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Updated 2025-07-10 09:45
The world must seize this opportunity to meet the climate challenge | Andrew Bailey and others
As current and former central bankers, we believe the pandemic offers a unique chance to green the global economy
New Acland coalmine: Queensland farmers win reprieve in battle to stop expansion
High court now will determine whether a new hearing on expansion graziers claim threatens Darling Downs should be orderedQueensland farmers have been given a reprieve by the nation’s highest court in their decade-long battle to stop a coalmine expansion.But the company behind the controversial stage-three expansion of the New Acland coalmine says there is nothing stopping the state government from giving approvals for the project to go ahead. Continue reading...
Trump orders agencies cut environment reviews, citing 'economic emergency'
Changes could hurt communities of color, which are more likely to live with pollution due to decades of environmental racismThe Trump administration continued to weaken core environmental protections in the US by announcing a pair of policies to cut reviews for large infrastructure projects and downplay the health benefits of rules to curb pollution.Both changes could disproportionately hurt communities of color, which are far more likely to live with pollution because of decades of environmental racism. They come after a week of nationwide protests over police killings of black Americans. Continue reading...
Many of the 300 plants and animals endemic to Canada at risk, report finds
Ours to Save identified 308 species and subspecies but only 10% considered ‘globally secure’ or ‘apparently secure’There are few animals more iconically Canadian than the moose and the beaver, and few plants more closely associated with the country than the maple leaf.But while those species have long considered part of the nation’s ecological identity they are also found elsewhere. Continue reading...
Court overturns EPA approval of popular herbicide made by Monsanto
Ruling says EPA ignored clear evidence that the new herbicide would cause widespread damage to cropsThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) broke the law in approving agricultural weedkilling products sold by Bayer and two other chemical giants, ignoring clear evidence that the new herbicides would cause widespread damage to crops, a federal court ruled on Wednesday.The decision by the US court of appeals for the ninth circuit invalidates the registrations for dicamba-based herbicides made by Monsanto, which is owned by Bayer AG, BASF and Corteva Agrisciences that are designed to be sprayed on genetically engineered soybeans and cotton. The court order effectively makes it illegal for farmers to continue to use the dicamba herbicides this summer as they tend to millions of acres of crops. Continue reading...
Atmospheric CO2 levels rise sharply despite Covid-19 lockdowns
Scientists find coronavirus crisis has had little impact on overall concentration trendCarbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have risen strongly to a new peak this year, despite the impact of the global effects of the coronavirus crisis.The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere reached 417.2 parts per million in May, 2.4ppm higher than the peak of 414.8ppm in 2019, according to readings from the Mauna Loa observatory in the US. Continue reading...
Count international flights from UK in emissions targets, urges thinktank
Transport and Environment says airline industry bailout should have green conditions attachedInternational flights taking off from the UK must be taken into account in the government’s calculations on reaching net zero emissions as part of a “green” recovery for the airline industry, a transport thinktank has urged.The government has given loan bailouts to airlines totalling £1.5bn since the coronavirus outbreak, with no environmental conditions attached. Continue reading...
Revealed: UK banks and investors' $2bn backing of meat firms linked to Amazon deforestation
Investigation uncovers ties between financial institutions and three Brazilian firms connected to environmental destructionBritish-based banks and finance houses have provided more than $2bn (£1.5bn) in financial backing in recent years to Brazilian beef companies which have been linked to Amazon deforestation, according to new research.Thousands of hectares of Amazon are being felled every year to graze cattle and provide meat for world markets. Continue reading...
Covid commission chief distances himself from leaked report on massive gas expansion
Nev Power answers Senate inquiry questions about a ‘perceived conflict’ given his corporate interestsThe former Fortescue Metals chief running Scott Morrison’s Covid-19 coordination commission, Nev Power, has distanced himself from a controversial leaked report recommending Australian taxpayers underwrite a massive expansion of the domestic gas industry.Appearing on Thursday before a Senate committee, Power said the report, revealed by Guardian Australia late last month, should not be considered the view of the National Covid-19 Coordination Commission. He intimated the report was a draft from the manufacturing taskforce that had been superseded by later advice. Continue reading...
