Survey shows ‘significant and substantial’ decline in the popularity of Scott Morrison and the CoalitionAustralia’s bushfire crisis has caused a spike in concern about the environment, a hit to the popularity of the Coalition and Scott Morrison and a drop in support for new coalmines, even among Coalition voters.Those are the conclusions of a poll of 3,249 Australians conducted by the Australian National University’s Centre for Social Research and Methods, which found a “significant and substantial decline” in the Coalition’s vote from 40% in October 2019 to 35% in January. Continue reading...

Engineers at the University of Queensland say technology could be used to power small devices, such as a phone, within two yearsA flexible solar “skin” that could be used to generate power on homes, cars and phones is a step closer to development after the technology was used to break a world record for electricity conversion, researchers say.Engineers at the University of Queensland have been working with nanoparticles known as quantum dots that pass electrons and generate an electrical current when exposed to solar energy. Continue reading...

Action at Trinity part of week-long protests over ties between colleges and fossil fuel industryExtinction Rebellion protesters have dug up the lawn of Trinity College, Cambridge, as part of a week-long series of demonstrations.The climate activists dug channels into the turf in front of the college’s 16th-century great gate with shovels and pitchforks and planted Extinction Rebellion flags. Continue reading...

Spill is enough to fill 320 Olympic-sized pools and fouled Tarpon River, Himmarshee Canal and streets in three neighborhoodsFort Lauderdale officials say 211.6m gallons of sewage has spilled into Fort Lauderdale waterways in the past few months.The Sun-Sentinel reports that’s enough to fill 320 Olympic-sized pools. Continue reading...

Every February Horsetail Fall is lit by the setting sun, bringing thousands of people to Yosemite to watch the phenomenon

The backbencher calls for a roadmap to net zero as ‘an arms race’ in low emissions technology drives transformationThe Victorian Liberal Katie Allen has declared the world is approaching an “iPhone moment” when it comes to new technology lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and Australia needs to be part of the revolution, rather than being a technology “taker”.Allen has joined fellow Liberal Trent Zimmerman in noting the Coalition’s decision to sign the Paris agreement means Australia has already committed to achieving carbon neutrality by mid-century. But she said the government should not nominate a specific date to hit the milestone until it had developed a policy roadmap. Continue reading...

Explorer says halting imports would recognise the devastating impact of colonialism on wildlifeBanning the import and export of big game hunting trophies would recognise the destructive impact European powers have had on wildlife in former African and Asian colonies, Sir Ranulph Fiennes has said.Speaking to the Guardian, the veteran British explorer said hunting endangered species such as rhinos, elephants and lions to keep their body parts as trophies should be viewed with the same scepticism as Chinese traditional medicine in terms of the damage it does to biodiversity. Continue reading...

Use of ‘scrubbers’ to cut air pollution increases pollutants pumped into sea, UN report saysNew shipping pollution regulations introduced earlier this year could harm humans by contaminating fish and crustaceans with toxins, according to an internal report compiled by the International Maritime Organization and obtained by the Guardian.In the report the IMO, the United Nations agency responsible for regulating shipping, says that there is insufficient “toxicity data” to be able to assess the risk to humans caused by the increased use of exhaust gas cleaning systems, which are also known as “scrubbers”. Continue reading...

Mining giant allowed 13% increase in emissions in three years under Coalition policy that promised to limit increases in pollution from big industryMining giant BHP has repeatedly applied and been granted approval to increase its emissions under an Australian government policy that promised to limit carbon pollution from big industry.Government data shows BHP exceeded its initial emissions limits, set under the scheme known as the “safeguard mechanism”, at eight of its 14 large Australian industrial sites since 2016-17. Continue reading...

Downstream communities furious after northern Murray-Darling Basin irrigators told harvesting embargo to be lifted

Local council leaders said they were forced into ‘exceptional’ move to protect jobsA French ski resort has angered ecologists by using a helicopter to move snow from higher up the mountains after exceptionally mild weather left its slopes bare.Officials at Luchon-Superbagnères in the Pyrenees authorised the “exceptional” emergency operation overnight on Friday. Continue reading...

Enthusiasts say red tape and enforced fees would spoil popular Hampstead pondsEven in the bleak midwinter, a hardy few can be found bobbing around the dark waters of the Highgate bathing ponds on Hampstead Heath in north London, their faces wreathed in near-beatific smiles.As the late nature writer Roger Deakin enthused about wild swimming: “I can dive in with a long face, and what feels like a terminal case of depression, and come out a whistling idiot.” Continue reading...

As Dennis rages in a week after Ciara, flights are cancelled and trains are delayed amid warnings of widespread floodingStorm Dennis has wreaked havoc on Britain, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and trains, and the deaths of at least two people yesterday.As the so-called bomb cyclone battered the coastline, as much as a month’s worth of rainfall was predicted overnight and into Sunday morning in some parts of the UK. Continue reading...

