‘Peaceful use’ of fossil fuels could mean their continued but decreasing extraction, within enforceable limits constrained by the Paris agreement goals, writes Hugh RichardsIn the face of the emerging climate emergency (Letters, 10 December) and projected unconstrained growth in global fossil fuel use, this is a plea for people with relevant expertise and influence to take forward the idea for a “non-proliferation treaty” (NPT) for fossil fuels, floated by Andrew Simms and Peter Newell (theguardian.com, 23 October) and supported by Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein and others (Letters, 30 October).The analogy between fossil fuels and fissile nuclear materials is imperfect, but it should not be overlooked that the nuclear NPT promotes cooperation in and equal access to “peaceful use” of nuclear technology. “Peaceful use” of fossil fuels could mean their continued but decreasing extraction, within enforceable limits constrained by the Paris agreement goals, and an offsetting role for carbon capture and geo-sequestration (funded by fossil fuel producers). Safeguards and oversight could be provided by a new United Nations monitoring agency, akin to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which could also administer a global fossil carbon budget. Continue reading...

Morrison government specifies generation projects will need to be coal, gas, batteries or pumped hydro to be eligible for underwritingThe Morrison government has sent a clear signal that it is prepared to provide taxpayer support for both new and existing coal plants, opening registrations of interest in its controversial new power generation underwriting program.With the government accelerating to cover off major announcements before the Christmas break, the energy minister, Angus Taylor, will on Thursday use an event at a hydro power station in Tasmania to outline the terms of the new program and urge proponents to get their bids in over the summer break – before 23 January. Continue reading...

Galleries and arts promoters should be made to feel too ashamed to take money from industries linked with climate breakdownThose attending the COP24 climate negotiations in Katowice, Poland, this week have been greeted by a bizarre sight: an artistic celebration of one of the main fuels responsible for destroying the global climate. Katowice is the centre of Poland’s coal industry, and despite hosting a conference that represents the last chance saloon when it comes to taking meaningful action on climate change, local politicians pride themselves on the black stuff. Perhaps we could have expected no different when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change decided on such an inappropriate venue and to allow coal companies to sponsor the talks.If we do make it through climate change with some form of civilisation intact, we will look back at some of the things we are doing now with the moral repugnance we feel towards slavery. There are legitimate parallels here. Climate change will most hurt those yet to be born. Our failure to make the dramatic changes needed to our economy and society means we are behaving as if we own the lives of future generations and have a right to steal their lives from them. Continue reading...

Forty-nine companies accused of human rights and environmental abusesFacebook is among a number of companies from the US, UK, France, Switzerland and China named on a “dirty list” of corporations accused of involvement in human rights and environmental violations in Myanmar, or of doing business with the country’s military, which is accused of genocide.A list of 49 companies, compiled by the pressure group Burma Campaign UK, reveals the global breadth of international organisations that have continued to provide arms, infrastructure, technology, engineering and expertise to the Burmese military, or supported projects that have been accused of causing environmental destruction, such as hydroelectric dams and jade mines. Continue reading...

‘The changes have become more radical’: farmers are spending more time and money trying to grow crops in new climatesRichard Oswald did not need the latest US government report on the creeping toll of climate change to tell him that farming in the midwest is facing a grim future, and very likely changing forever.For Oswald, the moment of realisation came in 2011. Continue reading...

All 16,000 buses in the fast-growing Chinese megacity are now electric, and soon all 13,000 taxis will be tooYou have to keep your eyes peeled for the bus at the station in Shenzhen’s Futian central business district these days. The diesel behemoths that once signalled their arrival with a piercing hiss, a rattle of engine and a plume of fumes are no more, replaced with the world’s first and largest 100% electric bus fleet.Shenzhen now has 16,000 electric buses in total and is noticeably quieter for it. “We find that the buses are so quiet that people might not hear them coming,” says Joseph Ma, deputy general manager at Shenzhen Bus Group, the largest of the three main bus companies in the city. “In fact, we’ve received requests to add some artificial noise to the buses so that people can hear them. We’re considering it.” Continue reading...

New Zealand urges others not to meet emissions pledge with ‘dodgy accounting’, but UN rules unlikely to prohibit using carryover creditsAustralia appears likely be allowed to exploit a controversial climate loophole, using carryover carbon credits from the Kyoto protocol to meet its Paris agreement targets.New Zealand has already ruled out using the carryover credits, saying it would discourage other countries from the practice. Continue reading...

