Reasons to be cheerful include signs that a renewables revolution could soon end rising demand for fossil fuelsOil has been a game-changer for humanity. It turbocharged more than a century of growth and destruction: people got bigger, went further, stayed warmer and lived longer. Oil powered travel, exploration, science, industry and innovation.But it also powered conflict, both as a fuel and a potential spoil. It exacerbated inequality. And it polluted – oceans, rivers, wildernesses and, of course, the atmosphere. Continue reading...

MP says Humphries should face Icac for allegedly telling farmers they would not be prosecuted for land clearing that was later found to be illegalThe New South Wales government is being urged to refer a Nationals MP to the corruption watchdog after the Guardian revealed that at least two farmers facing court said they broke land-clearing laws on his alleged say so.Two farmers who were being sentenced in the NSW land and environment court in recent months have told the judges hearing their cases that they ignored the old native vegetation laws because their local MP for Barwon, Kevin Humphries, had allegedly told them the laws would be scrapped and there would be no prosecutions. Continue reading...

Photographer Robin Hinsch travelled to the Niger delta, visiting the gas flaring sites, artisanal refineries, and meeting the communities living in the hugely polluted environments caused by the oil industryCovering 70,000 sq km (27,000 sq miles) of wetlands, the Niger delta was formed primarily by sediment deposition. It is home to more than 30 million people and 40 different ethnic groups, making up 7.5% of Nigeria’s total land mass. Continue reading...

Environment groups say paper is preferable to plastic but the focus should remain on bringing reusable bagsWoolworths has begun a trial of paper bags in select stores, a move environment groups say is preferable to the use of plastic though the focus should remain on reusable bags.The paper bags cost 20c each and are currently available in 20 stores around the country, and will be offered in addition to the existing reusable thick plastic bags that cost 15c. Continue reading...

More than one in five shareholders support exiting groups ‘inconsistent’ with Paris climate goalsMore than one in five shareholders of mining giant BHP have backed a resolution calling on the company to resign its membership of any industry associations whose advocacy is “inconsistent” with the Paris climate change agreement.BHP’s board recommended shareholders vote against the resolution at its annual meeting in London, but 22% of shareholders voted in favour, with another 7% abstaining. Continue reading...

Global environment editor Jonathan Watts discusses the Guardian’s investigation into the fossil fuel industry, and the structures that need to change to halt the climate emergency. And: Gary Younge on Donald Trump’s mental healthThe Guardian’s global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, tells Anushka Asthana about the polluters series, which identified 20 fossil fuel companies whose relentless exploitation of the world’s oil, gas and coal reserves can be directly linked to more than one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions in the modern era.The project shows many of the worst offenders are investor-owned companies that are household names around the world and spend billions of pounds on lobbying governments and portraying themselves as environmentally responsible. They discuss the systemic changes that would need to take place to change the way the world produces and uses fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Details of photos used to justify new protest laws blocked from releaseThe Palaszczuk government has blocked the release of basic information about climate protests – including dates and locations of photographs used to justify controversial proposed laws – by claiming the details are subject to cabinet confidentiality.At an inquiry hearing last week, the Queensland police tabled photographs of “locking devices” that are proposed to be banned by the new legislation. Continue reading...

Equivalent of 83m plastic bottles in often throwaway outfits sold by leading retailersAn estimated 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste – equivalent to 83m bottles – will be generated from throwaway Halloween clothing sold by leading retailers in the UK this year research suggests.An investigation by Hubbub, an environmental charity, into the seasonal outfits available from 19 supermarkets and retailers – including Aldi, Argos, Asos, Amazon, Boden, John Lewis, M&S, Next, and Tesco – found that 83% of the material used was polluting oil-based plastic likely to end up in landfill. Continue reading...

Democratic governor establishes taskforce despite inevitable pushback from state’s Republican-controlled legislatureThe Democratic governor of Wisconsin is launching a taskforce to brainstorm ways to cut climate pollution, despite inevitable pushback from the state’s Republican-controlled legislature.Tony Evers has vowed Wisconsin will meet the goals of the international Paris climate agreement, even as Donald Trump aims to leave the pact and has discounted climate science, rescinded pollution efforts and promoted fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Commuters clash with demonstrators over morning rush hour disruptionExtinction Rebellion activists have disrupted London’s public transport network during rush hour, in an action that is likely to polarise opinion on the environmental movement’s tactics.There were clashes at Canning Town tube station as commuters dragged a protester from the roof of a Jubilee line train and set upon him. He had to be defended by London Underground staff and other passersby. Continue reading...

