Head of Scotland’s railway calls for vastly increased investment in future-proofing networkBritain’s railways can no longer cope with the effects of the climate crisis, a senior rail executive has warned.Extreme weather events including heatwaves, storms and flooding have damaged infrastructure and halted thousands of services across the UK this year. Continue reading...

Groups say hundreds of millions of dollars in funding required along with stipulation public agencies use recycled materialEnvironment ministers have been told Scott Morrison’s promise to introduce a waste export ban is doomed to fail unless they change tack and back it with hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and a requirement that public agencies use recycled material.Federal, state and territory environment ministers meet on Friday in Adelaide, where they are due to announce a timetable to end the export of waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres. The prime minister has said he expected the ban to start next year. Continue reading...

Damon Gameau’s likable documentary charts the ways we tackle a climate emergency, from solar power to progressive farmingThis interesting film by the Australian environmentalist Damon Gameau is an optimistic guide to the workable “regenerative” community projects that can help combat climate change. He imagines the great things that could happen by 2040, when his daughter will be a young woman. Gameau is clearly concerned to move his rhetoric away from anything righteously angry or confrontational – he doesn’t, for example, insist on immediate veganism, just a progressive lessening of meat-eating – and gives us an easygoing can-do approach in which there is no great emphasis on sacrifice and not even any obvious sense of emergency.Related: A vision of 2040: everything we need for a sustainable world already exists Continue reading...

Invention to block waste, but not boats or wildlife, arrives in Dutch city’s famous waterwaysThe world’s first rubbish barrier made entirely from bubbles has been unveiled in Amsterdam in an attempt to catch waste in the city’s canals before it reaches the North Sea.A Dutch start-up and the Amsterdam municipality launched the Great Bubble Barrier, a simple device that channels rubbish – especially small pieces of plastic – to the side of the Westerdok canal where it can be retrieved. Tests have shown it can divert more than 80% of flotsam. Continue reading...

Bird suffers 51% decline over five years but some species show signs of recoveryThe turtle dove, Britain’s most endangered bird, continues to plummet towards extinction, its numbers having halved over five years, according to the latest data.The turtle dove’s 51% decline from 2013 to 2017 is the most drastic of a continuing slump for a quarter of farmland bird species. Continue reading...

Couple stumble upon unusual occurrence that is result of very particular weather conditionsA rare collection of “ice eggs” has been spotted in Finland, a phenomenon experts say only occurs in highly particular conditions.Risto Mattila, who photographed the eggs, said he and his wife were walking along Marjaniemi beach on Hailuoto island on Sunday when they came across the icy balls covering a 30-metre (98ft) expanse of shoreline. Continue reading...

Defra figures show 8% rise over last year, with most cases involving household rubbishCouncils had to clear up more than a million incidents of fly-tipping last year in England, as figures show the problem continues to rise.English local authorities reported 1,072,000 incidents in 2018/2019, up 8% on the 998,000 cases in 2017/2018, the latest statistics from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) reveal. Continue reading...

Exclusive: UK’s biggest fund manager LGIM ploughed extra £285m into firms such as ExxonMobilThe UK’s biggest fund manager has spent nearly £300m this year increasing its shareholdings in companies it named and shamed for dragging their heels on climate action.Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), which has been one of the most outspoken fund managers over the climate crisis, announced in June it was cutting five more companies from its environmentally and socially conscious funds for not doing enough to mitigate the climate emergency. Continue reading...

Nearly half of Tory voters back plan, compared with 16% who back party’s 2050 targetA majority of the UK public and almost half of Conservative voters support a radical plan to transform the economy and tackle the climate crisis, a poll suggests.YouGov found that 56% of people back the total decarbonisation of the UK economy by 2030 and just under half support public spending to make large swathes of public transport free to use. Continue reading...

Cardboard can ‘toppers’ to be rolled out as brewer joins other drinks giants trying to reduce plastic packagingHeineken is ditching single-use plastic rings and shrink wrap from millions of multipack cans and replacing them with eco-friendly cardboard.The Dutch company has invested £22m in new technology and production facilities at its UK sites that will enable it to start rolling out the changes across its popular brands , which include Heineken and Foster’s, from April 2020. Continue reading...