US ranks 24th in the world on environmental performance
Analysis by Yale and Columbia universities shows US lagging far behind other industrialized countries in a range of categoriesThe US is far behind other industrialized nations on environmental performance and now ranks 24th in the world, according to a new analysis by Yale and Columbia universities.Related: US lets corporations delay paying environmental fines amid pandemic Continue reading...
Sunny coverage of UK heatwaves forgets risks, say climate experts
Media urged to make public aware of dangers associated with increasingly hot summersThe public is being lulled into a false sense of security about the UK’s increasingly extreme weather patterns by news and weather reports that present long, hot, dry spells as good news, according to scientists and campaigners.Experts say unusually dry and sunny conditions like those experienced in the UK over the past two months are too often framed as something to celebrate, with newspaper and TV reports featuring pictures of people sunbathing, playing in fountains or eating ice creams. Continue reading...
Cleaner air during UK lockdown relieves asthma for millions
People with asthma and other lung conditions report decrease in symptoms, finds survey
Coronavirus crisis could cause $25tn fossil fuel industry collapse
Value of reserves could fall by two-thirds as Covid-19 hastens peak in demand, study shows
Putin orders state of emergency after huge fuel spill inside Arctic Circle
President lambasts power plant owner ‘for not reporting earlier’ incident bigger than Kerch spillVladimir Putin has ordered a state of emergency after 20,000 tonnes of diesel fuel spilled into a river inside the Arctic Circle.The spill occurred when a fuel reservoir at a power plant near the city of Norilsk collapsed on Friday. Continue reading...
Pandemic is chance to reset global economy, says Prince Charles
Prince of Wales unveils a five-point plan to stimulate sustainable economic growth
Calls for review of forestry exemption laws after VicForests conservation breaches
The judgment against the agency could lead to forestry operations being assessed under national environmental laws for the first time in 20 yearsA landmark court judgment that a government forestry agency repeatedly breached conservation regulations has sparked calls for a review of an industry-wide exemption for logging under national environment laws.Last week the federal court found VicForests, a body owned by Victorian taxpayers, breached a code of practice in a regional forestry agreement (RFA) between the federal and state governments covering the state’s central highlands. Continue reading...
Chevron could be forced to pay $100m for failure to capture carbon emissions
The Western Australian government rules against the oil and gas company over emissions at the Gorgon LNG projectOil and gas company Chevron could be required to pay for offsets worth more than $100m for carbon dioxide emissions released at a delayed carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in northern Western Australia, an analysis suggests.The state government last week ruled against Chevron over an emissions condition that applies to the company’s large Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) development on Barrow Island in the Pilbara. Continue reading...
Petition calls for ban on low-quality food imports in post-Brexit deals
Hundreds of thousands back farmers’ demands for law to protect food standardsMore than 250,000 people have signed a petition calling for a ban on cheaply produced low-quality food imports in post-Brexit trade deals.The National Farmers Union (NFU) is lobbying the government to ensure that imports from countries such as the US of food produced to lower standards than expected of UK farmers should not be allowed. Continue reading...
The perils of being black in public: we are all Christian Cooper and George Floyd | Carolyn Finney
Too often, by default, black people are perceived as threats to white people’s physical safety. We need fundamental, consequential and absolute change
Living near oil and gas wells linked to low birthweight in babies
Risk is greater in rural areas, according to study of nearly 3 million births over 10 yearsLiving near active oil and gas wells during pregnancy increases the risk of low-birthweight babies, especially in rural areas, according to the largest study of its kind.Researchers analysed the records of nearly 3 million births in California to women living within 6.2 miles (10km) of at least one oil or gas well between 2006 and 2015. It is the first such study to look at birth outcomes in rural and urban areas, and to women living near active and inactive oil and gas sites. Continue reading...
Renewables surpass coal in US energy generation for first time in 130 years
‘We are seeing the end of coal,’ says analyst as energy source with biggest impact on climate crisis falls for sixth year in a rowSolar, wind and other renewable sources have toppled coal in energy generation in the United States for the first time in over 130 years, with the coronavirus pandemic accelerating a decline in coal that has profound implications for the climate crisis.Not since wood was the main source of American energy in the 19th century has a renewable resource been used more heavily than coal, but 2019 saw a historic reversal, according to US government figures. Continue reading...