Vanuatu’s foreign minister says worst offenders on global warming are blocking progressThe United States and other high carbon dioxide-emitting developed countries are deliberately frustrating the UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland, Vanuatu’s foreign minister has said. His warning came as Pacific and Indian ocean states warned they faced annihilation if a global climate “rule book” could not brokered.In a bruising speech before ministers and heads of state, Vanuatu’s foreign minister, Ralph Regenvanu, singled out the US as he excoriated major CO2-emitting developed countries for deliberately hindering negotiations. Continue reading...

List of waterways land users must obtain permits to pollute to be scaled back, which could also allow pollution in drinking waterThe Trump administration is planning to strip Obama-era pollution protections from thousands of US streams and millions of acres of wetlands, in a move environmentalists warn will harm vital wildlife and could allow pollution into drinking water.Related: Ex-EPA chief Scott Pruitt used personal email for government work Continue reading...

Exclusive: Sadiq Khan accuses government of dragging its feet and calls for investment to avert catastropheLondon’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has declared a climate emergency and urged the UK government to do more to avert an ecological breakdown that he says poses an existential threat to future generations.Speaking as City Hall outlined its new climate change plan, Khan said he was implementing measures to protect people from floods, fires and the political upheaval caused by climate change. He accused central government of “dragging its feet” on dealing with these issues. Continue reading...

Minor quake near Cuadrilla site is on par with one in 2011 that led to moratoriumResidents of Blackpool have reported feeling the tremors of an earthquake from nearby fracking operations that started two months ago.The minor earthquake was not only the biggest yet but was on a par with one in 2011 that led to a moratorium on fracking. Continue reading...

Gilet jaunes protests cast shadow as concerns raised over backlash against rapid changeScientists have laid down the gauntlet for political leaders as the UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland, wrestles with the challenge of cutting emissions without sparking social tensions like those seen recently in France.The UN climate talks – known as COP24 and the most important since the Paris agreement was signed in 2015 – aim to set a new rulebook for governments to reduce greenhouse gases and to raise ambitions, after warnings of dire consequences if global warming rises more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Continue reading...

Indigenous and youth groups disrupted a US-sponsored event at the UN climate talks in Poland. Wells Griffith, a Trump administration adviser speaking on a panel, said the US would continue extracting fossil fuels and warned against ‘alarmism’ over climate change. Climate expert Andrew Light, from the World Resources Institute, said the panel’s discussion would have no impact on the outcome of the COP24 climate talks and it only proved that ‘once again the United States is isolated with respect to the global community on this critically important issue’ Continue reading...

Country’s stance described as ‘a slap in the face of our Pacific island neighbours’Australia has reaffirmed its commitment to coal – and its unwavering support for the United States – by appearing at a US government-run event promoting the use of fossil fuels at the United Nations climate talks in Poland.Australia was the only country apart from the host represented at the event, entitled “US innovative technologies spur economic dynamism”, designed to “showcase ways to use fossil fuels as cleanly and efficiently as possible, as well as the use of emission-free nuclear energy”. Continue reading...

Appointed by president-elect Bolsonaro, Ricardo Salles calls environmental fines ‘ideological’Brazil’s new environment minister believes that global warming is “secondary”, that many environmental fines are “ideological” and has been accused of altering plans for an environmentally protected area in order to favour businesses.Ricardo Salles, the former environment secretary for São Paulo state, was recommended for his new role by business and agribusiness groups and announced as minister in a tweet on Sunday by the far-right president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro. Continue reading...

Clean Energy Council warns surge ‘could come to an end if the energy policy debate is left to languish unresolved’Australia’s renewables sector has doubled its output over the past 12 months, with more than $20bn of projects now under construction, but the current boom will not last without policy certainty, according to the Clean Energy Council.The council, which represents solar, wind, energy efficiency, hydro, bioenergy, energy storage, geothermal and marine businesses, along with more than 5,000 solar installers, has released new figures claiming a record year for Australia’s renewables industry – with more than 80 wind and solar farms under construction, and rooftop solar installations now topping two million homes. Continue reading...

Official event praising coal, oil and gas met with laughter and chants of ‘shame on you’A Trump administration presentation extolling the virtues of fossil fuels at the UN climate talks in Poland has been met with guffaws of laughter and chants of “Shame on you”.Monday’s protest came during a panel discussion by the official US delegation, which used its only public appearance to promote the “unapologetic utilisation” of coal, oil and gas. Although these industries are the main source of the carbon emissions that are causing global warming, the speakers boasted the US would expand production for the sake of global energy security and planned a new fleet of coal plants with technology it hoped to export to other countries. Continue reading...