Retailer’s fleets will use carbon neutral renewable biomethaneHundreds of John Lewis delivery trucks will begin running on cow power from 2021 as the retailer weans its fleet off polluting diesel fuel and switches to carbon-neutral cow manure.The retailer will begin using renewable biomethane made from manure slurry for almost 300 John Lewis and Waitrose delivery vans under new plans from its fuel supplier to swap rotting vegetables for poo power at no extra cost. Continue reading...

Pollution stretches across 2,400km of coastline, with scientists fearing contamination of food chainHundreds of kilometres of mangroves and coral reefs, as well as humpback whale breeding grounds, are under threat from an oil spill that has polluted more than 2,400km of Brazil’s north-eastern coast in the last two months.The Brazilian Navy, which has deployed 8,500 personnel, 30 ships and 17 aircraft in the cleanup operation, said this week that 4,200 tonnes of oil have been removed from beaches, amid fears by scientists that some has already entered the food chain. Continue reading...

For a brief moment solar, wind and hydro combined to deliver more than half the power into the National Electricity MarketAustralia’s main electricity grid was briefly powered by 50% renewable energy this week in a new milestone that experts say will become increasingly normal.Data on the sources of power in the National Electricity Market showed that at 11.50am on Wednesday, renewables were providing 50.2% of the power to Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia – the five states served by the market. Continue reading...

Climate mitigation effort ‘cancelled out’ by outlay on fossil fuels finds CPIInvestment in greenhouse gas emission reduction fell last year despite the growing urgency of the climate crisis, and the benefits of outlays were cancelled out by investments globally in fossil fuels and other dirty industries, finds a report by the Climate Policy Initiative.Global climate finance hit a record high of $612bn (£476bn) in 2017, according to CPI advisers, but fell back 11% after that bumper year to $546bn in 2018. Continue reading...

Reflecting increasingly politicised language, this year’s contenders also included ‘rewilding’ and ‘hopepunk’In a year when global protests over the climate crisis were staged from Afghanistan to Vietnam, Extinction Rebellion demonstrations stopped traffic in major cities and Greta Thunberg called for young people to skip school to fight political inaction, “climate strike” has been named Collins Dictionary’s 2019 word of the year.Each year, the dictionary’s lexicographers monitor a 9.5bn word corpus and make a list of 10 new and notable terms. One of these is crowned the word of the year. Climate strike’s definition is “a form of protest in which people absent themselves from education or work in order to join demonstrations demanding action to counter climate change.” Continue reading...

Former Australian Greens senator was charged with disobeying a police direction at an October climate protestFormer Greens senator Scott Ludlam has pleaded not guilty, after he was arrested during Extinction Rebellion climate change protests in Sydney in October.Ludlam had been charged with not complying with police direction regarding a road closure. Continue reading...

Pesticides found in reef catchment include Atrazine, a herbicide banned in 60 countriesLeading marine scientists have detailed a litany of “serious deficiencies” by Australia’s chemical regulator that have failed to prevent the ongoing pollution of the Great Barrier Reef catchment, where they found excessive levels of several pesticides banned by other countries.A new paper, co-authored by reef water quality expert Jon Brodie and fisheries veterinarian Matt Landos, found that pesticide regulation and management in the reef catchment areas of Queensland had failed to prevent the exposure of ecosystems to the significant risk of agricultural chemicals. Continue reading...

US presidential hopeful says fossil fuel firms will be free to promote themselves while critics are barredTwitter’s plan to ban all political advertising risked muzzling climate activists while giving polluters free rein to promote themselves, the US presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren said.“Twitter’s new ad policy will allow fossil fuel companies to buy ads defending themselves and spreading misleading info but won’t allow organisations fighting the climate crisis to buy ads holding those companies accountable,” she tweeted, linking to an environmental newsletter. Continue reading...

Stimulus package comes after months of wrangling about the government’s response to the record dry spellDrought relief worth more than $1.5bn that puts “money in the pockets of farmers” will be unveiled by the Coalition on Thursday, as the government moves to stem anger in the bush about its response to the record dry spell.The announcement of a substantial new stimulus package, which comes after months of internal wrangling about the government’s drought response, will include a centrepiece $1bn concessional loan package for farmers and small businesses affected by the drought. Continue reading...

