Environment | The Guardian

The climate activist from Sweden was the star of the UN climate summit. Her remarks reminded us what leadership, courage and sacrifice look likeAt the 2019 annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, a 16-year-old climate activist took the mantle of global leadership usually reserved for the US president.Donald Trump’s decision to not participate in the UN climate summit illustrated just how devastatingly Trump’s climate-denying policies have undermined America’s role in the world as a force for good, and how his actions could contribute to the destruction of the futures of countless billions. Meanwhile, Greta Thunberg called him – and other world leaders – out for their malign neglect in failing to address the single most existential threat humanity faces, while revealing the energy with which a new generation of leaders is determined to act. Continue reading...

MSC certificate to be suspended in October just two years after it was awardedSustainably caught North Sea cod could disappear from UK supermarket shelves next year after it was announced that certification is being suspended following a dramatic decline in populations.Cod populations in the sea had been thought to be in good health but the latest scientific advice has revealed much lower amounts of fish, putting the fishery at increased risk of collapse. Continue reading...

Mining billionaire’s initiative would see manufacturers of virgin plastic pay premium for doing soMining billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest is launching a business-driven initiative to try to tackle the hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic waste produced every year around the globe.Forrest, through his Minderoo Foundation, is committing US$300m to launch the scheme that proposes manufacturers of fossil-fuel based plastic pay a voluntary financial contribution for doing so. Continue reading...

Andrew Forest’s Sea The Future initiative will call for voluntary contributions to raise money for recycling projectsAn Australian billionaire is asking household brands to reduce plastic waste by paying a premium for virgin plastics, making recycled products cheaper in comparison.Andrew Forrest, a mining magnate turned philanthropist who is one of the 10 richest people in Australia, is setting up a $300m (£240m) initiative to encourage the collection and recycling of plastic waste, through his Minderoo Foundation. Continue reading...

Millions aged under five are particularly at risk from the slash and burn fires due to undeveloped immune systemsIndonesian forest fires are putting nearly 10 million children at risk due to air pollution, the United Nations has warned.The fires have been spewing toxic haze over south-east Asia in recent weeks, closing schools and airports, with people rushing to buy face masks and seek medical treatment for respiratory ailments. Continue reading...

Australian PM says debate replete with disinformation and he wants to give children confidence they will have ‘an economy to live in’Scott Morrison has responded to an impassioned speech by the Swedish teenage climate activistGreta Thunberg at the United Nations by declaring the climate change debate is subjecting Australian children to “needless anxiety”.The Australian prime minister, who will address environmental themes in his address to the UN general assembly on Wednesday, including ocean management, plastics, waste management and illegal fishing, was asked for his response to Thunberg’s excoriation of world leaders at this week’s climate action summit, when she accused the political class of failing the younger generations. Continue reading...

New law will punish unlawful entry on ‘enclosed lands’ with up to three years in jail and fines of $22,000A New South Wales farm trespass bill has been criticised by civil liberties organisations, environment groups and unions for turning into “a crackdown on people’s rights to protest”.The Right to Farm Bill 2019, currently before the NSW parliament, can punish unlawful entry and disruption on “inclosed lands” with up to three years in jail, and increases the fine from $5,500 to $22,000. Continue reading...

Experts at the meeting say Australia is seen as ‘engaging in greenwashing’ and using accounting tricks to meet targetsScott Morrison is increasingly seen as running a “denialist government” that is not serious about finding a global climate solution and uses “greenwash” to meet its emissions commitments, analysts and former diplomats say.Australian observers in New York said Morrison’s failure to attend a UN climate action summit on Monday despite being in the US, and his apparent rejection of the need for Australia to do more to address its rising greenhouse gas emissions, eroded goodwill for the country on the issue. Continue reading...

Travel records emerge as former deputy PM takes to Facebook to defend his work as Scott Morrison’s special envoyBarnaby Joyce spent less than three weeks on the ground in drought-affected communities outside of his electorate while engaged as the government’s special drought envoy, according to MP travel records.And while the government is refusing to release details of how much the position cost taxpayers, the former Nationals leader claimed $675,000 in expenses for the nine months in the role, and was allocated two staff members to conduct his work at a cost of an estimated $200,000. Continue reading...

