Environment | The Guardian

The case for hydrogen as a fuel has been well made but there has been little investment to bring it to scaleIf Australia wants fair dinkum power, there is a new energy carrier on the block to ensure the supply of reliable renewable electricity.And if Australia gets its act together, it will lead a new global export industry for this clean energy carrier, be at the forefront of a new economy, and become a trailblazer in new technologies. Continue reading...

Toys feature in more than half of EU alerts for products containing banned chemicalsChristmas shoppers are being warned to avoid plastic toys after they appeared in more than half of EU intergovernmental alerts for products containing banned chemicals this year.In all, 290 of the 563 warnings sent out on the EU’s rapid alert system concerned toys with illegally high levels of toxins, most of which were plastic dolls, and all of which could be on sale on British high streets. Continue reading...

Scientists accuse officials of cherry-picking data to defend disease-control schemeMore than 32,000 badgers were killed in England this autumn during the annual cull, which is intended to reduce tuberculosis in cattle.Government officials claimed the culls were effective and starting to reduce prevalence of the disease in cows. But independent scientists said the officials were cherry-picking data and making up targets as they went along. Continue reading...

Government confirms anyone who adds solar from April 2019 will not be paid for excess electricity exported to gridThe government has said households that install solar panels in the future will be expected to give away unused clean power for free to energy firms earning multimillion-pound profits, provoking outrage from green campaigners.The mayor of London, big energy firms and environmentalists had urged ministers not to end the “export tariff” for solar panels under the feed-in tariff scheme, which is closing next year. Continue reading...

Rare species of snail found near A47 will be monitored in new home until 2023Snails with legally protected status could delay a road scheme by five years as a project to rehome them is kept under observation.Ditches alongside a section of the A47 in Norfolk are a habitat for little whirlpool ramshorn snails, whose shells measure just a few millimetres in diameter. Continue reading...

Europe told if it does not act it will be ‘turning blind eye to genocide’ under BolsonaroBrazil’s foremost indigenous leader has called on the EU to impose trade sanctions to prevent ecological disaster and a “social extermination” by her country’s far-right president-elect, who takes office on 1 January.Jair Bolsonaro has terrified indigenous communities by promising to take every centimetre of their land, designate rights activists as “terrorists” and carve a motorway through the Amazon, which could deforest an area larger than Germany. Continue reading...

Far-right government vows to legalise mining and commercial farming on indigenous Yanomami landThe indigenous leader and campaigning photographer who fought to create Brazil’s biggest tribal reserve warned it could be threatened under the far-right government of the president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro, as a major retrospective exhibition opens.Bolsonaro has said the Yanomami reserve, which at 9.6m hectares (24m acres) is twice the size of Switzerland, was too big for its indigenous population. Continue reading...

But charity vows to ‘fight tooth and nail’ to protect Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire from fracking by Ineos

Top prize goes to 90.5%, the proportion of plastic waste that has never been recycledThe environment, Jaffa Cakes and the reality star Kylie Jenner all feature in 2018’s statistics of the year.Among more serious statistics relating to poverty, gender equality and climate change, the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) highlighted the power of social media and McVitie’s slashing the number of Jaffa Cakes in its Christmas tube. Continue reading...

Government strategy to make ‘polluter pay’, with penalties for difficult to recycle itemsRetailers and producers of packaging will be forced to pay the full cost of collecting and recycling it under the government’s new waste strategy.Supermarkets and other retailers could be charged penalties for putting difficult to recycle packaging – such as black plastic trays – on the market as part of the strategy, which aims to make the “polluter pay”. They would be charged lower fees for packaging that was easy to reuse or recycle. Continue reading...

Australia leads the world in extinction rates and now our protected habitats are at risk. That’s neglect

Range of public figures from Jeremy Corbyn to Sue Perkins call for ban on importsA group of public figures including Jeremy Corbyn, Zac Goldsmith, Sue Perkins and Carol Vorderman have joined forces to call for an urgent halt to imports from trophy hunters.In a letter to the Guardian, the group, which also includes Piers Morgan, Liam Gallagher, Ed Sheeran and Joanna Lumley, condemns trophy hunting as “cruel, immoral, archaic and unjustifiable”. Continue reading...