Climate now ‘top of the agenda’ for investors as airlines try to lower carbon emissionsEscalating pressure from investors is pushing airlines to address environmental concerns, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata), which acknowledged that the trend toward “flight-shaming” could weigh on the industry’s future growth.Speaking at a conference in London where airlines vied to demonstrate plans to decarbonise, Iata said the climate was now “top of the agenda” for investors. Continue reading...

Landowners found guilty of illegal clearing say Kevin Humphries assured them native vegetation laws were being scrapped• Stripped bare: Australia’s hidden climate crisis

Campaigns to encourage more sustainable and respectful travel are increasing, though some industry figures doubt their power to effect changeFinland has become the latest destination to introduce a tourism pledge, asking visitors to the country to promise to respect its nature, culture and inhabitants.Forming part of a wider sustainability drive that focuses on Finnish values and traditions, such as embracing the outdoors, foraging and recycling, the pledge requires visitors to “be more like a Finn” and includes the line “in my choices the climate comes first”. Continue reading...

Shadow chancellor says third runway ‘cannot stand’ as court of appeal challenges beginThe campaign against the multibillion-pound expansion of Heathrow is on the verge of victory, John McDonnell has claimed, as three court of appeal judges considered fresh legal challenges against a third runway.The shadow chancellor, who has long been an opponent of expanding the airport in his constituency, said the picture had changed since the previous legal challenge in the spring, as the UK had legislated for a net-zero emissions target by 2050 and declared a climate emergency. Continue reading...

Guardian environment correspondent Fiona Harvey recalls being heckled at the House of Commons and explains how attitudes to climate have shifted in 10 years

Appeal court to hear fresh challenge against plans for construction of third runwayThe multibillion-pound expansion of Heathrow violates the rights of children and future generations, who will face the greatest impact of the climate crisis, lawyers will argue at the court of appeal in London.Fresh legal challenges on Thursday by environmental NGOs, councils and the mayor of London against the construction of a third runway will be presented during a five-day hearing. Continue reading...

In Question Time, the prime minister says opposition are addicted to panic and crisis. This blog is now closed

Vets say conditions have led to a ‘starvation event’, killing creatures or leaving them ‘looking like they’ve been mummified’Flying foxes, including threatened species, have been dying or taken into care in large numbers due to a food shortage in their habitat in eastern Australia.Authorities in Queensland and New South Wales say there have been increased reports since September of sick and dead flying-foxes in an area stretching from northern NSW up to Gladstone in Queensland. Continue reading...

NunaX car of Dutch team catches fire 250km before finish of 3,000km Darwin to Adelaide raceThe leading car in the World Solar Challenge has caught fire and withdrawn from the race a little more than 250km from the Adelaide finish.The NunaX car of Dutch team Vattenfall caught fire just before Mambray Creek on Thursday. Continue reading...

Kathy Castor’s letter to Sundar Pichai says it’s hard to ‘overstate the detrimental impact’ groups have had on the climate debateA Democratic lawmaker has called on Google CEO Sundar Pichai to stop investing in organizations that deny the existence of the climate crisis, saying it was hard to overstate how detrimental the impact of such groups had been on the US climate debate.Kathy Castor’s letter to Pichai followed a report in the Guardian last week that revealed Google had made “substantial” contributions to some of the most notorious climate deniers in Washington, despite the internet giant’s insistence it supports political action to combat the crisis. Continue reading...

‘Nurse-in’ held outside company’s offices in protest at funding of climate deniers

Critics condemn move placing thousands of square miles of rainforest under control of international companiesThe Ivory Coast’s dwindling rainforests could be “wiped out” under a new law that will see legal protections removed from thousands of square miles of classified forest and unprecedented power handed to industrial chocolate manufacturers.Civil society groups, environmental campaigners and workers’ cooperatives have warned that the new forestry code, ratified by the National Assembly and currently being implemented, will encourage unsustainable cocoa production and legalise large-scale deforestation in already ravaged areas. Continue reading...

National Farmers’ Federation calls for a ‘new approach’ for future dry spellsFarmers are calling on the government to develop a new drought policy that ends an “ad hoc” and reactive approach to drought, saying government efforts to date have been a national failure.The National Farmers’ Federation signed off on a drought policy framework on Wednesday, calling for a “new approach” for future dry spells, while saying the plan would not address the current situation facing farmers. Continue reading...

Guardian Australia editor says we can be a superpower of the post-carbon world economy if we set aside the self-defeating culture war

Guardian US editor explains how one of the big surprises in moving to America has been the media’s approach to the climate crisis. Here’s how the Guardian hopes to ignite the conversation – with support from you

The Guardian’s editor-in-chief explains why support from our readers is crucial in enabling us to produce fearless, independent reporting that addresses the climate emergency

A small number of dead Murray cod also discovered at Lake PamamarooThousands of invasive European carp and a small number of native Murray cod have perished in a fish kill at Lake Pamamaroo in far western New South Wales, near Menindee, according to visiting filmmakers.The filmmaker Rory McLeod and anthropologist Peter Yates, both of Maldon, Victoria, told Guardian Australia they arrived in the area on Tuesday to investigate reports of a possible mass fish kill. Continue reading...

