Report challenges justification for government underwriting of up to five new gas-fired generatorsAustralia’s existing gas power plants are running well below capacity, challenging the justification for a Morrison government program that may support up to five new gas-fired generators, according to a new report.Energy analyst Hugh Saddler, from Australian National University’s Crawford school of public policy, found the combined-cycle gas plants in the national grid – those expected to be available near constantly, sometimes described as “baseload” – ran at just 30% capacity across the past 18 months. Continue reading...

FCA’s proposals would call on companies to fall in line with tough new climate standardsThe City watchdog may soon demand Britain’s top-tier companies come clean on their effect on the environment and disclose the financial risks they face due to the climate crisis.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) set out proposals which would call on all companies listed on the UK’s premium stock markets – including most companies listed on the FTSE – to fall in line with tough new climate standards. Continue reading...

Campaigners press chancellor for clear signal UK government is taking Cop26 seriouslyClimate campaigners are urging the government to set out a clear plan for a low-carbon future in next week’s budget, despite the chancellor’s decision to pull a major plank of climate policy at the last minute.The budget will determine much of the government’s work this year, and campaigners fear that a failure to send clear signals on meeting the 2050 net zero emissions target would play badly with other countries looking to the UK for leadership as host of the vital UN climate talks, called Cop26, later this year. Continue reading...

The pick of the world’s best flora and fauna photos, including swimming cheetahs and an albino orangutan Continue reading...

Freshwater predatory cod species to make comeback after 50-year absenceForget dreams of wolves, bears or lynx – the next animal to be restored to the British countryside could be a river bottom-dwelling fish that resembles a giant tadpole.The burbot, much-maligned for its unprepossessing appearance with a fleshy appendage dangling from its chin, was last sighted in British rivers in 1969. Continue reading...

Accidental ingestion of strychnine believed to be cause of nearly 1,000 deaths in Guinea-BissauNearly 1,000 hooded vultures have died in a mass poisoning in Guinea-Bissau, pushing the endangered species towards the brink of extinction in Africa, according to conservationists.Vultures were seen apparently searching for water and “bubbling from their beaks”, and hundreds were found dead on the outskirts of two towns, Bafatá and Gabú, which are 30 miles apart, over the past two weeks. Continue reading...

Climate lobbying watchdog claims US oil giant met EC officials in run-up to policyThe US oil firm ExxonMobil met key European commission officials in an attempt to water down the European Green Deal in the weeks before it was agreed, according to a climate lobbying watchdog.Documents unearthed by InfluenceMap revealed that Exxon lobbyists met Brussels officials in November to urge the EU to extend its carbon-pricing scheme to “stationary” sources, such as power plants, to include tailpipe emissions from vehicles using petrol or diesel. Continue reading...

Warming springs can cause plants to bloom earlier, alter hibernation times and locations for migrating animals, and increase insect populationsAcross the south-eastern US, trees are unfurling their clouds of leaves after winter. Yet this picturesque and usually welcome development is this year cause for consternation.New data from the USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) shows that in parts of North Carolina, South Carolina and northern Florida, spring has arrived more than three weeks earlier than average, and earlier than at any point in the last 39 years it has been tracked. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak to delay unveiling strategy for better transport links and net-zero emissionsThe national infrastructure strategy to invest £100bn in boosting the economy and tackling the climate crisis is expected to be delayed until after the budget.The plan to improve transport connectivity and work towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 had been set to be published “alongside” the budget, which is due on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: The five-year Australian-German initiative to transition to new energy and low emissions was due to end in 2022The Morrison government has told researchers at two of Australia’s leading universities it will break a commitment to fund an international collaboration into what is required to shift to a zero emissions future.The Australian-German Energy Transition Hub was announced in 2017 by then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and German chancellor Angela Merkel as a collaboration that would “help the technical, economic and social transition to new energy systems and a low emissions economy”. Continue reading...

