Victory for green groups follows damning scientific study and criticism from spending watchdogThe government has halted fracking in England with immediate effect in a watershed moment for environmentalists and community activists.Ministers also warned shale gas companies it would not support future fracking projects, in a crushing blow to companies that had been hoping to capitalise on one of the new frontiers of growth in the fossil fuel industry. Continue reading...

Jeremy Corbyn to say new standard for housebuilders is part of the real change he is promising the countryLabour would introduce tough new standards forcing housebuilders to make new properties zero carbon within three years, Jeremy Corbyn is to announce.The last Labour government introduced regulations to make all homes zero carbon by 2016, but the rules were scrapped by David Cameron less than a year before they were due to come into force. Continue reading...

Annual carbon dioxide emissions from burning diesel increased by 21.7m tonnes between 2011 and 2018Greenhouse gas emissions from diesel cars, utes and vans have risen sharply since 2011, effectively cancelling out the cut in pollution from new renewable energy replacing some coal plants.A surge in ownership of larger diesel vehicles is a central reason emissions from transport leapt by more than 10% over the decade, according to the monthly emissions audit published by progressive thinktank the Australia Institute. Continue reading...

News of Santiago summit’s cancellation reportedly came as heavy blow but youngsters decide to push ahead with boat tripChile’s decision to withdraw as host of the COP 25 UN climate conference has prompted tears and frustration from a group of school-strike activists sailing across the Atlantic to attend the talks.Related: Chilean president cancels Apec and climate summits amid wave of unrest Continue reading...

Event will take place from 2-13 December as planned after Spain intervenes to save talksThe world’s governments will meet in Madrid this December to discuss the climate emergency, it has been confirmed, after a last-minute intervention by the Spanish government to save the talks.The conference had been set to take place in Santiago, Chile, but the government of President Sebastian Pinera decided on Wednesday to call it off because of the unrest in the capital. Scores of people have been killed and injured in weeks of rioting over economic inequality and social problems. Continue reading...

Seven largest companies must make 35% cut by 2040 to limit climate crisis and meet 1.5C goal, says thinktankThe world’s largest oil and gas companies need to slash their production by more than a third by 2040 to meet global climate targets, according to a new report.The seven listed oil majors - including ExxonMobil, BP and Shell - would need to cut the total amount of oil and gas they produce every day by 35% to avoid driving temperatures 1.5C higher than pre-industrialised levels. Continue reading...

Rose tells staff she also aims to make bank ‘more open’ to help regain trust after string of scandalsThe first female boss of a major British bank has pledged to make the climate crisis a priority as she took over the top job at Royal Bank of Scotland.Alison Rose said she would build a more “open and, accessible and inclusive” bank following years of scandal at the state-owned lender. Rose said she would reveal her new strategy for the bank in the new year, but sought to draw a line under the past following the departure of Ross McEwan, who led the bank since 2013. Continue reading...

Country has changed definition of waste, which campaigners far could lead to imports of low-grade plastic scrapsArgentina has changed its definition of waste in a move that could allow it to import millions of tonnes of plastic waste discarded in the US.The country’s president, Mauricio Macri, signed a decree in August reclassifying some materials destined for recycling as commodities instead of waste, allowing looser oversight of mixed and contaminated plastic scraps that are difficult to process, and are often dumped or incinerated. Continue reading...

PM signals action on secondary boycotts of resources companies and says progressives want to tell Australians ‘what you can say, what you can think’Scott Morrison has branded environmental protesters “anarchists” and threatened a radical crackdown on the right to protest in a speech claiming progressives are seeking to “deny the liberties of Australians”.In a speech to the Queensland Resources Council on Friday, the prime minister said a threat to the future of mining was coming from a “new breed of radical activism” and signalled the government would seek to apply penalties to those targeting businesses who provide services to the resources industry. Continue reading...

