The owner of the UK’s high-voltage network may cut returns to shareholders, but don’t bank on itSpare the briefest of thoughts for Britain’s capital-owning classes. FTSE 100 companies are forecast to pay out £9.5bn less in dividends to shareholders for the 2019 trading year, according to investing platform AJ Bell, as the coronavirus crisis ravages their income. That’s 11% less money going to shareholders’ pockets compared with the previous year.Some 48 FTSE 100 firms have announced some kind of reduction to, or suspension of, payments to shareholders, compared with 47 that have kept or increased them since the start of the year, AJ Bell says. Worse is expected, with National Grid’s delayed annual results statement on Thursday the latest date circled in red pen on the calendars of nervous investors. Continue reading...

Unlovely and unloved, vultures play a vital role as nature’s clean-up squad but are now one of the most threatened groups of birds on the planetIt’s hard to love vultures. Their bare-headed appearance, scavenging habits and reputation as the refuse disposal workers of the bird world rarely endear them to a public who prefer more conventionally attractive creatures. But amid growing fears that the birds are facing extinction, conservationists are calling for more to be done to save these unloved birds of prey.If this seems like old news, that’s because for some species it is. In the early 1990s, observers in India began to notice that vultures, which usually gathered in huge flocks around animal carcasses, were declining at an unprecedented rate. Continue reading...

Miyawaki forests are denser and said to be more biodiverse than other kinds of woodsTiny, dense forests are springing up around Europe as part of a movement aimed at restoring biodiversity and fighting the climate crisis.Often sited in schoolyards or alongside roads, the forests can be as small as a tennis court. They are based on the work of the Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, who has planted more than 1,000 such forests in Japan, Malaysia and elsewhere. Continue reading...

London council accuses activists in Colne Valley of practising yoga and howling at the moon as part of latest injunction attemptHS2 protesters have been accused of practising early morning yoga, swimming naked in a lake and “howling at the moon” as a council seeks a high court injunction to stop direct action against the project.HS2 Rebellion activists say the legal action by Hillingdon council in west London is the latest in a raft of injunctions aiming to quash the campaign against the £78bn high-speed railway. HS2 is seeking the extension of a separate injunction to enable the eviction of campaigners from the path of bulldozers in west London. Continue reading...

Modelling suggests climate is considerably more sensitive to carbon emissions than thoughtWorst-case global heating scenarios may need to be revised upwards in light of a better understanding of the role of clouds, scientists have said.Recent modelling data suggests the climate is considerably more sensitive to carbon emissions than previously believed, and experts said the projections had the potential to be “incredibly alarming”, though they stressed further research would be needed to validate the new numbers. Continue reading...

Focus should shift to renewables to avoid risk of being stranded with fossil fuel infrastructure, AMWU national secretary says

The pick of the world’s best flora and fauna photos, including storks on the Nile and a vermilion flycatcher Continue reading...

Nant Helen opencast site near Neath to be closed on environmental groundsA coalmining site in south Wales is facing closure after the Welsh government used new powers to force it to halt on environmental grounds.More than 150 jobs at the Nant Helen opencast site near Neath are under threat after the Labour-led administration stepped in, arguing that keeping the coal in the ground was in the best interests of the people of Wales. Continue reading...

Idea is being trialled at 17 sites after experiment with artificial grass reduced litter by halfMini-gardens are being planted around street bins in Amsterdam in an experiment to test whether they will dissuade people from carelessly littering near them.The trial will be conducted at 17 sites over the next three months. An earlier experiment using artificial grass at the base of 150 bins was a partial success, reducing the dumping of rubbish in the immediate vicinity by around half, but the plastic turf soon became tatty. Continue reading...

Exclusive: new figure far higher than previous estimates of direct impact of global heatingAt least $67bn of the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 can be attributed directly to climate breakdown, according to research that could lead to a radical reassessment of the costs of damage from extreme weather.Harvey ripped through the Caribbean and the US states of Texas and Louisiana, causing at least $90bn of damage to property and livelihoods, and killing scores of people. Continue reading...

Federal energy minister Angus Taylor welcomes decision but farmers say they have been ‘betrayed’A contentious gas development at Narrabri, in north-west New South Wales, is a step closer to going ahead after being formally backed by the Berejiklian government.The state Department of Planning, Industry and Environment on Friday said it had referred the $3.6bn project, proposed by the oil and gas giant Santos, to the state’s Independent Planning Commission and recommended it be approved with what it described as strict conditions. Continue reading...

