A roadmap for an optimal electricity market suggests gas prices will need to stay low to compete with alternatives on renewable gridNew gas-fired power is not essential for a grid increasingly based on renewable energy, and gas prices will need to stay low if it is to compete with alternatives, according to the government agency responsible for the electricity system.The Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) has released a roadmap detailing what an optimal national electricity market would look like to 2040 if it was designed with a focus on security, reliability and the lowest cost for consumers. Continue reading...
Our investment in the transport and energy sectors falls far short of our neighbours’, write Dr Robin Russell-Jones and Dave Faulkner – and we are supporting airlines with no requirements to improve fuel efficiency
Individual efforts are important, but we need collective action and systemic change. And we can only get that at the ballotIn a world with so many problems, it’s easy to feel helpless. And particularly right now in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, quite alone. But even as we practice social distancing, we have an opportunity to work together to solve the greatest problem that humanity faces. No, I’m not talking about coronavirus. I’m talking about climate change.Related: I’m bewildered that Trump would imperil America by abandoning the Paris agreement | Ban Ki-moon Continue reading...
Research has found feral cattle, horses, buffaloes and donkeys are destroying the habitats of smaller mammal speciesA sharp fall in native mammal numbers in the Northern Territory over the past 30 years is significantly due to feral cattle, horses, buffaloes and donkeys destroying their habitat, government-backed research has found.Related: Australia after the bushfires Continue reading...
Thousands apply yearly to travel Montana’s Smith River. Now anglers, ranchers and conservationists fear for its futureAnnick Smith was one of the lucky ones. This year, the 84-year-old writer and documentary film-maker took her first trip down the Smith River in western Montana.A lazy 59-mile float through deep limestone canyons, green meadows and pine forests that support the best brown trout fishery in the state, the Smith River is so popular it requires a lottery, the only one of its kind in Montana, to keep its fans from loving it to death. Continue reading...
by Patrick Collinson and Jillian Ambrose on (#56960)
National Employment Savings Trust to shun firms involved in coal, tar sands or arctic drillingThe UK’s biggest pension fund, the government-backed National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) scheme with nine million members, is to begin divesting from fossil fuels in what climate campaigners have hailed as a landmark move for the industry.The fund will ban investments in any companies involved in coal mining, oil from tar sands and arctic drilling. But the move puts Nest – a public corporation of the Department for Work and Pensions – potentially at odds with the current pensions minister, Guy Opperman, who earlier this month condemned divestment as “counter productive”. Continue reading...
by Patrick Greenfield and Jonathan Watts on (#56906)
Global Witness campaigners warn of risk of further killings during Covid-19 lockdownsA record number of people were killed last year for defending their land and environment, according to research that highlights the routine murder of activists who oppose extractive industries driving the climate crisis and the destruction of nature.More than four defenders were killed every week in 2019, according to an annual death toll compiled by the independent watchdog Global Witness, amid growing evidence of opportunistic killings during the Covid-19 lockdown in which activists were left as “sitting ducks” in their own homes. Continue reading...
Henry Dimbleby’s national food strategy starts with review of ‘slow-motion disaster’ diet, poverty, and post-Brexit lawsIt is a year since Michael Gove asked the businessman Henry Dimbleby to produce a national food strategy. In that time the coronavirus pandemic has brutally exposed the cracks in the British food system so the launch of part one of his review this Wednesday comes in a new and urgent context.After only a few weeks of lockdown three million people in Britain were in households where someone was forced to skip meals and go hungry. Continue reading...
Henry Dimbleby review exploring safe and affordable food aims at wake-up callHenry Dimbleby’s national food strategy argues that the Covid-19 crisis has brought into painful focus the flaws in the UK’s food system, especially its effect on the nation’s physical and mental health. As the UK regenerates its economy it also has an opportunity to rebuild its food system.The strategy review has two main focus points: addressing the “worst cracks” in the British food system that have appeared because of the pandemic; and finding ways of maintaining what it calls the UK’s high food standards after the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December and the country seeks new trade deals around the world. Continue reading...
The tribe purchased the 1,200 acre ranch near Big Sur as part of a $4.5m deal and will use it for educational and cultural purposesTwo-hundred and fifty years after they were stripped of their ancestral homeland, the Esselen tribe of northern California is landless no more.This week, the Esselen tribe finalized the purchase of a 1,200-acre ranch near Big Sur, along California’s north central coast, as part of a $4.5m acquisition that involved the state and an Oregon-based environmental group. Continue reading...
