Court hands firm largest ever wildlife crime fine after it admits demolishing site in WoolwichA building firm that carried out demolition work at a site known to be inhabited by bats has been handed a £600,000 fine, the largest ever issued by a court for a wildlife crime, according to police.Bellway, the housebuilders, admitted damaging or destroying a breeding site or resting place in Artillery Place, Greenwich, south-east London, in 2018, where soprano pipistrelle bats had been documented the previous year. Continue reading...

Inquest is considering whether London air pollution contributed to nine-year-old’s asthma deathThe mother of a girl who suffered a fatal asthma attack thought to have been triggered by air pollution has said she wants “justice” for her daughter.Nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah died in February 2013 having suffered numerous seizures and having made almost 30 hospital visits over the previous three years. Continue reading...

Regulator brought 19 charges against two subsidiaries, each with a maximum penalty of $1.1mWhitehaven Coal has pleaded guilty to 19 charges brought against it by the state’s resources regulator for breaches of mining laws that caused environmental damage that could last for decades.The regulator commenced prosecution in the NSW Land and Environment court in August against the mining company’s subsidiaries Narrabri Coal and Narrabri Coal Operations for breaches of exploration licences at an underground mine site in the Pilliga region of north-west New South Wales. Continue reading...

The prime minister tells Pacific leaders Australia will reach net zero emissions ‘as soon as possible’, but declines to commit to a timelineAustralia has officially abandoned its plan to use Kyoto protocol carryover credits to meet its Paris agreement climate targets, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, has told a Pacific leaders’ summit, but he pointedly declined to commit to a timeline on reaching net zero emissions.As Pacific leaders said their islands and homes would not be the “sacrificial canaries” in the coalmine of climate change’s existential threat, Morrison said late on Friday that Australia would reach net zero “as soon as possible”. Continue reading...

Instead of implementing safer systems, activists say Smithfield Foods is seeking to profit from hog waste under the guise of ‘renewable energy’Elsie Herring of Duplin county, North Carolina, lives in the house her late mother grew up in, but for the past several decades her home has been subjected to pollution from nearby industrial hog farms.“We have to deal with whether it’s safe to go outside. It’s a terrible thing to open the door and face that waste. It makes you want to throw up. It takes your breath away, it makes your eyes run,” said Herring. Continue reading...

Scientists brand 7% decline a ‘drop in the ocean’ and call on governments to push ahead with structural changesGreenhouse gas emissions, which plunged by a record amount this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, are set to rebound next year as restrictions are lifted further and governments strive to return their economies to growth, according to a global study.The UK showed the second biggest fall in emissions globally, down 13% for the year compared with 2019, with only France showing a larger drop, of 15%. The plunge reflects the prolonged and severe lockdowns in both countries, with surface transport particularly affected. Continue reading...

Mayor of Paris praises ‘important milestone’ on fifth anniversary of the landmark agreementMore than 50 of the world’s leading cities are on track to help keep global heating below 1.5C and tackle the worst impacts of the climate crisis, according to a new report.From mass tree-planting in Buenos Aires to new public transport networks in Mexico City, 54 of the world’s leading cities are now rolling out plans that will cut their greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris agreement, according to a new study by the C40 cities network. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Climate striker speaks before UN event marking five years since the Paris accordThe world is speeding in the wrong direction in tackling the climate emergency, Greta Thunberg has said, before a UN event at which national leaders have been asked to increase their pledges for emissions cuts.Thunberg, whose solo school strike in 2018 has snowballed into a global youth movement, said there was a state of complete denial when it came to the immediate action needed, with leaders giving only distant promises and empty words. Continue reading...

Three frog and one shark species have vanished, and Amazonian dolphin and oak trees are threatenedEurope’s biggest land mammal, the European bison, is beginning to recover in numbers thanks to conservation efforts and breeding programmes, according to an update on threatened species.By the early years of the last century, the once abundant European bison could be found only in captivity in a few places, and it was only after the second world war that animals were reintroduced into the wild in small numbers. By 2003 there were 1,800 in the wild, and by last year the number had more than tripled to a population of more than 6,200 in 47 free-ranging herds in Poland, Belarus and Russia. Continue reading...