Dew farm, Peasmarsh, East Sussex: Ben Walgate wants to establish a vineyard that echoes the humus- and microbe-rich soil environment in which wild vines thriveIn a coppiced corner of Dew farm, deep in the rolling Sussex Weald, grows a wild grapevine: ancient, gnarled and bountiful. When Ben Walgate moved here last year, he wild-fermented grapes from the vine and found he had made a wine that, as he put it, “tasted of the place”.Now Walgate, who comes from a long line of farmers, is creating a vineyard – Tillingham Wines – using that vine as inspiration. Instead of the intensive and chemical-dependent practices of traditional viticulture, Walgate, with the collaboration of the owner of the estate, the conservationist Lord Devonport, wants to establish a vineyard that echoes as closely as possible the natural, biodiverse, humus- and microbe-rich soil environment in which wild vines thrive. Continue reading...

Campaigners say they will force governments to act after lack of progress at UN summitCivil society groups have pledged growing international protests to drive rapid action on global warming after the UN climate summit in Poland.The summit agreed rules for implementing the 2015 Paris agreement, which aims to keep global warming as close to 1.5C (2.7F) as possible, but it made little progress in increasing governments’ commitments to cut emissions. The world remains on track for 3C of warming, which scientists says will bring catastrophic extreme weather. Continue reading...

An investigation finds hundreds of shocking welfare incidents, fuelling concerns about standards in a post-Brexit trade dealChickens slowly freezing to death, being boiled alive, drowned or suffocating under piles of other birds are among hundreds of shocking welfare incidents recorded at US slaughterhouses, according to previously unpublished reports.Among them are “inexcusable” violations, say campaigners, who ask if the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) current system, where inspectors issue reports when they see violations, really works. One inspector, who asked to remain anonymous, questioned the impact of those reports. Continue reading...

A small but growing movement of millennials are seeking out a more agrarian life but the reality of life on the land is not always as simple as they hopedEight years ago, Liz Whitehurst, then 25, was working in digital communications at a policy organization in Washington DC and dreaming of life outside a cubicle. She started exploring a different kind of existence by volunteering on local farms. When the farmer who provided the locally sourced vegetable box she signed up for invited her to work the fields one day, she was starstruck. “You’re my hero,” she recalls telling the farmer. “I want your life.”Today, she has it. Whitehurst grows a wide array of produce on Owl’s Nest Farm, set on a few acres in Upper Marlboro, Maryland (she bought it from that same farmer). Whitehurst grows sweet potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and squash – everything is handpicked. She also provides greens to a local pizza kitchen which was recently named one of the best new restaurants in the country. Continue reading...

Private funders owed about £7m from charity behind abandoned London projectThe charity behind London’s garden bridge project faces being sued by wealthy donors who fear their money might not be returned even after the much-criticised scheme collapsed, with a loss to taxpayers of almost £50m.One individual donor claimed the money he gave to the Garden Bridge Trust had been “pissed down the drain by a bunch of incompetents”, and that he wanted it returned. Continue reading...

With no new infrastructure or funding, questions remain on how to genuinely democratise cycling in a big cityLondon has a new official plan for cycling. It’s full of bold statements of intent and has some interesting ideas. That’s the good news. Here’s the drawback: within the 59 glossy pages I could detect no new plans for cycling infrastructure.This all might seem a bit niche, not to say London-centric. But there is a wider lesson here: if cities are to truly move ahead in making cycling everyday and for everyone, good intentions aren’t enough. It involves political boldness, and taking risks. Continue reading...

