Environment | The Guardian

Startup is the latest ‘unicorn’, with a valuation of about $1.2bn, to go public as its competitor launches the Impossible WhopperWall Street is going vegan. At some point in the next four weeks, Beyond Meat, a pioneering plant-based meat alternative startup, will debut on Wall Street at a valuation of about $1.2bn. And in the meantime its rivals are cutting deals with some of the biggest names in food.Beyond Meat is the latest in a series of “unicorns” – private companies valued at over $1bn – to go public. And this one is edible. Continue reading...

Locals and naturalists oppose a proposed hotel development on ‘beautiful and historic’ wooded national park landA storm is brewing on the banks of Loch Lomond. One of Scotland’s most serene beauty sites has been rocked by a planning and environmental row that swamps anything the elements can throw at it.Last week, updated plans for a £30m leisure facility near the small town of Balloch at the southern end of the loch were presented to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park. The project has the backing of Scottish Enterprise, the government agency tasked with stimulating economic development and investment. Continue reading...

Natascha Engel says developing the industry would be ‘an impossible task’The government’s fracking tsar has quit the post after just six months, claiming policy relating to the controversial process means there is “no purpose” to her job.Natascha Engel told the business secretary, Greg Clark, that developing the industry would be “an impossible task” despite its “enormous potential”. In her resignation letter, she said environmental activists had been “highly successful” in encouraging the government to curb fracking. Continue reading...

We must draw on our history to find a way through the environmental crisis that faces usWhere I grew up, visits to Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum were a staple rainy-day activity. I remember the clanking of the huge, iron waterwheel and being amazed by its power. It was the plentiful rain, I was told, and the ingenuity of those behind the technology that powered the mills that ushered in the first industrial revolution, bringing Manchester and Salford into existence.I remember thinking: if this is how far we’ve come in 200 years, what’s the future going to look like? Continue reading...

Mining group is blaming the Queensland government for delays but environmental groups says this is ‘bogus’

Labour will attempt to force Commons vote as it is revealed that the government has failed to spend anti-pollution cashLabour will this week force a vote in parliament to declare a national environmental and climate change emergency as confidential documents show the government has spent only a fraction of a £100m fund allocated in 2015 to support clean air projects.Jeremy Corbyn’s party will demand on Wednesday that the country wakes up to the threat and acts with urgency to avoid more than 1.5°C of warming, which will require global emissions to fall by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching “net zero” before 2050. Continue reading...

Environmental protesters lie on ground at transport hubs, venues and shopping centresExtinction Rebellion supporters around the world have held a series of mass die-ins to highlight the risk of the human race becoming extinct asa result of climate change.Related: Extinction Rebellion activists claim victory in HS2 tree protest Continue reading...

Action by 12 protesters in Colne Valley nature reserve hailed as a success after felling haltedTwelve Extinction Rebellion activists who scaled trees in the Colne Valley nature reserve in west London to prevent HS2 operatives from chopping them down are claiming victory after the tree cutting did not go ahead.The activists spent about 10 hours in the trees, joining forces with Stop HS2, Green party campaigners and local residents to raise concerns about the destruction they claim the HS2 development is causing to the environment. Continue reading...

With grain stores ruined and many fields still under water from last month’s extreme weather, producers are facing devastating lossesFive weeks after historic flooding in the midwest, waters still cover pasturelands, corn and soybean fields. Much of the water has receded, but rivers still run high and washed out roads force people to take long detours. Residents in Missouri are putting their ruined possessions on the street and corn stalks heaped by floodwaters look like snowdrifts in the fields.In March, more than 450,000 hectares (1.1m acres) of cropland and 34,000 hectares of pastureland flooded, according to an analysis of government and satellite data, prompting governors from Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin and Minnesota to declare states of emergency. Continue reading...

