Environment | The Guardian

Sailing ship leaves Amsterdam for COP25 climate summit with 36 campaigners on boardA group of environmental activists have set sail from Amsterdam on a seven-week voyage to South America to attend the UN climate conference.It had been raining on the Amsterdam waterfront on Wednesday but the sun came out in the early afternoon as a small crowd waved farewell to the 36 activists and five crew on the boat. Continue reading...

Theatre company’s move comes after growing criticism over its links with oil firmThe Royal Shakespeare Company is to end its sponsorship deal with BP amid growing opposition to fossil fuel companies’ sponsorship of many of the UK’s leading cultural institutions.The RSC announced that after months of deliberations and a vociferous campaign from artists, the public and environmentalists, it had decided to curtail its eight-year relationship. Continue reading...

Exclusive: species added to at-risk list with wild Atlantic salmon as numbers fall, but hake and plaice are booming

Move comes after Minerals Council attacked planning decisions that cited carbon emissions as a reason for rejecting or imposing conditions on a mineThe New South Wales government is considering legislation that could limit the ability for planning authorities to rule out coalmines projects based on the climate change impact of emissions from the coal once it is burned.It comes after a campaign from the NSW Minerals Council over decisions that have referenced the impact of “scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions” as a reason for either rejecting a mining project entirely or for imposing conditions on it. Continue reading...

Biggest offshore windfarm in North Sea will generate electricity for 4.5m homesThe largest offshore wind turbines ever built will begin powering millions of British homes using blades more than 100 metres long by the early 2020s.Each of the new mega-turbines planned for the world’s biggest offshore windfarm at Dogger Bank in the North Sea will reach 220 metres high and generate enough electricity for 16,000 homes. Continue reading...

Robin Hood Energy may have licence revoked if it fails to pay total sum to OfgemRobin Hood Energy, the energy supplier owned by Nottingham city council, has failed to pass on £9.5m in renewable energy subsidies after collecting them from customers through their bills.The supplier has already claimed the sum from its customers, to be used to support renewable energy projects, but missed the deadline to pay its share of the money to the industry regulator, Ofgem last month. Continue reading...

PM’s cup snatched away in what’s speculated to be evidence of No 10’s feuding tribesIt is a moment worthy of any episode of the political TV series The Thick Of It. As he walks through the Conservative party conference, Boris Johnson is handed a hot drink by one of his assistants. However, like his working parliamentary majority, the prime minister is able to hang on to it only momentarily before it is snatched away from him.“No disposable cups,” a second aide murmurs as she snatches Johnson’s drink, seemingly worried about the implications of the Tory leader being pictured using a wasteful single-use cup. Johnson shakes his hands and mutters: “Oh. Oh. Oh” as the clip finishes. Continue reading...

Greta Thunberg and her cohorts are ready to change the world – and that scares a certain kind of manThe president of the United States openly mocked a teenage girl. After dismissing the 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg in person and earning her ire, he tweeted to his 65 million followers: “She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”Related: Greta Thunberg's 495-word UN speech points us to a future of hope – or despair | Richard Flanagan Continue reading...

Joel Fitzgibbon says Coalition’s drought funding has been ‘ad hoc, confusing and lacking in direction’Labor has asked the auditor general to investigate the government’s claimed $7bn in drought assistance, saying the response has been “ad hoc, confusing and lacking in direction”.As the government defends the roll-out of its drought package, which saw one regional council receive $1m in taxpayer support despite enjoying good rainfall, Labor’s shadow agriculture minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, has written to the auditor general, Grant Hehir, requesting a full audit. Continue reading...

U-turn announced after environment minister said populations of the ancient lizard remained stable despite influx of visitorsIndonesian authorities have cancelled plans to close Komodo island to tourists, with the country’s environment ministry saying that Komodo dragons living there are not under threat from over-tourism.In July, authorities in East Nusa Tenggara province said that the island would be closed for one year from January 2020 to stop tourists interfering with the natural behaviour of the largest species of lizard on earth. On Monday Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Indonesia’s environment and forestry minister, said the move was off. Continue reading...

Labor calls the figure the ‘most audacious lie’, saying very little of it is going to drought-affected communitiesAs Australia grapples with extended drought across the country – in many places, the worst on record – the Coalition has been talking up its $7bn drought package in support of “struggling farming families”.Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon has called it the “most audacious lie” he has ever heard in politics, saying very little of the $7bn is actually hitting the ground in drought-affected communities. Continue reading...

The calving of the 1,636 sq km iceberg is not linked to climate change, scientists say, but could speed up further meltingA gigantic iceberg about the size of greater London has calved from the Amery ice shelf in east Antarctica, according to expert monitors.The tabular iceberg, officially named D-28, separated from the ice shelf on 26 September. The iceberg is 1,636 square kilometres in size, or about 50 x 30km, the Australian Antarctic Division said. Continue reading...