Making GDP the focus of a post-coronavirus economy would be a mistake | Carys Roberts
Growth often doesn’t benefit the people who need it – a green economy could create 1 million jobsThe UK lockdown might be easing, but the path ahead for the economy will be long and difficult. Unemployment this quarter is likely to rise twice as fast as it did following the global financial crisis. Almost half of businesses that have taken up one of the government’s bounce-back loans do not expect to be able to pay it back.It’s tempting in a crisis to want to do whatever it takes to get economic activity – measured by GDP – back to where it was before. But an overwhelming and singular focus on increasing GDP would be a mistake. GDP figures do not tell us who is benefitting from growth. GDP does not tell us whether environmental resources – and nature – are being dangerously depleted, and does not reflect the value of caring, much of which is performed by women. Continue reading...
Air pollution in China back to pre-Covid levels and Europe may follow
Cleaner skies were a silver lining of pandemic but data indicates air quality receding as lockdowns eased
Wildlife trade in pictures: campaigners call for global ban
Campaign to End Wildlife Trade has launched a campaign calling on Boris Johnson to support a global trade ban for wildlife at the G20 meeting of world leaders in November, to protect wildlife and help prevent future zoonotic pandemics.
UK car industry pushes for scrappage scheme to help buy new petrol and diesel vehicles
Exclusive: lobby wants £1.5bn scheme to jump-start sector despite clean fuel pledgesThe UK automotive industry has been in confidential talks with the government over a possible £1.5bn scrappage scheme or “market stimulus package” that it insists should encourage the purchase of diesel and petrol cars on an equal footing with cleaner vehicles.The plans under consideration by industry and government would take £2,500 off the price of a car and put a further 600,000 new vehicles on the road. Continue reading...
Australian councils struggle with huge rise in household rubbish during Covid-19 lockdown
Online shopping, home improvements and international workers going home are blamed for the wasteCouncils around Australia have seen a huge increase in volumes of household rubbish and dumping of waste triggered by a combination of more online shopping, home improvements, international workers returning to their home countries and a clearing out of unwanted possessions during the coronavirus lockdown.Streets across the country have been littered with items discarded by households either unable or willing to dispose of them any other way. Continue reading...
Terrawatch: could granite solve the hard problem of nuclear waste storage?
Researchers have found the rock has a self-sealing mechanism that keeps fluids locked awayWe need to find somewhere safe to dispose of high-level nuclear waste; a place where we can be confident it will be isolated and contained for hundreds of thousands of years. And if we want to keep a lid on global warming then we may well need to find a similar place to store carbon dioxide too. But where? Continue reading...
'Look up at the trees, think about wood': government logging ad uses images of pristine native forests
Agriculture department spent $95,000 on campaign for the Australian forestry industry promoting wood as ‘the ultimate renewable’A government promotion for the forestry industry that encourages Australians to “look up at the trees, think about wood” should be taken down after a recent federal court ruling on native forest logging, the Greens say.The department of agriculture paid a production company $94,875 last year to produce a series of videos aimed at promoting Australia’s logging industry as environmentally sustainable. Continue reading...
UK electricity coal free for first month ever
Coronavirus slump and sunniest spring on record send green energy soaringThe UK’s electricity system recorded its “greenest” ever month in May after running without coal-fired electricity for a full calendar month.The National Grid, the energy system operator, said the country’s sunniest spring on record helped generate enough solar power to reduce the carbon intensity of the grid to its lowest level ever recorded. Continue reading...
UK coalmines operator Hargreaves Services to end mining next month
Durham-based firm says decision has been made because coal has ‘limited future’ in UKOne of Britain’s last remaining coalmine operators will put an end to all mining operations from next month because it is clear that coal has “a limited future” in the UK.Durham-based Hargreaves Services, one of the largest remaining operators of surface mines in the UK, told investors on Tuesday that it plans to wind down its UK mining operations in line with its long-term strategic plans. Continue reading...