A proposed waterway linking the Black Sea and the Baltic has sparked fears of catastrophic biodiversity loss – and raised the spectre of ChernobylAll photographs by Vincent MundyOn the banks of the Pripyat River lies a forest. On a crisp winter afternoon with an expansive blue sky above and hardened snow underfoot, the area is criss-crossed with the tracks of hares, deer and wolves. This is the south-eastern tip of Belarus, home to sleepy villages steeped in tradition, where people hang their Christmas trees upside-down from the ceiling and eat raw pig fat as an afternoon snack.It is also part of Polesia, Europe’s largest wilderness. More than two-thirds the size of the UK (18m hectares) and spread across Poland, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, in spring this brittle landscape blooms into a labyrinth of gigantic bogs and swamps that supports large populations of wolves, bison, lynx and 1.5 million migratory birds. It has been called “the Amazon of Europe” for its extraordinary biodiversity. Continue reading...

Queensland government’s moratorium comes after dozens of bores supplying drinking water to Tamborine Mountain ran dryThe Queensland government has placed a year-long moratorium on new water mines in parts of the Gold Coast hinterland, where drought-hit residents have been campaigning against the impact of the bottled water industry.Late last year, dozens of bores that supply drinking water to Tamborine Mountain schools, businesses and residents ran dry, with many residents having to wait six weeks for deliveries by truck. The area has three commercial water mines with deep bores that send about 100m litres a year for bottling. Continue reading...

Sc’ianew First Nation says climate activist group entered their lands without permission: ‘You have insulted our community’A First Nation in Canada has demanded climate activists at Extinction Rebellion apologize for trespassing on Indigenous territory during a protest last month, calling the group’s actions “disturbing” and in violation of traditional protocol.While Extinction Rebellion has often drawn criticism for its disruptive protests, the letter marks a rare public rebuke of the group from Indigenous leadership. Continue reading...

In first local referendum of its kind, district council proposes being carbon-neutral by 2025A local authority is asking its residents to back an unprecedented 34% increase in its share of council tax bills – equivalent to £52 for a typical household – to fund a radical climate emergency action plan, in what is set to be the first local referendum of its kind.Warwick district council’s proposed green levy would raise £30m over 10 years to invest in making council-owned buildings and vehicles energy efficient, reducing traffic congestion, and improving air quality. The authority aims to be carbon-neutral by 2025. Continue reading...

Vaccination and movement controls will be used instead to tackle bovine TB in EnglandThe controversial cull of badgers across England will begin to be phased out in the next few years, the government has announced, with vaccination of the animals being ramped up instead.The cull is intended to cut tuberculosis in cattle and has killed at least 100,000 badgers since 2013. TB in cattle is a severe problem for farmers and taxpayers, leading to the compulsory slaughter of 30,000 cattle and a cost of £150m every year. Continue reading...

Exclusive: study shows a 75% fall in 18 years in England, with climate a clear factorGlow-worm numbers have plunged by three-quarters since 2001, research in England has revealed, with the climate crisis a clear factor.The larvae feed on damp-loving snails, and increasingly hot and dry summers mean fewer prey and a greater risk of glow-worms becoming desiccated. Continue reading...

Heavy rainfall across New South Wales and Queensland boosts rivers and allow farmers to plant crops for the first time in several seasonsHeavy and widespread rain across three states is bringing joy to parched towns with some farming regions receiving “drought-breaking” rains.Further rainfall from ex-Tropical Cyclone Esther was delivering water into regional water storages and rivers, with farmers able to plant crops for the first time in several seasons. Continue reading...

Funding is intended to help countries protect their people from the climate breakdownPeople in some of the world’s poorest countries are receiving as little as $1 each a year to help them cope with the impacts of the climate crisis, despite rich countries’ promises to provide assistance.Climate finance is intended to help developing countries cut greenhouse gases and protect their people from the consequences of climate breakdown, and forms a core part of the Paris agreement. Rich countries pledged more than 10 years ago to provide £100bn a year to the poor by 2020, but it is not certain that these commitments are being met. Continue reading...

Investment Association gives UK companies three years to explain how they will adaptAn influential group of investors is for the first time demanding that all UK-listed companies disclose how the climate emergency will impact their business.The Investment Association, which represents 250 members with £7.7tn under management, has set a three-year deadline for companies to explain in their annual reports how they plan to measure and manage the threat of global heating. Continue reading...

Engineers to install fastest home car-charger available in exclusive one-stop packageBritish Gas has teamed up with Volkswagen to accelerate the rollout of its electric vehicles (EV) across UK roads by helping drivers to charge up at home at a lower price.The UK’s biggest energy company has agreed a three-year deal with the carmaker to offer owners of new electric VW vehicles a one-stop package to help plug into home charging. Continue reading...

