Farmer Armin Capaul’s long campaign to keep animals intact makes it onto a referendum ballotWith his woolly hat, straggly grey beard and unswerving passion for the wellbeing of his cows, it’s no wonder Armin Capaul has become a media sensation. And the Swiss farmer has used the limelight to his advantage.After eight years of campaigning for farmers to be paid to keep the horns of their cattle intact, the issue will be settled in a referendum today. Continue reading...
Swedish minister Isabella Lövin found fame in a jibe aimed at the White House. Now she aims for change beyond TwitterIn February last year, a week after Donald Trump had signed an anti-abortion executive order surrounded by seven men, Isabella Lövin posted a photograph of herself on Twitter signing a climate change bill alongside seven other women.Sweden’s then deputy prime minister remained enigmatic as the picture went viral and she was asked whether she had been “trolling†the US president. “It is up to the observer to interpret the photo,†she was quoted as saying. “We are a feminist government, which shows in this photo.†Continue reading...
Demonstration organised by Extinction Rebellion aims to highlight government failure on the environmentDozens of campaigners blocked the roads around Parliament Square to highlight concerns about the environment on Saturday.About 50 activists from Extinction Rebellion, a direct action group that has been coordinating a campaign of civil disobedience which has brought areas of the capital to a standstill in recent weeks, risked arrest by standing defiantly in roads in front of queueing traffic. Continue reading...
by Matthew Taylor and Katherine Stathers on (#43KBT)
Schools introduce walk-to-school initiatives and stock up on asthma medicineSchools across the UK are taking ever more drastic steps in an effort to mitigate the effects of air pollution on their pupils’ health.Amid growing concern about the long-term implications of toxic air on young people’s development, the Guardian has found one London school is raising money for face masks for its pupils, while a growing number are installing air purifiers in classrooms and thousands more are trying to deter parents from using their cars on the school run. Continue reading...
Nearly 8,000sq kms lost in the year to July amid alarm new president Jair Bolsonaro will make situation worseBrazil has released its worst annual deforestation figures in a decade amid fears that the situation might worsen when the avowedly anti-environmentalist president-elect Jair Bolsonaro takes power.Between August 2017 and July 2018, 7,900sq kms were deforested, according to preliminary figures from the environment ministry based on satellite monitoring – a 13.7% rise on the previous year and the biggest area of forest cleared since 2008. The area is equivalent to 987,000 football pitches. Continue reading...
The time for Australians to ask questions is now, before a permitting decision is madeThe Great Australian Bight is one of the most unique and productive marine ecosystems in the world. An estimated 85% of its known species are found nowhere else; the region has exceptionally productive and sensitive pelagic, seabed, and shoreline habitats; hosts the greatest concentrations of marine mammals, seabirds, pelagic fishes, and sharks in Australia; and supports an annual multi-billion dollar fishery, aquaculture, and tourism economy. By any measure, the Bight is a national and global treasure, but this treasure is now at risk from proposed deepwater oil drilling.Related: More of the Great Australian Bight opened to oil and gas Continue reading...
Fears other challengers will fold amid tough competition and rising wholesale costsAn energy firm with nearly 300,0000 customers has become the biggest electricity and gas supplier to go bust in the UK, fuelling concerns that more challenger firms could fold.Spark Energy is the seventh supplier to fold this year amid pressure from rising wholesale costs and tough competition. The closure will mean the loss of more than 400 jobs at the firm’s headquarters in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. Continue reading...
Prosecution based on secret footage obtained by rights charity Animal Equality at Fir Tree farm in LincolnshireTwo men pleaded guilty today to charges of animal cruelty while employed at a pig farm, Fir Tree in Goxhill, Lincolnshire.Artis Grogprkevs, 31, and Troy Wagstaff, 30, have appeared at Grimsby magistrates court charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal between 2-27 April this year. Continue reading...
Theresa May called on to commit to ambitious climate targetFifty Conservative MPs have called on Theresa May to adopt an ambitious target of cutting carbon emissions to net zero before 2050, to show international leadership on climate change and protect British jobs.Former ministers Damian Green, Oliver Letwin and Anna Soubry are among the signatories of the letter to the prime minister, which said that a stronger long-term goal would cut energy bills and improve air quality. Continue reading...
