The Guardian and BirdLife Australia spent weeks refining the list for the poll

More than 240 conservation scientists sign open letter warning PM that 17 Australian native species face extinction in next 20 yearsMore than 240 conservation scientists have called on Scott Morrison to drop his opposition to stronger environment laws and seize a “once-in-a-decade opportunity” to fix a system that is failing to stem a worsening extinction crisis.With the federal government due to this week announce a 10-yearly legislated review of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, the scientists have signed an open letter to the prime minister urging him to increase spending and back laws to help protect the natural world from further destruction. Continue reading...

Growth centred in US and China, with slowdown in Sweden attributed to Greta ThunbergAlmost 8,000 new private jets are expected to be bought by multinational companies and the super-rich over the next decade, each of which will burn 40 times as much carbon per passenger as regular commercial flights, according to a report by aviation firm Honeywell Aerospace.About 690 new business jets are expected to take to the skies in 2019, a 9% increase on 2018, as businesses and the wealthy refresh their fleets with new models released by three of the world’s biggest private jet manufacturers. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson’s gung-ho claims may be wide of the mark, but scientists pursuing the holy grail of energy generation are taking giant steps“They are on the verge of creating commercially viable miniature fusion reactors for sale around the world,” Boris Johnson told the Conservative party conference earlier this month – “they” apparently being UK scientists. It was, at best, a rash promise for how nuclear fusion might make the UK carbon-neutral by the middle of the century – the target recommended by the Committee on Climate Change, which advises the government. “I know they have been on the verge for some time,” Johnson hedged. “It is a pretty spacious kind of verge.” But now, he assured his audience, “we are on the verge of the verge”.It’s a familiar and bitter joke about nuclear fusion as an energy source that, ever since it was first mooted in the 1950s, it has been 30 years away. Johnson’s comments had the extra irony that Brexit could merely add to that distance. Continue reading...

They also urged the Vatican to re­open the debate on ordaining women as deaconsCatholic bishops from across the Amazon have called for the ordination of married men as priests to address a scarcity of clergy in the region, a challenge to the centuries-old tradition in the church.The majority of the 180 bishops from nine South American countries in the Amazon basin region on Saturday also called for the Vatican to re­open a debate on ordaining women as deacons, saying “it is urgent for the church in the Amazon to promote and confer ministries for men and women in an equitable manner”. Continue reading...

Whatever the result, the communities on South Australia’s Eyre peninsula are split over the issue – and will be for some timeAfter four years of speculation and three years of consultation, the small towns of Kimba and Hawker in South Australia have begun the final stage of a process that has divided neighbours and placed these otherwise forgotten communities on the national map.On 7 November, the Kimba district council will announce the result of a month-long vote on whether its residents support the construction of a nuclear waste facility at one of two proposed sites. On 11 November a similar vote will open for the Flinders Ranges council over a third proposed site at Wallerberdina. Continue reading...

Families looking for sustainable, affordable children’s clothing are saving time and money by hiring bundlesHow do you clothe your baby while avoiding piles of vests and playsuits that your child has outgrown within weeks? For more and more new parents, the answer is simple: rent.Families who seek an environmentally friendly alternative to fast fashion pay a monthly subscription to companies offering ethical-branded, age-appropriate clothes and receive new outfits in the post. The clothes, washed, ironed and ready to be worn again, are sent back when the child has outgrown them, with another bundle arriving soon after. The hire fee covers stains and lost items. Continue reading...

Actor is led away in handcuffs after winning Stanley Kubrick award for excellence in filmJane Fonda accepted a prestigious award from Bafta Los Angeles while being led away in handcuffs after being arrested during climate emergency protests.The actor and activist was honoured with the Stanley Kubrick award for excellence in film at the annual Bafta Britannia ceremony. However, she could not be at the Beverly Hilton in person to accept the prize and, as is customary, sent a video message instead. Continue reading...

Removal and rehoming of rare species is likely to hamper project already beset by delaysFor over a decade attempts to build a monument to German unity have been hampered by technical problems, spiralling costs and huge disagreement over its purpose.The latest hurdle is a colony of 60 rare bats that took up residence in the pedestal of the planned 50-metre-long seesaw steel bowl, which will rock from side to side when people climb on to it. Continue reading...

