TCI threatens to dump stakes in firms that do not have plan to reduce emissionsThe activist hedge fund TCI plans to target directors of companies that fail to disclose their carbon emissions, in the latest sign that investors are putting more pressure on boardrooms to step up their disclosure on climate risks.
by Sarah Martin Chief political correspondent on (#4VYHK)
ALP concerned about repeat of flawed roll-out of government’s regional jobs schemeLabor has raised concerns that a new round of government drought grants could be politically exploited, as parliament’s audit committee agrees to examine the Coalition’s troubled regional jobs and investment scheme.On Monday, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit announced it had agreed to commence an inquiry into the Regional Jobs and Investment Packages (RJIP) program, along with the Australian Research Council’s administration of the national competitive grants program. Continue reading...
US insurers join retreat from European insurers meaning coal projects cannot be built or operatedThe number of insurers withdrawing cover for coal projects more than doubled this year and for the first time US companies have taken action, leaving Lloyd’s of London and Asian insurers as the “last resort†for fossil fuels, according to a new report.The report, which rates the world’s 35 biggest insurers on their actions on fossil fuels, declares that coal – the biggest single contributor to climate change – “is on the way to becoming uninsurable†as most coal projects cannot be financed, built or operated without insurance. Continue reading...
Report to Unesco by the federal and Queensland governments says key features have deteriorated since reef was listed in 1981Australia has conceded in an official report that the Great Barrier Reef’s unique values as a world heritage site have been adversely affected by climate change.In the report to Unesco’s world heritage committee, the Queensland and federal governments say the reef is “an icon under pressure with a deteriorating long-term outlookâ€. Continue reading...
Bimblebox Nature Refuge owners say mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin would destroy wildlife and impact graziersConservationists have launched a court battle against Clive Palmer’s proposed Queensland coalmine, saying it will destroy wildlife and impact graziers.The owners of the 8,000-hectare (20,000-acre) Bimblebox Nature Refuge in central Queensland filed an objection to Waratah Coal’s proposed mining project in the Galilee Basin on Monday in the land court in Brisbane. Continue reading...
Energy industry in particular fights back against planned new rules on green labellingFossil fuel lobbyists are trying to water down planned EU rules to stop “investment greenwashing’ by setting science-based criteria for any investment which lays claim to being environmentally sustainable.A report from lobbyist watchdog InfluenceMap has found that although some investors support the “green labelling†rules, 98% of Europe’s 50 largest investors are members of lobby groups trying to weaken the proposals. Continue reading...
by Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent on (#4VXJB)
Manifestos fall short of action needed to address biggest source of UK emissions, campaigners sayNone of the main parties in the general election has a coherent plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport, the biggest source of carbon in the UK, according to campaigners.The Conservative manifesto highlights the need to repair potholes, but the nearly £30bn pledge to be spent on roads is likely to add to greenhouse gases at a time when they need to be reduced drastically. Continue reading...
Bipartisan bloc aims to convince people that rapid action is required to halt carbon emissions within 30 yearsFormer US secretary of state and Democratic senator John Kerry has launched a new coalition of power-brokers, including top politicians, military leaders, and Hollywood celebrities, to fight for addressing the climate crisis.This coalition – named World War Zero, in reference to the national security danger presented by global heating – aims to convince people that rapid mobilization is required to halt the increase in carbon emissions within 30 years. According to United Nations scientists, global carbon emissions must be halved by 2030 – and eliminated completely by 2050 – to restrict warming to comparatively safe levels. Continue reading...
by Sarah Martin Chief political correspondent on (#4VXTC)
Pat Conroy lashes Greens’ decision to side with the Coalition as a ‘massive error’ with far-reaching consequencesAustralia’s carbon emissions would be more than 200m tonnes lower and electricity prices would be cheaper if the Greens had supported the carbon pollution reduction scheme a decade ago, the Labor frontbencher Pat Conroy says.Speaking on the 10th anniversary of the 2009 parliamentary defeat of Labor’s emissions trading system, Conroy has lashed the political failure to develop a national energy policy as “perhaps the most consequential policy failure of the modern era in Australiaâ€. Continue reading...