The government talks a good game when it comes to radical policymaking. But its failure to invest in a zero-carbon future tells a different storySenior figures in this government like to view themselves as insurgents against a hidebound Whitehall establishment. This is partly because Boris Johnson won the last election after pledging to “get Brexit done”, breaking the post-referendum stalemate in parliament. But it is also settled wisdom in Downing Street, and in the Treasury, that a more general shake-up is required of Britain’s body politic if it is to become more lithe and nimble, and get ahead of the game.More evidence of this desire to disrupt came on Tuesday in the form of a speech by Stephen Barclay, the chief secretary to the Treasury. Addressing a centre-right thinktank, Mr Barclay heralded a new era of state spending in which the ethos of Silicon Valley would inform departmental decision-making. In the spirit of west coast venture capitalists, government ministers and their civil servants would back schemes that took risks and which would therefore sometimes fail. The interminable delays and inveterate caution that have blighted government projects and investment would become a thing of the past. Inculcating this new Whitehall worldview is seen as fundamental to speedily delivering the “infrastructure revolution” promised by Mr Johnson at the end of last month. Continue reading...
Changes under consultation follow raft of cycling and walking announcementsAmid the storm of Covid-19, a raft of cycling and walking announcements has landed as part of the government’s attempt to promote a healthier population, save the NHS from collapse and fend off the worst outcomes from coronavirus.The plans, which were in the pipeline before the pandemic, are good news for anyone who wants cleaner, safer roads, and residential streets that do not moonlight as rat runs for short-cutting drivers. Continue reading...
We’ve turned a blind eye to a public health time bomb in already vulnerable communities“I Can’t Breathe” is echoing across the planet. Filled with anguish and pain, these haunting words are spotlighting the systemic racism that has infected unjust policing practices, putting black and brown communities in its crosshairs. As police take lives with chokeholds and asphyxiate others with knees on their necks, we are reminded that racism is literally killing our people and planet.Related: Is this the best of times, the worst of times, or both? Continue reading...
Exclusive: new research shows how black and brown neighbourhoods will be hit hardest by global heatingDangerous heatwaves are exacerbating systemic racial inequalities, with soaring temperatures expected to further disadvantage communities of colour if greenhouse gas emissions keep rising, new research shows.Extreme heat is among the deadliest weather hazards humanity faces due to the climate crisis, which contributes to thousands of deaths in the US every year. Continue reading...
Top investment house delists world biggest meat producer over lack of commitment to sustainability issuesThe investment arm of northern Europe’s largest financial services group has dropped JBS, the world’s biggest meat processer, from its portfolio. The Brazilian company is now excluded from assets sold by Nordea Asset Management, which controls a €230bn (£210bn) fund, according to Eric Pedersen, its head of responsible investments.The decision was taken about a month ago, over the meat giant’s links to farms involved in Amazon deforestation, its response to the Covid-19 outbreak, past corruption scandals, and frustrations over engagement with the company on such issues. “The exclusion of JBS is quite dramatic for us because it is from all of our funds, not just the ones labelled ESG,” Pedersen said. Continue reading...
CSIRO scientists determined the type of shark involved after examining the life jacket worn by 10-year-old boy when he was grabbed from a fishing boatThe shark that grabbed a 10-year-old boy from a fishing boat off north-west Tasmania was likely a great white measuring about 3.5 metres, scientists have said.Lucas Arnott is recovering after the attack about 5km off the coast of Stanley on 17 July. Continue reading...
The fleet, found just outside a protected zone, raises the prospect of damage to the marine ecosystemEcuador has sounded the alarm after its navy discovered a huge fishing fleet of mostly Chinese-flagged vessels some 200 miles from the Galápagos Islands, the archipelago which inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.About 260 ships are currently in international waters just outside a 188-mile wide exclusive economic zone around the island, but their presence has already raised the prospect of serious damage to the delicate marine ecosystem, said a former environment minister, Yolanda Kakabadse. Continue reading...
by Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington on (#567MZ)
Owners hope the friendly shortfin eel, which delighted children in Whangārei for 35 years, made it out to sea during delugeA shortfin eel named Eel McPherson, who was beloved by a New Zealand city for 35 years, has bid bon voyage to its backyard pool and disappeared during a once-in-500-years flood.The eel was kept by a Whangārei man, George Campbell, for decades – first at a fish museum that he ran during the 1990s and later at his home – said Campbell’s granddaughter, Alyce Charlesworth. Continue reading...
Further beach erosion feared as Narrabeen and Wamberal north of Sydney hit by large wind-driven waves, and residents evacuated from 20 homes in Sussex Inlet
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#567JP)
Decline in species such as salmon harms entire ecosystems and livelihoods, say researchersPopulations of migratory river fish around the world have plunged by a “catastrophic” 76% since 1970, an analysis has found.The fall was even greater in Europe at 93%, and for some groups of fish, with sturgeon and eel populations both down by more than 90%. Continue reading...
