprint, confront greenwashing and increase our focus on the climate crisis, the Guardian this week announced it will no longer run ads from fossil fuel extractors alongside any of its content in print or online. The move will come into immediate effect, and follows the announcement in October last year that we intend to reduce our net emissions to zero by 2030.Once upon a time, a newspaper was a rather straightforward business. You generated enough material of interest to attract a significant number of readers. You then ‘sold’ those readers to advertisers happy to pay to get their ideas, products or brands in front of consumers with cash to spend. Continue reading...

New study shows marine heat wave was causing marine life to cluster in an area that made feeding dangerousWhen humpback whales began to appear in large numbers off the California coast in 2015 and 2016, people celebrated the comeback of the whales after a near-miss with extinction.However, the excitement was quickly met with new worries – the whales increasingly got caught up in fishermen’s crab ropes. By 2016, there were more than 50 recorded entanglements that left whales injured or killed. Whales got ropes tangled around their mouths, making it difficult for them to eat. Crab lines cut through tissue and caused infections. Continue reading...

Plants provide key food source for pollinators as they come out of hibernationGardeners should avoid mowing over dandelions on their lawn if they want to help bees, according to the new president of the British Ecological Society.Dandelions – which will start flowering in the UK this month – provide a valuable food source for early pollinators coming out of hibernation, including solitary bees, honey bees and hoverflies. Continue reading...

Beavers can regenerate landscapes, encourage wildlife and prevent flooding – and they have friends in high placesThe must-have accessory for every English country estate was once a gothic folly, a ha-ha or a croquet lawn. Now it is a pair of beavers.Landowners and large estates are racing to acquire licences to reintroduce the water-loving rodents, which were hunted to extinction in Britain 400 years ago. Continue reading...

Farm on Eyre Peninsula volunteered by owner to house low and medium risk wasteA farming property on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula will become a nuclear waste dump, the federal government has announced, but opponents of the facility are making a last-bid ditch to stop it.On Saturday the federal resources minister, Matt Canavan, said 160 hectares of the Napandee property in Kimba would host Australia’s radioactive waste, the vast majority of which comes from the production of nuclear medicine and is held across more than 100 sites. Continue reading...

Source says officials in COP26 unit could not work with Claire O’Neill in run-up to Glasgow talksClaire O’Neill, the former UK energy minister who was to lead the UN climate talks this year in Glasgow, has been removed from the post.Her sacking comes as Boris Johnson prepares to launch the UK’s strategy for hosting November’s crunch climate talks, known as COP26. Continue reading...

Biodegradable potato-starch bags | Fossil fuel advertising | Marmalade | Sponges and loofahsI have just turned my “active” compost heap, which has received all the Guardian biodegradable bags since they were introduced last year. I am pleased to say the older bags are barely recognisable and are well on their way to forming nice new compost. By the time the “maturing” heap is emptied in the spring, I expect all the bags will have disappeared and will help grow the next crop of potatoes – a virtuous circle. Well done on your initiative.

The pick of the world’s best flora and fauna photos, including a plea for a crocodile trapped in a tyre Continue reading...

Ugandan activist says she hopes storm over Davos photo will help shift narrativeThe Ugandan climate activist who was cropped out of a press photo in Davos has said many African activists experience the same erasure but feel unable to speak up.The Associated Press apologised last week after it cropped Vanessa Nakate out of a photo she had posed for alongside fellow activists Greta Thunberg, Loukina Tille, Luisa Neubauer and Isabelle Axelsson. Continue reading...

NSW environment minister insists government will not ‘cut corners’ in assessing Santos’s controversial coal-seam gas project at NarrabriFarmers near the proposed Narrabri gas development in northern New South Wales fear they will be “sold out” by a federal-state energy deal that promises to dramatically increase supplies of the fossil fuel in the state.Announcing the $2bn deal alongside the prime minister, Scott Morrison, on Friday, the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, nominated Santos’s long-promised Narrabri coal-seam gas project as a way to deliver 70 petajoules of new gas a year as promised under the agreement. Continue reading...

Hives that survived catastrophic Paris cathedral blaze are healthier than ever, says beekeeperIt is a crisp winter morning and the area around Notre Dame is sealed off as it has been since the fire last April that devastated the cathedral.Those in the know, however, especially those with the keenest of eyes, might spot some small movement high up to the south of the stricken and blackened structure. Continue reading...

Governments risk derailing global fossil fuel demand with ‘handbrake turns’ in futureThe oil industry is at risk of a global market shock that could halve the value of fossil fuel investments if governments delay setting policies to tackle the climate crisis, according to new analysis.A report by Carbon Tracker, a financial thinktank, warned that a “handbrake turn” in climate policy could have a “forceful, abrupt, and disorderly” impact on the global oil industry by derailing fossil fuel demand. Continue reading...

Agreement will underwrite grid interconnectors and cut emissions, Australian prime minister saysScott Morrison has struck a $2bn deal with the New South Wales government to increase gas supply and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector.The deal includes at least $450m of federal grants and $510m more of federal grants or loans for “NSW-based emissions reduction initiatives”, to be matched by $1.01bn in direct funding from Gladys Berejiklian’s government. Continue reading...