Bank of England governor steps down in January and will replace Michael BloombergMark Carney has been appointed as UN special envoy for climate action and finance as he prepares to step down as governor of the Bank of England in January.Carney replaces billionaire Michael Bloomberg in the part time pro bono climate action role after the former New York mayor stepped down to focus on the US presidential race. Continue reading...
Rich should foot bill for impact on developing nations, report claimsA new international organisation should be set up to raise and distribute funds to nations who will suffer the worst impacts of global heating.That is the key conclusion of a UK report – Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change – that will be debated this week at the COP25 climate talks in Madrid. The authors argue that the cash raised by the new body should be used in addition to the $100bn a year rich countries have pledged to help poorer nations cut their carbon emissions and adapt to the climate crisis. Continue reading...
The minke whale was discovered on Friday by a patrol boat under Battersea BridgeAn eight-foot whale washed up on the shore of the Thames yesterday, where it was found by a patrol boat under Battersea Bridge.The minke whale was found on Friday evening at about 10pm by a Port of London Authority boat, but it is not yet known how it got there or why it died. Continue reading...
Genuine fascists remain on the political margins, but we can increasingly imagine the space that eco-fascism might occupyEarlier this year, when the fascist responsible for the El Paso massacre cited ecological degradation as part motivation for his killing spree, many considered him entirely deranged.Eco-fascism sounds oxymoronic, a mashup of irreconcilable philosophies. Continue reading...
by Matthew Taylor, Helen Pidd and Jessica Murray on (#4VVJZ)
Large turnouts in Madrid before UN summit, and in Sydney after deadly wildfiresHundreds of thousands of young people have taken to the streets from Manila to Copenhagen as part of the latest student climate strikes to demand radical action on the unfolding ecological emergency.School and university students around the world walked out of lessons on Friday with large turnouts in Madrid, where world leaders will gather on Monday for the latest UN climate summit, and Sydney, where protesters demanded action after devastating wildfires. Continue reading...
Mercedes-Benz owner aims to slash €1bn from wage bill in drive towards electric carsDaimler has announced plans to cut at least 10,000 jobs worldwide in the latest sign of stress in the German automotive industry as it invests billions in electric cars.Daimler, which owns Mercedes-Benz and also makes lorries, vans and buses, said on Friday it planned to cut thousands of jobs by the end of 2022, but later made it clear the toll would be higher. Continue reading...
Coldplay and Massive Attack have pledged greener tours – but is the billion-pound gigging industry compatible with eco activism?As they released their eighth album, Everyday Life, Coldplay announced last week that they would not be taking it on tour, instead performing the album just once on British soil at the Natural History Museum. Frontman Chris Martin expressed his concerns about the future of touring, highlighting the difficulties of reconciling flying with environmentalism and expressed a wish to see a Coldplay show run largely on solar power with no single-use plastic. Snark was instant – “Coldplay announces plan to spare planet the effects of future Coldplay concerts†ran one headline – but others lauded the move: the band’s previous tour featured 122 shows across five continents and generated £405m.Massive Attack also declared this week that “business as usual is over’’ as they begin working with the University of Manchester’s Tyndall Centre to map the carbon footprint of tours and work on a blueprint to reform the industry, a message similarly shared by Billy Bragg on his recent tour. Continue reading...
Pupils to declare December vote a ‘climate election’ as data highlights urgency of crisisChildren and young people in more than 100 towns and cities across the UK are walking out of classrooms on Friday for the latest youth strike to highlight the escalating climate crisis.Strikers are focusing on the polls next month, which they have pledged to make a “climate election†by demonstrating the growing public concern about the ecological crisis. Continue reading...
With global heating damaging corals worldwide, experts find potential tool in ‘acoustic enrichment’ to recolonise reefsPlaying sounds of a healthy coral reef can attract fish back to reefs that have become degraded and abandoned, researchers have found.Global heating together with factors such as pollution are causing widespread damage to coral and harming delicate reef ecosystems. Continue reading...
Students in Australia gathered in Sydney, Melbourne and other capitals as part of the global 29 November climate protestsA teenager whose family home burned down in the New South Wales bushfires has delivered a message to Scott Morrison at a climate emergency protest outside the Liberal party headquarters, saying: “your thoughts and prayers are not enoughâ€.Shiann Broderick, from Nymboida, said government inaction on the climate crisis had “supercharged bushfiresâ€. Continue reading...