Thunberg seems to troll Trump with new bio that reads: ‘A very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future’

In a combative UN address Bolsonaro denied – contrary to the evidence – that the world’s largest rainforest was being devastatedBrazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has launched a cantankerous and conspiratorial defense of his environmental record, blaming Emmanuel Macron and the “deceitful” media for hyping this year’s fires in the Amazon.In a combative 30-minute address to the UN general assembly, Bolsonaro denied – contrary to the evidence – that the world’s largest rainforest was “being devastated or consumed by fire, as the media deceitfully says”. Continue reading...

Coalition of six nations aims to raise funds and achieve full decarbonisation by 2050A coalition of Pacific island nations wants to raise $500m (£400m) to make all shipping in the Pacific Ocean zero carbon by the middle of the century.The Pacific Blue Shipping Partnership, announced on Tuesday by the governments of Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu, has set an emissions reduction target of 40% by 2030, and full decarbonisation by 2050. Continue reading...

Party members back Green New Deal motion including nationalisation of big six energy firms

Environment Agency issued 27 flood alerts across England by 9amFlood alerts have been issued for parts of England as heavy rain continues to cause disruption for commuters.The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for much of England and Wales today, with flooding expected in some areas. Continue reading...

Delegates at party conference to consider two motions on cutting UK carbon emissionsLabour is promising to build dozens of new state-owned offshore windfarms, at a cost of £83bn in public and private money. The plan comes as members prepare to debate the climate emergency at their party conference in what could be a fierce contest between heavyweight unions and grassroots campaigners.On Tuesday, delegates will be asked to vote on the party’s target to cut the UK’s carbon emissions to net zero. Two motions are to be put to members, one with a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2030 – which would be much more stringent than the government’s current target of net zero by 2050 – and one backed by the GMB union, which does not set a date. Continue reading...

The party trumpets a ‘green industrial revolution’ that unions back as a ‘just transition’What is the “green industrial revolution”?The Labour party’s answer to the climate emergency is to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by investing in new industries and reforms to existing practices, to generate economic opportunities, particularly in areas where old industrial jobs have vanished. The ideas behind it are similar to those of the international move for a Green New Deal, espoused by leading Democrats in the US, but draw on the UK’s specific industrial resources, skills and heritage. Continue reading...

Ministers offered a range of options to keep UK on track to hit carbon reduction targetsFlying will have to become more expensive, especially for frequent flyers, to avoid climate chaos and keep the UK within its carbon targets, the government has been warned, while going ahead with a new runway at Heathrow would all but rule out airport expansion in the rest of the country.Ministers are likely to have to choose among options including hikes to air passenger duty, new levies on frequent flyers and changes to air taxation relative to rail and road in order to limit burgeoning demand for cheap flights in the next few years. Continue reading...

Protesters were characterized as a threat to national security in what one calls an attempt to criminalize their actionsHelen Yost, a 62-year-old environmental educator, has been a committed activist for nearly a decade. She says she spends 60 to 80 hours a week as a community organizer for Wild Idaho Rising Tide; to save money, she lives in an RV. She’s been arrested twice for engaging in non-violent civil disobedience.Yost may not fit the profile of a domestic terrorist, but in 2014 the FBI classified her as a potential threat to national security. According to hundreds of pages of FBI files obtained by the Guardian through a Freedom of Information Act (Foia) lawsuit, and interviews with activists, Yost and more than a dozen other people campaigning against fossil fuel extraction in North America have been identified in domestic terrorism-related investigations. Continue reading...

Teenage climate activists told world leaders ‘you are failing us’ and accused them of ‘betrayal’Donald Trump appears to have taken a swipe at teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, tweeting a video of an emotional Thunberg with an apparently sarcastic comment that she seems to be “very happy” and looking forward to a bright future.“She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!” tweeted the US president late on Monday night. Continue reading...

