Environment | The Guardian

Peak employer body warns Australia faces ‘costly increase in climate-related impacts and risks’ even in best-case scenarioThe Morrison government should spend $3.3bn over 10 years on renewable energy and $500m over two years on capital grants to improve energy efficiency and management, according to the Australian Industry Group.The peak employer body made the calls in its pre-budget submission, released on Monday, which also proposes it bring forward income tax cuts, cut business tax, extend the coronavirus supplement on jobseeker and make a further round of $750 payments to households. Continue reading...

Cbus superannuation expands pledge to hit zero emissions by 2050 across its entire portfolioConstruction and mining industry super fund Cbus says it will slash emissions from its investments by 45% within the next 10 years, putting carbon-intensive companies on notice that they will need to demonstrate how they will cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to stay within the fund’s $54bn portfolio.Cbus has also expanded an existing pledge to hit the Paris agreement target of zero emissions by 2050 in its property and infrastructure investments to cover its entire portfolio. Continue reading...

Energy minister Angus Taylor says emissions have reduced as expected but restrictions are unsustainableCoronavirus restrictions have caused Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions to fall to their lowest level since 1998, the latest official data shows.National emissions in the June quarter 2020 were estimated to be 8% – or about 10m tonnes of carbon dioxide – lower than a year earlier. Continue reading...

Researchers to tell UN that loss of biodiversity enables rapid spread of new diseases from animals to humans

Australians are far more welcoming of change than we expect, and are furious at having been shut out of being direct participantsIn August 2015, I spent a cold night at the old TAB Royal Hotel in Manildra (population: 765), near Orange in central New South Wales. It wasn’t familiar territory. A sign behind the bar yelled: “MEN: no shirt, no shoes, no service. WOMEN: no shirt, free drinks.”My colleague and I, as part of the communications team for the renewable energy company Infigen, were there for an open day talking to community members about the company’s proposed solar farm nearby. The day had been quiet. A few locals wandered in, curious about our work, but mostly wielding questions about how they might get solar on their own rooftops. Our Sydney office staff had booked a more upmarket hotel in a larger town nearby for us, but once we arrived my colleague insisted on cancelling to stay at the Royal, which was only a few hundred metres from the planned site. Continue reading...

Company with Queensland gasfield says ‘it is envisaged there will be announcements forthcoming from PM’s office’Gas companies have touted their lobbying efforts to get pipeline and infrastructure projects on the radar of the commission advising the federal government on coronavirus recovery.The National Covid-19 Coordination Commission’s manufacturing taskforce discussions were reportedly “completely dominated” by the gas sector, and the body ultimately recommended the government should underwrite investment in new pipelines. Continue reading...

Government says it will carry out autopsies on all 40 animals and investigate spill fullyThousands of people protested in the Mauritian capital of Port Louis on Saturday, calling for an investigation into an oil spill from a Japanese ship and the death of at least 40 dolphins found near the site.Environmentalists have also called for an investigation into whether the dolphins died as a result of the spill, caused when the bulk carrier Wakashio struck a coral reef last month. Continue reading...

Volunteers accuse charity of excluding deprived and minority ethnic schoolchildren

Access to clean, safe drinking water across the Pacific is the lowest of any region in the world, raising fears for the rapid spread of coronavirusPapua New Guinea’s battle against a climbing rate of Covid-19 infections is being hampered by the most basic of shortages – access to clean water –public health experts have warned.Case numbers have jumped from just 11 cases two months ago to 424 on Friday, with four deaths. And efforts to contain escalating case numbers throughout the archipelago, and to prevent outbreaks across the Pacific region, are being hamstrung because thousands cannot access clean water for hand-washing and cleaning, the region’s key development agency says. Continue reading...

Coalition accused of ‘breach of faith’ as it seeks to introduce almost exact replica of failed Abbott government legislationConservation groups will launch an advertising campaign aimed at building support for stronger national environment laws in response to what they say is a “breach of faith” by the Morrison government.Groups including Birdlife Australia, WWF and the Australian Conservation Foundation will begin a “Before it’s gone” campaign on Sunday with radio, print, TV and billboard advertisements featuring high-profile species including the koala and greater glider. Continue reading...

The pick of the world’s best flora and fauna photos, including red wasps and giant redwoods

Trio of breeders join forces to buy Texel ram Double Diamond in tense Scotland auction

XR plans protests next week as activists call on MPs to back a climate emergency billExtinction Rebellion plan to block streets in London, Manchester and Cardiff next week as they call on MPs to back a climate emergency bill and hold a national citizens’ assembly on the crisis.On Tuesday, five XR groups will block roads leading to parliament as they descend on Westminster to demand MPs back what they call the climate and ecological emergency bill, which they say would speed up the UK’s progress on reducing its carbon emissions. Continue reading...