Country will become first to make study of global heating and human influence on natural resources compulsory in state schoolsItaly is to become the first country in the world to make sustainability and climate crisis compulsory subjects for schoolchildren.State schools will begin incorporating the UN’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development into as many subjects as possible from September, with one hour a week dedicated to themes including global heating and humans’ influence on the planet. Continue reading...

Section 14 order issued to halt protest across London was not legitimate, high court rulesHundreds of Extinction Rebellion protesters may sue the Metropolitan police for unlawful arrest after the high court quashed an order banning the group’s protests in London last month.In a judgment handed down on Wednesday morning, Mr Justice Dingemans and Mr Justice Chamberlain said the section 14 order imposed during XR’s “autumn uprising” in October was unlawful. Continue reading...

Louisiana activists are fighting to stop industrial development in a polluted, economically struggling area, and a major concern is a fertilizer plantThe rose bush in Shirley Melancon’s front yard used to bloom full and pink, but recently she noticed the flowers from the 100-year old plant are coming in white and shriveled.She doesn’t know why this is, but it’s difficult not to wonder if there’s a link to the sprawling radioactive waste storage structure that sits less than a mile from her tidy cottage in the fourth district of St James Parish, Louisiana. Continue reading...

Dubbo is defending itself from critical neighbouring NSW towns after councillors voted to ease water restrictions on MondayDubbo mayor Ben Shields says criticism of his town’s water policy is coming from a “bunch of external people carrying on like pork chops”.The western New South Wales town has been attacked by leaders of neighbouring drought-stricken shires after its councillors voted on Monday to ease water restrictions. Continue reading...

Greenpeace calls for global action over nets, lines and traps that are deadly for marine lifeLost and abandoned fishing gear which is deadly to marine life makes up the majority of large plastic pollution in the oceans, according to a report by Greenpeace.More than 640,000 tonnes of nets, lines, pots and traps used in commercial fishing are dumped and discarded in the sea every year, the same weight as 55,000 double-decker buses. Continue reading...

Activist group Market Forces says its analysis suggests a disconnect between ANZ and Westpac’s statements on climate and their investment decisionsTwo of Australia’s big four banks increased their new lending to fossil fuel projects last year despite having made public commitments to support the goals of the Paris climate agreement, analysis of their financial dealings shows.The investor action group Market Forces says both ANZ and Westpac poured significant new money into fossil fuel projects during 2018-19 in a way that indicated the banks’ lofty climate goals were not being factored into individual investment decisions. Continue reading...

Protest comes amid effort to disrupt 700-mile Trans Mountain pipeline expansionYoung activists interrupted the delivery of a controversial pipeline to a port in southern Washington at daybreak on Tuesday, once again taking the lead in the climate fight.Tuesday’s protest by Portland Rising Tide was part of a continuing effort to disrupt the opening of project that expands a pipeline running from Edmonton, Alberta, to the coast of British Columbia and would open export markets to hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil from the Alberta tar sands. Continue reading...

Antique dealers fail in high court bid to overturn world-leading blanket ban on tradingAntique dealers have failed in an attempt to overturn a total ban on ivory trading being introduced by the government after the high court ruled the legislation did not breach European law.Conservation groups, who argued that any dilution of the ban would revitalise illegal elephant poaching, welcomed the decision, which they said would preserve the UK’s position as a world leader in the fight against the ivory trade. Continue reading...

The economist’s new book, Superpower, sets out how the government can embrace low-carbon opportunities in this termAustralia could set a path to 100% renewable electricity, a highly reliable grid and significantly cheaper wholesale prices than today by introducing a handful of policies consistent with the Morrison government’s election platform, the economist Ross Garnaut says.Writing in his new book, Superpower, which builds on his advice to Labor governments in 2008 and 2011 to set out a vision for a low-carbon future, Garnaut says introducing three policies that align with the government’s commitments could “increase the chances of a strong outcome”. Continue reading...