Plan to clean up Italian capital condemned as barbaric by animal rights campaignersAuthorities in Rome have enlisted falcons to scare off defecating starlings, as the Italian capital plays host to a growing menagerie of animals, including gulls, wild boars and sheep.Starlings pass through the city in late autumn as they migrate to warmer climes for winter, soiling its cobblestones and riverbanks with sticky guano and bothering residents and tourists, who often use umbrellas to avoid the droppings. Continue reading...
Stella McCartney, Gucci and Adidas among companies inspired by ‘Blue Planet effect’Fishing nets and discarded plastic are finding their way into wardrobes around the world thanks to a rise in the number of fashion designers using materials made from recycled ocean waste.Brands including Gucci, Stella McCartney and Adidas are increasingly partnering with organisations such as Parley for the Oceans – which raises awareness of the destructive effect of ocean plastics – and sourcing materials regenerated from companies such as Aquafil, the textile manufacturer that transforms ocean waste into sustainable materials such as Econyl. Continue reading...
As students, we must urge our universities to end their collaboration in climate breakdownTwo weeks ago, an investigation revealed that Oxbridge colleges are bankrolling fossil fuel extraction on a vast scale. This is only one part of a rot running through much of the UK higher education sector, which students and staff have been fighting for years. Despite many victories for campaigners, educational institutions remain deeply invested in corporations that pose an existential risk to marginalised communities across the world.Cambridge University invests an estimated £377m in fossil fuels. Management here have ignored years of campaigning: a motion to divest fully from fossil fuels was passed by the staff governing body and hundreds of academics have called on Cambridge to divest, as have Labour party leadership and the former Archbishop of Canterbury. Still, those controlling the money pay no attention. Continue reading...
National Audit Office says that with 39m meters still to be replaced, government has no chance of hitting 2020 deadlineConsumers face paying half a billion pounds more than expected for the rollout of smart meters and the programme has no chance of hitting its deadline, the UK’s spending watchdog has warned.The National Audit Office said that with 39m old-fashioned meters yet to be replaced, there is “no realistic prospect†of meeting a goal of all homes and businesses being offered one by the end of 2020 as planned. Continue reading...
70 years ago a six-day fog enveloped London, but its message did not hit homeAir pollution history is littered with early warnings that were not heeded. November 2018 marks the 70th anniversary of one of these. On Friday 26 November 1948, a dense fog developed in London. It lasted six days. Football matches were cancelled and transport disrupted. Traffic convoys were formed to follow trams, each guided by a conductor with a torch. Initially, conductors walked alongside buses but this became impossible as they ran into lamp-posts. There were train accidents too, but the greatest death toll came from breathing the smog. Five weeks later the medical statistician William Logan reported an estimated 300 extra deaths.The warning was ignored. Four years and one week later 12,000 Londoners died in the so-called great smog of 1952. The pattern of ignoring warnings continues. In 2000, researchers at London’s King’s and Imperial Colleges warned of difficulties in controlling nitrogen dioxide from traffic. The UK is still failing to meet legal limits for this pollutant. This month, 21 researchers published a nine-year study. It concluded that air pollution in London was stunting children’s lung growth and this may be storing up problems for their long-term health. Continue reading...
Some are buoyed by faith, some by good fire insurance, some by both. On Thursday, they came together to eatWhat is there to be thankful for after you lose everything?Related: 'He's like Al Capone': turkey on the loose ruffles feathers in Rhode Island town Continue reading...
High court orders government to get prior community consent before granting mining rights in PondolandEnvironmental activists in South Africa have won a landmark legal victory after the high court ordered the government to get prior community consent before granting mining rights.The judgment represents a major victory for campaigners in Xolobeni, a community in Pondoland, who have been involved in a protracted and sometimes violent struggle against a proposed titanium mine. Continue reading...
Animal activists say Stourhead cull is misguided, with only one recent boar injury in the UKSix animal rights groups have strongly criticised plans by the National Trust to cull wild boar on one of its most renowned estates as “misguided and immoralâ€.The groups, which include Animal Aid and Born Free, have written to the chair of the National Trust, Tim Parker, asking him to halt the cull at Stourhead in Wiltshire. Continue reading...