Hitachi’s £16bn Wylfa station on Anglesey is next proposed project after Hinkley Point CFresh doubts have been raised over prospects for the UK’s new nuclear power programme after a report that Hitachi is considering axing plans for a plant in Wales.The Japanese conglomerate’s mooted 2.9GW nuclear power station on Anglesey is next in line in the UK’s nuclear plans after EDF Energy’s 3.2GW Hinkley Point C scheme in Somerset. Continue reading...

UK activist group using climate talks in Poland this week to widen 35-country networkThe Extinction Rebellion climate protest group has expanded to 35 countries and is building towards a week of international civil disobedience in April, according to organisers, who are using UN climate talks in Poland this week to widen its network.The rapid spread of the movement, which consisted of 10 people in the UK six months ago, comes amid rising frustration with policymakers who are failing to slow perilous levels of global warming and biodiversity loss. Continue reading...

Snack maker will install collection points across UK as well as free courier serviceWalkers has said a scheme to recycle its plastic crisp packets is not a publicity stunt but a genuine attempt to address environmental concerns.The company launched the initiative after a social media campaign titled #PacketInWalkers urged the company to make its packaging recyclable. Consumers published pictures of themselves online posting empty crisp packets addressed to Walkers, forcing Royal Mail to urge protesters to put the packets in an envelope before posting them. Continue reading...

Of the traumatic consequences of climate change, scientists consider increasingly ferocious wildfires to be one of the most starkly apparentRuth McLarty, an experienced surgeon, was fairly certain she was about to die in a particularly grisly way. Surrounded by a hellish inferno of burning trees and cars, McLarty reasoned the flames would engulf her long before the smoke could choke her to death.Trapped in nearby vehicles, some of McLarty’s colleagues made similarly macabre calculations. Two nurses, stuck in the back of a stalled police car, contemplated shooting each other. Another nurse rolled down her window and gulped in the smoke. McLarty edged her car away from a burning wreckage, fired off some final messages to her sister and called her daughter, who said she could hear the roar of the blaze over the phone. Continue reading...

Campaigners release map showing scale of pollution and damage to environment caused by small-scale minersAn epidemic of illegal artisanal mining across the Amazon rainforest has been revealed in an unprecedented new map, pinpointing 2,312 sites in 245 areas across six Amazon countries.Called garimpo in Brazil, artisanal mining for gold and other minerals in Amazon forests and rivers has been a problem for decades and is usually illegal. It is also highly polluting: clearings are cut into forests, mining ponds carved into the earth, and mercury used in extraction is dumped in rivers, poisoning fish stocks and water supplies. But its spread has never been shown before. Continue reading...

Brenda the Civil Disobedience Penguin goes to COP24

Roger came to fame when a photo of him crushing a metal bucket like a paper cup went viralRoger, the beefcake boxing kangaroo who came to fame when a photo of him crushing a metal bucket like a paper cup went viral in 2015, has died at the age of 12.The death of the male kangaroo, who weighed 89kg (14 stone) and stood more than 182cm (6 feet) tall, has sparked an outpouring of grief from his 1.3 million Facebook and Instagram fans. Continue reading...

UN summit urged to end all coal burning and introduce substantial taxes on emissionsGlobal investors managing $32tn issued a stark warning to governments at the UN climate summit on Monday, demanding urgent cuts in carbon emissions and the phasing out of all coal burning. Without these, the world faces a financial crash several times worse than the 2008 crisis, they said.The investors include some of the world’s biggest pension funds, insurers and asset managers and marks the largest such intervention to date. They say fossil fuel subsidies must end and substantial taxes on carbon be introduced. Continue reading...

Country accused of tacitly supporting oil allies’ rejection of the latest scienceAs four of the world’s largest oil and gas producers blocked UN climate talks from “welcoming” a key scientific report on global warming, Australia’s silence during a key debate is being viewed as tacit support for the four oil allies: the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait.The end of the first week of the UN climate talks – known as COP24 – in Katowice, Poland, has been mired by protracted debate over whether the conference should “welcome” or “note” a key report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Continue reading...

Environment minister will rule if Tasmanian forest that is home to the critically endangered parrot can be bulldozedTasmanian forest considered important for the survival of the critically endangered swift parrot may be bulldozed to build a dam for a fish farm and golf course development.Glamorgan Spring Bay Council, on Tasmania’s east coast, wants to clear about 40ha of what scientists say is critical swift parrot breeding and foraging habitat to develop a 3,000m-litre-a-year dam near the town of Orford. The environment minister, Melissa Price, will now decide whether the proposal goes ahead. Continue reading...