UK water firm will power pumps with renewable energy in attempt to slash emissionsOne of the UK’s biggest water companies plans to spend £1.2bn to help repair the environment and end its contribution to the climate crisis by 2030.Severn Trent plans to cut its emissions to virtually zero within the next decade by using 100% renewable energy to power its water pumps and an all-electric fleet of vehicles. Continue reading...

Leadership contender sets out climate principles she wants to add to party’s constitutionRebecca Long-Bailey would make protecting the environment a core Labour principle by writing it into the party’s constitution, she has said.The shadow business secretary has argued that Labour’s green industrial revolution, which she authored, was not prominent enough in the party’s election campaign last year. Continue reading...

Amazon could turn into source of COin atmosphere by next decade, research suggests

Futaba to reopen for start of Olympic torch relay after being deserted for nine yearsJapan has lifted an evacuation order for parts of a town in the shadow of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, weeks before the area is to host the start of the Olympic torch relay.Futaba, 2.4 miles (4km) west of the plant, has been almost deserted since the nuclear meltdown nine years ago, while other areas in the region have mounted a partial recovery after the government declared them safe for residents. Continue reading...

Researchers use supercomputer to predict potential breeding areas as food security fears growScientists monitoring the movements of the worst locust outbreak in Kenya in 70 years are hopeful that a new tracking programme they will be able to prevent a second surge of the crop-ravaging insects.The UN has described the locust outbreak in the Horn of Africa, and the widespread breeding of the insects in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia that has followed, as “extremely alarming”. Continue reading...

Parliament House event represents an effort to undermine climate action, environmental group 350 Australia saysEnvironmental campaigners say a cocktail night involving the fossil fuel industry and federal politicians represents an “insidious” lobbying effort to undermine climate action.The pro-coal Liberal MP Craig Kelly and Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon will host a cocktail event at Parliament House to discuss carbon capture and storage with industry leaders on Wednesday night. Continue reading...

Report claims Rishi Sunak has unique opportunity to invest in zero-carbon infrastructureThe author of a groundbreaking report on the economic impact of climate change has called on Rishi Sunak to spend more than £8bn in his first budget next week to kickstart a “massive and long-term” boost to “zero-carbon infrastructure, new skills and sustainable innovation”.Lord Stern said the new chancellor had a unique opportunity to address regional inequalities and invest to meet the government’s target for net-zero emissions with measures already highlighted in the Conservative party manifesto. Continue reading...

Fossil fuel firms are making good use of the many revolving doors available to them in BrusselsPicture the scene: a dinner for MEPs organised by leading fossil fuel firms to explain the lengths to which their industries have gone to combat climate emergency. On the guest list, the environment minister of Croatia, current holders of the EU’s rotating presidency, and Guido Bortoni, an adviser in the European commission’s energy directorate. Nobody at all from civil society or the NGO sector. In other words a perfect Brussels lobbying event.Billed as “Oil and Gas and the Green Deal” this dinner took place on 17 February, just a fortnight before the unveiling of the EU’s first ever climate law. The meal was sponsored by the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP), which represents 29 of Europe’s main fossil fuel operators, including Total, Shell, BP and ExxonMobil. Continue reading...

Last week’s Heathrow judgment was a watershed. Now we must target other projects that put profit before life on EarthNo longer should our survival be an afterthought. If we are to withstand the climate crisis, every decision should begin with the question of what the planet can endure. This means that any discussion about new infrastructure should begin with ecological constraints. The figures are stark. A paper published in Nature last year showed that existing energy infrastructure, if it is allowed to run to the end of its natural life, will produce around 660 gigatonnes of CO2. Yet, to stand a reasonable chance of preventing more than 1.5°C of global heating, we can afford to release, in total, no more than 580 gigatonnes.Related: Heathrow third runway ruled illegal over climate change Continue reading...

Exclusive: Marsh chief has defended company’s involvement in coal but says executives are meeting to ‘formulate a position’Senior executives at the world’s largest insurance broker, Marsh, will meet in the US this week to decide a new global position on coal projects, including whether to continue support for the Adani Carmichael coalmine.Marsh has come under pressure, in Australia and overseas, due to its work as a broker for the controversial Adani coal and rail project in north Queensland. Continue reading...