Authorities use boats to rescue Karachi residents trapped by monsoon rains

The Kīlauea Point national wildlife refuge is aiming to keep invasive species out and encourage native habitat to thriveSign up for monthly updates on America’s public lands. Continue reading...

The video-sharing app has 800 million users, many of them conscious young eco-influencers campaigning on issues from climate change to biodiversityPhilip Aiken has received more than 1.4m likes on the video-sharing app TikTok. But his videos don’t feature cute animals and there are no celebrities to be seen. Aiken’s posts are about soil restoration.The 27-year-old is one of a growing number of TikTok users discussing the benefits of boosting biodiversity in green spaces and gardens against a backdrop of viral sounds. “I see it as like planting seeds, and hopefully that germinates and that person wants to learn more,” says Aiken, known as Phil the Fixer on TikTok.

The Drag Race host revealed earlier this year that his Wyoming ranch leases mineral rights to oil companies, and he’s not aloneSign up for monthly updates on America’s public lands. Continue reading...

Don’t buy an amazing bike, keep it indoors and use two locksIf you’ve managed to beat the hordes and snag a new bike amid the increase in demand during the coronavirus pandemic, the challenge now is ensuring it survives the growing bicycle thievery problem.There’s no guarantee that any of the measures here will stop your bike from being stolen, but they’ll definitely help. If you’ve just bought a new bike, here’s how to lock it up properly. Continue reading...

António Guterres tells country to stop building coal-fired power stations for sake of climateIndia must swiftly and permanently turn away from coal despite its need for cheap energy, the UN secretary general has urged, aiming to revive global action on the climate crisis as the world begins to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.António Guterres told a virtual audience on Friday morning that coal use must be phased out in India, with no new coal-fired power stations after this year, and that fossil fuel subsidies must be ended. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Queensland supreme court says company engaged in ‘unconscionable conduct’Adani has quietly begun planning to rebrand its Abbot Point coal terminal – removing all reference to Adani in its company name and branding – as financiers continue to abandon the business and a Queensland court orders it to pay $106.8m in damages.The Queensland supreme court this week ordered Adani to pay four terminal users damages for “unconscionable conduct” in a judgement that was scathing of Adani’s actions to advantage its own financial interests over other coal companies. Continue reading...

Angus Taylor introduces bill to give Clean Energy Finance Corporation $1bn for ‘grid reliability fund’The Morrison government has been accused of planning to open up the taxpayer-owned green bank to fossil fuels investments through a change that explicitly defines gas-fired power as a “low-emissions technology”.The energy and emissions reduction minister, Angus Taylor, introduced legislation to parliament on Thursday that would give the Clean Energy Finance Corporation an additional $1bn funding for a “grid reliability fund”. Continue reading...

Yannick Glemarec responds to FT report of 40 complaints including racism and sexism

Beloved by chefs and home cooks alike, gas-burning stovetops come with drawbacks for human, financial and planetary healthNikki Phillips has made a living cooking in strangers’ kitchens. As the co-owner of a catering company, Shared Affair, she always makes a request before arriving at a client’s home. “I … ask for a picture of the stove, so I know what we’re dealing with.”If the photos show the clapped-out coils of an older electric stove, she goes straight to plan B. “I just bring gas burners with us. I don’t even bother.” Between portable stoves and hot box ovens “we can set up a kitchen inside the kitchen”. Continue reading...

State Minerals Council pushing for projects despite Minerals Council of Australia goal of net-zero emissionsA New South Wales mining industry push for 21 new coal projects to be approved to boost an economic recovery from coronavirus would add seven years’ worth of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere if they were all developed, according to analysis.The NSW Minerals Council identified the unapproved coalmines, at various stages of environmental assessment and development, saying they would create about 10,000 jobs and generate billions in royalties. Continue reading...

Exclusive: EDF Energy to close Hunterston next year after spending £200m on repairsHunterston nuclear power station, one of the UK’s oldest remaining nuclear plants, is to close down next year, earlier than expected, after encountering a series of safety-critical problems in its reactors.Industry sources told the Guardian that EDF Energy, the state-owned French operator of Hunterston, decided at a board meeting on Thursday afternoon that the plant would stop generating electricity in late 2021, at least two years earlier than planned. Continue reading...

Southall residents link redeveloped site to poor health, but developer says it complies with regulationsResidents in Southall are calling on the government to urgently investigate the health impact of the redevelopment of an old gasworks in light of research suggesting the mainly south Asian community is highly susceptible to air pollution.For a year the Guardian has followed the Clean Air for Southall and Hayes (Cash) campaign as they demanded answers from Ealing council, statutory bodies and scientists as to whether a “petrol-like” odour which they say emanated from the site is causing symptoms such as breathing problems, nausea and mental confusion – and serious diseases. They want to know what will be done to eliminate future risks over the 25-year regeneration project. Continue reading...