Bird and insect habitats lost as number of traditional orchards more than halved since 1950

Up to 70 jobs will go amid concerns that cuts will marginalise Amnesty causes such as torture and the arms tradeHuman rights workers at Amnesty International are braced for scores of redundancies after the management admitted to a hole in its budget of up to £17m to the end of 2020.Up to 70 jobs will go in voluntary and compulsory layoffs amid a slump in donations and a multi-million pound increase in spending on fundraising, the Guardian has learned. Staff have been told the organisation will be reshaped in line with the vision of recently appointed secretary general, Kumi Naidoo, who wants to increase Amnesty’s work on climate change and economic rights. There are concerns that cuts will marginalise in depth research on totemic Amnesty causes such as the death penalty, torture and the arms trade. Continue reading...

Environmental groups are preparing for a fight against the proposal that would end a five-year fracking moratorium in central CaliforniaThe Trump administration has issued a plan to open more than a million acres in California to fracking, including areas close to Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks.In its proposal, the government made a case that the effects on a range of delicate issues – from degrading air quality to threats to cultural and Native American resources in the area – could be avoided or minimized on 1,011,470 acres across eight counties. The plan could end a five-year fracking moratorium in California enforced by a federal judge. Continue reading...

Carmaker becomes latest firm to face scrutiny by authorities over pollution testsThe US Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into Ford’s emissions certification process.Ford said on Friday it was fully cooperating with government agencies, as it became the latest car manufacturer to be investigated over emissions. Continue reading...

Hungry bears, busy bees and disappearing penguins Continue reading...

Nine candidates will stand under Climate Emergency Independents bannerActivists who took part in the Extinction Rebellion protests have announced they will stand in the European elections on a “climate emergency” ticket.Under the name Climate Emergency Independents the new group, which is separate from Extinction Rebellion, nine candidates will stand in the 23 May polls – seven in London and two in south-west England region. Continue reading...

Art dealer who owns a dozen pieces by the street artist is convinced by Marble Arch workA Banksy collector and expert believes a mural that appeared at Extinction Rebellion’s Marble Arch base overnight is an authentic piece by the Bristolian street artist.John Brandler, who owns a dozen pieces by Banksy is convinced the artwork – which features the slogan “From this moment despair ends and tactics begin” next to a young girl sitting on the ground holding an Extinction Rebellion logo – is an original because of its execution and theme. Continue reading...

Mathieu Shamavu took image of two orphaned females at Virunga mimicking humansThey pout, tilt their heads, and turn one hip to the camera for a slimmer silhouette, their brown hair catching the light as they pose for a selfie.But these are no tourists: they are Ndakazi and Ndeze, two orphaned gorillas in Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And they forgot to suck their bellies in. Continue reading...

With contributions from Rowan Williams and Green MP

Greta Thunberg has got the Guardian Upside team thinking: how DO we get out of this?If Greta Thunberg is right, and the house is on fire, then who are the people with the fire extinguishers? Or as Donald Trump might say, the “flying water tankers”.The Upside team met a few this week. And though the fire is pretty serious, and the extinguishers rather slight, they serve two broad purposes: to show what individuals can actually do, and encourage others to follow suit. Continue reading...

New superhighways and better networks are helping cycle lane usage boom across the UKCycle lanes are one of the most efficient and healthiest ways of moving people. A single bike lane can transport five times as many people as a motor traffic lane, without the air and noise pollution. This is good news for everyone, whether you drive, walk or cycle – or breathe.What’s clear from the data, though – despite occasional bizarre claims to the contrary, and attempts to have lanes removed – is that to reap cycling’s benefits you have to build proper infrastructure. But if you build it, they will come – and the cycle counters prove it. Continue reading...

AEC releases full list of House and Senate candidates, as Colin Barnett warns Coalition against Palmer preference deal, and Shorten rebuffs Greens on climate policy. Follow the day’s news live7.03am BSTThat’s it for today. It was an odd campaigning day that ramped up the tempo early ahead of the prepolling on Monday and then died off, somewhat.6.35am BSTBendigo Weekly reports on their local Anning candidate, Julie Hoskin, potentially falling foul of section 44.Hoskin election bid to fall foul of section 44https://t.co/o4JD511OR3 #section44 @nicholas_nakos pic.twitter.com/j3EarlubsE Continue reading...