Labour says failure to share document raises doubts about Tories’ promise to halt frackingThe Cabinet Office has defied a court order to release a secret government report on the UK’s fracking industry.Officials were expected to hand over the report on Monday, days before Britain’s first general election leaders’ debate on the climate crisis, after the information tribunal ruled it was in the public interest to disclose its findings in full. Continue reading...
Jeremy Corbyn is proposing to double the requirement in place to tackle the climate crisisJeremy Corbyn has promised to plant 2 billion trees by 2040 to help arrest the climate crisis. Continue reading...
Conservationists say climate change threat must be addressed to avoid reef’s inclusion on ‘in-danger’ listConservationists say an official government report to the UN’s world heritage committee to be released next week must show Australia has fresh plans to attack the Great Barrier Reef’s two key threats – climate change and water quality.At a forum earlier this month environment ministers signed-off on the “state of conservation†report for the reef,which was then sent to Unesco’s world heritage committee. Continue reading...
Through careful planning, a commitment to energy-efficient design and sometimes necessity, these Australians have embraced life off the gridKathy Menzel says she used to be completely oblivious to power bills, “just running along in the hamster wheel like everybody else, you know, busy, busy, busy, spend, spend, spendâ€. She and her husband Bob, both IT professionals, did have an inkling they wanted something different though, yearning for a serene country lifestyle with no neighbours.When they finally found their dream block in the Adelaide Hills, reality hit home. “We’d been looking for five years for this great piece of land in the middle of nowhere but still easy to commute to the city,†she says. “But it was going to cost $450,000 to get on to the grid.†The cost of connecting was far more than the $238,000 for the 10 acre block, which was only 1.5km from a main road. Continue reading...
Staff at Mossgiel farm hope to promote a more sustainable model of dairy farming, including delivering milk in reusable glass bottlesLying in a field of grass among his herd of dairy cows, Ayrshire farmer Bryce Cunningham picks up and pretends to throw away a plastic carton of milk. This is what we want to get rid of on our farm, he says in a promotional video, as he explains his quest to become the UK’s first single-use plastic-free milk producer.
With more than a thousand mice per acre, an ecosystem is under threat. But poison could make things even worseThe Farallon Islands of northern California are one of the world’s great biodiversity hotspots. These stark granite outcrops, which sit 30 miles (48km) off the coast of San Francisco, are home to 300,000 breeding seabirds, five species of seals and sea lions, and a type of cricket found nowhere else in the world.Scientists studying shark behavior or bird migration patterns flock here annually, but the islands have hosted other visitors for even longer: mice, tens of thousands of them. Continue reading...
One in three people in Cleveland and surrounds live in a food desert. But the desperation for healthy food has kicked off one of the biggest urban farming movements in the US
by Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent on (#4VSHP)
Genetic modification, banned in Europe, could have ‘great potential promise’Gene-modifying techniques could reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, helping to feed the world while combating the climate emergency, scientists have said.“Conventional [genetic] selection is extremely powerful,†said Mike Coffey, a professor of livestock informatics at Scotland’s Rural College. “At this point in time, GM [genetic modification] is not allowed in Europe, but some of these technologies could have great potential promise.†Continue reading...
Calls for ban or higher prices as sales jump to 1.5bn, equivalent to 54 bags per householdPlastic “bags for life†should be banned or raised in price, campaigners say, as new figures reveal a surge in the bags is fuelling a rise in the plastic packaging footprint of leading supermarkets.Despite high profile promises by the country’s best known supermarkets to tackle the amount of plastic waste they create, their plastic footprint continues to rise, according to research from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Greenpeace. Continue reading...
by Rebecca Smithers Consumer affairs correspondent on (#4VSHQ)
Information not routinely displayed on labels of food and gardening items, report findsMany UK supermarkets are not being transparent with shoppers about the use of potentially harmful pesticides in their global supply chains, according to a report.In an analysis rating the top 10 retailers, Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK) says some are not doing enough to protect human health and the environment from hazardous pesticides in food and gardening products. Continue reading...
Charity says findings underline need for deposit return scheme for plastic and glass bottlesFindings from a national beach cleanup underline the urgent need for a comprehensive deposit return scheme to stem the tide of plastic and glass bottles and cans littering the UK’s coastlines, a marine charity has said.During four days of beach cleaning in September, volunteers logged more than 16,000 drinks containers of various kinds, the Marine Conservation Society said. Continue reading...