Western Australian Browse project could emit more than 200m tonnes of CO2Oil and gas giant Woodside Petroleum has applied for environmental approval to build one of Australia’s biggest emitting industrial developments – a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant 425km north of Broome – without a plan to reduce or offset its greenhouse gas pollution.Documents submitted to the federal government for the long-mooted $28bn Browse LNG project show the offshore part of the development alone is expected to emit up to 200m tonnes of carbon dioxide over 50 years, peaking at 7m tonnes a year. Continue reading...
Animal rights groups hope closure of complex will lead to ban on dog meat consumptionSouth Korean officials have begun dismantling the country’s largest canine slaughterhouse complex, as animal rights activists push to end the custom of eating dog meat.About 1 million dogs are eaten each year in South Korea, often as a summertime delicacy. The greasy red meat is believed to increase energy. Continue reading...
Households need electric and hydrogen hybrid boilers sooner rather than later, climate advisers warnMillions of gas boilers will need to be replaced with hydrogen alternatives and coupled with electric heating devices if Britain is to hit its carbon targets at the lowest cost, according to the government’s climate advisers.In a report on the role hydrogen could play in the energy system, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) spelt out the huge but necessary cost the country faces to switch to green heating. Continue reading...
Exercises were conducted in a critical habitat area of the endangered population, Vancouver Island residents sayEndangered killer whales off Canada’s west coast were forced to contend with machine gun fire and smoke bombs after the government allowed the country’s navy to conduct live fire exercises in a protected area.Related: Canada's salmon hold the key to saving its killer whales Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#43FC8)
Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are far above pre-industrial levelsThe main greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change have all reached record levels, the UN’s meteorology experts have reported.Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are now far above pre-industrial levels, with no sign of a reversal of the upward trend, a World Meteorological Organization report says. Continue reading...
Scott Morrison and his offsiders are competing for the title of biggest numpty as Labor offers sensible solutionsOn climate and energy policy, Labor never learns from its mistakes, Scott Morrison told us on Thursday, apparently limbering up for another heart-warming election season of who can be the biggest numpty.The prime minister is wrong about that. The evidence tells us Labor does learn from its mistakes, and in climate and energy the ALP have become shape shifters in order to keep doggedly pursuing policies reducing emissions in an environment when that activity is construed, ever more bizarrely in reactionary circles, as some kind of hostile action. Continue reading...
Up to 32,000 tonnes of microplastics enter British waterways each year, says Friends of the EarthVehicle tyres and synthetic clothing are the two leading contributors to microplastic pollution from UK households, according to a new report from Friends of the Earth.The report estimates that between 9,000 and 32,000 tonnes of microplastic pollution enter British waterways each year from just four sources. The two leading sources are tyre abrasion, with between 7,000 and 19,000 tonnes entering surface waters each year, and clothing. Continue reading...
City’s skyline changes colour as line of dust more than 500km long sweeps eastA thick line of dust that has smothered much of New South Wales and Sydney has caused air quality to reach a “hazardous†level with another wave of dust set to come, leading to a spike in calls for help from people with breathing difficulties.Strong winds from a low pressure system have whipped up masses of dirt across the drought-stricken state, which headed towards the coast on Thursday. Continue reading...
Filmmaker takes new ‘people’s seat’ and will form speech with input from social mediaSir David Attenborough is to address the UN’s climate change summit in Poland in December, taking up a newly established “people’s seat†at the negotiations.The people’s seat initiative, which launched on Wednesday, will give citizens around the world the opportunity to send their messages to leaders via social media, using the hashtag #TakeYourSeat. These views and information from opinion polling will then form the basis of Attenborough’s speech to leaders. Continue reading...
Disruption could continue until Saturday as Extinction Rebellion continues climate change protestClimate activists have caused serious disruption to rush-hour traffic in London with a series of “swarming†roadblocks at several different locations around the capital as police warned motorists that more protests were expected.From 8am on Wednesday groups of protesters coordinated by the group Extinction Rebellion walked on to roads in Westminster, Tower Bridge, Elephant and Castle, and Earl’s Court, blocking traffic for several minutes at a time in a plan to bring gridlock to the city. Continue reading...