Surreal footage shows Jambi swamped in thick cloud of pollutionIt looks like a scene from a dystopian future, but in reality it is the Indonesian island of Sumatra this week – enveloped in a toxic red haze as hundreds of hectares of virgin rainforest have been burned to the ground.Blanketed in an eerie copper haze, one amateur video has captured skies that would not be out of place in the apocalyptic film, Bladerunner 2049. Continue reading...

If the country doubles its coal production, the Paris climate agreement goals cannot be metAntónio Guterres is this week hosting a major gathering of world leaders in an attempt to accelerate global action on climate change. The UN secretary general has made tackling fossil fuels, and especially coal, central to the summit’s success. He has urged governments to stop permitting new coal-fired power stations to be built and to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels.In this context, the countries that are subsidising and facilitating the expansion of coal, oil and gas production merit just as much critical scrutiny as those that are burning these fuels. Just as it would be wrong to tackle smoking by focusing only on smokers and ignoring the efforts of Big Tobacco, it is wrong to tackle the global fossil fuel addiction by ignoring the countries that deal heavily in the product. Continue reading...

UN climate summit focus is on net zero by 2050 but Australian PM says challenge ‘not just about climate change’Scott Morrison has ducked questions about when his government will develop an emissions reduction strategy for 2050, despite signing on at the Pacific Islands Forum to a communique pledging to develop one next year.The Australian prime minister is also copping flak at home for his decision to signal in a speech in Chicago that China needed to be treated like a developed economy both in global trade and climate change negotiations – meaning Beijing would need to make a significant commitment towards emissions reduction. Continue reading...

Natural historian denounces Scott Morrison’s policies, saying the bleached Great Barrier Reef is ‘a tragic sight’David Attenborough has criticised the Morrison government’s record on climate policy and support for new coalmines.In an interview that will air on Triple J’s Hack on Tuesday, the celebrated broadcaster and natural historian also said visiting coral reefs, such as the Great Barrier Reef, that have bleached due to warming oceans is “a tragic sight”. Continue reading...

The US president ended up skipping the climate summit as the Swedish activist told leaders, ‘you are failing us’Greta Thunberg briefly crossed paths with Donald Trump at the United Nations in New York on Monday.Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist, fixed Trump with a steady stare as he arrived at the UN to attend a meeting on religious freedom. The US president decided to snub a major UN climate summit, held on the same day. Continue reading...

The president didn’t stay for Greta Thunberg’s climate speech, preferring the applause of US religious groups at a rival panelIn the UN general assembly chamber, the world’s leaders gathered to share the latest grim news of the planet’s climate crisis, but 100 metres away another meeting had been prepared: a summit of one.Donald Trump had booked a separate venue in the middle of the UN climate action summit, to hold his “global call to protect religious freedom” – an issue close to the heart of the core supporters whose turnout will be critical in next year’s presidential election. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Proposal an expensive gift to irrigators at the expense of coastal communities and the environment, conservationist says

Warning follows joint investigation that uncovered hundreds of regulation breaches by farms, packing stations and wholesalers

Scott Morrison uses keynote speech of US visit to say China should be doing more to combat the climate crisisScott Morrison has challenged China to do more heavy lifting on climate change, saying Australia welcomes its economic growth, but that prosperity and power also come with responsibility.The Australian prime minister used the keynote speech of his US visit, at the Chicago Institute for Global Affairs on Monday, to praise China’s “economic maturity”. Morrison characterised China as a “newly developed” rather than a developing economy, and argued that status conferred developed-world obligations on the Chinese leadership. Continue reading...

Action on capital’s bridges and roads from 7 October expected to be bigger than April protestsThousands of Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists are planning to shut down parts of central London for at least two weeks in October to demand governments take urgent action to tackle the climate crisis.Organisers say the next round of protests, centred around parliament and surrounding government departments, will be bigger than those in April, when Extinction Rebellion activists brought key sites across the capital to a standstill for two weeks and more than 1,000 people were arrested. Continue reading...

Woodland Trust urges volunteers to grab a spade and help tackle the climate crisisVolunteers are being urged to do their bit to stop the climate emergency by grabbing a spade and signing up for the biggest mass tree-planting campaign in the UK’s history.Plots in suitable sites around the country are being prepared for 30 November, when the Big Climate Fightback campaign will start with pledges sought from 1 million people. Local groups are being encouraged to run tree-planting events and councils are being asked for permission to plant trees on their land, or outside schools and other publicly owned properties. Businesses are also being urged to plant trees on their own premises if possible. Continue reading...