The group of 414 institutional investors with $31 trillion under management say governments must take serious steps to cut emissionsThe largest ever group of institutional investors has called on governments around the world to urgently increase their efforts to meet the Paris climate change agreement goals.The 414 global investors - which represent US$31 trillion of assets-under-management - say they are deeply concerned about the “ambition gap” that exists between governments’ commitments and what is needed to limit the global temperature increase to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels. Continue reading...

Move shocks delegates at UN conference as ministers fly in for final week of climate talksThe US and Russia have thrown climate talks into disarray by allying with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to water down approval of a landmark report on the need to keep global warming below 1.5C.After a heated two-and-a-half-hour debate on Saturday night, the backwards step by the four major oil producers shocked delegates at the UN climate conference in Katowice as ministers flew in for the final week of high-level discussions. Continue reading...

Protesters walk from Sydney to Mt Kosciuszko to draw attention to increasing damage feral horses are doing to national parkIt is not a precise way to measure public sentiment. But as five seasoned bushwalkers made their way on foot through the New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro’s electorate of Monaro, taking several days to reach Charlotte Pass before hiking up Mt Kosciuszko itself, they received more words of encouragement and support than opposition to their message.The walkers were walking in protest against legislation shepherded through the NSW parliament by Barilaro in June that declared feral horses, or brumbies, a protected heritage species in Kosciuszko national park. Continue reading...

Man surfing at Nambucca Heads receives five deep lacerations to his leg when he is bitten by a sharkA man in his 30s is in a serious condition after a shark attack on the New South Wales mid-north coast.The man received five deep lacerations to one of his lower legs when he was bitten by a shark at Nambucca Heads after 7am on Sunday, an ambulance spokesman said. Continue reading...

Centrist voters are increasingly placing a priority on these issues at a federal level, according to researchThe next election could shape up as an important contest for centrist voters who consider climate and environmental concerns as a test of leadership according to leading social researcher Rebecca Huntley.Huntley says her work increasingly shows voters broadly connect environmental issues such as climate change, energy, clean air and water, food security and waste with capacity for leadership. Continue reading...

TUI Airways comes top of 2018 Atmosfair Airline Index while Virgin Atlantic ranks 83rdAirlines are failing to take up the most efficient planes in sufficient numbers to make a significant dent in their carbon dioxide emissions, a new study has found.The most efficient new aircraft models, such as the Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350-900 and A320neo, can achieve substantial carbon savings over older models, but no airlines have invested sufficiently in the new types to reach the top levels of energy efficiency, according to a ranking by Atmosfair, a German NGO. Continue reading...

When lobsters are life, environmental change affects livelihoods, and warming waters will ultimately bust the lobster industryThe American lobster is a symbol of Maine, central to the state’s ethos and economy.Its image appears on license plates, restaurant signs and clothing. It is sold alive, with its claws banded shut, on docks, at highway rest stops and supermarkets. Cooked, it is served everywhere from seaside shacks to the finest restaurants. Continue reading...

In the 1980s, roughly 4.5 million monarchs wintered in California, but at last count, there may be as few as 30,000The hillside groves of eucalyptus trees that tower over the Santa Cruz shoreline would, not so long ago, be teeming with monarch butterflies at this time of year.Boughs would be bent under the weight of black and orange clusters, as hundreds of thousands of the magical invertebrates nestled into the leaves, waiting out the frost on the California coast before returning north. Continue reading...

An African wild dog preparing for a hunt and a male mimic poison frog transporting a tadpole are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Toxic air and cold weather could create deadly conditions and stretch NHS, medics sayThousands of children are facing hospital this winter as cold weather and the UK’s air pollution crisis combine to create potentially deadly conditions for young people, doctors have warned.The Royal College of Paediatricians, the Royal College of Physicians and children’s charity Unicef say that the UK’s toxic air and cold weather will leave a huge number of children extremely vulnerable this winter, creating an “overlooked” emergency for an already stretched NHS. Continue reading...

African swine fever has been spreading rapidly in China and has also travelled from Russia and Eastern Europe to Belgium. Experts fear it is only a matter of time before it reaches the US.A global outbreak of African swine fever will reach the US within a year unless border protections are tightened and imports of high-risk pork products banned, warn biosecurity experts. It would cost the US economy $16.5bn (£12.9bn) in the first year alone, it has been estimated.An ongoing epidemic of the virus, which is deadly for pigs but cannot yet be transmitted to humans, has prompted the US Department of Agriculture to review and strengthen its border protections. After outbreaks in Belgium and China this year, the USDA has increased the use of sniffer dogs at major ports, airports, land borders crossings, and has also built quarantine stations and increased passenger and cargo inspections on flights from China and Russia, the worst hit countries. Continue reading...