Queensland’s supreme court rejects the mining firm’s bid, saying it could result in ‘humiliation and family distress’Coalmining company Adani asked a Queensland court for orders that would have allowed its representatives to conduct an unannounced search at the family home of an environmental activist.But the supreme court rejected the move, noting the search could result in “humiliation and family distress” for Ben Pennings and others. Continue reading...

Its stunning Moorish architecture makes the Spanish monument one of the world’s most visited. But photographer Ugo Mellone found the resident frogs, toads and newts just as fascinatingThe Alhambra, which sits on a hill in Granada, Andalucía, is the only preserved palatine city of the Islamic period and a Unesco world heritage site. Once the residence of the Nasrid sultans, it is one of the most visited national monuments in the world. Continue reading...

Three-night event aims to track creatures’ climate-driven spread into new parts of UKPeople are being invited to help track the spread of a moth that often hides its hindwings of dazzling fuchsia beneath a dowdy brown “overcoat”.The dark crimson underwing has enjoyed an “amazing” August, according to experts, appearing in many new locations, including the first ever recorded sighting in Wales. Continue reading...

The Morrison government’s new environment legislation has been described by critics as a reproduction of Tony Abbott’s failed one-stop-shop lawsThe Morrison government has been condemned for breaking its commitment to include new national environmental standards with legislation that will transfer development approval powers to the states and territories.Labor, the Greens and environment groups have described the bill, introduced on Thursday, as an almost identical reproduction of the Abbott government’s failed 2014 one-stop-shop laws. Continue reading...

Concern mounts that bill won’t include promised new national environmental standardsThe Coalition is being urged to not push through changes to conservation laws that would transfer more development approval powers to the states unless it plans to also introduce promised new national environmental standards.There is growing concern a bill due to be introduced to parliament this week will not include the new standards, which were promised last month by the environment minister, Sussan Ley. Continue reading...

Following guidelines associated with 7% lower mortality risk and 30% cut in carbon emissionsSticking to official dietary advice, including the five-a-day maxim, could reduce the chance of premature death by an estimated 7% as well as help the environment, a study has suggested.However, it found that while many people are able to follow some of the guidelines, next to no one follows them all. Continue reading...

Republicans at the convention did not lay out a plan for climate change, nor even acknowledge itThe Republican national convention, dominated by veneration of Donald Trump and bleak warnings of the dangers of socialism, has completely ignored the climate crisis, an omission that has disturbed some conservatives who warn the party risks being left behind by voters.Convention speeches have included Eric Trump praising the beauty of the Grand Canyon, a region his father’s administration has proposed opening to mining for uranium, while several speakers have attacked Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, as a threat to oil and gas worker jobs. Continue reading...

Founding partner says ‘investing in the resilience of nature is investing in the resilience of the economy’A push to better recognise the economic value of “natural capital” – water systems, biodiversity, soil and carbon stores – has prompted the creation of what aims to be the world’s largest investment firm dedicated to projects that help the planet.Multinational financial services giant HSBC and Pollination, a boutique climate advisory and investment firm, announced a joint venture that they predicted would meet a multi-billion dollar demand for environmentally friendly investment beyond renewable energy. Continue reading...

As water scarcity increases from factors including climate change, so do drivers of water theft, an ongoing problem in AustraliaBetween 30% and 50% of the world’s water supply is stolen each year, mainly by agricultural interests and farmers, yet the crime itself is not well understood, a new international study led by the University of Adelaide says.The lead author, Dr Adam Loch, from the university’s Centre for Global Food and Resources, said there was a lack of data around water theft partly because those stealing the resource were often poor, vulnerable and at-risk in developing countries. Continue reading...

Critics say plan for fields off Svalbard threatens ecosystem and relations with RussiaNorway is planning to expand oil drilling in previously untouched areas of the Arctic, a move campaigners say threatens the fragile ecosystem and could spark a military standoff with Russia.A public consultation on the opening up of nine new Norwegian oilfields closed on Wednesday. The areas in question are much further north in the Arctic than the concessions the US president, Donald Trump, announced for Alaska this month. Continue reading...

Meteorological and environmental reasons cited as reasons for record low catches

Our food supply comes from an environmentally unsustainable system that is going to unravel

As US cities cope with rising temperatures, some are investing in planting and maintaining trees – but experts warn the coverage might benefit wealthy neighborhoods moreAfter 10am, it’s too hot for Hajar Logan to work upstairs, so she moves her home office to the basement. By 11am, she can’t leave her house until the sun sets. The heat is too “suffocating”, she says, in her mostly tree-less neighborhood of Dorchester in Boston.Related: How the climate crisis is already harming America – photo essay Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lawyers for Australian Conservation Foundation warned department issuing grant money before due process could be ‘improper’The federal government quietly finalised an agreement to pay $3.6m to a company proposing a coal-fired power station at Collinsville in north Queensland this month, despite prior warnings the grant could be disallowed by the parliament and that making any payment beforehand could be “improper”.Last week, ahead of the return of federal parliament – where the grant to Shine Energy will be subject to a disallowance motion, backed by Labor and the Greens – the federal government’s grants register was updated to include the final details of the controversial handout. Continue reading...