Engineers are tapping the Rift Valley’s subterranean energy to power an expanding economyA faint smell of sulphur, a shrill hiss of gas and a Rift Valley panorama punctuated by 30 pillars of steam mark the frontline of renewable energy growth in Kenya.This is the boundary between Hell’s Gate national park and the geothermal plants that are increasingly powering one of east Africa’s fastest-growing economies. Continue reading...

Court decision blocking fossil fuel activity in swaths of the Arctic complicated administration plans to ramp up fossil fuel extractionThe Trump administration has shelved plans to vastly expand offshore oil and gas drilling in the wake of a recent court decision that blocked fossil fuel activity in swaths of the Arctic.The administration had opened up almost all US waters to companies seeking to drill oil or gas deposits but this expansion has been halted due to a legal setback, according to David Bernhardt, the interior secretary. Continue reading...

Ceremony in London park marks break in activism after day spent targeting the CityHundreds of Extinction Rebellion activists have gathered at Hyde Park Corner in London to mark a pause in the protests that have gripped London for more than a week and are preparing to take the fight back to local communities.Climate protesters targeted the city’s financial hub on Thursday to highlight the role the sector plays in climate change. The environmental group said it was the last day of action before it would stop this stage of its campaign of peaceful mass civil disobedience, following protests in which hundreds of people were arrested and thousands of police officers deployed to sites occupied by the group. Continue reading...

Lock the Gate says fracking in Northern Territory basin would be the equivalent of 50 new coal-fired power stationsLabor’s support for unlocking the gas supply from the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo basin has drawn the anger of environmental groups, who say its emissions would dwarf those from Adani’s proposed Carmichael coalmine.Earlier this week Labor announced it would replace the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility with a different fund to finance infrastructure projects of national significance in the north of the country. Continue reading...

Labor leader says ‘I’m not going to have this argument that somehow, we are going to go into coalition with the Greens’Bill Shorten has declared Labor will run its own race on climate change, and will “listen” but not replicate Julia Gillard’s joint policy process with the Greens in any minority government scenario after the election.In an interview with Guardian Australia on the campaign trail this week, the Labor leader rebuffed a recent overture from the Greens leader Richard Di Natale to revive the process that applied in the 43rd parliament where the parties worked together to produce the clean energy package. Continue reading...

Environmentalists say Beijing is exporting a highly polluting model of growthChina will host a trillion-dollar investment summit this weekend amid rising concerns that its funding of overseas coal projects could swamp efforts to keep global warming to less than 1.5C.The Belt and Road forum, which opens on Friday in Beijing, has been billed by climate campaigners as a pivotal moment that will determine whether China uses its vast financial weight to nudge the world towards renewable energy or continues to promote expansion by its fossil fuel companies. Continue reading...

After two weeks of mass civil disobedience, we look at what has changedOrganisers of the climate protests that have seen peaceful mass civil disobedience across London over the past two weeks have said the first stage of the “rebellion” is drawing to a close. How much of an impact has it had, and how realistic are its goals? Continue reading...

Usually 15,00 to 24,000 breeding pairs flock yearly to a site at Halley Bay, but almost none have been there since 2016For the past three years, virtually nothing has hatched at Antarctica’s second biggest breeding grounds for emperor penguins. The start of this year is looking just as bleak, a new study has found.Related: Female penguins 'get stranded more because they travel further' Continue reading...

BBC Springwatch presenter backed removal of licences to shoot crows and woodpigeonsDead crows have been strung up outside the home of the broadcaster and wildlife campaigner Chris Packham after he backed a legal challenge which led to the revocation of licences to kill “pest” birds.The BBC Springwatch presenter published an image of the incident, which he said also involved damage to the gate of his New Forest home. Packham tweeted that his lawyers and Hampshire police had also been contacted. Continue reading...