Reintroduction of species into Gloucestershire could prove setback for grey squirrelsThe shy and elusive pine marten, a woodland creature almost hunted to extinction in the UK, has been reintroduced to a forest in the English west country.Eighteen of the animals have been released at a secret and remote location in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. Continue reading...

Big windows and high air-conditioning needs mean radical new approaches are neededWhatever you think of skyscrapers, they guzzle energy. One study revealed that electricity use per square metre of floor area was nearly two and a half times greater in high-rise office buildings (20 or more storeys) than in low-rises (six storeys or less).The gas use for heating was about 40% more for tall buildings, and the total carbon emissions from these buildings was twice as high. Continue reading...

Thousands of fans are monitoring the new brood in their nest in a high-rise office buildingThe peregrine falcons at 367 Collins Street in Melbourne’s CBD have hatched a new brood of chicks, to the delight of the thousands of fans who monitor the birds via a livestream video feed.One of their eggs hatched on Sunday, with another cracking open early Monday: developments tracked on an almost minute-by-minute basis by the 4,000 members of the 367 Collins Falcon Watchers Facebook group. Continue reading...

Hundreds of thousands of diesel car owners take action in first-of-its-kind claimA landmark legal action against Volkswagen has begun, with hundreds of thousands of German consumers seeking compensation from the carmaker over emissions test cheating.Volkswagen has already paid out more than €30bn (£26.7bn) around the world in fines, compensation and legal costs since the scandal first came to light in September 2015. The company was found to have installed software that lowered harmful emissions of nitrogen compounds under test conditions. Continue reading...

We talk to some of the hundreds of XR protesters charged with public order offences

Mary Brown recalls an old Cuban practice, which she hopes could catch on elsewhereI was delighted to read Daniel Boffey’s article on hitchhiking (Hitchhiking revival given the thumbs up to cut emissions, 28 September). I do hope this may catch on in the UK. I have been thinking for some time that we need a campaign to bring back hitchhiking. Many years ago (before the death of Castro) I had a holiday in Cuba. There was a severe fuel shortage, due to the US blockade. There, we were told, it was an offence not to pick up hitchhikers. Travellers could buy a token which they gave to the driver who redeemed it to help to pay for the petrol. Could such a system, or the Brussels one, catch on here? We could make a start if we all began hitchhiking, and revealed why. Perhaps we could carry a sign with our desired destination and “cutting emissions” clearly on it?

New study finds nylon tea bags leech billions of microplastics into every single cup of tea“The tea bag… is in the process of a large-scale reinvention.”So reads a 2006 New York Times article on the rise of nylon mesh tea bags, an innovation that diversified the tea market and offered a new, fancier echelon of tea bag. “Instead of paper,” the writer explains, “the leaves will be enveloped by nylon mesh bags in a delicate pyramid shape,” allowing for a larger brewing area and tastier drink, all without the “chore of cleaning up the soggy remains”. Continue reading...

Green party’s Caroline Lucas condemns action against ‘brave XR activists’Scores of environmental activists will appear in court this week in one of the UK’s biggest legal crackdowns on climate protests.Related: ‘Time is running out’: Extinction Rebellion activists on why they risked arrest Continue reading...

Residents say they will not be ousted by energy firm seeking to expand the Garzweiler mineA group of villagers living on the edge of one of Germany’s biggest surface coalmines have vowed not sell their properties to the energy company RWE, and to mount a legal challenge against any attempt to oust them from their homes.The protest alliance is the first coordinated effort in more than 10 years against the expansion of the Garzweiler mine in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which threatens the existence of 12 villages that are home to 7,600 residents. Demolition of the first four villages is scheduled to begin in 2023. Continue reading...

Tributes paid to the inspirational Nigerian campaigner and writer, who was hit by a car outside his home in Port HarcourtA leading activist, journalist and writer who fought for the environmental rights of Nigerians in one of the most polluted places on earth has died after being hit by a car.Friends and colleagues of Patrick Naagbanton described him as highly respected in the Niger Delta, Africa’s most important oil-producing region. They said his death, and the absence of his work holding the government, companies and individuals with interests in the region to account, would leave an enormous hole. Continue reading...

More than 100 dead in deluge after delayed rains overwhelm inadequate drainage systemsMore than 100 people have died in flooding in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where vast areas have been inundated by delayed monsoon rains.Videos shared on social media show submerged roads and heavy flooding at one of the major hospitals in Patna, state capital of Bihar, where patients lay on beds just inches above dirty water. Schools and offices are closed in many areas, and electricity supplies for some residents cut to one hour a day to prevent accidents. Continue reading...

Hundreds of thousands of girls join Girlguiding campaign to tackle plastic pollutionHundreds of thousands of girls and young women are calling for the UK to make a promise to reduce single-use plastic.The call is part of a campaign launched by Girlguiding aimed at tackling plastic pollution. Continue reading...