Former Labour leader also warned against splits over fixed decarbonisation targetsEd Miliband has said Labour needs a “wartime” mobilisation on the climate emergency in the next decade as he warned the party not to splinter over fixed decarbonisation targets.The former secretary of state for energy and climate change praised Labour activists for their Green New Deal campaign which demands Labour commit to a net zero carbon date of 2030. The Tories have pledged to do so by 2050, and Liberal Democrats by 2045. Continue reading...

Former environment minister says Taylor had disclosed family interest in grasslands case before controversial meetingFormer federal environment minister Josh Frydenberg has defended setting up a departmental meeting for fellow minister Angus Taylor in March 2017 on laws to protect critically endangered native grasslands when he knew that Taylor had an interest in a company that was under investigation for breaching those very same laws.Frydenberg backed Taylor’s version of events, namely that Taylor had told the then-environment minister about his personal interest and that of his family when he requested the meeting. Continue reading...

Policy is part of a green industrial revolution promised by the party if electedLabour will build a national network of charging points for electric vehicles at a cost of £3.6bn to kickstart its planned “green industrial revolution” if elected, the party will say on Monday.The rollout of rapid-charging stations on motorways and urban streets would be enough for more than 21m cars in the next decade, and, the party said, would remove one of the biggest obstacles to electric car ownership and create 3,000 skilled jobs for electricians and engineers. Continue reading...

Annastacia Palaszczuk won’t provide any details after accusing protesters of using devices ‘laced with traps’The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has formally refused to provide any evidence to support her claims to parliament that climate change activists are using devices “laced with traps”.Last month, Palaszczuk made the comments – along with social media posts saying protesters were using “sinister tactics” and intended to cause harm – as she announced new laws cracking down on escalating climate and anti-coal demonstrations in Queensland. Continue reading...

Peter Ridd’s former employer James Cook University appealing after a court ruled the professor’s sacking was unlawfulThe climate-sceptic academic Peter Ridd has asked supporters to donate another $1.5m to fund ongoing legal costs after his former employer, James Cook University, lodged an appeal against an unlawful dismissal ruling.This month the federal court awarded Ridd $1.2m in compensation. The court has made clear its finding related to Ridd’s employment rights and not his academic freedom. Continue reading...

United in Science report ahead of UN summit says climate is changing faster than forecast, and current plans would lead to ‘catastrophic’ global temperature riseAn assessment backed by the world’s major climate science bodies has found commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions must be at least tripled and increased by up to fivefold if the world is to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.The report, launched as leaders gather at a UN climate action summit in New York on Monday, says current plans would lead to a rise in average global temperatures of between 2.9C and 3.4C by 2100, a shift likely to bring catastrophic change across the globe. Continue reading...

Brewer plans to cut plastic use by 850 tonnes a year with new approaches to packagingBrewing firm Budweiser is to phase out single-use plastic pack rings from its entire range of UK-produced beer – which include the bestselling brands Stella Artois, Budweiser and Bud Light – by the end of 2020.The group is investing £6.3m on upgrading production at its two UK factories to produce alternatives to single-use plastic, which include recyclable paperboard as well as wraps and boxes. Continue reading...

Announcement comes as PM heads to New York for meeting of UN general assemblyBoris Johnson has unveiled a combined £1.2bn in funding for new efforts to tackle the climate emergency and protect endangered species as he prepares to attend the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York.While at the UN general assembly, the prime minister will use a speech to announce £1bn in aid money for UK inventors to seek funding for high-tech initiatives connected to areas such as renewable energy and lower levels of pollutants. Continue reading...

‘Our future demands it,’ says tech entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brookes as Trump and Morrison snub the New York sessionAustralian tech entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brookes will travel to the United Nations summit on climate change in New York to announce that Atlassian will adopt a target of net zero emissions by no later than 2050.The commitment, offered through UN Global Compact’s Business Ambition for 1.5C and the Science-Based Targets initiative, will see Atlassian become the first major Australian company to join the Business Ambition for 1.5C. Continue reading...