Warning comes a week after company flagged it may close its New Zealand smelter

Hillside fire sparked overnight about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, while the Ronald Reagan library has so far survived a close call with the Easy fire12.16am GMTThat’s it for me here in Oakland as I leave my post for the night. Thanks for sticking with me for another day of wildfire news. With any luck, winds should ease up overnight and into the weekend, allowing firefighters to get a handle on the more than a dozen fires that burned today.Before I sign off, let’s take a look back at the day and see where firefighters stand on some of the biggests wildfires:11.42pm GMTWhat it means to ‘contain’ a fireAs we tune into wildfire coverage, we often hear the word “contain,” as in the percentage at which a fire is contained. But what does that mean? It means, roughly, that firefighters have a handle on the inferno. But it doesn’t necessarily mean the fire has been extinguished. In fact, fires can burn long after firefighters have contained them.In the firefighting world, containment means a certain level of control — specifically, how much of the fire’s edge, or perimeter, firefighters believe they can stop from expanding. A natural barrier such as a river or creek can help. So can human interventions such as using a bulldozer to scrape the vegetation off a swath of land to deprive the fire of fuel it could use to grow.That’s why even when a fire is 100% contained, it can still be burning and firefighters stay to make sure it does not get out of control.Firefighters often set up layers of defense called contingency lines some distance from the containment line. They will scrape the earth clean down to the dirt on ridge tops up to a mile away from a fire’s edge to set up a position to make a future defensive stand. Meanwhile, they work their way closer to the fire, building layer after layer of additional defense by laying lines of fire retardant and using bulldozers, shovels, axes and chain saws to clear out vegetation...After a fire reaches 100% containment — which can take months, depending on the weather conditions, the fire’s size and the area’s topography — crews work toward declaring the fire “controlled,” McLean said.When a fire is controlled, it’s essentially out. Authorities will no longer assign crews to the blaze and will instead send a patrol out daily to ensure no scorched areas rekindle and start another fire. Continue reading...

Supermarket says it will remove 1bn pieces of plastic by the end of next yearTesco is ditching plastic ready-meal trays, yoghurt pot lids, straws and loose fruit bags in the latest stage of its drive to cut out non-recyclable packaging.The UK’s biggest supermarket chain is aiming to remove 1bn pieces of plastic by the end of next year from its own-label products. Continue reading...

Spanish government says it will also run Apec trade summit following protests in ChileSpain has offered to host the COP25 UN climate conference in December after weeks of violent protests forced the Chilean government to cancel both the global environmental meeting and next month’s Apec trade summit.On Thursday afternoon, the Spanish government said the acting prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, had offered to help the Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera, “in any way that might be needed – including hosting the summit in Madrid”. Continue reading...

Common pesticides found to starve fish ‘astoundingly fast’ by killing aquatic insectsThe Silent Spring prophecy that pesticides could “still the leaping of fish” has been confirmed, according to scientists investigating the collapse of fisheries in Japan. They say similar impacts are likely to have occurred around the world.The long-term study showed an immediate plunge in insect and plankton numbers in a large lake after the introduction of neonicotinoid pesticides to rice paddies. This was rapidly followed by the collapse of smelt and eel populations, which had been stable for decades but rely on the tiny creatures for food. Continue reading...

The fairy penguins under my shack are gone, and soon the forty-spotted pardalotes and swift parrots will join them. Our children knew these birds; their children will not

Big emitting companies should be held responsible for the burning of their coal overseas, report saysCoalmining in Australia by the nation’s six biggest coal producers ultimately results in more greenhouse gas emissions each year than the entire domestic economy.In the latest report to estimate the role fossil fuel businesses play in driving the climate crisis, researchers from the University of New South Wales calculated the total emissions from the coal and gas produced by Australia’s top carbon companies, from extraction to the resources being burned for energy, mostly overseas. Continue reading...

Decision would mark U-turn for PM, who once said fracking was ‘glorious news for humanity’

Firm reports 15% drop in last quarter to £3.7bn as shrinking global economy hits demandRoyal Dutch Shell has reported a 15% slump in profits for the last quarter at a time of lower oil prices and a weaker global economy.The company made $4.8bn (£3.7bn) in the past three months, compared with $5.6bn in the same period last year, and warned it may miss targets to reduce debt and pay back shareholders. Continue reading...