World’s biggest protected area would stretch across borders from Andes to AtlanticIndigenous groups in the Amazon have proposed the creation of the world’s biggest protected area, a 200m-hectare sanctuary for people, wildlife and climate stability that would stretch across borders from the Andes to the Atlantic.The plan, presented to the UN Conference on Biodiversity in Egypt on Wednesday, puts the alliance of Amazon communities in the middle of one of the world’s most important environmental and political disputes. Continue reading...
From speeding and light jumping to parking in bike lanes and passing too close, driver behaviour is one of the main deterrents to widespread cyclingWhat prevents significantly more people in the UK from riding bikes for everyday transport? The primary answer is simple: a lack of safe infrastructure.If cyclists are expected to share the roads with a tonne or so of speeding metal then, global experience shows, you won’t get more than a certain, small percentage of the population doing it, predominantly the young and gung ho. Continue reading...
Shadow cabinet keeps Turnbull policy with a higher target, and formulates a plan B for renewablesLabor has resolved to keep the Coalition’s national energy guarantee with a higher emissions reduction target, and will propose a detailed plan B for renewables in the event it can’t be legislated.The shadow cabinet on Wednesday took the decision to stick with the Neg developed by Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg, with an emissions reduction target for electricity of 45% by 2030, in an attempt to see whether the Liberals could be persuaded to vote for their own mechanism post-election. Continue reading...
Rough seas prevented crews from assessing damage to vulnerable wildlife caused by province’s largest-ever spillBiologists are attempting to assess damage to vulnerable wildlife caused by Newfoundland’s largest-ever oil spill, amid fears that the full scale of devastation may never be known.Intense storms battered offshore oil production areas late last week, with waves cresting as high as 28ft. On Friday, the SeaRose tanker attempted to restart production, but a faulty connection line pumped an estimated 250,000 litres of oil into the ocean. Continue reading...
UK government called on to impose fee on new plastic packaging and offer rebate for recycled productsThe government should introduce a new tax on virgin packaging to revolutionise the recycling system in the UK and tackle the plastics crisis, according to a new report.The study, presented to MPs and industry figures at Westminster on Tuesday evening, calls on ministers to impose a fee on packaging materials and offer a rebate for those products that use more recycled material. Continue reading...
Campaigners say move by Norway’s Equinor is an excuse to keep drilling for fossil fuelsOne of the world’s biggest oil companies is set to join the fight against deforestation in the tropics as part of its climate change efforts – but the the move has been branded a “greenwash†by campaigners.State-owned Norwegian firm Equinor has written to the UN’s climate chief to tell her it wants to invest in the protection of tropical forests. Continue reading...
Sperm whale washed up in Sulawesi had flip-flops, bottles, bags and 115 drinking cups in its stomachA dead whale that washed ashore in eastern Indonesia had a large lump of plastic waste in its stomach, including flip-flops and 115 drinking cups, a park official has said, causing concern among environmentalists and government officials in one of the world’s largest plastic polluting countries.Related: 'Sad surprise': Amazon fish contaminated by plastic particles Continue reading...
by Charlotte Simmonds, Annette McGivney, Patrick Reil on (#43ADS)
As thrill seekers and Instagrammers swarm public lands, reporting from eight sites across America shows the scale of the threatJust before sunset near Page, Arizona, a parade of humanity marched up the sandy, half-mile trail toward Horseshoe Bend. They had come from all over the world. Some carried boxes of McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets, others cradled chihuahuas and a few men hid engagement rings in their pockets. But just about everyone had one thing at the ready: a cellphone to snap a picture.Horseshoe Bend is one of the American west’s most celebrated overlooks. From a sheer sandstone precipice just a few miles outside Grand Canyon national park, visitors get a bird’s-eye view of the emerald Colorado river as it makes a U-turn 800ft below. Hundreds of miles from any large city, and nestled in the heart of south-west canyon country, Horseshoe Bend was once as lonely as it was beautiful. Continue reading...
by Jonathan Watts Global environment editor on (#4396J)
Reserves cover more than five times area of US, says report, but enforcement is often poorA record surge in the creation of marine protected areas has taken the international community close to its goal of creating nature refuges on 17% of the world’s land and 10% of seas by 2020, according to a new UN report.Protected regions now cover more than five times the territory of the US, but the authors said this good news was often undermined by poor enforcement. Some reserves are little more than “paper parks†with little value to nature conservation. At least one has been turned into an industrial zone. Continue reading...