President retweeted more than 20 tweets about the exchange between host Ed Henry and radio host Mark LevinDonald Trump may be the great white hope of the Republican party, but his dislike of sharks is well known.Related: Trump impeachment inquiry sparks 'bedlam' at Fox News Continue reading...

British Gas owner to harness smart appliances to help balance National GridCentrica, the owner of British Gas, plans to use its customers’ hot water tanks to create a virtual power plant which could help National Grid prevent future blackouts.The UK’s biggest energy supplier hopes to harness household gadgets with energy capacity equivalent to a large power plant by 2025. The plan could help to balance the energy system without any perceptible impact for British households. Continue reading...

Expert Steven Amstrup says ‘the longer the sea ice is gone from the productive zone the tougher it is on the bears’The loss of Arctic ice from glaciers, polar land and sea is declining faster than many scientists expected, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report on oceans and the cryosphere said this week.That’s bad news for polar bear populations, a top expert involved in field studies on the endangered animals has told the Guardian. Continue reading...

Tom Piper and Lisa Wright mark Forestry Commission’s centenary with sculpture trail in Thetford ForestThe designer behind the popular poppy installation at the Tower of London for the first world war anniversary in 2014 is creating a new and startling public artwork to mark another centenary.Designer Tom Piper is to install a series of bright and mysterious figures in dramatic settings in Thetford Forest, on the Norfolk-Suffolk border, in a collaboration with the Forestry Commission and the acclaimed sculptural artist Lisa Wright. Continue reading...

Campaigners criticise party for absence of announcements on air pollution and plastics crisisLive exports of farm animals will be ended, people will be stopped from keeping primates as pets and cats will be microchipped under proposals to be set out at the Conservative party conference by the environment secretary, Theresa Villiers.Animal welfare will form the centrepiece of her appeal to party members, intended to show off the Tories’ green credentials at a time when environmental concern is high on the list of voters’ concerns, with the backing of 10 Downing Street. Continue reading...

Actor/model latest high-profile name to emerge as a customer of ethical bank TriodosLily Cole has backed calls for UK banks to “radically transform” and take the climate emergency much more seriously.The actor, model and activist is the latest high-profile name to emerge as a customer of the ethical bank Triodos, which has a current account which can be managed online and via a mobile app. Other famous customers include the actors James Norton and Sir Mark Rylance. Continue reading...

Teen has private meeting with Canadian prime minister, who later says he ‘agrees with her completely’

There are plenty of large whites and red admirals still around – and some unexpected new arrivalsLots of people have commented on all the butterflies this summer and it certainly feels like a return to the good old days of, say, 1995, rather than recent years when late-summer flowers were depressingly bereft of butterflies.The Big Butterfly Count results support these perceptions with sightings of 1.1m of the most common five species combined, compared with 660,000 in 2018. Continue reading...

Australian PM Scott Morrison received a full-blown welcome from the US president. Katharine Murphy was on hand for an inside account

Week of strikes and demonstrations is ‘only the beginning’, say organisers

Conserving energy | Social change degree | Peter Bradshaw reviews | Isle of Wight | Mealtime debateNote to anyone who contributes to Feast on Saturdays: please rethink the opening line in your recipes. Modern ovens needn’t be switched on when you start preparing the dish. Preparation times of 20-45 minutes over a switched-on oven simply waste energy. Instead, set your oven timer to five minutes before the end of preparation time to turn the oven on then. Bingo. You’ve saved another couple of minutes for the planet. Multiply that by the number of Guardian readers…

UK firm attempted to send household rubbish including condoms and a Deee-lite recordThe waste management firm Biffa has been fined £350,000 for trying to ship household rubbish to China labelled as wastepaper fit for recycling.Items found in the bales included sanitary towels, nappies, wet wipes and condoms – with the shipping containers reeking of vomit. Continue reading...

An award-winning seal in a seaweed garden, a hippo in drought-hit Botswana and a sable Continue reading...

Unprecedented late rainfall causes buildings to collapse as crops rot in fieldsIndia’s monsoon season has overrun by almost a month, with unprecedented rainfall causing deaths from collapsing buildings and many crops beginning to rot.Normally the monsoon in north India recedes by the beginning of September, but the average rainfall this month has been 37% above normal. If the situation continues for the remaining few days, it will be the latest the monsoon has ever receded in decades, according to experts in the India Meteorological Department. Continue reading...

Study shows martial law in an island territory is also being used as pretext for violencePresident Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs and declaration of martial law in an island territory are being used as a pretext to attack people defending their land and environment in the Philippines, new research shows.The resource-rich archipelago in south-east Asia is the world’s most murderous country for people who oppose logging, destructive mining and corrupt agribusiness. At least 30 people were killed in the Philippines last year, following 48 in 2017, dislodging Brazil from the top spot for the first time since the independent watchdog Global Witness began monitoring in 2012. Continue reading...