European Environment Agency found levels of fine particulate matter stalled after decades of reductionsLittle progress has been made on tackling air quality in Europe, new research shows, despite public outcry in many countries and increasing awareness of the health impacts of pollution.Levels of the dangerous fine particulate matter known as PM2.5, which can lodge deep in the lungs and pass into the bloodstream, appear to have reached a plateau across Europe, after more than a decade of gradual reductions. The results come from the European Environment Agency’s Air Quality in Europe 2019 report, published on Wednesday, which collates data taken from thousands of monitoring stations in 2017. Continue reading...

Liberal senator gives final speech. Plus, Scott Morrison tells parliament IMF update ‘reflects the uncertainty of the times in which we live’8.30am BSTAnd on that note, we will call it a night.A very big thank you to Mike Bowers and the Guardian brains trust for all they did to keep me standing today. The struggle was very, very real.8.22am BSTAnd a little bit more:

More than 10,000 pages of documents have not been made public, including records on Adani and the Angus Taylor grasslands sagaAustralia’s environment department is unlawfully withholding more than 10,000 pages of freedom of information documents from the public, including internal records on Adani and the Angus Taylor grasslands affair.The department has failed to place documents on its FOI disclosure log for the past 10 months, meaning material it has released to individual applicants is not visible to the wider public. Continue reading...

Government vows to unveil climate roadmap next year but critics demand action not more policies and plansThe UK government has vowed to accelerate its climate action for transport sector by drafting new plans to end emissions from trains, planes and cars by 2050.Ministers promised to begin the groundwork on the government’s first detailed plan to decarbonise the transport sector immediately, and unveil the plan in full next year. Continue reading...

While many shires use grants for water infrastructure projects, Labor questions if money should go directly to farmersMusic festivals, cemetery upgrades, public toilets and a virtual gym are among the hundreds of projects to ­receive federal grants under the government’s signature Drought Communities Program.As the government fends off criticism of its national drought response, a Guardian Australia analysis of $100m in grants awarded under the program in 2019 shows that while many shires have used the grant program for water infrastructure projects, much of the funding has been spent on events, the purchase of equipment and maintenance work. Continue reading...

Mark Carney says capital markets are financing projects likely to fuel a catastrophic rise in global heatingThe governor of the Bank of England has warned that the global financial system is backing carbon-producing projects that will raise the temperature of the planet by over 4C – more than double the pledge to limit increases to well below 2C contained in the Paris Agreement.In a stark warning over global heating, Mark Carney said the multitrillion-dollar international capital markets – where companies raise funds by selling shares and bonds to investors – are financing activities that would lift global temperatures to more than 4C above pre-industrial levels. Continue reading...

An EU without farmed animals would see a loss of biodiversity and spark a rural exodus, new campaign group claimsMeat and farmed animals are wrongly blamed for the climate crisis without considering their benefits for society, argues a new campaign launched by the livestock industry in Europe.Billboards appeared this week in Brussels metro stations together with a social media campaign #meatthefacts. The adverts are being funded by European Livestock Voice, which is backed by organisations representing EU farmers, foie gras producers and the fur and leather industry. Continue reading...

Last-minute lobbying forces delay to ambitious move by European Investment BankThe European Investment Bank (EIB) has balked at a proposal to halt new investments in fossil fuels, raising concerns that Germany and other nations are plotting to water down what would be one of the financial sector’s most ambitious climate moves.The EIB, the largest public bank in the world, announced this year that it would end lending to new gas projects, having already curtailed funding for coal and oil. This would free up more money for renewable energy developments. The details of the plan were expected to be confirmed by a board meeting of EU finance ministers on Tuesday but last-minute lobbying has forced a postponement. Continue reading...

Actions continue after Met police order end to protests across the capitalExtinction Rebellion climate protesters have promised to continue their mass civil disobedience campaign in London despite a city-wide ban on their demonstrations announced late on Monday night.Hundreds of police officers moved in almost without warning to clear protesters who remained at the movement’s camp in Trafalgar Square on Monday night. Continue reading...