Wet weather expected to continue in parts of NSW, with showers and possible storms predictedSydney and New South Wales coastal residents are in for more wet weather with showers and possible storms predicted throughout the Sunday.The Bureau of Meteorology said central and southern NSW coastal areas would experience offshore winds, which caused havoc after ex-cyclone Uesi passed through to the south of the country. Continue reading...

The Liberal moderate says a 2050 target will bring Australia into line with its commitments under the Paris agreement• Australian politics live podcast with Trent Zimmerman: ‘I don’t think we should fund new coal-fired power plants’The Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman says the Morrison government should work towards adopting a target of net zero emissions by 2050 to bring itself into line with commitments Australia made under the Paris agreement, and to align Canberra’s policy with emissions reduction targets adopted by the states.In an interview with Guardian Australia’s politics podcast, Zimmerman said it was reasonable for the prime minister to want to do due diligence on what net zero would cost, and to consider what a policy roadmap would look like, “but this is something that we should be looking very seriously at”. Continue reading...

Once one of western Europe’s biggest landfill sites, Thurrock Thameside is now a thriving haven for wildlifeStanding on top of the visitor centre at Thurrock Thameside Nature Park, you could be forgiven for being disappointed by the view: a large field of brambles. But just 10 years ago, the same view would have been even more disappointing: mountains of rubbish heaped up on one of Europe’s largest landfill sites.For 50 years, the site absorbed waste belched out by Londoners. Now the only reminder of its past life is the odd piece of discarded metal. Continue reading...

Activists aim to raise awareness of sustainable design and the need to reduce emissions from flightsActivists from Extinction Rebellion (XR) blocked traffic outside a London fashion week venue on Saturday and also staged a protest at Gatwick airport.Dozens of demonstrators prevented traffic from passing through a busy intersection leading to the Strand in Westminster, where the fashion trade show was being held. Continue reading...

Unilever-backed Loop launches ambitious bid to deliver refills of staple goods to householdsThe home delivery model pioneered by milkmen is getting a 21st century makeover as part of the war on plastic. A major new online service backed by the world’s biggest brands will deliver products ranging from soft drinks to washing powder and shampoo in refillable containers to your front door.The Loop, which launches next month, is one of the most ambitious attempts yet to eliminate plastic waste from the weekly shop. It is backed by major consumer goods companies Unilever and PepsiCo, who have created eco-versions of popular brands including Tropicana, Persil and Hellmann’s, to sell via the website. Continue reading...

Forceful declaration calls for governments to set short-term zero emissions target to avoid catastrophic warmingThe megafires of Australia’s summer “are a harbinger of life and death on a hotter Earth”, a climate summit has said in a forceful declaration for urgent and dramatic climate action.The Climate Emergency Summit, held in Melbourne this week and of which Guardian Australia was a partner, released a declaration saying the warming world was a clear threat to Australian society and civilisation. Continue reading...

IEA welcomes appointment of Alok Sharma but others worry about nature of his dual roleBoris Johnson must put the climate crisis at the top of his government’s agenda if crunch UN talks this year are to be a success, leading international figures have told the Guardian.Alok Sharma was appointed on Thursday as the business secretary and president of Cop26, the UN talks on the climate crisis to be held this November in Glasgow. Some climate experts are concerned that he won’t be able to stand up to governments reluctant to make strong commitments to cut greenhouse gases, while at the same time supporting British businesses struggling in the turmoil of Brexit. Continue reading...

Scientists say it’s the poppies’ fat and protein, not their narcotic alkaloids, that keep the birds coming back for moreTasmanian farmers have reported their poppy crops are being ravaged by cockatoos, but experts say it is likely that it is a taste for the fatty seeds, and not an addiction to opiates, that is attracting the birds.Tasmanian farmer Bernard Brain told the ABC on Tuesday that flocks of about 300 white cockatoos had decimated his harvest by ripping capsules from his poppy flowers and eating them, leading him to believe that the native birds were addicted to the alkaloid found in the seed. Continue reading...

Art, culture, nature and property prices are tempting people away from the capital

Airline is committing $1bn over next 10 years to mitigate all emissions from its global businessDelta announced an ambitious plan on Friday to become the first US airline to go carbon neutral, committing $1bn over the next 10 years to mitigate all emissions from its global business.The move by Delta will put pressure on other airlines to follow suit at a time when the UN is warning that airplane emissions of carbon dioxide will triple by 2050. Continue reading...

In UK, students march on first anniversary of nationwide protests by young people

UK’s largest water firm opts not to join rebellion against Ofwat’s crackdown on profit levelsThames Water has backed down from the water industry rebellion against the regulator by accepting Ofwat’s toughest crackdown on profits.The UK’s largest water supplier gave “careful consideration” to joining the industry’s first rebellion against Ofwat, in which three major water utilities plan to challenge the regulator. Continue reading...