Councillors say proposals will undermine local democracy and ignore the climate crisisThe government is facing a backlash from local councillors – including more than 350 Conservatives –over its proposals to shake up the planning system.More than 2,000 councillors from across England and campaigners have signed an open letter to the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, calling on him to rethink the plans. Continue reading...

Australian PM ‘not troubled’ by snub after organisers criticised the country’s lack of ambition on climate change actionScott Morrison has signalled Australia will not be granted a speaking slot at a climate ambition summit this weekend, despite telling parliament a week ago he would attend to “correct mistruths” about the government’s heavily criticised record on emissions reduction.Morrison was asked on the final day of parliament by the independent Zali Stegall whether he’d been invited to the event which is being hosted by Britain, France and the UN in a bid to boost climate commitments ahead of a major conference in Glasgow next year. Continue reading...

Governments are pouring resources into economic recovery. It’s an opportunity for visionary climate policies

Supermarket support and rising use of sexed semen expected to help UK farmers meet new welfare rules by the end of 2021Dairy farmers have until the end of next year to prove they are no longer killing male calves on-farm under new rules which will apply to nearly all UK farms from January, the Guardian has learned.

Air quality found to be worse than before pandemic in 80% of cities and large towns analysed

Labor senator Pat Dodson says mining companies who continue to destroy Aboriginal heritage are committing ‘incremental genocide’Mining companies in the Pilbara need to “wake up” to the recommendations of the parliamentary inquiry into Rio Tinto’s destruction of Juukan Gorge or they will be in “serious trouble” from their shareholders and the public, who will not tolerate another disaster of its kind, the Labor senator Pat Dodson said.Speaking on the release of the interim report on Wednesday, Dodson repeated his comments that mining companies who continue to destroy Aboriginal heritage in the Pilbara were committing a form of “incremental genocide”. Continue reading...

Group suggests 10 policies to reduce ‘night blight’, including commission to regulate excess lightingMPs have called for urgent action to reduce light pollution, promote “dark towns” and restore a sense of wonder in the night sky.Supported by the astronomer royal, a cross-party group urged the government to designate a “minister for the dark sky” and to establish a statutory commission to regulate excess lighting. Continue reading...

Expert says Ella Kissi-Debrah, nine, faced ‘exquisite’ risk and criticises lack of efforts to tackle toxic airA young girl who suffered a fatal asthma attack thought to have been triggered by dangerous levels of air pollutants was a “canary” signalling the risk to other Londoners, an inquest has heard.Ella Kissi-Debrah died aged nine in February 2013 having suffered numerous seizures and being taken to hospital almost 30 times in the previous three years. Continue reading...

This year’s spring temperatures would be ‘virtually impossible’ without human greenhouse emissions, according to new reportAustralia’s hottest spring on record, which saw temperatures more than 2C above average, would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change, new analysis has found.A spring as hot as the one Australians just experienced would come along only once every half a million years without the extra greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, climate scientist Dr David Karoly told the Guardian. Continue reading...

Locals complain the mining magnate has allegedly built an unauthorised concrete wall around his estate in Brisbane’s Fig Tree PocketBrisbane neighbours of the mining magnate Clive Palmer have complained to the local council about an allegedly unauthorised concrete fence built around his extensive riverfront estate, which they say has blocked a family of ducks from reaching a nearby pond.Palmer recently paid $5m for a property at Jesmond Road, Fig Tree Pocket. The purchase consolidated three separate blocks of land into a single 3.6 hectare property fronting the Brisbane River. Continue reading...

Production of concrete, metal, plastic, bricks and asphalt greater than mass of living matter on planet, paper saysThe giant human footprint stamped across the world in 2020 is greater than the impact on the planet of all other living things, research suggests.The amount of plastic alone is greater in mass than all land animals and marine creatures combined, the study estimates. Continue reading...