If greenlit, Valeria open-cut coalmine would dig up 20m tonnes of the fossil fuels over 35 yearsThe Switzerland-based mining company Glencore will push ahead with a proposed $1.5bn open-cut coalmine after the Queensland government announced it had granted the project special status on Friday.The Queensland government’s decision will bring environmental and other assessments for the mine, which would dig up 20m tonnes of the fossil fuel annually for 35 years, under the office of the state’s coordinator general. Continue reading...

A survey of 11 remote western locations found that, over a year, the fragments had traveled through the atmosphere like rain or water particlesMicroplastic particles equivalent to as many as 300m plastic water bottles are raining down on the Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree and other US national parks, researchers have found.In a survey of 11 remote western locations, also including the Great Basin and Craters of the Moon national parks, researchers discovered more than 1,000 metric tons of microplastic particles that had traveled through the atmosphere like rain or water particles. Continue reading...

Survey of people living in Hunter and New England in December found 65% had at least one symptom of exposure, including eye and throat irritationTwo-thirds of people living in a fire-affected part of New South Wales this summer suffered from at least one symptom of exposure to bushfire smoke, researchers have found.A survey of people living in the Hunter and New England local health district in December found that 65% reported experiencing at least one symptom of exposure to bushfire smoke, most commonly eye irritation, throat irritation, a cough, a headache, or sneezing. Continue reading...

Environmental groups say Australian government is violating legal obligations to protect reef from global heating and UN committee should hold it to accountEnvironmental law groups in the US and Australia are pushing Unesco to place the world heritage status of the Great Barrier Reef on an “in danger” list, arguing the Morrison government has violated legal obligations by not doing all it could to protect the natural wonder.Earthjustice, based in San Francisco, and Environmental Justice Australia say the federal government is failing to live up to an obligation under the World Heritage Convention that member countries do all they can, including dedicating “the utmost” of their resources, to protect and conserve protected sites. Continue reading...

Investigation opened into ‘destruction of a protected species’ after male shot in PyrénéesFrench police are hunting the killer of a brown bear in the Pyrénées after the government said it would bring legal action against the culprit.Élisabeth Borne, the ecology minister, described the shooting of the animal, a protected species, as “illegal and deeply regrettable”. The bear was a four or five-year-old male weighing 150kg to 200kg, according to local officials in the Ariège region. Continue reading...

With slaughterhouse capacity in crisis due to Covid-19, one farmer believes he has developed a more humane way of ‘depopulating’ animals

Expansion of drilling in New Mexico would threaten sacred artefacts and bring public health risks to area still reeling from Covid-19A few winters ago, Sam Sage started getting strange phone calls.Families living in rural areas south-west of Counselor, New Mexico, were telling him they saw sickly bull snakes and near-death rattlers above ground during the snowy, winter months of the south. Sage, the administrator at the Counselor Chapter House, a Navajo local government center, was incredulous. Continue reading...

Fire has reportedly spread to homes near well that has been leaking ‘uncontrollably’ for two weeksA massive fire has broken out at an oil field in north-eastern India, after gas that had been leaking for two weeks ignited, sending plumes of smoke and flames into the sky, and reportedly setting fire to nearby homes.Five deaths in the area are being investigated for potential links to the gas well, which has been leaking “uncontrollably” for two weeks, according to Oil India, the state-owned company managing the oil field. Continue reading...

Since 2014, entomologists have sampled millions of insects around the city, identifying 800 species, including 47 new to science. The most striking of Los Angeles’ miniature inhabitants are showcased in an online exhibition of photographs taken using a special digital microscope

Falcon, built for agility and rapid response, can pursue insects in flightSometimes, a bird doesn’t just appear in your field of view, but forces itself instantly into your consciousness. So, as soon as I noticed a movement in the skies outside my office window, I instantly knew that it was something special. And it was: a hobby, scything through the warm spring air like a swift on steroids.The hobby is to a kestrel what a Ferrari is to a Ford: the same basic blueprint, but honed into a high-speed version, built for agility and rapid response. Hobbies don’t pursue earthbound mice and voles, but aerial insects such as dragonflies, which are pretty fast flyers themselves. Indeed, the name of this slender falcon comes from a medieval French verb meaning “to dart about”. Continue reading...