New chief executive sets out strategy at bank bailed out by the government in 2008Royal Bank of Scotland’s new chief executive is renaming the group NatWest in a corporate overhaul designed to put its 2008 government bailout, and the fallout from a a string of scandals, behind it.The lender said it was ditching the 293-year-old RBS company name, saying it was the right time to make a change at the parent company and reflect that NatWest is its biggest brand. However, the existing RBS bank branches – most of which are in Scotland – will keep their name, as will Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland. Continue reading...

If a company that made its name in oil wants us to believe it can be part of the climate solution, it needs to stop drillingBP’s got a new boss, Bernard Looney. He doesn’t wear a tie, he’s on Instagram and he’s going to shrink its carbon footprint to “net zero” by 2050. Is this for real?It’s a sign the tide is turning. Maybe not enough to save us from catastrophic sea-level rises, but a turn nonetheless. The oil industry is incredibly savvy when it comes to public opinion, and can see the steady erosion of its “social licence to operate” (a company’s ability to go about its business without too much challenge). It has been struggling to recruit young people for years, well before the school climate strikes started. Continue reading...

Protesters have blocked railways and barricaded ports in wave of dissent – and the pressure on Justin Trudeau has increasedAs armed Canadian police officers advanced through snow towards their camp, the group of Indigenous women was absorbed in a drumming ceremony to honour the spirits of missing and murdered Indigenous women across the country.Rows of red dresses hung from a fishing line slung across the road, and from pine and spruce trees in the surrounding forest – each one a memorial to the thousands of Indigenous women killed or disappeared in recent years. Continue reading...

Outgoing charity chief Craig Bennett says next generation ‘could not be more exciting’The school strikes movement will ensure an exciting and dynamic future for environmental activism for decades to come, the outgoing head of Friends of the Earth has said, as students across the globe leave classrooms on Friday to demand political action on the climate crisis.Speaking on the first anniversary of the movement in the UK, Craig Bennett said it was grassroots activism, not centralised politics, that was leading to change. Continue reading...

Environmentalist was in charge when UN climate change panel shared 2007 Nobel peace prize but career was marred by harassment claimsThe Indian environmentalist Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, under whose leadership a UN climate change panel shared the 2007 Nobel peace prize, has died after recent heart surgery. He was 79.Pachauri’s death was announced late on Thursday by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), a research group he headed until 2016 in New Delhi. Continue reading...

Scott Morrison’s government has quietly told the station’s owners the money will likely be allocated in the 2020 budgetThe Morrison government has made it known to the owners of the Vales Point coal-fired power plant that they are likely to get an $11m grant to upgrade the facility in the May budget.Canberra buried the probable commitment to the coal project on page 12 of a 13-page $2bn agreement with the Berejiklian government to increase gas supply and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector. Continue reading...

With well-funded research, cold fusion has the potential to provide us with a sustainable source of energy, writes Prof Brian JosephsonTim Flannery (The age of the megafire is here, and it’s a call to action, Journal, 7 February) writes: “As far as swift climate action is concerned, all good choices have gone up in smoke”.That may not be the case, however. There has been abundant support by now for the claim made by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons in 1989 to have observed nuclear fusion at ordinary temperatures, but the hope that such a fossil-fuel-free process might contribute usefully to energy production has not been fulfilled because it is very unpredictable, and we do not as yet know the conditions needed to produce large amounts of energy. Suitably funded research on a large scale might lead to a resolution of this issue.

Macron says protecting environment is ‘battle of the century’ on visit to ChamonixFrance is to restrict access to Mont Blanc in the Alps in an effort to halt reckless summit attempts and protect the biodiversity of the mountain and its surroundings.Emmanuel Macron announced the new rules during a visit to Chamonix on Thursday when he visited the famous Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) glacier, which has shrunk dramatically over the last 20 years. Continue reading...

Surprise choice has poor record on Commons votes affecting the environment

As governments dither and emissions rise, pressure will be on UK at UN climate summit

Anthony Albanese says he was unaware of factional dinner and his MPs are united on wanting action on emissions reductionLabor MPs have sought to downplay suggestions of a breakaway pro-coal group within the party, as the Coalition seized on the report to accuse the opposition of divisions over climate policy.Following a report by Channel Ten on Wednesday night that a group of about 20 right-aligned Labor MPs dined regularly to canvass policies in support of coal workers, attention shifted from the Coalition’s internal ructions over climate policy to Labor. Continue reading...