Officials say coastal dunes should no longer be part of site of special scientific interestConservation officials in Scotland have said the coastal sand dunes at Donald Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf resort have lost their special status as a protected environmental site.NatureScot, Scotland’s nature agency, said that following construction of the Trump International Golf Links course at Menie, north of Aberdeen, the dunes no longer “merit being retained as part of the site of special scientific interest”. Continue reading...

Prime minister Scott Morrison wanted to announce the policy shift at a weekend summit but he’s not yet secured a speaking spotThe Morrison government will release updated national greenhouse gas emissions projections that claim Australia is nearly on track to meet the target for 2030 it set under the Paris agreement.An annual emissions projection report to be released on Thursday shows the government now estimates emissions in 2030 will fall just short – by 56m tonnes – of meeting its target of a 26-28% cut compared to 2005 levels if Australia doesn’t deploy Kyoto credits to hit the target. Continue reading...

Exclusive: António Guterres says key promise of $100bn funding will be missed, damaging trust in Paris dealRich countries will miss a key promise they made to the poor world on the climate crisis by failing to provide the money necessary for them to cope with its effects, damaging the prospects for global action, the UN secretary general has said.Developing countries were supposed to receive at least $100bn (£75bn) in financial assistance from public and private sources this year and in future years to help them cut greenhouse gas emissions and deal with the ravages of extreme weather. The promise was one of the cornerstones of the 2015 Paris agreement and will be a key element of next year’s Cop26 climate talks. Continue reading...

Earth still on course for catastrophic 3.2C of warming by end of century, but green recovery plans could put world back on course for Paris goalsThe direct climate impact of the coronavirus lockdown has lowered 2050 temperature projections by a “negligible” 0.01C, the UN has revealed.A green economic recovery from the pandemic could, however, make a substantial difference, according to the UN Environment Programme (Unep) annual emissions gap report, potentially reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% over the next decade and putting the world on track to meeting the Paris agreement’s goal of keeping temperatures within 2C of pre-industrial levels. Continue reading...

Multiple sources say summit organisers have told Australia the PM won’t get to speak on the weekendScott Morrison is unlikely to win a last-minute speaking slot at a global leaders’ climate ambition summit as his government has failed to meet the demands set by the event organisers, a long-time advisor at international talks says.As Guardian Australia revealed on Monday, the prime minister has not yet been confirmed to give a speech at the weekend summit, which is being hosted by Britain, France and the UN in a bid to boost climate commitments ahead of a major conference in Glasgow next year. Continue reading...

I had resigned myself to brief glimpses but he landed, and lingered, nearbyI don’t usually take binoculars on my early-morning bike ride; if I did, I would stop too often to get any benefit. But after a swift circuit around the levels, I picked them up and headed down the lane behind my home to look for a stonechat I’d seen the day before.The stonechat had moved on; possibly because of the presence of a male merlin – the first I’d seen here in Somerset for a decade. I first noticed the bird as he flew away from me, and resigned myself to the usual brief views. But moments later, he landed on top of a tall hedgerow. Continue reading...

CCC recommendation includes half of cars being electric by 2030, gas boilers phased out and 10,000 wind turbines

Greenpeace report warns against granting licences to ‘deeply destructive’ industry with opaque oversight, and calls for global ocean treatyPrivate mining firms and arms companies are exerting a hidden and unhealthy influence on the fate of the deep-sea bed, according to a new report highlighting the threats facing the world’s biggest intact ecosystem.An investigation by Greenpeace found a handful of corporations in Europe and North America are increasingly dominating exploration contracts, and have at times taken the place of government representatives at meetings of the oversight body, the UN’s International Seabed Authority (ISA). Continue reading...