Analysis shows the government, which has committed to a ‘gas-led recovery’, has failed to properly account for methane’s effect on global heatingAustralia’s greenhouse gas accounting underestimates national emissions by about 10%, largely due to a failure to properly recognise the impact of methane released during gas production, an analysis has found.In late June, the energy and emissions reduction minister, Angus Taylor, amended laws to reflect a scientific consensus that methane – a highly potent but short-lived greenhouse gas that leaks during gas processing – plays a greater role in heating the planet than previously thought. Continue reading...

Federal government expected to table legislation this week to address report that found unsustainable state of declineLabor has called on the Coalition not to rush changes to national environmental laws and to establish an independent watchdog to monitor and enforce the law.The government is expected to table amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation [EPBC] Act on Wednesday to devolve development approval powers to the states and territories. Continue reading...

This southern European native, first spotted breeding in 2007, is still rare due to a lack of suitable sitesIf you see a violet carpenter bee, xylocopa violacea, in Britain, it seems too exotic for our shores, and too big. It is up to 3cm long, the size of our largest bumble bee, and it looks even larger when flying with an impressive buzz.In late August, the adults emerge from a dead tree trunk or other old wood where they have spent the larval stage. After mating in late April or May, female bees bore holes in rotten wood and lay eggs in separate chambers, each one sealed in with a store of pollen so the emerging larvae can have a good start in life. Continue reading...

Lime launches service in Milton Keynes with other schemes set for Northampton and CambridgeThe UK’s journey to legally embrace e-scooters has taken another zip forward with the start of a full-scale ride-sharing service in Milton Keynes, and further schemes announced for Northampton, Norwich and Cambridge.More cities around the country are expected to follow suit with year-long trials, as potential operators unveiled new technology in the race to tap into Britain’s new micromobility market. Continue reading...

Stephanie Blais had called her father due to problems with water supply at remote Saskatchewan cabinThe father of a Canadian woman who was killed by black bear has said that he was on the phone with her at the time of the attack.Stephanie Blais, 44, was with her husband, Curtis, and two young children at the family’s remote cabin in the province of Saskatchewan. But problems with the water supply prompted her to call her father on a satellite phone. Continue reading...

Alan Finkel’s support for an expanded role for gas-fired power is not consistent with a safe climate, 25 scientists sayAustralia’s chief scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, has rejected a letter from leading scientists who warned his advocacy for increased use of gas-fired electricity was at odds with the Paris climate agreement.The 25 scientists, several of them globally recognised in their fields, applauded Finkel’s support for renewable energy but said his backing an expanded role for gas as a transition fuel was not consistent with a safe climate. Continue reading...

Trent Zimmerman, Dave Sharma and Jason Falinski say feasibility study into Queensland plant should proceed but it doesn’t stack up economicallyLiberals who have been outspoken in their opposition to taxpayer funding of new coal projects predict a new power plant in north Queensland being championed by the Nationals will never proceed because there are cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives for energy generation.Ahead of a vote on a disallowance motion during the current parliamentary sitting fortnight, Trent Zimmerman told Guardian Australia his view was the government should not be investing in coal-fired power stations. Continue reading...

Project includes inscriptions dating back hundreds of years spotted by members of the public

Campaigner says decision at odds with Paris agreement to achieve net zero by 2050An environmental campaigner is mounting a legal challenge to the government’s decision to exclude waste incinerators from its post-Brexit carbon emissions trading scheme designed to bring the UK to net zero emissions by 2050.Georgia Elliott-Smith, a sustainability consultant who is fighting the expansion of the Edmonton incinerator, is seeking a judicial review of the omission of what legal papers say are “staggering” levels of CO2 emissions from waste incinerators. Continue reading...

After hitching a ride with humans, the species has colonised entire areas and may be making the soil too fertile, say scientistsThey are a gardener’s best friend, good for the soil and a treat for birds. But the humble earthworm may not always be good news, according to a study that suggests invasive earthworms could be making Arctic soils too fertile.The earthworm is not typically thought of as an invasive species. “Most parts of Europe have earthworms so we never really saw them as a problem,” says lead researcher Dr Gesche Blume-Werry, an ecologist from the University of Greifswald in Germany. But Blume-Werry and her colleagues realised that “more and more spots in the Arctic have worms because humans brought them there”. Continue reading...