The pandemic is an opportunity to tackle the climate emergency by creating productive green jobs for those made redundant by the crisisBritain needs a green job-filled recovery from the coronavirus crisis. Unlike Germany and South Korea, it is far from clear that we will get one. While Berlin and Seoul are retooling their fossil fuel-reliant economies to be greener and cleaner, the UK has yet to announce a policy that deals with the environmental emergency and the spectre of mass unemployment.Unless a vaccine for coronavirus is found soon, Britain faces a surge in joblessness at the end of October, when all forms of wage support stop. The size of this spike in unemployment will determine how long it is before we may return to normal. Currently, 12 million people are covered by the job retention scheme for furloughed workers and its equivalent for the self-employed. There are few takers for the idea that there will be a sharp bounce-back to business as usual. Continue reading...

England, Scotland and Wales on brink of two-month milestone, longest period since 1880s, says National GridGreat Britain will on Wednesday be able to celebrate not having generated any coal-powered electricity for two months – the longest period since the 1880s.Great Britain, which introduced coal-powered electricity to the world in the 1880s, has run its electricity network without burning coal since midnight on 9 April, according to National Grid. Continue reading...

Governments urged to act to avoid disaster from recession caused by coronavirus

Campaigners hope the move will help end global trade in the scaly anteater, identified as a possible host for Covid-19

‘399’, at 24 one of the oldest grizzlies living outside a zoo, becomes symbol of bears’ recovery in Yellowstone ecosystemA few weeks ago, a nature photographer who lives near Yellowstone national park sent a four-word text message to Dr Jane Goodall, the British primatologist.“Miraculously, she still lives!” Continue reading...

Conservationists welcome ruling to protect koalas and greater gliders but point to approved coalmine that required destruction of habitatThe environment minister, Sussan Ley, has rejected a $100m wind farm proposal in central Queensland on the grounds it would clear old-growth forest important to vulnerable and threatened species, including the koala and greater glider.Ley ruled the Lotus Creek wind farm, nearly 200km north-west of Rockhampton, was “clearly unacceptable” under national environment laws, in part because the site was home to species that were badly affected in other parts of the country during last summer’s catastrophic bushfires. Continue reading...

A glut of discarded single-use masks and gloves is washing up on shorelines and littering the seabed

Siân Berry and Jonathan Bartley herald ‘pivotal moment’ as they say UK is in crisis

Research shows how supply chains around world have been disrupted by pandemic

Residents of towns in Castilla y Léon region told to stay away from banks of Pisuerga River

Terrible conditions witnessed onboard livestock ship travelling from Colombia to Egypt suspected of being a cover for traffickingWhen the Neameh sailed out of Colombia on 4 May, it should have been a routine shipment: just over 4,000 cattle, on their way to Egypt, an important hub for the global trade in live animal exports.But accusations of cocaine smuggling and a police raid of the ship lengthened the journey. Continue reading...

Countries to use high-resolution images to monitor health of marine resourcesCommonwealth countries are to gain free access to satellite technology that will help them monitor and protect their endangered coral reefs from threats such as climate breakdown, overfishing and pollution.Commonwealth countries hold nearly half of the world’s remaining tropical coral reefs, with 47 out of the 54 member countries having a coastline. Nearly half of them are islands or groups of islands, which face particular threats from the climate crisis, and for whom coral reefs are often vital protections against storms as well as fish nurseries and tourist attractions. Continue reading...

Artifacts dealer claims treasure he buried a decade ago has been found, Santa Fe newspaper reportsFamed art and antiquities collector Forrest Fenn, who said he hid $1m in treasure in the Rocky Mountain wilderness a decade ago, said Sunday that the chest of goods has been found.Fenn, 89, told the Santa Fe New Mexican that a treasure hunter located the chest a few days ago. The man who found it does not want his name mentioned. Continue reading...