As EU sets out its first ever climate law, critics fear UK may delay or water down green measuresBoris Johnson should publicly declare climate deniers as wrong in order to secure the UK’s standing in vital UN climate talks this year, campaigners have urged, as climate deniers with links to the Tory party prepare for a new battle.As the UK leaves the EU, and its emphatic environmental commitments including the European green deal, those who want to see less action on the climate crisis are hoping Johnson’s government will be more amenable to delaying and watering down green measures. Continue reading...

Odey Asset Management understood to have sizeable stake in Brazilian firm SLC AgricolaCrispin Odey, one of the biggest donors to Boris Johnson’s Conservative party, has invested in a Brazilian company linked to deforestation in the Amazon, the Guardian can reveal.SLC Agricola has been accused of clearing land for soy cultivation, mostly from the Cerrado ecosystem in Brazil, which is rich in wildlife and plant species and is an important carbon sink. It has requested licences to clear thousands of hectares of Cerrado land, on top of at least 30,000 hectares that it cleared between 2011 and 2017, which resulted in the Norwegian government pension fund divesting from the group. Continue reading...

Onshore wind companies can now compete for clean energy contracts. Despite onerous planning barriers, this is a big stepOn Monday, the government did something remarkable. In the windiest country in Europe, it finally ended a five-year block on new onshore wind turbines. It’s a victory for campaigners, and anyone who wants action on the climate crisis and cares about lower energy bills in future.Related: UK government lifts block on new onshore windfarm subsidies Continue reading...

Exclusive: Bushfires likely to have killed about 5,000 koalas in NSW, report findsAbout 5,000 koalas in New South Wales are likely to have died in the bushfires, and their numbers may have dropped by as much as two-thirds in less than 20 years, a new report has found.Conservation groups want the state government to make an emergency endangered species declaration for the koalas. Continue reading...

Jonathan Brearley says Ofgem needs to balance new net-zero carbon goals with protecting consumersJonathan Brearley might be the most important British climate pioneer you’ve never heard of. In the past 10 years, the former civil servant has quietly steered the UK to its first climate legislation, and then to the policy framework responsible for creating Britain’s cleanest electricity system since the 1880s. As the new chief executive of Ofgem, Brearley plans to inject climate action into the core of the UK’s energy regulation, too.This may prove his toughest challenge yet. Continue reading...

Investigation traces meat sold to JBS and rival Marfrig to farm owned by man implicated in Mato Grosso killingsA new investigation has linked the world’s biggest meat company JBS, and its rival Marfrig, to a farm whose owner is implicated in one of the most brutal Amazonian massacres in recent memory.The report by Repórter Brasil comes as JBS faces growing pressure over transparency failings in its Amazon cattle supply chain. Continue reading...

Naturalist says approval of high-speed rail project failed to take account of climate impactA fresh legal challenge to HS2 has been launched by the naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham, arguing that the UK government’s decision to approve the high-speed rail network failed to take account of its carbon emissions and climate impact.Packham and the law firm Leigh Day said the Oakervee review, whose advice to proceed with HS2 in full was followed by Boris Johnson last month, was “compromised, incomplete and flawed”. Continue reading...

To mark the end of The Frontline series a panel of experts answer your questions about the climate crisis and how it is affecting Australia.Ask Prof Lesley Hughes, Greg Mullins, Prof Michael Mann and Assoc Prof Donna Green your questions, and see the answers on our live blog. Email frontline.live@theguardian.com or tweet #frontlinelive4.28am GMTAnd for more on the topics we covered today, read the whole of The frontline:4.23am GMTI’d like to thank all our experts today for their time and incredibly detailed answers. The knowledge you have is astonishing.Thanks to Assoc Prof Donna Green, Prof Michael Mann, Greg Mullins and Prof Lesley Hughes. Continue reading...

Ex-forecaster Francis Wilson says viewers need to be sure presenters are serious expertsThe former weather presenter Francis Wilson has said it is now more important than ever for TV forecasters to be serious experts “in a time of floods and fires” caused by global heating.Wilson, who presented forecasts on BBC Breakfast between 1981 until 1992 and at Sky News from 1993 until 2010, stressed the need to keep audiences engaged and to report accurately as extreme weather becomes more common. Continue reading...