Plan to form coalition of developing countries at COP 26 to help support effortsThe UK is to spearhead a major global crackdown on illegal timber and deforestation, with plans to form a coalition of developing countries against the trade as part of its hosting of crunch UN climate talks this year.Deforestation is a leading factor in rising global greenhouse gas emissions, but many developing nations lack the means and institutions to combat illegal logging and regulate forest industries. The Department for International Development (DfID) will shortly lay out plans to help countries strengthen the rule of law, support the trade in responsible forestry and provide on-the-ground assistance to stamp out illegal logging. Continue reading...

Minister says he has ‘had enough’ of company’s failure to deal with waste dump that was almost breached by South Island floodsNew Zealand’s environment minister has threatened the mining conglomerate Rio Tinto with legal action over what he says is an “outrageous” failure to deal with toxic waste from an aluminium plant.Recent South Island floods – in which the waste’s storage facility was nearly inundated, bringing ecological and human tragedy – have infuriated locals in Mataura, where 10,000 tonnes of “ouvea premix” resides. Continue reading...

Cause of rise was ocean warming of less than 2C, which has major implications for future, researchers warnMass melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet, driven by warmer ocean temperatures, was a major cause of extreme sea level rise more than 100,000 years ago, according to new research.A research team, led by scientists at the University of New South Wales, examined the cause of high sea levels during a period known as the last interglacial, which occurred 129,000-116,000 years ago. Continue reading...

The town at the center of a Guardian series, where the cancer risk is 50 times the national average, is critical of a planned monitoring systemEnvironmental Protection Agency officials on Tuesday pleaded with community members in Reserve, Louisiana, to back a new air monitoring system being installed by the agency, which they claim will better measure pollutants from a nearby chemical plant emitting the likely human carcinogen chloroprene.Reserve, the subject of a year-long Guardian series, Cancer Town, is home to the highest risk of cancer due to airborne toxins, according to EPA data, which found that a census tract next door to the plant has a cancer risk 50 times the national average. Continue reading...

Research shows abundance at sites in Europe has plunged by up to 80% in two decadesTwo scientific studies of the number of insects splattered by cars have revealed a huge decline in abundance at European sites in two decades.The research adds to growing evidence of what some scientists have called an “insect apocalypse”, which is threatening a collapse in the natural world that sustains humans and all life on Earth. A third study shows plummeting numbers of aquatic insects in streams. Continue reading...

Nicola Sturgeon criticises PM as officials look at London back-up for Glasgow summitThe government has warned that staging the COP 26 climate summit must represent “value for taxpayers’ money”, amid friction with the Scottish government over the policing costs of holding the event in Glasgow.It emerged on Wednesday that government officials have been scoping out the ExCeL Centre in London’s Docklands for the high-profile international summit, which the UK is due to host in November. Continue reading...

Europe’s biggest asset manager backs vote calling for bank to end services to energy firmsEurope’s largest asset manager is backing a shareholder vote urging Barclays to stop offering loans to fossil fuel companies.Amundi, an influential investor with more than €1.65tn (£1.4tn) in assets under management, is the latest shareholder to throw its weight behind a resolution calling on Barclays to phase out services to energy companies that fail to align with Paris climate goals. Continue reading...

Acting Lib Dem leader Ed Davey calls for action as he lambasts ‘shambolic’ approach to talksA cross-party committee of MPs, green campaigning groups, business leaders and climate experts is needed to advise the government on crunch UN climate talks later this year to put the UK’s hosting of the COP26 talks back on track, the Liberal Democrat acting leader, Sir Ed Davey, is expected to say.His call, which will form part of a speech on climate delivered at Birkbeck College in London on Thursday, comes after the energy minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, told a meeting of ambassadors that the UK could not afford to allow the talks to fail because of the additional pressures of Brexit. Continue reading...

MEPs support €29bn schemes, ‘locking Europe into burning fossil fuels for generations’The EU has given its formal backing to 32 major gas infrastructure projects in a move critics say will lock Europe into burning fossil fuels for generations.MEPs voted to support the European commission’s proposal by 443 votes to 169 on Wednesday, with 36 abstentions, provoking environmental groups to lament Brussels’ “hypocrisy” over the climate emergency. Continue reading...

Dams between Scotland, Norway, France and England ‘a possible solution’ to problemA Dutch government scientist has proposed building two mammoth dams to completely enclose the North Sea and protect an estimated 25 million Europeans from the consequences of rising sea levels as a result of global heating.Sjoerd Groeskamp, an oceanographer at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, said a 475km dam between north Scotland and west Norway and another 160km one between west France and south-west England was “a possible solution”. Continue reading...

Jonathan Watts breaks down the oil company’s statements on its plans to cut carbon emissions in the coming decadesBP’s new chief executive, Bernard Looney, has announced plans to make it a net zero company by 2050, and outlined its strategy in a document. The Guardian’s global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, examines what it says – and what it means:BP today set a new ambition to become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner, and to help the world get to net zero.The ambition is supported by 10 aims.