Opinion poll puts Socialist at 44% of intentions to vote, well ahead of her closest rival

Failure to consider dirty air as a factor in higher death toll among ethnic minorities wholly irresponsible, say critics

Government spending on clean energy would deliver 100,000 new jobs, EY assessment findsStimulus programs backing clean energy as a path out of recession would create nearly three times as many jobs for every dollar spent on fossil fuel developments, according to a financial consultancy analysis.The assessment by professional services firm Ernst & Young (EY) says a government focus on renewable energy and climate-friendly projects to drive the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic could create more than 100,000 direct jobs across the country while cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

The updated assessment also shows the fire ground includes more than 3.5m hectares of the state’s best koala habitatMore than a third of New South Wales rainforest was among 5.4m hectares hit by last season’s catastrophic bushfires, according to new state government data.The report, an updated assessment of the effect of the fires on wildlife and landscapes, said 293 threatened animal species and 680 threatened plant species have habitat in the state’s fire ground. The affected area includes more than 3.5m hectares of the state’s best koala habitat. Continue reading...

Administration opening areas off New England coast up to commercial fishing, a move experts say will hurt the environmentDonald Trump is easing protections for a large marine monument off the coast of New England, opening it to commercial fishing.But ocean experts caution that the rollback to the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine national monument will hurt the environment and won’t help fishermen who are struggling during the Covid-19 pandemic and economic downturn to find buyers for what they already catch. Continue reading...

Experts say abundance of both common and rare species cause for celebration and concernRecord-breaking sunshine has encouraged midsummer butterflies to emerge unusually early, with dozens of species appearing a month before their usual flight season.Butterflies that usually fill meadows and woods in July, including the ringlet, the marbled white, dark green fritillary and the silver-washed fritillary have been widely spotted during the sunniest spring since records began in 1929. Continue reading...

Over $500bn is going to high-carbon industries undermining goals of Cop26 climate talksThe failure of governments and central banks to set out a green recovery from the coronavirus crisis is threatening to derail vital UN climate talks aimed at staving off global catastrophe, campaigners have warned.On Friday, the UK and the UN attempted to revive the stalled Cop26 climate talks, with a coalition of businesses committing to a Race for Zero, signing up to reduce their emissions to net zero by mid-century. Close to 1,000 businesses have joined the campaign, including household names such as Rolls-Royce and the food and drink majors Nestlé and Diageo. Continue reading...

Communities and advocates decry ‘backflip’ after years of planning for statewide framework to reduce toxic airThe Berejiklian government has abandoned a long-held commitment to adopt a statewide policy on air pollution after years of planning that included a state summit on the issue.The decision to drop a standalone clean air strategy has sparked anger from communities living near major sources of pollution, such as coal-fired power stations, who say without an overarching strategy they can have no confidence their air quality will improve. Continue reading...

Military called in to fire artillery rounds at wellhead in Siberia that has been ablaze for nearly a weekA Russian oil company has asked the military to bombard a wellhead fire with anti-tank artillery rounds in a last-ditch effort to extinguish the blaze after nearly a week.Russian troops will deploy to rural Siberia and fire shells from a 100mm anti-tank gun to cut off the wellhead and allow the oil well to be sealed, Russian state news agencies reported. Continue reading...

The pick of the world’s best flora and fauna photos, including hugging sloths and a lost whale Continue reading...

Activists welcome move but say government is still dragging its feet over crackdown on waste in lakes and waterwaysThe Malawian government this week ordered the closure of factories belonging to two major plastic producers for flouting the country’s plastics ban.The companies – OG plastics and City Plastics – were found to still be manufacturing thin plastics, often used to make plastic bags, despite a ruling last year that banned its production, import and use. Continue reading...

Record traffic for TreeTalk sparks global interest as users reconnect with the species that line their streetsAn online mapping tool featuring the location and species of more than 700,000 trees in London has had a fiftyfold increase in visitors to its site since the coronavirus lockdown measures were put in place.The founders of TreeTalk, which creates a walk specific to a user’s location and identifies trees on the route, say an increase in people spending more time at home getting to know their natural surroundings has led to a surge in interest. There are now calls to bring the app to other cities in the UK and abroad. TreeTalk is currently discussing a proposal with an east coast city in the US, while cities in Australia and India have also expressed interest. Continue reading...

Greenpeace report shows cattle indirectly sold to JBS, Marfrig and Minerva came from protected Serro Ricardo Franco park

British Airways, EasyJet, Wizz Air and Ryanair have taken £1.8bn from scheme so far