Wildlife documentary experts defend crew’s decision to help trapped birdsLeading wildlife camera operators and film-makers have defended the film crew on David Attenborough’s latest BBC series over their decision to break with convention and intervene to save a group of penguins that had become trapped in a ravine.Nature film-makers are discouraged from intervening in the events they are attempting to capture on film. While the general principle is to avoid interfering with the natural course of events, the crew on the Dynasties series stepped in when they saw the birds’ predicament. Continue reading...
Energy company says importing LNG will firm up renewable energy projects but critics say gas is already more expensive than clean alternativesControversial plans to import liquefied natural gas into Australia to fill a shortfall as domestic gas is exported to Asia would significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions, AGL has conceded.Energy companies have proposed four LNG import terminals for the east coast to ensure gas supply and ease high prices. The imported natural gas would effectively replace the two-thirds of gas sold overseas from export plants in Queensland. Continue reading...
by Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent on (#438P5)
Norwegian company to fuel liners with biogas made from leftovers of fish processingWaste fish parts will be used to power ships in a new initiative to use green energy for polluting cruise liners.The leftovers of fish processed for food and mixed with other organic waste will be used to generate biogas, which will then be liquefied and used in place of fossil fuels by the expedition cruise line Hurtigruten. Continue reading...
by Richard Luscombe in Orlando, Florida on (#4386S)
Resources to save manatee and other sea life nearing limit a year after toxic red tide bloom outbreakAt the peak of Florida’s red tide crisis this summer, Jon Peterson had to dig deep into Sea World’s storage warehouses to find enough portable pools to accommodate the dozens of sick manatees arriving at a rate of two or three a week.The Orlando theme park’s manager for animal rescues even found himself forking out for air fares to send some of his younger manatee patients off to zoos in Ohio to free enough space in the rehabilitation centre for the newest victims of the toxic algae phenomenon that has killed thousands of fish and marine mammals. Continue reading...
Clearcast says it had to shut Facebook page after it rejected film for being politicalThe body responsible for rejecting Iceland’s Christmas ad had to remove staff pictures from its website, shut the company Facebook page and close its switchboard due to the level of abuse following the controversial decision.As part of its festive campaign Iceland struck a deal with Greenpeace to rebadge an animated short film featuring an orangutan and the destruction of its rainforest habitat at the hands of palm oil growers. Continue reading...
Energy firm plans to build 2,000 homes powered by solar panels on the Staffordshire siteAn old coal power station is set to be transformed into a “sustainable village†of 2,000 homes powered by solar panels, in the biggest redevelopment yet of a former UK power plant.French firm Engie said it had decided against selling off the Rugeley site in Staffordshire and would instead build super efficient houses on the 139-hectare site as part of its bid to “move beyond energyâ€. Continue reading...
Animals to be removed from Stourhead estate after complaints from ‘intimidated’ visitorsThe National Trust has been criticised for planning to cull wild boar at its Stourhead estate in Wiltshire.Related: Wild boar gives British ambassador to Austria a scare Continue reading...
A haul of fresh pelts and rotting remains marks the end of a five-year probe into an international crime ring. Authorities fear it points to a wider problem in EuropeThe first thing that hit the inspectors was the smell. It was a sweltering midsummer day in Prague, and they had just opened an unplugged freezer filled with the rotting remains of tigers, lions and cougars. Pavla Rihova, the lead environmental inspector on the scene, said she had never seen anything like it.“I have been working for the inspectorate 25 years … but the situation there was really horrible. If you can imagine: an old freezer, without electricity, full of meat and dead bodies, in the garden for two years. Absolutely incredible.†Continue reading...