US and Brazil unlikely to meet Paris agreement pledges - while Russia has not even made oneThe world is on a path to climate disaster, with three-quarters of the commitments made by countries under the Paris agreement “totally inadequate”, according to a comprehensive expert analysis.Four nations produce half of all carbon emissions but the US has gone into reverse in tackling the climate emergency under Donald Trump while Russia has failed to make any commitment at all. Continue reading...

Creativity, solidarity and determination have stopped the government-backed ‘dash for gas’ in its tracksOn Saturday morning the UK government announced it would be halting fracking in England with immediate effect. Following years of opposition from local communities, the wider public and other major political parties, the Conservative government finally admitted defeat and announced a moratorium. It will, of course, try to claim a moratorium on fracking as a win for itself, but this is a victory for people power.For eight years, local communities have led this fight. Since work started in Lancashire, 1,032 days ago, local people have been at the gates every single day. From Balcombe to Blackpool, Sherwood to Ryedale, people power has defeated the fracking industry before it got off the ground. This victory is one of the biggest the climate movement has ever seen. Continue reading...

Study claims police tactics have left women feeling ‘violated and frightened’Police have been accused of groping and manhandling female anti-fracking protesters, including pulling their clothes to reveal their breasts.A team of academics, who have been studying anti-fracking demonstrations for three years, alleged that police had treated female protesters more physically than male protesters. Continue reading...

Cambridge Zero Carbon says university has been ‘hijacked’ by fossil fuel industryCambridge University has accepted a multimillion-pound donation from Shell to fund a team researching oil extraction technology, even as it publicly positions itself as part of the transition to a sustainable future.Shell has given £6m to fund the work of the university’s magnetic resonance research group amid a concerted campaign by students and staff to persuade the university to sever its links with extractive industries. Continue reading...

Parks one of many government resources Trump has sought to privatize, including the US postal service, airports and freewaysA team of Trump administration advisers – consisting mostly of appointees from the private industry – are urging “modernization” of national park campgrounds, with a vision of food trucks, wifi and even Amazon deliveries.“Our recommendations would allow people to opt for additional costs if they want, for example, Amazon deliveries at a particular campsite,” Derrick Crandall, vice-chairman of the Made in America Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee, told the Los Angeles Times. “We want to let Americans make their own decisions in the marketplace.” Continue reading...

Activists take government back to court, saying plans violate people’s environmental rightsClimate campaigners are taking Norway’s government back to court to oppose its plans to open the Arctic for oil drilling despite a public commitment to tackle the environmental crisis.Greenpeace Nordic and Norway’s Nature and Youth organisation will appeal on Tuesday against the government’s decision to allow oil exploration in parts of the Arctic Ocean on the grounds that it violates people’s rights to a safe and healthy environment. Continue reading...

Christian Porter accuses Market Forces of trying to impose its political will on companies across AustraliaAcademics have warned that changes to competition law to shut down environmental boycotts could breach the constitution, as some Coalition MPs are expressing nervousness privately about Scott Morrison signalling a controversial crackdown last week.The attorney-general Christian Porter has nominated activist group Market Forces as the intended target of the Coalition’s efforts to temper activism, flagged by Morrison during a combative speech in Brisbane last Friday, but some government MPs are confused about precisely what is being proposed, and are concerned about the potentially negative implications for freedom of expression. Continue reading...

Firm says it will work with Oil and Gas Authority to allay communities’ concernsThe UK’s leading shale gas company hopes to overturn a government moratorium on fracking by proving that it can be safe despite triggering earthquakes.Cuadrilla has said it would provide the oil and gas regulator with new data to address the concerns of communities near active fracking sites so the suspension of its operations can be lifted. Continue reading...

School strikers and pensioners back petition demanding televised environment debateLabour, the Scottish National party and the Liberal Democrats have backed calls for a televised climate debate between party leaders ahead of the election, warning that time is running out to tackle the global heating emergency.School strikers, students and pensioners’ groups launched a campaign at the weekend to try to force political leaders to discuss the climate crisis live on television ahead of the December poll. Continue reading...

Activists critical of Leo Varadkar over claim warmer winters lead to fewer deathsEnvironmentalists have heaped scorn on Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s prime minister, after he said the climate crisis could have benefits such as warmer winters, lower heating bills and fewer deaths.Some called the comments silly and weird, others branded them irresponsible. Continue reading...