Researchers found only two living koalas after fires burned through the native marsupial’s breeding ground in north-eastern NSWBushfires sweeping through prime koala habitat in New South Wales may have killed as many as 350 of the iconic native marsupial, conservationists say.The blaze, near Port Macquarie in northern NSW, has burned through thousands of hectares including an important koala breeding ground. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Carmichael delays raise questions about whether Indian parent company has allocated the required financeAdani has sought to delay significant upfront expenses for its Carmichael coalmine by another two years, raising questions about the company’s claims its Indian parent has allocated the required finance.Guardian Australia can reveal Adani was granted a reissued water licence to take up to 12.5bn litres a year from the Suttor River by the Queensland government on 29 May. The deadline for the $18.5m outstanding payment has now been pushed back until mid-2021. Continue reading...

Air quality in Sydney and surrounds has been classed ‘hazardous’, as parts of Victoria set to face hottest October day on recordSmoke from fires burning in northern New South Wales has triggered health warnings for Sydney and other parts of the state, with conditions expected to persist into the weekend.It comes as parts of Victoria were forecast to reach their hottest October day on record and Melbourne was set to record its hottest October day since 2015. Continue reading...

Technology and leadership could save thousands of jobs and accelerate Australia’s energy transitionThe Australian aluminium smelting sector is crawling through a dark tunnel. Looking far behind, it can just make out the starting point – cheap hydroelectricity. A short distance back lies the remains of competitively priced power from what were once young, government-owned coal power stations. Today it’s inching forward, choking on its own emissions and struggling under the weight of uncompetitive prices arising from a decade of politicised mismanagement.The sector is faltering, threatening the livelihoods of thousands of workers and their families. Continue reading...

I ended up incorporating him into my novel Carpentaria, where he now looms larger than life• Vote for your favourite in the 2019 bird of the year pollThis is a story of Pirate, Australia’s proper number one rex regum et volucres, king of birds. As a fledging, so I was told, he was rescued in a relocation of sulphur-crested cockatoos from the vicinity of Tullamarine airport, so that he would not end up being a bird-strike victim caught up in a jet turbine of one of those long-haul international Boeing jetliners taking off at about 180mph to Hong Kong, London, Paris or wherever else these people carriers fly to on the planet.This wild young cockatoo was taken to central Australia, where the skies would eventually be large enough for his freewheeling temperament to roam. Within days of arriving in Alice Springs he came to live with my family as a basically wild, and seemingly untameable, rebellious adolescent. He hated everyone and hissed like a mad white ghost whenever anyone went near his cage. Every day I talked to him, paid him many compliments for his extraordinary beauty, and gave him the name of Pirate. Somehow I managed to clean his cage with all the newspapers he ripped up without having my hand bitten off while he was going completely bananas, and then I brought him fresh gumtree foliage to beautify his home, which he destroyed along with the newspaper, and gave him saucers of cut-up fruit, vegetables, seed and water. In other words, he was the boss and I was his slave. Continue reading...

Commonwealth environmental water holder confirms rights from firm once linked to Angus Taylor yield no waterThe federal government has received not a drop of water for the $80m it spent on buying water entitlements from Eastern Australia Agriculture in 2017, a company once linked to the energy minister, Angus Taylor.Taylor was a director and co-founder of EAA, an agribusiness in Queensland, which was backed by a group of foreign investors. Taylor founded the Australian company in 2007 and served briefly as a director between 2008 and 2009, well before becoming an MP in 2013. His business partner, Tony Reid, was also a director and acted as a consultant on the controversial sale of overland flow entitlements to the government. Continue reading...

Sebastián Piñera confirms he will not hold summits in November and December, as government struggles with massive protestsChile’s embattled president has been forced to cancel two major international summits after government concessions failed to defuse weeks of violent protests that have seen thousands of arrests, left at least 20 dead and sent shock waves across Latin America.Related: Chile protesters: 'We are subjugated by the rich. It's time for that to end' Continue reading...

Energy supplier loses 165,000 customers but wind-based renewables business growsScottish Power’s profits have slumped by almost 80% after the big six energy supplier lost about 165,000 customers in the past year.The supplier, owned by the Spanish utility company Iberdrola, blamed mild winter weather and the government’s energy price cap for the sharp drop in profits. Continue reading...