Plants will close during coldest months in a bid to reduce high levels of fine dust particlesSouth Korea will temporarily shut down up to a quarter of its coal-fired power plants next month in an attempt to combat dangerously high levels of fine dust pollution.The country’s energy ministry said 14 plants would be idled between December and February, and as many as 27 in March, but added that the closures would not affect energy supplies during the coldest months of the year. Continue reading...
Party also pledges to create 10 new national parks and fund restoration of habitatsLabour has announced plan to plant 2bn trees over the next 20 years and create 10 new national parks, as part of a rewilding policy intended to tackle the climate emergency and help natural habitats.The proposals also include an investment of £1.2bn to restore habitats such as woodlands and peat bogs in England, and extra funding for national park authorities. Continue reading...
Queensland government is taking Wangan and Jagalingou people to court to dispute their native title claimAboriginal traditional owners opposed to the Adani Carmichael coalmine say they are being punished for their resistance by the Queensland government, which is now disputing the legitimacy of their native title claim in the federal court.The court case, set to begin on Monday, comes after almost 15 years of negotiation about the claim. Continue reading...
Results chime with earlier review indicating almost every cell in the body may be affected by dirty airThe number of health problems linked to air pollution could be far higher than previously thought, according to research suggesting hospital admissions for conditions ranging from heart failure to urinary tract infections increase as air becomes dirtier.Air pollution has already been associated with a number of conditions, from strokes to brain cancer, miscarriage and mental health problems. Continue reading...
by Owen Bowcott Legal affairs correspondent on (#4VRFG)
Decision may prompt those detained in October protests to sue for wrongful arrestMore than 100 Extinction Rebellion protesters have had charges against them dropped after the ban forbidding protest in London last month was ruled unlawful.The Crown Prosecution Service decision will affect about 105 cases immediately, mostly those involving defendants facing trial for allegedly breaching section 14 of the 1986 Public Order Act. Continue reading...
by Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent on (#4VRFE)
Group says it will phase out investments, and underwriting of companies that back coalThe insurer Axa has promised to sever ties with the coal industry as part of a climate strategy to phase out the group’s multibillion pound investments and insurance underwriting of companies that back the fossil fuel.Axa said it intended to exit the coal industry by 2030 in Europe and other members states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and by 2040 in the rest of the world. Continue reading...
Crabbers are postponing their harvest to avoid entangling whales, as the climate crisis fuels new dangersHis boat, Stacey Jo, is loaded up, crab pots stacked high, with lines and buoys coiled neatly inside cylindrical metal traps. But Tim Obert and his crew are not motoring out any time soon.Commercial crabbers in San Francisco, Bodega Bay and Half Moon Bay have agreed to postpone the already delayed Dungeness crab harvest till 15 December, to avoid entangling endangered humpback and blue whales in their equipment. Continue reading...
Met Office predicts further heavy rainfall with warnings in place for south-west England, south Wales and YorkshireMore than half a month’s worth of rain fell in one day across parts of the UK, with further heavy downpours forecast across the country in the next 24 hours.A total of 32.2mm (1.27in) of rain fell on the parish of Wattisham near Stowmarket in Suffolk in the 24 hours to 6am on Wednesday, the Met Office said – the highest volume of rainfall anywhere in the UK during that time. Continue reading...
WaterNSW briefing to New South Wales cabinet said Sydney’s storages could be at ‘emergency levels’ by next MayThe New South Wales government was advised six months ago that Sydney’s water storage levels could be at “emergency levels†by May next year unless it started planning immediately.A cabinet-in-confidence document prepared by state-owned agency WaterNSW warns that storage levels could fall to 40% by Christmas and were likely to reach what are considered emergency levels – about 35% and declining – by mid-next year if the coming summer is hot and dry. Continue reading...
Furniture giant to invest in green energy plus reforestation and carbon storage projectsIkea’s parent company is to invest an additional €200m (£171m) in green energy and forest planting as part of a plan by the world’s largest furniture retailer to become carbon neutral by 2030.The investment is being made by Inter Ikea Group, the owner of the Ikea brand which is operated by a string of franchise businesses, the largest of which is Ingka Group. Continue reading...