Six elephants killed in one day by poachers in Ethiopia
The deaths in Mago National Park are unprecedented, say officialsPoachers have killed at least six elephants in a single day in Ethiopia, wildlife officials said on Tuesday, the largest such slaughter in memory in the east African nation.The elephants died last week, when they ventured out of the Mago National Park in the far south of Ethiopia to drink water, Ganabul Bulmi, the park’s chief warden, told reporters. Continue reading...
Assam oil well still leaking gas one week after blowout
About 2,500 people evacuated, amid fears that leaking oil and gas has killed river dolphins and birdsAn oil well in the Indian state of Assam is still leaking gas “uncontrollably” after a blowout a week ago that it is feared has killed endangered river dolphins and birds and forced 2,500 people to evacuate their homes.For days authorities have failed to plug the leak from the well in the village of Baghjan after the incident on 27 May. The blowout – an uncontrolled release of oil and gas due to the failure of pressure control systems – sent a fountain of crude oil into the air, “unleashing a hell”, according to local accounts. Continue reading...
Electric cars gain market share in Europe despite Covid-19 crisis
Data suggests that carmakers are making progress towards meeting emissions reductions targets
Energy firms urged to mothball coal plants as cost of solar tumbles
Companies could save billions, says report, as well as curbing carbon emissionsBuilding new solar power projects would generate cheaper electricity than running most of the world’s existing coal power plants, according to a global renewable energy report.New figures have revealed that more than half of the world’s coal plants could be undercut by the falling cost of new large-scale solar projects, which are now more than 80% cheaper to build than in 2010. Continue reading...
Why can't we leave them alone? The troubling truth about selfies with sloths
How the trappings of fame are causing problems for the placid mammal that has become a star of internet memes and InstagramNobody seems to know quite how the sloth became the rock star of the animal kingdom. From high in the Latin American rainforest, the absurd mammal is the focus of a frenzied obsession that shows no sign of abating. Sloths are on bank notes, adverts, T-shirts, internet memes and Instagram fan pages.“People are obsessed,” says Costa Rica’s president, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, when asked why people have fallen in love with the creature. “The sloth is quite a unique animal. It’s also very related to the forest. I believe it’s the elegance of the movement.” Continue reading...
Football pitch-sized area of tropical rainforest lost every six seconds
Report also warns Australia will experience more extreme fire seasons due to climate crisisThe amount of pristine tropical rainforest lost across the globe increased last year, as the equivalent of a football pitch disappeared every six seconds, a satellite-based analysis has found.Nearly 12m hectares of tree cover was lost across the tropics, including nearly 4m hectares of dense, old rainforest that held significant stores of carbon and had been home to a vast array of wildlife, according to data from the University of Maryland. Continue reading...
Q+A: Matt Canavan grilled on climate change and family links to coal industry
Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon defends his call for ALP to adopt the Coalition’s target of 26-28% emissions reduction by 2030The Nationals senator Matt Canavan has been grilled over his criticism of action against climate change during an episode of Q+A where he was also asked to clarify his family’s links to the coal industry.In an episode that also featured opposition agriculture and resources spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon defending his call for Labor to adopt the government’s target of reducing emissions by 26-28% by 2030, and independent MP Zali Steggall attacking Fitzgibbon for his views on gas extraction, Canavan was pushed by host Hamish Macdonald about his “interests” in the coal industry. Continue reading...
Sixth mass extinction of wildlife accelerating, scientists warn
Analysis shows 500 species on brink of extinction – as many as were lost over previous centuryThe sixth mass extinction of wildlife on Earth is accelerating, according to an analysis by scientists who warn it may be a tipping point for the collapse of civilisation.More than 500 species of land animals were found to be on the brink of extinction and likely to be lost within 20 years. In comparison, the same number were lost over the whole of the last century. Without the human destruction of nature, even this rate of loss would have taken thousands of years, the scientists said. Continue reading...
Top business leaders call on Boris Johnson to set out green recovery plan
Heathrow, HSBC and National Grid among 200 CEOs calling for a ‘clean, just recovery’Britain’s most powerful business leaders have called on Boris Johnson to set out economic recovery plans that align with the UK’s climate goals to help rebuild a resilient UK economy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.Almost 200 chief executives – from companies including HSBC, National Grid, and Heathrow airport – signed a letter to the prime minister calling on the government to “deliver a clean, just recovery”. Continue reading...