Organisations such as Australian Industry Group and National Farmers’ Federation letter says greater private-sector action neededIndustry, farming and investor groups say the federal government signed up to a goal of global net zero emissions under the Paris agreement and have warned unless new policies are introduced taxpayer spending on climate programs will need to be dramatically increased.A joint letter by 10 business organisations, including the Australian Industry Group and the National Farmers’ Federation, says the government will either need to back new climate policies that drive private-sector action or boost taxpayer funding now and into the future. Continue reading...

Survey also finds two-thirds of people agree climate is biggest issue facing humankind

Greens say ALP voters should despair as four MPs tour Queensland mines with lobby groupLabor MPs have been accused of “sucking up to the coal lobby” as they embark on a three-day tour of Queensland mines hosted by the Minerals Council of Australia.Greens’ environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said the decision of a group of Labor MPs to embrace the coal lobby would cause despair among Labor voters. Continue reading...

Officers use capsicum spray to break up blockade and arrest a dozen climate protesters outside a mining conference in MelbourneVictoria Police have defended the actions of their officers over two days of protests at a mining conference in Melbourne, after one protester was hospitalised and reporters covering the event were pushed by police and pepper-sprayed.A dozen climate change protesters have been arrested on day two of action outside a global mining conference in Melbourne, where activists glued themselves to the ground. Continue reading...

New money for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation will go to projects such as pumped hydro, batteries and gasAn extra $1bn is being handed to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in projects aimed at ensuring a reliable electricity supply.The new fund – separate to the corporation’s existing capital – will be earmarked for power generation, storage and transmission projects such as pumped hydro, batteries and gas. Continue reading...

Decision taken to reduce Paradise dam to 42% capacity amid concerns over its structural integrity in the event of a floodFour hundred million litres of fresh water is flowing out to sea from storage in drought-afflicted Queensland every day, sparking a fresh rift between Coalition MPs and the state’s Labor government.As the federal government considers a fresh round of drought measures to respond to the record dry spell, the Queensland government has angered federal MPs by releasing more than 100,000 megalitres of water from the Paradise dam over a 10-week period. Continue reading...

Force’s disability advisers lodge complaint about treatment of Extinction Rebellion protestersThe Metropolitan police’s advisers on disability have accused the force of “degrading and humiliating” treatment of disabled activists during the Extinction Rebellion (XR) protests in London this month.A formal complaint by the Met’s disability independent advisory group says members are “disappointed and angered” the force failed to engage with them over the policing of the protests, and the Met may have caused “irreparable damage” to relations with disabled people. Continue reading...

Figure based on new analysis of coastlines is more than three times previous estimateMore than three times more people are at risk from rising sea levels than previously believed, research suggests.Land that is currently home to 300 million people will flood at least once a year by 2050 unless carbon emissions are cut significantly and coastal defences strengthened, says the study, published in Nature Communications. This is far above the previous estimate of 80 million. Continue reading...

Blockage in Greenwich prompts Thames Water to reissue warning about waste disposalA 40-tonne fatberg the size of a double-decker bus has been cleared from a London sewer by Thames Water engineers who pulled out some of it by hand.The mass of fat, grease and other materials that weighed the same as three red buses, was discovered earlier this year clogging up a sewer in Greenwich, the water company said. Continue reading...

NFU says government has ignored call for tariffs on cheap US imports from caged hensEggs from battery hens will return to British supermarket shelves if the government fails to strike a new trading deal with the EU and crashes out of the bloc, the National Farmers’ Union has warned.The NFU says the government has ignored its pleas to put tariffs on eggs to protect against cheaper rivals from countries such as the US where caging hens is allowed. Continue reading...

Creek beds are bone dry and once-gushing springs are reduced to trickles as fights play out around the nation over control of nation’s freshwater supplyThe network of clear streams comprising California’s Strawberry Creek run down the side of a steep, rocky mountain in a national forest two hours east of Los Angeles. Last year Nestlé siphoned 45m gallons of pristine spring water from the creek and bottled it under the Arrowhead Water label.Though it’s on federal land, the Swiss bottled water giant paid the US Forest Service and state practically nothing, and it profited handsomely: Nestlé Waters’ 2018 worldwide sales exceeded $7.8bn. Continue reading...