Jupiter Asset Management to back campaign resolution calling for halt to investmentBarclays is facing increasing pressure over its environmental stance after one of its top 25 investors came out in favour of a shareholder resolution urging the bank to stop lending to fossil fuel companies.Jupiter Asset Management, which holds a 1.2% stake, is the largest shareholder to back the resolution, which will be voted on at Barclays’ annual investor meeting on 7 May. Continue reading...

Traditional owners and environmental groups criticise issuing of permit on area of Yorke Peninsula leased to a farmerSouth Australian authorities have been criticised by traditional owners and environmental groups for issuing a permit for the culling of southern hairy-nosed wombats on the Yorke Peninsula.The permit was issued for Aboriginal Lands Trust lands at Point Pearce, which are leased to a farmer, under laws that allow for the culling of “abundant wildlife” that is “causing damage”. Continue reading...

The lifting of a destructive ban on new onshore wind power is a breath of fresh airThe government’s decision to overturn an effective five-year-old ban on new onshore wind power generation is hugely welcome. Wind provides the cheapest energy, with the first subsidy-free contracts for offshore projects awarded last year. Onshore wind is even cheaper. It is also popular, scoring above other infrastructure (including roads and railway stations) in opinion polls despite the efforts of climate denialists to portray it as a public nuisance. Most importantly, it is renewable and very low-carbon. Unlike oil, gas and coal, wind does not produce greenhouse gases (apart from in the initial phase of manufacturing and installation) and is not something we can run out of. Unlike nuclear, it does not produce toxic waste as a byproduct.The government’s climate advisers say that onshore wind power capacity will need to triple in 15 years if the UK is to meet the target of net-zero emissions by 2050. This is a huge challenge, and forms just one part of an even bigger one. The good news is that the UK’s wind sector is already – and despite David Cameron’s foolish decision to stymie it – a world-beating one. While the solar power industry was seriously damaged by the removal of subsidies, with domestic installations collapsing after the withdrawal of feed-in tariffs, wind companies were able to shift resources and expertise offshore. Continue reading...

NGOs express disappointment with ambition of UN talks on global nature agreementWealthy nations could be asked to make significant financial contributions to biodiverse countries such as Brazil under proposals put forward during talks on a global agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity decline.Paying countries with life-sustaining ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest billions of pounds a year for the services those ecosystems provide for the world was proposed during negotiations on a Paris-style UN agreement on nature in Rome last week. Continue reading...

Decision comes four years after ministers scrapped support for new projectsThe UK has abandoned its opposition to subsidising new onshore windfarms, four years after ministers scrapped support for new projects.The government will remove a block against onshore wind projects by allowing schemes to compete for subsidies alongside solar power developments and floating offshore wind projects, in a new auction scheme announced on Monday. Continue reading...

Group of ageing beluga whales and orcas from marine entertainment parks will live out their post-showbiz days in a sheltered bay off Canada

Australia is heating more rapidly than the global average, with a rise of 4C expected by 2100, Bureau of Meteorology says

Bills to meet environmental targets while feeding industry have the right pushing back and experts unconvincedRepublican lawmakers under pressure to address the climate crisis are trying to move beyond denying the problem and start proposing solutions. But they still refuse to commit to what scientists say is necessary if the US is to rapidly cut back on burning fossil fuels.Related: Where do the 2020 Democratic candidates stand on the climate crisis? Continue reading...

Preparations for Glasgow summit already hampered by travel restrictions

Exclusive: Retailer says 25 of 44 products offered loose have outsold packaged equivalentsMarks & Spencer is to extend its trial of a refill scheme that enables shoppers to replenish their own food containers, after its research revealed that more than three-quarters of consumers said they were trying to reduce the amount of packaging they use.The retailer’s initial trial of its “fill your own” scheme at its Hedge End store in Southampton, which offers 44 packaging-free products from coffee to confectionery, will be expanded this month to include a second store in Manchester city centre. Continue reading...

New report from Australia Institute says trend will bring with it longer and hotter bushfires, more heatwaves and crop damageAustralia’s summers are getting longer and winters have become shorter as a result of global heating, according to a new report from the Australia Institute.The discussion paper, to be released on Monday, said that trend was “highly likely” to continue and would bring with it longer and hotter bushfire seasons, more heatwaves, while agricultural crops will be damaged, livestock will suffer and entire ecosystems will be placed at risk. Continue reading...