Guitarist rules out 50th anniversary headline slot because of rift with festival founderBrian May has said Queen will not play Glastonbury next year after clashing with the festival’s founder over the controversial badger cull.The 72-year-old guitarist and animal rights campaigner rubbished claims that his band had been booked to headline Glastonbury’s 50th anniversary event next year. Continue reading...

Cuddling foxes, venomous sea snakes and a 1,000-year-old oak tree Continue reading...

Prince says private sector needs to lead with green investments towards sustainable economyPrince Charles has called on the City of London to help protect the environment by investing trillions of pounds into green investments which help create a sustainable economy.In an interview with the Evening Standard the heir to the British throne said big businesses and City investors must drive a rapid decarbonisation of the economy before the environmental crisis becomes “a total catastrophe”. Continue reading...

Supplies from turbines will prove to be the next great energy revolution, IEA predictsErecting wind turbines on the world’s best offshore sites could provide more than enough clean energy to meet global electricity demand, according to a report.A detailed study of the world’s coastlines has found that offshore windfarms alone could provide more electricity than the world needs – even if they are only built in windy regions in shallow waters near the shore. Continue reading...

Environmental committee says government funding ‘fails to match scale of threat’A citizen army is needed to help tackle invasive species that threaten the natural environment and in some cases human health, MPs have said.The cost to the economy of non-native species taking hold in the UK is estimated to be £1.8bn a year, a report from the environmental audit committee says. Continue reading...

Surfside’s postcard beach is experiencing a disappearing act amid hurricanes. rising sea levels – and a worldwide sand shortageThe sun is out, as usual, in the town of Surfside. Less than 10 miles north of Miami’s world-famous South Beach, just a square mile in size with a population near 6,000, it’s a typically prosperous American seaside community.Kite surfers zip along the azure waves as locals in flip-flops walk their toy-size dogs – just another south Florida day. Continue reading...

Federal, state and territory ministers agreed to meet twice a year and adopt Victorian plan to improve adaptations to agricultureAgriculture ministers have agreed to a national framework to address the impact of climate change on the sector, as well as to develop plans to help the industry grow to $100bn by 2030.At a meeting in Melbourne on Friday federal, state and territory agriculture ministers – and federal water resources minister David Littleproud – agreed to Victoria’s plan to improve adaptation of agriculture for climate change. Continue reading...

We can’t assume the renewable energy boom will simply continue. Only clear, coordinated policy will ensure it does

Rivers across region burst their banks after days of heavy rain causing ‘significant damage’Three people, including a British woman, have died after several days of heavy rain sent rivers flooding over their banks across southern France.The rains have caused “significant damage” requiring rescue workers to carry out nearly 1,800 operations since Sunday, an interior ministry statement said on Thursday, after eight departments were placed on high alert for flash floods. Continue reading...

Voracious purple urchins in waters of California and Oregon pose threat to kelp forests and risk upending delicate ecosystemsTens of millions of voracious purple sea urchins that have already chomped their way through towering underwater kelp forests in California are spreading north to Oregon, sending the delicate marine ecosystem off the shore into such disarray that other critical species are starving to death.A recent count found 350m purple sea urchins on one Oregon reef alone – more than a 10,000% increase since 2014. And in northern California, 90% of the giant bull kelp forests have been devoured by the urchins, perhaps never to return. Continue reading...

• Mercedes driver aims to be carbon neutral by end of year

Scientists shocked by data showing loss of hard corals at 100 locations across Whitsundays, Magnetic Island, Keppel Islands and Palm IslandsCoral coverage around some of the most popular tourist islands on the Great Barrier Reef has dropped by almost half in the last 18 years, according to a new study.Scientists said they were “shocked” after analysing data from monitoring dives between 1999 and 2017 at 100 different locations across the Whitsunday Islands, Magnetic Island, Keppel Islands and Palm Islands. Continue reading...

Activist joined demonstrators in St James parish as they rallied against facility that would double the amount of toxic emissionsFor the second time in two months the moral revival campaigner and civil rights leader the Rev William Barber has visited an area of toxic pollution in Louisiana known colloquially as “Cancer Alley” as he places the fight for clean air there at the centre of a national protest movement.The North Carolina-based activist, thrust on to the national stage after the success of the Moral Mondays protests in his home state, joined a group of local demonstrators in St James parish, between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, on Wednesday as they rallied against a proposed plastics manufacturing facility nearby. Continue reading...