With the Green Carpet Fashion Awards opening in Milan, the eco pioneer explains why the once-unfashionable concept is a winnerEthical fashion used to be unfashionable. When Livia Firth launched her consultancy, Eco-Age, a decade ago, she says, “it was something no one was talking about”. During the current round of fashion shows – from Extinction Rebellion’s protests to dresses made from recycled plastic bottles – people have talked about little else.In the last two months, says Firth, “we have turned a corner finally. It is a beautiful moment, but it is also very dangerous. Fast fashion is the first offender in sustainability and there is greenwashing at a level there has never been before”. Continue reading...

North Uist could be home to a new rocket site – but islanders say it would damage important habitatsRocky headlands frame the silvery white sands of Scolpaig Bay on the western coast of North Uist. The spread of machair – a grassland thick with flowers in summer – moorland and rock is much loved by walkers and birdwatchers.It is home to breeding colonies of cormorants and black guillemots as well as seals, otters and the occasional hen harrier. On the horizon to the west, the dramatic islands of St Kilda are just visible, otherwise there is nothing but the Atlantic. Continue reading...

The French capital, despite efforts to deal with litter, graffiti and dog mess, is grubbier than everParisians living on the Boulevard Saint-Martin, a main east-west axis north of the Seine, last week found that the plane trees along their street had been “tagged” with graffiti. But it’s not new. Apartment doors, shop fronts, flower boxes, benches and lamp-posts have been covered in tags for weeks. Months even.Along the boulevard to the landmark Place de la République – looking shabby despite a £20m facelift six years ago – the homeless dozed in doorways or on benches, sleeping bags pulled over their heads. The pavements were littered with abandoned electric scooters and bicycles, and punctuated by dog mess and cigarette ends. A man walking west opened a new packet of cigarettes and threw the cellophane and silver paper on the ground. Continue reading...

Firefighters say ‘you’ve got to accept” the climate is changing and be ready to endure more early-season emergenciesWhat was once considered an “extreme” Queensland bushfire season should now be expected every year, firefighters say.Queensland has endured an early-season bushfire emergency this month after hot and dry conditions and strong winds fuelled dozens of blazes, which destroyed 17 homes mostly in the state’s south. Continue reading...

Francesco Risso unveils collection as Milan fashion week coincides with Global Climate StrikeThe timing of Milan fashion week coinciding as it does with the Global Climate Strike, is a challenge for an industry that is seen as one of the main culprits in the climate crisis. On the one hand, it puts brands who continue with business as usual into the shade, while on the other it highlights eco-conscious designers.Marni fell into the latter category on Friday at its spring/summer 2020 show. Creative director Francesco Risso said after the show that he would not join the hundreds of thousands of people protesting around the world, but that he was striking in his own way. Continue reading...

Video showed handful of protesters sitting and lying down in front of long line of cars on A20Ten people have been arrested during an Extinction Rebellion climate change protest in Dover aimed at “blockading” the port.Activists were reported to have glued themselves to streets and were told they could face arrest if they left a designated area. Continue reading...

Photographer Bryan Thomas took portraits of the people participating in the climate strike in New York FridayFriday saw hundreds of thousands of young people take to the streets to protest against climate change. In New York, the protests began at Foley Square with the marchers eventually making their way to Battery Park. We asked the photographer Bryan Thomas, who has covered the effects of sea-level rise in his home state of Florida, to document the event and he decided to set up a mini studio in the heart of the protests in downtown New York. These are the results. Continue reading...

The image was not taken after a climate strike and was not even taken in AustraliaA hoax photo that claims to show rubbish left behind by Australian climate strike protesters is circulating on Facebook, despite being revealed as fake months ago.Though it lacks any verification, and was debunked in April, the image and false caption have been shared 19,000 times in 12 hours, and thousands of times from copycats. Continue reading...

Millions of people across the globe took part in protests on Friday demanding urgent action on the climate crisis. The strike kicks off a week of environmental activism before the UN climate action summit Continue reading...