Government may have to change proposal for producers to pay levy on packagingThe Italian government could be forced to change its plans for a tax on plastic packaging after coming under pressure from producers.The measure, which is intended to combat plastic pollution while raising more than €1bn (£860m) in revenues, has divided the fragile coalition between the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Democratic party (PD). Continue reading...

Groups including Greenpeace, WI and Oxfam call for faster action in letter to all partiesThe next government must bring forward the target for reaching net-zero carbon emissions by five years to 2045, phase out diesel and petrol cars by 2030 instead of 2040, and start devoting at least 5% of all government spending to the climate and the restoration of the UK’s natural environment, a broad coalition of civil society groups has demanded.They have written to the leaders of all the UK’s main political parties, citing the UK’s hosting of next year’s UN conference on the climate, known as COP26, as the catalyst for strengthening existing goals in line with scientific advice. Continue reading...

Lavazza launch comes amid rising concern over where 20bn single-serve plastic pods end upThe first compostable one-cup coffee pods from a major manufacturer will go on sale this week in a battle to stop the 20bn pods used every year around the world from ending up in landfill.Italian espresso giant Lavazza is aiming to replace its entire range of home use capsules with new eco-friendly ones – at the same retail price – by the end of the year. Continue reading...

Fossil records suggest the species could be relocated from alpine areas to lowland rainforestsResearchers studying fossil records say they have come up with an innovative approach to try to save the mountain pygmy possum, an Australian species under serious threat due to global heating.Scientists from the University of New South Wales have used a new paper to argue for the translocation of the species from its current habitat in the alpine regions of Victoria and New South Wales into lowland rainforests. Continue reading...

Peak Queensland tourism bodies oppose ‘unnecessary’ drum lines and say more research needed into shark behaviourPeak bodies representing the Queensland tourism industry have resisted calls for changes to Great Barrier Reef protection legislation to allow for lethal shark control measures.The strong statement, co-signed by several tourism bodies, said any such move would be an “unnecessary step” and could affect the reef’s world heritage status. Continue reading...

Readers respond to the government’s announcement on fracking, suspecting that the Tories have merely temporarily halted an unpopular practice to gain some votesShould we temper exultation with realism (Fracking banned in UK after government U-turn, 2 November)? Remember that politicians, even Conservative prime ministers, have a record of telling high-profile lies, especially in the run-up to an election. Remember David Cameron’s emphatic assurance that there would be no new Heathrow runway, “no ifs, no buts”, repeated several times before the 2010 general election? Boris Johnson, whose promises have frequently been shown to be false, knows fracking is unpopular in a number of Midlands and northern constituencies, including Conservative targets. He might well assure us that fracking will be banned, but in the longer term cite “changed circumstances” to reverse the pledge.

They’re an eye-popping treat, but drought and the bulldozer have thinned their numbers. Now a coal plant and dam wall threaten their survival

Car fumes, industrial emissions and smoke from farms have contributed to pollution crisisPollution in Delhi has reached its worst levels so far this year, at almost 400 times the amount deemed healthy, causing planes to be diverted away from the city.A week on from Diwali, the thick brown smog that shrouded the city after the festival has shown no sign of shifting. On Friday a public health emergency was declared and Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the city had turned into a “gas chamber”. Continue reading...

A firm with the biggest carbon footprint seeks cash to grow just as the fight against climate change needs it to shrink

Decision coincides with net-zero emissions review and is branded ‘backwards step’A new coalmine in Cumbria has been given the green light by the government in the same week that the Treasury launched a review into how the UK can end its contribution to global heating.The developer, West Cumbria Mining, said the £165m mine would create 500 jobs. Continue reading...

Mushrooms are a key feature of Spanish autumnal cuisine but are in thin on the groundWhile street protests and riots in Barcelona continue to grab the headlines, deep in the woods of northern Catalonia another crisis is unfolding: a scarcity of wild mushrooms that is being blamed on climate change.Mushroom hunting is a serious and lucrative business in Catalonia when the autumn rains come and the precious fungi appear overnight on the damp woodland floor. But so far this season, mushrooms have been thin on the ground in Catalonia and elsewhere in Spain. Continue reading...