Climate campaigners target financial district before ending occupations and blockadesUp to 400 Extinction Rebellion activists have been stopping traffic in moving protests across the City of London to highlight the role of the finance industry in fuelling climate change.Protesters are periodically forming human blockades across roads in the capital’s financial hub, occupying the street and halting traffic for seven minutes before allowing vehicles to pass, and then repeating the action. Continue reading...

UK exclusion of international aviation and shipping figures from carbon budgets was highlighted by Greta ThunbergThe UK is breaching the Paris agreement on climate change by excluding international aviation and shipping figures from carbon budgets, according to a leading NGO.The Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg accused the British government this week of “very creative carbon accounting” after the government defended its work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading...

Proposals to replace EU rules ‘downgrade’ green principles, says cross-party committeeProposals to replace the EU’s strong environmental protections after Brexit “fall woefully short”, according to a highly critical report from a cross-party committee of MPs.The environment secretary, Michael Gove, said in December that the UK’s environmental standards would be enhanced after Brexit. But the MPs’ report said the proposals “severely downgrade” the environmental principles that underpin current EU rules. Continue reading...

The Lummi Nation is dropping live salmon into the sea in a last-ditch rescue effort: ‘We don’t have much time’Bobbing on the gray-green waters west of Washington state’s San Juan Island, Sle-lh’x elten Jeremiah Julius lifted a Chinook salmon from a 200-gallon blue plastic fish box. He carried the gulping fish to the boat’s rail and slid it into the sea, where it lingered a moment, then disappeared in a silver flash.It was a quietly radical act. Continue reading...

Pristine forests are vital for climate and wildlife but trend of losses is rising, data showsMillions of hectares of pristine tropical rainforest were destroyed in 2018, according to satellite analysis, with beef, chocolate and palm oil among the main causes.The forests store huge amounts of carbon and are teeming with wildlife, making their protection critical to stopping runaway climate change and halting a sixth mass extinction. But deforestation is still on an upward trend, the researchers said. Although 2018 losses were lower than in 2016 and 2017, when dry conditions led to large fires, last year was the next worst since 2002, when such records began. Continue reading...

Activists to protest over sponsorship of cycling team by chemicals firm IneosRiders at next week’s Tour de Yorkshire could be greeted by up to 10,000 people wearing masks depicting the UK’s richest man as the devil after his chemical company took over sponsorship of cycling’s most successful team.Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, who has lobbied to weaken green taxes and reduce restrictions on fracking, is the main shareholder of Ineos, which has been announced as the new sponsor of what was Team Sky – home to Tour de France winners Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas. Continue reading...

Inventor crowdfunds to produce reviver sachets after prototype successIf you’ve ever felt a pang of pity for a starving bee struggling on the pavement in front of you, then help may soon be at hand. Or more precisely, in your wallet.A community development worker has invented a credit card-style reviver for bees containing three sachets of sugar solution, which can be placed beside the insect to feed it. Continue reading...

Rodrigo Duterte ramps up the rhetoric in row over containers languishing in Philippine portsThe Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, has said he is ready to “declare war” against Canada over scores of containers holding Canadian household rubbish and electronic waste that have been sitting in his country’s ports for more than six years.More than 100 containers of waste were shipped in batches from Canada to the Philippines in 2013 and 2014. Most of the containers remain in local ports, sparking protests from environmental activists. Philippine officials say they were falsely declared by a private firm as recyclable plastic scraps and have asked Canada to take the rubbish back. Continue reading...

Climate activists say pressure growing on politicians to act as donations flood inSupport for Extinction Rebellion in the UK has quadrupled in the past nine days as public concern about the scale of the ecological crisis grows.Since the wave of protests began more than a week ago, 30,000 new backers or volunteers have offered their support to the environmental activist group. In the same period it has raised almost £200,000 – mostly in donations of between £10 and £50 – reaching a total of £365,000 since January. Continue reading...