Analysis shows invertebrates are overlooked in favour of mammals and birds despite vital role in healthy ecosystemsMoney made available for wildlife conservation by the EU is based on a popularity contest, with vertebrates getting nearly 500 times more funding for each species than invertebrates, according to a new report.Brown bears, wolves, bitterns and Eurasian lynxes are the Hollywood stars of European conservation and receive almost the same amount as all invertebrates put together, according to analysis of funding under the EU’s Habitats Directive. This leaves little for less charismatic creatures such as spiders and crustaceans, many of which are crucial to ecosystem health and at greater risk of extinction, the study found. Continue reading...

Leaked report says tax would slow emissions cuts, with South Australia and Victoria warned before they announced plan to introduce chargeAustralian state governments were warned a road user tax on clean cars introduced without other support for the technology could discourage its uptake and impede greenhouse gas cuts. The advice was received before South Australia and Victoria announced plans to introduce a charge on driving electric vehicles (EVs).A leaked report to the Board of Treasurers – a states and territories forum – shows it jointly commissioned advice on how to best introduce road-user charging on zero and low-emissions vehicles after agreeing to “high-level principles” earlier this year. Continue reading...

Flood barriers were not activated after forecasts predicted high tide of only 1.2 metresVenice has been hit by high tides of up to 1.5 metres (5ft) after its flood barrier system was not activated as a result of mistaken forecasts.Weather bulletins had predicted high tide, or acqua alta, rising to 1.2 metres – lower than the 1.3 metres level at which the 78 mobile barriers of the defensive system, called Mose, would usually be activated. Continue reading...

Warmest temperatures since 1900 have all occurred within the past seven years, according to Noaa’s annual Arctic report cardThe Arctic’s rapid transformation into a less frozen, hotter and biologically altered place has been further exacerbated by a year of wildfires, soaring temperatures and loss of ice, US scientists have reported. Continue reading...

RBA says contract with Sunset Power International Pty Ltd, trading as Delta Electricity, is commercial in confidenceThe Greens have issued a please explain to the Reserve Bank of Australia after it entered a $10.9m contract with Trevor St Baker’s power company to provide electricity services for RBA properties.The RBA has declined to comment on the decision to engage Sunset Power International Pty Ltd, trading as Delta Electricity, telling Guardian Australia the contract and tender process are both commercial in confidence. Continue reading...

Ella Kissi-Debrah’s fatal asthma attack coincided with a high air pollution episodeThe hospital admissions of a nine-year-old girl who died after an acute asthma attack almost all took place during autumn and winter months when air pollution levels are at their highest, an inquest heard on Tuesday.Prof Stephen Holgate, a respiratory disease expert, said Ella Kissi-Debrah had been living on a knife-edge, and it would take just a small change to create a dramatic collapse in the child. Continue reading...

Environmentalists win injunction forcing US electric carmaker to suspend forest clearance

Protesters are trying to stop construction at site in Colne Valley nature reserve, west of LondonPolice and eviction squads have gathered in a standoff with HS2 protesters including veteran activist Swampy, who is sitting in a 30ft bamboo structure over a river in an attempt to stop HS2 building a works bridge through the Colne Valley nature reserve.Activists put up the makeshift tower in the River Colne at the weekend to stop workers erecting the bridge and cutting a temporary road through the Denham Country Park woodland. Continue reading...

Party supporters and activists warn inaction over its green new deal could harm electoral chances

A five-year campaign for designation has resulted in the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors parks forming the largest dark-sky area in the UKThe Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors national parks have been named international dark sky reserves, creating the largest dark sky area in the UK and one of the biggest in Europe. Combined, the two parks cover 1,396 sq miles, and achieved the status after a five-year campaign.Dark sky reserve designation is granted by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), the foremost authority on light pollution, based in Tucson, Arizona. To be designated, an area must undergo a rigorous process to prove the exceptional quality of its nocturnal environment as well as showing strong community support, encouraging the take-up of dark-sky-friendly lighting and facilitating educational activities. Continue reading...

Countries have settled on 8,848.86m – higher than either’s previous measurementsMount Everest is marginally higher than previously thought, according to a new joint Chinese-Nepalese calculation that settles a long-running conflict over the height of the world’s tallest peak, which straddles the countries’ shared border.Kathmandu and Beijing had differed over its exact height, but after each sent an expedition of surveyors to the summit they have agreed that the official height is 8,848.86 metres (29,032ft), a bit more than their previous calculations. Continue reading...