John Bird outlines his new bill to tackle the climate crisis, academics call for protection of tropical habitats and Ahmad O Al-Khowaiter defends Saudi Aramco’s record. Plus letters from Wiebina Heesterman, Paul Donovan, Sarah Williamson and Siobhan BenitaThe protests led by Extinction Rebellion remind us that there are more pressing problems than Britain’s withdrawal from the EU (Of course these protests are inconvenient. They are designed to disrupt us, Editorial, 11 October).Exploitative capitalism has sacrificed our wellbeing – and much of the planet’s resources – on the altar of unlimited growth, binding the hands of those yet to be born. Continue reading...

Green campaigners cheered removal of drilling equipment at weekend but firm to press onCuadrilla is not abandoning its fracking ambitions in Lancashire and still plans to apply for an extension to its shale gas campaign, the company has said.The company hopes to apply to Lancashire county council to extend drilling at the Preston New Road site beyond a 30 November cut-off point. Work had been suspended in August after the location recorded its largest ever tremor and Cuadrilla hopes to lodge its appeal once a review of the quake is completed. Continue reading...

Individual action alone won’t solve the climate crisis. So what political changes might help?

Pace of progress raises hope that fossil fuel companies could lose their domination

Dozens detained on ‘day of disruption’ targeting City firms profiting from climate crisisDozens of protesters, including a 77-year-old rabbi, have been arrested while blocking traffic in London’s financial district, as Extinction Rebellion switched its focus towards companies funding and profiting from the climate emergency.Hundreds of demonstrators walked into the roundabout outside the Bank of England in the City and sat down in the road early on Monday morning. Continue reading...

Joel Fitzgibbon’s climate change ‘settlement’ is rejected but Labor will allow the government’s ‘big stick’ energy policy to passJoel Fitzgibbon has copped a blast in the left and right caucus meetings for declaring Labor should adopt the Coalition’s Paris emissions reduction target rather than pursue ambitious cuts to carbon pollution.The internal unrest came as the shadow cabinet was expected to sign off on Monday night on a shift in Labor’s attitude to the controversial “big stick” policy of the Morrison government. Continue reading...

Cornwall council and EU will fund scheme to tap into ‘hot rocks’ beneath attractionA plan to heat the giant biomes of the Eden Project and, eventually, neighbouring communities by tapping into the “hot rocks” beneath the Cornish attraction has moved a step closer.The Eden Project announced on Monday that it had secured the funding to begin drilling for clean energy next summer. Continue reading...

PM gives the United Nations a blast in parliament for trying to ratchet Australia up on climate targetsScott Morrison has identified the United Nations as the multilateral institution responsible for pursuing “negative globalism” – a Trump-like concept the prime minister flagged in a recent foreign policy speech – because the UN wants Australia to increase its ambition on emissions reduction.But while Morrison gave the UN a blast in parliament on Monday for allegedly ratcheting Australia up, it was actually the current government that agreed to an increase in ambition as part of the Paris framework which Tony Abbott signed Australia onto, and Malcolm Turnbull later ratified. Continue reading...

Mussels, the backbone of the river ecosystem because they control silt levels and filter water, are facing a mysterious afflictionEach fall since 2016, wildlife biologist Jordan Richard has returned to the same portion of the Clinch River in Tennessee, braced for the worst – tens of thousands of newly dead mussel shells gleaming from the surface of the water.The mass die-off isn’t recognizable at first. But once Richard sees the first freshwater mussel, which look quite different to their marine cousins of moules frite fame, he scans the river and finds another every five to 10 seconds. Continue reading...

Campaign for Protection of Rural England says brownfield land offers more opportunitiesOnly one in 10 homes built on green belt land in England in the last decade has been classed as affordable, undermining the case for the development of supposedly protected areas, according to countryside campaigners.The Campaign to Protect Rural England also found that only a third of the 266,000 future new homes currently proposed for green belt land around the country are likely to be affordable. In a report published on Monday, called Space to Breathe, the charity said most green belt developments were inefficient, with only 14 homes for each hectare instead of the 31 for each hectare that is the average on other land. Continue reading...

Community tell of devastating environmental impact on land where their animals grazed

An oil fire burned for more than three weeks next to a freshwater lake in Vaca Muerta, Argentina, one of the world’s largest deposits of shale oil and gas and home to the indigenous Mapuche people. In collaboration with Forensic Architecture, this video looks at the local Mapuche community’s claim that the oil and gas industry has irreversibly damaged their ancestral homeland, and with it their traditional ways of life• Indigenous Mapuche pay high price for Argentina's fracking dream Continue reading...

An oil fire burned for more than three weeks next to a freshwater lake in Vaca Muerta, Argentina, one of the world’s largest deposits of shale oil and gas and home to the indigenous Mapuche people. In collaboration with Forensic Architecture, this video looks at the local Mapuche community’s claim that the oil and gas industry has irreversibly damaged their ancestral homeland, and with it their traditional ways of life Continue reading...