Green light clears way for payments of £990m to gas, coal and nuclear power firmsThe UK’s largest fossil fuel generators may be back in line for almost £1bn in backup power subsidies this winter after the European commission approved the UK’s flagship energy scheme, which was ruled illegal last year.A shock European court ruling brought the government’s “capacity market” to a standstill last November, triggering an in-depth investigation into whether the UK’s plan to pay power plants to stay open was compatible with EU state aid law. Continue reading...

Lawyers for climate group in high court to fight police order stopping London protestsAn order attempting to ban Extinction rebellion protests in London was unlawful, the high court has heard, as lawyers for the group challenged what they described as an abuse of power by police.Seven prominent supporters of XR brought judicial review proceedings against the Metropolitan police after the force last Monday issued the order under section 14 of the Public Order Act to demand that that the group’s activists “cease their protest(s) within London”. Continue reading...

MPs vote 86 to one in support of the controversial measures after voting down more extreme LNP amendmentsThe Queensland parliament has passed new laws that will criminalise “dangerous” locking devices used by climate protesters, and give police expanded powers to search suspected activists.The state parliament gave its near-unanimous support – 86 votes to one – for the controversial measures. Continue reading...

Council to gradually get rid of ubiquitous trees from CBD to plant Moreton Bay figs, jacarandas and sweet gumsThe London plane tree, a divisive staple of many Australian city streetscapes, will be gradually removed from Melbourne’s central business district and replaced with species resistant to climate change such as Moreton Bay figs, jacarandas and sweet gums.London plane trees make up 70% of the tree population in Melbourne’s inner city. While admired by some for their hardiness and environmental benefits such as providing extensive cooling and shade, the trees are also unpopular for shedding leaf and shoot hairs, known as trichomes, during the same period that grass pollen levels are at their highest. Continue reading...

Minister says he rejects ‘bizarre’ assertion that he created false documents relating to City of Sydney. This blog is now closed7.35am BSTEstimates is continuing but alas I cannot.The blog will be back for the Senate-only week on 11 November (Senate-palooza is back bbs!) but the House won’t return until 25 November, when the parliament sits for the final fortnight of the year.The last #QT of this sitting fortnight has concluded. Don’t forget, the House Procedure Committee is running a survey to get your feedback on the rules that govern #QT. To get involved, click here: https://t.co/8I1vFV9t467.05am BSTThe House is adjourned until 25 November. Continue reading...

Report comes amid calls for set up of firewall to protect politics from industry influenceThe five biggest oil and gas companies, and their industry groups, have spent at least €251m (£217m) lobbying the European Union over climate policies since 2010, research has revealed.The data on the scale of lobbying by oil companies and their representatives comes as 200 organisations demand the setting up of a firewall around democratic politics to protect it from the influence of the fossil fuel industry. Continue reading...

Farmers given until 2022 to make changes or pay higher taxes as part of plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050New Zealand farmers have five years to reduce their carbon emissions before the government introduces financial penalties, prime minister Jacinda Ardern has announced.Ardern’s Labour coalition government has committed to making New Zealand carbon net-zero by 2050, with the PM likening the climate change battle to the previous generations’ struggle against the rise of nuclear power. Continue reading...

Minister criticised lord mayor Clover Moore over emissions based on false figures purporting to be from council’s annual reportThe City of Sydney has produced evidence to back up its insistence that it never altered a document to introduce the false figures used by Angus Taylor in an attack on the lord mayor over her travel-related emissions.The evidence places further pressure on the office of the energy minister to explain how the false figures came to be in the document he used to launch the extraordinary attack on Clover Moore last month. On Thursday Taylor labelled the affair a “conspiracy theory being perpetrated by the lord mayor” and accused her of “hollow virtue-signalling” on emissions. Continue reading...

Firms must report actions on environmental and social issues under revamped codePension funds and asset managers will have to disclose their shareholder voting records on issues including the climate crisis, as part of UK guidelines that will come into force in January.The revamped stewardship code means firms will have to publish annual reports showing they have taken environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into account when investing and engaging with companies. Continue reading...