Toxins from old computers, fridges and other electronic goods are polluting chicken eggs in an area where 80,000 people liveSome of the most hazardous chemicals on Earth are entering the food chain in Ghana from illegally disposed electronic waste coming from Europe.According to a new report by two environmental groups tracking the disposal of e-waste, chicken eggs from the Agbogbloshie slum in Ghana’s capital, Accra – where residents break up waste to recover metals – contain dangerous levels of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), among other harmful substances. Continue reading...

Natural England scraps general licence to kill ‘pest’ birds after launch of legal challenge“Pest” bird species such as crows, woodpigeons and jays can no longer be freely killed in England after the government’s conservation watchdog revoked the licence permitting it.The move by Natural England came after a challenge to the legality of the “general licence” by a new environmental group, Wild Justice, created by conservationists Mark Avery, Ruth Tingay and Chris Packham. Continue reading...

Barriers put up to deter ‘careless’ tourists from seeking perfect picture among bulbsBarriers and advertising banners are being erected around fields in the tulip bulb region of the Netherlands in an attempt to deter a growing number of tourists from flattening the flowers to take selfies.Tourists have been seen jumping above the tulips to secure the perfect picture, or lying down in the middle of fields, squashing the bulbs. Continue reading...

Activists tell us why they have taken part in the protest group’s international rebellion weekI am part of XR [Extinction Rebellion] Bhopal. The group is still in a very early phase and is working mostly on educating people about climate issues. On the evening of 15 April 2019 some school students and local activists gathered at Bhopal’s upper lake in solidarity with XR international rebellion week. There were speeches, dancing and music. A participant also read out a Hindi translation of Greta Thunberg’s speech to a large crowd. Continue reading...

Charity calls for action as report finds more than 1,000 killed in fishing nets each yearMore than 1,000 harbour porpoises are needlessly dying in UK waters each year, according to a report from a global environmental organisation.The study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says the small porpoises are accidentally trapped in fishermen’s nets, causing them to suffocate and die. Continue reading...

Farmers across the world are ditching their ploughs to protect ecosystems – and it’s workingJohn Cherry bends down and takes a handful of soil in his hands, brings it up to his face and breathes deeply.“You can smell when it is good,” he says, poking it with a finger. “This smells of roots … there is a rich, organic quality to it. It is a good smell.” Continue reading...

Forty-three percent of Americans live in places where they’re breathing unsafe air, according to American Lung AssociationAn increasing number of Americans live in places with unhealthy levels of smog or particulate air pollution – both of which are being made worse by climate change, according to a new report.Air quality in the US has been improving since the 1970s, but that progress may be backsliding and 43% of Americans are now living in places where they are breathing unsafe air, according to the American Lung Association report. Continue reading...

‘My god, I love this island,’ says leader Peter Bevan-Baker after news party will form official oppositionA Green party will form the official opposition for the first time in Canadian history, following a closely watched election in the province of Prince Edward Island. The unprecedented result signifies a major milestone for the environmentally oriented political party.Following weeks of vigorous campaigning in Canada’s smallest province, the Progressive Conservatives (PC) emerged victorious on Tuesday evening with a thin lead in the province’s legislative seats. Continue reading...

Based in part on reporting by the Guardian last year, a non-partisan group alleged a ‘disturbing pattern of misconduct’

Michael Gove admits to feeling guilt as young activist says: your fossil fuels policy is beyond absurdGreta Thunberg took her climate message to the heart of power in Westminster on Tuesday, with a quiet but powerful message to MPs that prompted politicians to declare contrition for their failure to act.After the noise of Brexit in parliament and the disruption of Extinction Rebellion outside, the 16-year-old Swedish activist cut an extraordinarily composed figure as she arrived with her trademark braids, hand-painted placard and a speech that forced politicians to reflect on a crisis that is growing steadily worse despite three decades of political promises. Continue reading...