Scientist says no evidence to support theory Ella Kissi-Debrah’s condition worsened when air pollution rose

MPs also urge Scott Morrison to use carryover credits to meet Australia’s 2030 target ahead of weekend global climate summitThe federal energy minister, Angus Taylor, will meet with his New South Wales counterpart, Matt Kean, after Scott Morrison raised concerns with Gladys Berejiklian about her government’s recently legislated commitment to build 12 gigawatts of clean energy as part of a transition road map.For the second week in a row, federal Coalition MPs used their regular party room meeting to raise concerns about the NSW agreement, and to insist the Morrison government use carryover credits from the Kyoto period to meet Australia’s 2030 target rather than meeting the commitment through practical emissions reduction. Continue reading...

Power companies will be allowed to make bigger returns as Ofgem relaxes proposalsThe industry regulator will allow energy networks to plough at least £40bn into the green revolution and make higher returns on their investments, after companies threatened an unprecedented rebellion against its plans to save homes £20 a year on their bills.Ofgem’s plans, set out on Tuesday, will halve the savings energy bill payers can expect over the next five years to £10 a year after softening the crackdown on company profits it proposed over the summer. Continue reading...

The race is on to find a steady source of lithium, a key component in rechargeable electric car batteries. But while the EU focuses on emissions, the lithium gold rush threatens environmental damage on an industrial scale

Australian PM last week insisted he would address forum to ‘correct mistruths’ about Coalition’s action on emissionsScott Morrison does not yet have a speaker’s spot at a global climate ambition summit this weekend despite telling parliament last week he intended to use an appearance at the event to “correct mistruths” about his government’s heavily criticised record on emissions reduction.A government spokesman on Monday night said Australia had been invited to take part in the 12 December summit “both personally by [British] prime minister Boris Johnson during a phone call with prime minister Morrison, and again in writing by the leaders of hosting nations: the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Chile and also the United Nations”. Continue reading...

Many locals say they’ll support the barefoot climate activist, even though they don’t agree with many of his views

Letters sent to the forestry agency advised logging in bushfire-affected areas should apply the ‘precautionary principle’ to consider threatened speciesVictoria’s publicly owned forestry agency has been allowed to restart logging in bushfire-ravaged east Gippsland despite a warning from a regulator there was a risk of “serious and irreversible damage” to the state’s biodiversity.A report released under freedom of information laws show the state’s conservation regulator twice wrote to VicForests during and after last summer’s catastrophic bushfires advising it should apply the “precautionary principle” when logging in the area. Continue reading...

The practice is common among irrigators throughout the state and most do not have the special permits required

Local wildlife trust says work has devastated Herefordshire river but landowner says EA asked him to do itEnvironment agency officials were under pressure on Monday to explain exactly what consent they gave to carry out extensive work on the banks of a protected river in England.Officials from the EA, Natural England and the Forestry Commission moved in last week to stop the work along the River Lugg outside Kingsland, near Leominster in Herefordshire. Continue reading...

Carmaker’s European boss says future spending is dependent on post-Brexit trading conditionsToyota will not invest in building battery electric cars in Britain at its next round of investment in 2027, dealing a blow to hopes that UK car factories will take a leading role in the move away from fossil fuels.Johan van Zyl, the chief executive of Toyota Motor Europe, said that hybrid cars containing both internal combustion engines and battery-powered motors would be the only option for the next round of investment at the company’s plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire. Continue reading...

Rosamund Kissi-Debrah ‘would have moved house’ if aware of level of pollution threat to her daughterThe mother of a nine-year-old girl who died after an acute asthma attack said she would have moved house immediately had she been told of the link between air pollution and her daughter’s condition.Rosamund Kissi-Debrah told the inner south London coroner that she knew nothing about nitrogen dioxide or air pollution during her daughter’s life. Continue reading...