Strategy includes 30 recommendations including insulation upgrades for every home in UKLabour will unveil plans to create a carbon-neutral energy system by the 2030s including insulation upgrades for every home in the UK and enough new solar panels to cover 22,000 football pitches.The party will set out its fast-track climate strategy on Thursday after adopting plans to work towards a net-zero carbon economy two decades ahead of the government’s legally binding 2050 target. Continue reading...

House Democrats on Wednesday laid out evidence that the oil behemoth ExxonMobil had known since the 1970s about the potential for a climate crisis and intentionally sowed doubt about it. One of those testifying was Martin Hoffert, a scientist consultant for Exxon Research and Engineering in the 1980s. Responding to the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Hoffert testified that in 1982, Exxon scientists predicted how carbon dioxide levels would rise and heat the planet as humans burned more fossil fuels

Subcommittee laid out four decades of evidence just a day after oil behemoth began a trial over misleading investorsHouse Democrats on Wednesday laid out four decades of evidence that oil behemoth Exxon knew since the 1970s that the burning of fossil fuels was heating the planet and intentionally sowed doubt about the climate crisis.The testimony came in a hearing in a House oversight subcommittee on civil rights just a day after ExxonMobil began a trial in New York City over misleading investors on the business risks from government rules meant to address the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Nationals policy document says party will have to ‘fight the next election on this issue’Nationals MPs are pushing for an extra $1.3bn in government stimulus for drought affected communities, arguing direct community support is needed to help the party hold on to seats at the next election.The push for more government spending comes as the National Farmers’ Federation also calls for more commonwealth action, flagging the need for council rate relief and exit packages for stressed farmers wanting to leave the land. Continue reading...

Forecast suggests rainforest could stop producing enough rain to sustain itself by 2021Soaring deforestation coupled with the destructive policies of Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, could push the Amazon rainforest dangerously to an irreversible “tipping point” within two years, a prominent economist has said.After this point the rainforest would stop producing enough rain to sustain itself and start slowly degrading into a drier savannah, releasing billions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, which would exacerbate global heating and disrupt weather across South America. Continue reading...

National Trust rangers predict another bumper year as they begin their count of grey seal pupsThey are one of the world’s rarest seal species, officially endangered by a combination of water pollution, fishing nets and seaside tourism. But on the Farne Islands, off the Northumberland coast, the population of grey seal pups has increased by 57% in five years, with 2,737 born last year.Rangers from the National Trust, which owns the islands, were predicting another bumper year as they began their pup count this week, taking aerial shots by drone and spraying newborns with special paint to keep tabs on their movements. Continue reading...

A shipment of Chinese antibiotics, headed for a Northern Ireland poultry farm, has sparked an investigation into food securityRetailers and the poultry industry have attempted to reassure consumers on the safety of chicken, after a seizure of Chinese antibiotics suspected to be destined for unregulated use on a poultry farm in Northern Ireland.

It’s crucial to expose the fossil fuel industry’s disinformation tactics so the public doesn’t fall prey to the next effortToday, the state of New York will face off with ExxonMobil for oral arguments in the trial alleging that the company misled investors by providing false assurances that the company was adequately costing climate-related risks. But win or lose, that doesn’t mean an end to deliberate misinformation campaigns. Here’s what we should all know about how to resist those efforts by Exxon and other big corporate actors.Scientists have known for decades that the burning of fossil fuels is causing climate change. There is so much evidence that at least 97% of climate scientists agree that humans are causing global warming. It’s as settled as the link between smoking and cancer. Continue reading...

Fierce storms and rising seas are causing existential angst for communities in Alaska, Arizona and other states on the front line of the climate crisisThe 2019 hurricane season, which has already seen parts of Texas flooded and the Bahamas devastated, is prompting existential angst for a unique US culture that fears being torn asunder by the climate crisis.Fiercer storms and the encroaching seas are gnawing away at the Gullah Geechee nation, a distinct cultural group that historically dwelt on a 425-mile stretch of coastline from Jacksonville, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida. Today, the bulk of this community, descendants of African slaves and native Americans, resides only on the low-lying fringes of South Carolina and Georgia. Continue reading...