Annual challenge encourages the public to catch as many of the invasive giant snakes that decimate native wildlife as possibleMost visitors to the mosquito-infested swamps of the Florida Everglades are happy to leave again quickly: a half-hour airboat ride and photograph of a basking alligator is usually enough to satisfy the curiosity of any tourist keen to return to the theme parks and beaches – or sports events – of the sunshine state’s more traditional attractions.But Mike Kimmel wouldn’t be anywhere else. The professional wildlife trapper and self-styled python cowboy’s most recent excursion into the uninhabitable backwaters of the famed River of Grass region was rewarded with the grand prize in this year’s extra-special version of the annual Python Challenge encouraging the public to catch as many of the invasive giant snakes that decimate native wildlife as possible. Continue reading...

Companies to be banned from destroying clothes, cosmetics and other itemsFrance is to ban designer clothes and luxury goods companies from destroying unsold or returned items under a wide-ranging anti-waste law passed by parliament on Thursday.The groundbreaking law, which the French government claims is a world first, also covers electrical items, hygiene products and cosmetics, which must now be reused, redistributed or recycled. Continue reading...

Environment group says $4.5bn saving should be redirected to rural and regional renewal after bushfiresThe Australian Conservation Foundation is calling on the federal government to cap lucrative fuel tax credits for big business, with the $4.5bn annual saving to be redirected to rural and regional renewal in the wake of the summer bushfire crisis.The environment group’s pre-budget submission argues that reform of the fuel rebate – forecast to cost $34bn over the forward estimates – is urgently needed given the scale of devastation caused by the fires, which have seen more than 18 million hectares of land burned across the country. Continue reading...

Johnson’s promised cash only for those flooded from 8-18 November and where at least 25 houses affectedHundreds of flooded households will not receive a penny of the thousands of pounds in compensation announced by Boris Johnson because of an “obscene postcode lottery” being applied by the government.The prime minister promised that grants of up to £5,000 would be made available for victims of flooding, after visiting Fishlake in Yorkshire last November in the run-up to the general election. Another set of payouts of £500 for households and £2,500 for businesses was also announced. Continue reading...

I shut down an oil pipeline as part of a peaceful protest. The government thinks this is violent extremism

Agriculture and forestry union says up to 90% of saplings they have looked at so far have diedUp to 90% of the millions of saplings planted in Turkey as part of a record-breaking mass planting project may have died after just a few months, according to the country’s agriculture and forestry trade union.On 11 November last year, which the government declared National Forestation Day, 11 million trees were planted by volunteers in more than 2,000 sites across the country, including by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the parliament Speaker, Mustafa Şentop. Continue reading...

Three survivors joined Friends of the Earth to accuse ANZ of misleading consumers by investing in fossil fuel projectsThree bushfire survivors have joined environment group Friends of the Earth in a claim against ANZ, accusing it of financing the climate crisis by funding fossil fuel projects.The case, lodged under international guidelines agreed by members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), demands the bank disclose its greenhouse gas emissions, including “scope three” emissions resulting from its business lending and investment portfolio, and set ambitious targets that align with the Paris climate agreement. Continue reading...

Temporary ban to curb coronavirus is not enough, says environmental leader Jinfeng ZhouA temporary ban on wildlife markets in China to curb the spread of coronavirus is “not enough” and should be made permanent, a prominent Chinese environmental leader has told the Guardian.Echoing calls from experts worldwide who have denounced the trade for its damaging impact on biodiversity as well as the spread of disease, Jinfeng Zhou, secretary general of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), said the ban failed to address the root cause of the outbreak, which was poor regulation and high levels of illegal trade. Continue reading...

Andrea Leadsom overruled climate aims of government’s own planning authorityThe UK government is being sued for approving a large new gas-fired power plant, overruling the climate change objections of its own planning authority.The plant, being developed by Drax in north Yorkshire, would become the biggest gas power station in Europe and could produce 75% of the UK’s power sector emissions when fully operational, according to the environmental lawyers ClientEarth, who have brought the judicial review. Continue reading...

Conservation group wins case against VicForests to protect threatened species habitat after unprecedented bushfiresVicForests has been forced to immediately stop logging in parts of Victoria’s central highlands after the supreme court granted an injunction to a citizen science group pushing for a stop to logging of unburnt areas in the wake of bushfires.Wildlife of the Central Highlands (Wotch) has launched a fresh case against VicForests in a bid to stop logging of threatened species habitat after the country’s unprecedented fire season. Continue reading...

Binding targets on air, water quality and wildlife proposed to replace EU rulesPowers to prevent the export of plastic waste to developing countries, binding targets on air and water quality and the protection of wildlife will be enshrined in law under the environment bill due to be introduced in parliament on Thursday.The commitments will replace the UK’s current obligations on environmental protection under EU law, and the UK will be able to diverge in future from new requirements in EU regulations. Continue reading...

Whitehall’s spending watchdog says energy regulator not tough enough on companiesElectricity bills sent to UK homes are higher than they should be because the energy regulator has allowed electricity network companies to rake in bigger than expected profits, according to Whitehall’s spending watchdog.Households have paid at least £1bn more than necessary over recent years, according to the National Audit Office, because the regulator, Ofgem, was not tough enough on the electricity network companies. Continue reading...