Investigation portrays fossil fuel industry as common enemy in struggle for racial and environmental justice in AmericaBig corporations accused of driving environmental and health inequalities in black and brown communities through toxic and climate-changing pollution are also funding powerful police groups in major US cities, according to a new investigation.Related: Trump is using federal agents as his 'goon squad', says Ice's ex-acting head Continue reading...
Aurora Energy drops application to drill at Altcar Moss in LancashireA British fracking company has vowed to challenge the effective ban on shale gas projects after withdrawing its application for two wells in Lancashire.Aurora Energy Resources blamed the government’s “de facto ban on shale gas activity” for its decision to drop an application to frack at Altcar Moss in west Lancashire. Continue reading...
by Daniel Judt, Reja Wyss and Antonia Zimmermann on (#566NS)
European countries are spending big to revive their economies, but they will have no legitimacy with young people if they ignore the climateThe future of Europe depends on climate action. This is the resounding message that young Europeans have delivered to their leaders over the past two years. To be sure, the wave of young climate activists across the continent, from Fridays for Future to Extinction Rebellion, is part of a global response to the climate crisis. But for the EU in particular, it is also a warning from a new generation of Europeans to their leaders: our European identity hinges on your climate policies.For our parents’ generation, the European Union defined itself as a protector of peace, a fortress against fascism and a society of (relative) social security. For our generation – we are in our mid-20s – this narrative does not resonate. We came of age in a Europe of crises: a financial collapse, a panic over migration, a surge of populism. These formative moments gave the lie to the notion of a united European identity. To many of us, the EU appeared less a project of democracy, diversity or solidarity than one of bureaucracy, xenophobia and fracture. What is more, Europe’s responses to these crises were hardly material for a new common narrative. Just the opposite: the responses were the crises. Continue reading...
The US will officially exit the Paris accord one day after the 2020 US election and architects of that deal say the stakes could not be higherIt was a balmy June day in 2017 when Donald Trump took to the lectern in the White House Rose Garden to announce the US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, the only comprehensive global pact to tackle the spiraling crisis.Todd Stern, who was the US’s chief negotiator when the deal was sealed in Paris in 2015, forced himself to watch the speech. Continue reading...
The Paris agreement threw a lifeline to millions of people of color facing a premature death. Trump is tearing that awayIt’s official – in 100 days the United States will formally withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. The impact of Donald Trump’s decision, taken three years ago, is already being felt by environmental justice communities.Racism is the driving force behind why certain people and places face disproportionate environmental exposure to toxic substances, adverse climate change effects, Covid-19 infections and deaths. This raises the question: was withdrawing from the Paris agreement also a racist decision? How will this morally incomprehensible policy change affect Black, Latinx, Indigenous and other communities of color? Continue reading...
Donald Trump is taking the US out of the global pact on 4 November – so how will this affect the rest of the world?The world will be watching the US presidential election on Tuesday 3 November, but just 24 hours later is another hugely consequential news event when the US will formally leave the Paris climate agreement.The Trump administration set the withdrawal in motion with a letter to the UN, and, in a coincidence of timing, the US will exit the day after the election, joining Iran and Turkey as the only major countries not to participate in the agreement. Continue reading...
by Emily Holden, Oliver Milman, Monika Cvorak, Nikhit on (#566NY)
After decades of negotiations, all 197 nations in the world decided to voluntarily cut the heat-trapping pollution that is causing the climate crisis by signing the Paris climate agreement. Only a handful of countries have not ratified the deal.But on 4 November, in a coincidence of timing just 24 hours after its presidential election, the US will formally exit the agreement, joining Iran and Turkey as the only major countries not to participate in the pact, which is seen by many as the minimum effort the world needs to make on cutting emissions.The Guardian's environment reporters Emily Holden and Oliver Milman look at why Donald Trump wants to leave the agreement, whether the deal can be successful without the US and what is at stake for the planet without America's cooperation
Become a guest editor of the Guardian US during climate week 2020This September, the Guardian is teaming up with Covering Climate Now and some of the world’s leading news organizations to highlight the issue of climate change in the 2020 elections with a first-time voter takeover. The aim is to amplify the voices of a generation of Americans whose lives will be profoundly shaped by the climate crisis – and highlight what’s at stake in the election for young voters. Continue reading...