Ash, elm and rowan among trees threatened by pests and pollution, says biodiversity reportMore than half of Europe’s endemic trees are threatened with extinction as invasive diseases, pests, pollution and urban development take a growing toll on the landscape, according to a study.Ash, elm and rowan trees are among those in decline, says the assessment of the continent’s biodiversity, which could complicate efforts to tackle the climate crisis through reforestation. Continue reading...

Hundreds of thousands hit streets across continents to demand action on climateHundreds of thousands of people around the world are taking place in the latest wave of climate strikes to demand urgent action on the escalating ecological emergency.Last week, millions walked out of schools and workplaces, uniting across timezones, cultures and generations in the biggest climate protests in history before a special UN conference in New York. Continue reading...

New guidelines could save councils money and lead to 400bn more wildflowersBritain could enjoy 400bn more flowers if road verges were cut later and less often according to guidelines drawn up by wildlife charities, highways authorities and contractors.The national guidance for managing roadside verges for wildflowers calls for just two cuts a year – instead of four or more – and only after flowers have set seed, to restore floral diversity and save councils money. It would also provide grassland habitat the size of London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Edinburgh combined. Continue reading...

Lobbyists are giving millions to help Trump win in 2020, after reaping a regulatory windfall that benefited their bottom linesRobert Murray, a coal magnate who forged ties in 2016 with Donald Trump as he championed reviving the beleaguered coal industry, hosted a fundraising dinner this July in West Virginia that hauled in an estimated $2.5m for the president’s re-election coffers.Texas lobbyist Jeff Miller, who has several big fossil fuel clients and ran energy secretary Rick Perry’s 2016 presidential campaign, raised about $1m in this year’s second quarter for the Trump Victory Committee, campaign filings show. Continue reading...

Education minister from new coalition says schools should see absences as ‘justified’Young environmental activists in Italy are planning to miss school as thousands join climate crisis protests in major cities on Friday.Some 475,000 people took part in the first global climate strike in Italy on 15 March and a similar number are expected to join the latest demonstrations in cities including Rome, Milan, Turin, Florence, Naples, Bologna and Bari. But only if they are allowed to skip school. Earlier this week the education minister, Lorenzo Fioramonti, urged schools to consider as “justified” the absence of children taking part in the mobilisation against the climate emergency. Continue reading...

Tens of thousands turn out for protests as activists deliver letter calling on parliament to declare climate emergencyTens of thousands of children and adults in New Zealand have stopped work and school on Friday to take part in the country’s third climate strike, billed as the biggest yet and the first display of “intergenerational” action.More than 40 towns around the country were holding marches with 260 businesses involved, including most of the country’s tertiary institutions. Continue reading...

Exclusive: taxpayers risk subsidising ‘a foreign-owned unregulated monopoly asset’, the Australia Institute saysQueensland taxpayers risk subsidising “a foreign-owned unregulated monopoly asset” if the state government signs a royalties agreement with Adani before securing access to the company’s rail line, the Australia Institute says.The state government has set a self-imposed deadline of 30 September to finalise the terms of a royalty deferment with Adani. Both parties say negotiations over royalties are ongoing and confidential. Continue reading...

Dagens ETC says ban is crucial for its credibility and urges other media to follow suitA Swedish newspaper has announced it will stop taking advertising that promotes fossil fuel-based goods and services with immediate effect.The editor of the daily Dagens ETC said the decision was “crucial for our credibility”. He urged other media outlets to consider doing the same. Continue reading...

Fundraising cash via bonds screams of desperation by carmaker whose balance sheet needs a proper overhaulHere comes Aston Martin with news of its “successful” placing of $150m (£120m) worth of bonds. Success, in this context, merely means the company got its cash. Everything else about the fundraising screams of desperation on the part of the borrower.Aston Martin will pay interest at 12%, a corporate pauper’s rate. A second $100m bond will have to be pitched at 15% if sales targets on the new SUV model are not met. It is quite a reversal: as recently as April, there were buyers for new Aston Martin IOUs at 6.5%. Continue reading...

Swedish environment activist’s campaign began with solo climate protest and drew 4 million to latest strikesThe Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has become known globally for her environmental campaign. In August 2018, aged 15, Thunberg began a solo climate protest by striking from school. She has since been joined by tens of thousands of school and university students in more than a dozen countries, in climate strikes that have become regular events. A global strike in March drew more than a million people, surpassed in September by the biggest yet with at least 4 million.Thunberg has described the rapid spread of the strikes around the world as amazing. “It proves you are never too small to make a difference,” she said. Her protests were inspired by US students who staged walkouts to demand better gun controls in response to multiple school shootings. Continue reading...