Objectors say so-called shed near Black Hill was built to take advantage of the viewsPeople who live in one of England’s most beautiful valleys are taking to the hills to protest against a new structure that its owners say is a barn but which critics fear is going to be turned into a country retreat.The structure has been built about half a mile from the summit of the Black Hill in Herefordshire, on slopes owned by the artist Christopher Brooks, brother of the racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks and brother-in-law of the former tabloid editor Rebekah Brooks. Continue reading...

Wisdom, a 68-year-old Laysan albatross, has laid another egg with her longtime lover at the Midway Atoll national wildlife refugeIn sea mariner lore, an albatross is considered a good omen, and for almost seven decades, one bird has spread generations of blessings across the Pacific Ocean.Wisdom, a 68-year-old Laysan albatross believed to be the world’s oldest known wild bird, has returned to her home at the Midway Atoll national wildlife refuge for yet another winter – and laid yet another egg to add to the already impressive brood that she has built up over an impressive lifetime. Continue reading...

Queensland premier says Coalition is ‘blaming the trees’ for the firesAnnastacia Palaszczuk has lashed out at the federal government after it announced an inquiry into land-clearing laws following the recent bushfires.“If you want to know what caused those conditions, I’ll give you an answer – it’s called climate change,” the Queensland premier told reporters. “It is only the LNP who could watch Queensland burn and then blame the trees.” Continue reading...

Tens of thousands of hectares cleared in Ghana and Ivory Coast since vow to end practiceThe cocoa industry is failing to meet a highly publicised pledge to stop deforestation in west Africa and eliminate tainted beans from supply chains, environmental campaigners say.Big chocolate companies and the governments of Ghana and the Ivory Coast continue to be responsible for the deforestation of tens of thousands of hectares of land over the past year in former rainforest-covered nations, despite their solemn promises to end the practice last November, the campaigning organisation Mighty Earth said. Continue reading...

In a space no longer than 500 metres, researchers say they recorded at least 195 different species of coralsA team of researchers says it has discovered the most diverse coral site ever recorded on the Great Barrier Reef.Great Barrier Reef Legacy, a non-profit organisation that conducts research trips on the reef, and scientist Charlie Veron, known as the godfather of coral, have identified the site on the outer reef. Continue reading...

That beautiful getaway shot doesn’t often reveal the dozens queueing behind you for their own moment of peaceOne of New Zealand’s most scenic locations is buckling under the strain of selfie-seeking tourists, with lines of up to an hour to capture scenes of supposed isolation and peace.Roys Peak in Lake Wanaka is one of New Zealand’s most Instagrammed day walks, a three-hour hike that offers sweeping views towards Mount Aspiring and the Southern Alps. Continue reading...

Picture of monk seal with eel up its nose shared by Noaa was only latest episode to occur in the past two years, baffling researchersThe Hawaiian monk seal has become endangered due to a range of threats, from fishing net entanglements to disease. Now the beleaguered species is facing an unexpected new challenge – eels getting stuck up their noses.Related: Axolotls in crisis: the fight to save the 'water monster' of Mexico City Continue reading...

EPA says change to require efficiency efforts instead of carbon capture will encourage ‘clean coal’ in the US and worldwideThe Trump administration is rolling back a climate change regulation that restricted new coal plants.The change is mostly symbolic – but nevertheless sends a strong signal. Companies in the US are not building plants that burn coal because burning natural gas is cheaper and creates less pollution. Renewable power has also eaten into coal’s market share. Continue reading...

Under the new plan, the sage grouse’s protected area would shrink by about 9m acres to span just 1.8m acresThe Trump administration has unveiled plans to weaken environmental protections for sprawling areas of the western US considered important habitat for the sage grouse, a chicken-like bird known for its flamboyant courtship displays.The proposals, put forward by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), essentially dismantle much of a landmark 2015 compromise struck between states, oil drilling companies and environmentalists to create a network of protected areas for the sage grouse across 11 western states. Continue reading...

Southern states are not a uniform swath of white, populist, anti-science zealots. As climate is changing, so is the south – in this new column, Megan Mayhew Bergman goes back home to find out moreThere’s a Welsh word – hiraeth – which refers to a “homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, or a home which maybe never was”. Continue reading...