Poor quality data means the problem isn’t taken seriously enough warn its authorsMillions of wild animals are trafficked within and out of Brazil every year, a new report has found, with its authors warning that a lack of good quality data means the country’s illegal wildlife trade is not taken seriously enough, with grave consequences for biodiversity.“The information is very dispersed,” said the lead author, Sandra Charity, a biodiversity consultant who wrote the 140-page study with Juliana Ferreira from Freeland Brasil, a non-profit group combating the trade. Produced by wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic, it called for a national strategy to combat the lucrative business. Continue reading...
Operator says UK can tap carbon capture and renewables to help meet UK’s targetsCarbon emissions from Britain’s electricity system could turn negative by as early as 2033 if the UK uses carbon capture technology alongside more renewable energy to reach its climate targets, according to a report from National Grid.The electricity network operator on Monday set out its vision for an “emissions negative” grid that would include 30m electric vehicles on UK roads, and 8m heat pumps used to replace gas boilers in energy-efficient homes. Continue reading...
System of overhead cables and adapted lorries could pay for itself within 15 yearsThe UK could eliminate the majority of the carbon dioxide emissions from road freight by installing overhead charging cables for electric lorries on “e-highways” across the country, a report by government-funded academics suggests.The plan for a so-called electric road system would cost £19.3bn and put all but the most remote parts of the UK within reach of the trucks by the late 2030s, with the potential for the investment to pay for itself within 15 years, according to the report by the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight. The centre is backed by government research grants and industry partners including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and John Lewis. Continue reading...
New sprawling development near Phnom Penh could prompt environmental catastrophe, including for the capital’s water systemsThe destruction of critically-important wetlands by politically-connected developers in Cambodia threatens to flood more than one million Phnom Penh residents, ruin the city’s wastewater system, force hundreds of families from their homes, and trigger environmental devastation, a new report has warned.The sprawling Tompoun/Cheung Ek wetlands, just south of Phnom Penh, play a vital role in sustaining the Cambodian capital, acting as a natural store of 70% of its rain and wastewater and providing livelihoods for the more than 1,000 families who live, farm and fish in the area. Continue reading...
Mark Butler asks auditor general for investigation into how company invited to apply for grant two days after securing itLabor has requested an auditor general investigation into how Shine Energy secured $4m for a feasibility study into a coal-fired power station at Collinsville in north Queensland with an application two days after the grant was publicly announced.Labor’s climate spokesman, Mark Butler, has written to the auditor general requesting an inquiry into the supporting reliable energy infrastructure program, which Guardian Australia revealed resulted in “specific guidelines” drawn up for a one-off grant to the company. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#56611)
Widespread illegal dumping during lockdown prompts outrage among communitiesThe pile of abandoned tyres looms higher than a house and blocks the full width of the road in an industrial estate in Drumchapel, west of Glasgow city centre. Spiked with other incongruous debris, including children’s toys and a Zimmer frame, this week the city council began the task of proper disposal, an operation expected to cost thousands of pounds.“I’ve never seen outrage like it,” said local Scottish Labour councillor Paul Carey, in regards to the community response to this “industrial scale” fly-tipping. “Locals are really concerned about the environmental impact as well as the immediate hazard. It’s in the middle of a residential area and if it went on fire you’d have toxic fumes right across their homes,” he said. Continue reading...
Enormous overhaul will have to defeat opposition from fossil-fuel lobbyists and residents unhappy with nearby turbinesJoe Biden’s $2tn plan to eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions from the US electricity grid within 15 years has been applauded by climate campaigners, but the enormous overhaul will have to pick its way through a minefield of community as well as lobbyist opposition.Related: New Yorkers vote in special contest to reimagine famous Brooklyn Bridge Continue reading...
Trademarks registered double in a year as supermarkets and restaurants eye fast-growing sectorThe number of trademarks registered for new vegan food and drink products in the UK more than doubled to a record high last year.Latest figures reveal that companies successfully applied for 107 trademarks in 2019 for everything from ice cream to meat-free burgers – a 128% increase on the 47 recorded in 2018 – as consumer demand for vegan alternatives continued to soar. Continue reading...
State Liberal Matt Kean calls on his federal counterpart to drop opposition to an independent environment protection authorityThe New South Wales environment minister has called on the Morrison government not to “smash through” changes to national conservation laws and to drop its opposition to an independent environment protection authority.In a significant intervention from a Liberal government minister, Matt Kean questioned his federal counterpart’s rush to introduce draft laws to change the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act while a major review was still under way, saying it was more important to get the detail right. Continue reading...
Chief executive Ashley Dodd’s dream ‘is to become a big player in the power industry’. But Queensland politicians question whether more coal-fired power is neededAshley Dodd had big plans for his startup solar company, Shine Energy.“The dream is to become a big player in the power industry,” Dodd told the Koori Mail in 2017. Continue reading...