Their main objective was to build a marine terminal to transport coal through the city, raising fears of increased air pollutionLast spring, an unusual meeting took place in Oakland, California, between the NFL star Marshawn Lynch and fossil fuel company executives who are seeking to build a marine terminal that would ship millions of tons of coal through the city each year. According to one of the investors who set up the meeting, its purpose was to discuss using project revenues to fund local charities.Nothing came of it, but over the past year the coal terminal’s backers have set up dozens of similar gatherings with city officials, pastors, labor leaders, and other influential locals as part of a broader lobbying campaign to overcome opposition to coal, according to documents recently obtained by the Guardian. Continue reading...

Royal Court crackdown forms part of mission to become net-zero-carbon venue in 2020Audience members at the Royal Court theatre will be banned from taking in single-use plastic bottles as part of a mission to become a net-zero carbon arts venue in 2020.The London theatre announced it was scrapping its plan to have a month of performance on the climate emergency. Instead, it said, it would spend the time taking stock to find ways to make the organisation net zero by the end of next year. Continue reading...

Enele Sopoaga says he was also ‘insulted and deeply angry’ at comments made by Australian deputy prime minister Michael McCormackThe former prime minister of Tuvalu has said he was “stunned” by Scott Morrison’s behaviour at the recent Pacific Islands Forum, which he though communicated the view that Pacific leaders should “take the money … then shut up about climate change”.Enele Sopoaga, speaking at the national conference of the Australian Council for International Development (Acfid) in Sydney on Wednesday, said Morrison’s behaviour at the forum, which Tuvalu hosted in August, was “dismissive” of the concerns of the Pacific regarding the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Spending watchdog finds that only three wells have been dug, despite aim to have 20 by 2020The government’s plan to establish fracking across the UK is years behind schedule and has cost the taxpayer at least £32m so far, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has found.An investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) said the shale gas industry has launched only three wells in three years, even though the plan was to establish 20 by the middle of next year. Continue reading...

More than 8m squashes likely to be binned after annual lantern carving, study showsBritons are expected to generate record levels of food waste over Halloween this year.More than 8m pumpkins – equivalent to more than 18,000 tonnes of edible pumpkin flesh – will be heading for the bin because the majority of consumers will not eat it. Continue reading...

Victorian CFMEU boss withdraws his legal appeal. All the day’s events, live6.39am BSTIt has been another bitsy day of bitsy bluster, and I think we’ve all had our fill of that for today, so I am going to wrap it up.There is one more day for us all to get through though, so steel yourself.6.16am BSTOn the government not releasing reports or answering questions, Richard Marles says:I think there is a creeping culture of secrecy. I think it’s more than creeping. I think from day one, you know, this secrecy has characterised the way in which this government has gone about its business and I think the way in which the prime minister actually has gone about his business both as a minister and now as prime minister.And it is a concern. You know, the way in which we build confidence in the ADF but in government action and in the institutions of government is actually to have transparency and allow people to see for themselves. Continue reading...

Converted Nissan van called the Dynamo licensed to help clean up capital’s ‘filthy air’The launch of a fully electric black cab for London has been hailed by the mayor for helping clean up the capital’s polluted air.The Dynamo, a taxi converted from a Nissan electric van in a Coventry factory, is the first 100% electric taxi on the streets of London since 1899. Its predecessor, the Bersey, failed to take off at a time when most cabs were horse-drawn. Continue reading...

Seabird conservationists perplexed by discoveries on Mullion island work out depressing explanation

Region’s expected increase in coal-fired power plants could turn out to be ‘more fizz than boom’ as construction rates fall markedlyThe number of new coal-fired power plants starting construction across south-east Asia has fallen markedly over the past two years as Australia has increasingly looked to the region to expand its thermal coal exports.Analysis by US-based climate research and advocacy group Global Energy Monitor found work on only 1.5 gigawatts of new coal generation – equivalent to one large Australian plant – began in the region in the six months to June, all of it in Indonesia. Continue reading...

National Farmers’ Federation sends a list of demands for immediate drought response to the commonwealthFarmers have sent a list of key demands for immediate drought response to government, including a call for the commonwealth to pay council rates for affected businesses and to offer exit packages for those wanting to leave the land.Releasing its national drought policy on Wednesday, the National Farmers’ Federation will outline its priorities for a new national framework, while also listing a set of demands for farmers affected by the current drought. Continue reading...