‘For climate protesters, we are like filth’: the German village where coal is still king
Europe is going coal-free, but a vast lignite mine is expanding in eastern Germany and coronavirus has delayed new climate lawsThe landscape makes you think of the surface of the moon. As far as the eye can see, deep gashes scar the earth. At the spot where the giant machines stand, ancient layers of bared coal are visible all the way to the base of the pit. Continue reading...
Bid to grant MSC 'ecolabel' to bluefin tuna fishery raises fears for ‘king of fish’
Conservationists warn the species, which was almost extinct 10 years ago, could be under threat if Japanese fishery is MSC certifiedA decade ago, the highly prized “king of fish”, the bluefin tuna, was taken off menus in high-end restaurants and shunned by top chefs, amid warnings by environmentalists that it was being driven to extinction. Recent assessments of eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna, which can grow to the size of a small car and live for up to 40 years, have shown much healthier populations.But now conservationists and scientists are warning that the largest and most valuable tuna species could once again be under threat if a Japanese bluefin fishery in the eastern Atlantic Ocean is awarded an internationally recognised “ecolabel” they claim is based on flawed science. Continue reading...
Coalition to consider life-of-project enterprise agreements in IR discussions
Agreements for term of mining project regardless of changing economic conditions to be on agenda, Christian Porter saysEnterprise agreements that last for the life of a mining project, regardless of changing economic conditions, are one of the options under consideration as part of the Coalition’s industrial relations changes, Christian Porter has confirmed. .The attorney general has been tasked with bringing business and union leaders in to discuss changes to Australia’s “clunky” industrial relations system beyond the Covid-19 lockdowns, a move which has been greeted with cautious, if sceptical, optimism, from those involved. Continue reading...
Warning on use of fracking chemicals in Queensland's channel country
Unconventional gas projects use chemicals that are of ‘potentially high concern’ for sensitive region, report findsA federal government scientific report has issued a warning about chemicals used in unconventional gas drilling in the sensitive wild rivers of the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin.As the government weighs up recommendations to expand the gas industry for a post-coronavirus recovery, the western rivers of Queensland loom as a significant test for how authorities will balance economics with the environment. Continue reading...
Lockdown yields first global sound map of spring dawn chorus
Scientists and artists take advantage of low noise levels to record birdsong around world
UK spring the sunniest since records began, says Met Office
Country also set for driest May for 124 years, with farmers warning of serious impactThe UK has recorded the sunniest spring since records began in 1929, the Met Office has said.It is also set to be the driest May for 124 years, with official figures on rainfall to be published on Monday. Continue reading...
Cut air pollution to help avoid second coronavirus peak, MPs urge
Cross-party group highlights new evidence on how dirty air may worsen infections
The week in wildlife – in pictures
The pick of the world’s best flora and fauna photos, including tiny turtles and blossoming poppies. Continue reading...
EU's greenhouse gas emissions continue to fall as coal ditched
New figures for 2018 show 2.1% drop on previous year in switch to renewablesGreenhouse gas emissions in the EU continued their fall in 2018, the latest year for which comprehensive data is available, according to a new report from Europe’s environment watchdog.Emissions fell by 2.1% compared with 2017, to a level 23% lower than in 1990, the baseline for the bloc’s emission cuts under the UN’s climate agreements. If the UK is excluded, the decline since 1990 was smaller, standing at 20.7%. Continue reading...
Dead 12-metre whale washes up on beach at Clacton-on-Sea
Creature is believed to be a juvenile fin whale, the world’s second largest mammalA dead 12-metre (40ft) whale has washed up on a beach in Essex, and police have advised people to keep away.The creature was swept ashore at Clacton-on-Sea on Friday. Continue reading...
US south-west in grip of historic 'megadrought', research finds
Intensified by climate change, the current 20-year arid period is one of the worst on record, with wide-ranging effectsWhen Ken Pimlott began fighting US wildfires at the age of 17, they seemed to him to be a brutal but manageable natural phenomenon.Related: Dust bowl conditions of 1930s US now more than twice as likely to reoccur Continue reading...
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