Panel given less than a month to provide recommendations, despite government’s claims on meeting Paris targetThe Morrison government has quietly appointed an expert panel to come up with new ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions and given it less than a month to come up with recommendations.In what is being seen by observers as an acknowledgment that its main climate change policy, the $2.55bn emissions reduction fund, is failing to cut national pollution, the government has appointed a panel of four business leaders and policy experts to suggest options to expand it. Continue reading...

Environment minister says cutting delays in project approvals could save the economy $300m a yearThe Morrison government has promised a review of national environmental laws will “tackle green tape” and reduce delays in project approvals that it said costs the economy about $300m a year.Hundreds of scientists have asked the government to use a legally required review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) to strengthen the legislation so it could be used to stem a worsening extinction crisis. Continue reading...

More than 20 activists arrested amid violent scenes, with officers accused of being ‘incredibly hostile’A climate protester has been taken to hospital and more than 20 others have been arrested while blockading an international mining conference in Melbourne after violent clashes erupted between the group and police.From 6am on Tuesday, hundreds of activists from a dozen different groups began blocking entry to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Continue reading...

Even species we see every day are sliding towards endangerment due to habitat loss• Vote here in the Guardian/BirdLife Australia 2019 bird of the year poll

Ordinary citizens must be informed of the dramatic lifestyle changes and costs they face, says Geoffrey Hammond, and Tim Walker focuses on the area of new solar panels that will be requiredThe ambition in the Labour party’s new plans for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is, of course, welcome (Labour spells out 30-point plan in new green pledge, 24 October). But climate change is a global phenomenon, and the UK only emits 1% of annual world GHG emissions in contrast to China at 22%, the US 13%, the rest of the EU28 7%, and India 7%.In order to ensure that the average global atmospheric temperature is stabilised at around 1.5C-2C, thereby avoiding dramatic climate change in this century, the large emitter countries will need to significantly reduce their emissions going forward. Continue reading...

My riotous childhood confidante has, in adulthood, become my talisman. All I have to do is follow the pink and grey trail

Ban on 5p single-use plastic bags and replacement of bubble wrap with eco-wrap among measuresJohn Lewis has stopped selling 5p single-use plastic carrier bags at its Oxford store as part of a major trial to test and change shoppers’ behaviour.The sustainability initiatives, which were unveiled on Monday, are aimed at encouraging a “reduce, reuse and return” culture among customers and could provide a model for its other shops. Continue reading...

Midlands most affected as Environment Agency issues 82 flood warnings and 117 alerts

Anthony Albanese says scandal over doctored document shows minister is distracted from his job of reducing emissionsThe opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, has queried whether the energy minister, Angus Taylor, has misled parliament in his answers about an altered document that was used to attack the climate record of Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore.Taylor has been under sustained pressure to explain how an altered page of the City of Sydney’s annual report was sent by his office to the Daily Telegraph, which wrote a critical story effectively accusing the lord mayor of being a hypocrite on climate change. Continue reading...

Expert fears for long-term viability of Ramsar-listed wetland after fire sweeps through crucial bird habitatA bushfire has burned through 3,000 hectares of the internationally significant Macquarie Marshes, placing a question mark over the long-term viability of a key section of the wetland, according to a leading expert.The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service has confirmed the fire hit the northern reed bed in the wetlands, which are listed under the Ramsar convention covering wetlands of international importance. Continue reading...

This year’s Australian bird of the year poll is going to a runoff. What does that mean for your favourite?• Cast your vote in bird of the year 2019 hereIn the 2002 French presidential election, voters on the left were lumped with an unpalatable choice: vote for their longtime conservative enemy, Jacques Chirac, or abstain but risk handing the election to the far-right candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen. Progressive voters did their duty and reluctantly lined up at ballot boxes to cast their vote for Chirac, who was re-elected with a record 82% of the vote.This turn of events doesn’t on face value seem an endorsement of the runoff system, especially when Le Pen had just 17% of the primary vote and Chirac just 20% in the first round. Together the pair had less than 50% of the vote. Continue reading...