UK consumers are reining in spending as economic uncertainty dents footfall and hits salesRetailers vying for customers in the last full week of trading before Christmas are in for a tough time according to the latest predictions, with footfall expected to fall by about 3% this week as cash-strapped shoppers rein in spending.The forecast by retail analysis firm Springboard adds to the bleak picture facing the sector in the key festive trading season, as consumers uncertain about what Brexit will mean for the economy and their finances cut back on gift-buying this year. Continue reading...

Researchers warn rising temperatures will cause plants to flower later and die soonerMilder winters driven by climate change will hit blackcurrant crops, with plants producing fewer and lower quality fruit, according to a new study.Like many other fruit and woody plants, blackcurrants need a period of chilling before they start to grow in spring. This reduces the risk of frost damage to new buds and makes sure they burst rapidly in the spring and flower together when there are plenty of pollinators such as bees around. Continue reading...

Trillions of dollars of investments are being taken out of carbon-intensive companies. Governments must now take noticeI remember well the first institution to announce it was divesting from fossil fuel. It was 2012 and I was on the second week of a gruelling tour across the US trying to spark a movement. Our roadshow had been playing to packed houses down the west coast, and we’d crossed the continent to Portland, Maine. As a raucous crowd jammed the biggest theatre in town, a physicist named Stephen Mulkey took the mic. He was at the time president of the tiny Unity College in the state’s rural interior, and he announced that over the weekend its trustees had voted to sell their shares in coal, oil and gas companies. “The time is long overdue for all investors to take a hard look at the consequences of supporting an industry that persists in destructive practices,” he said.Related: The Guardian view on global warming: time is running out | Editorial Continue reading...

Extinction Rebellion group call on BBC to tell ‘full truth about ecological emergency’Climate campaigners are calling on the BBC to declare a climate emergency and make the issue its top editorial priority.In a letter published in the Guardian, the new civil disobedience group Extinction Rebellion (XR) says the BBC, “as a respected media voice in the UK, needs to play a key role in enabling the transformative change needed”. Continue reading...

Agreement will fail to halt devastating rise in global temperature, say scientistsThe world has been put on notice that its best efforts so far will fail to halt the devastation of climate change, as countries came to a partial agreement at UN talks that failed to match up to the challenges faced.Leading figures in climate science and economics said much more must be done, and quickly, to stave off the prospect of dangerous levels of global warming. Continue reading...

Friends of the Earth granted judicial review it hopes will help alter planning rulesMinisters face a pair of legal challenges to their planning rules on fracking this week, from a national environmental group and the son of fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.The government used its revamped planning rulebook to tell local authorities in July that they should recognise the benefits of shale gas and facilitate its extraction. Continue reading...

David Bernhardt’s new job means top two US environmental agencies will be helmed by people once paid by industryRyan Zinke’s exit as interior secretary elevates a former lobbyist to the job, meaning the top two US environmental agencies will now be run by people previously paid by industry.The deputy secretary, David Bernhardt, will take over at least temporarily when Zinke steps down at the end of the year. He also could be in the running to head the department permanently. And at the Environmental Protection Agency, the acting administrator, Andrew Wheeler, who was a coal lobbyist, will be nominated to keep the post. Continue reading...

Fractious UN climate change talks ended with a deal on putting the Paris agreement into practice – but much else left unresolved

Hopes were high for the interior secretary’s tenure. But profiteers and climate deniers quickly changed thatWhen President Trump’s new secretary of the interior Ryan Zinke rode a horse across the National Mall to the steps of his new office, there was cautious optimism, as a western congressman who professed to idolize Teddy Roosevelt seemed like a solid choice to govern 20% of the land base of the United States.In the unforgiving milieu of Washington DC, Zinke and the “horse he rode in on” were subjected to withering ridicule. As the 18th director of the National Park Service (NPS), where I oversaw over 400 national parks and the equestrian patrol of the National Mall who accompanied the new secretary, I chalked it up to a publicity stunt. Continue reading...

Falling revenues from waste reprocessing have led to a financial black hole for the Nuclear Decommissioning AuthorityThe government body given the job of cleaning up Britain’s old nuclear power stations has warned that taxpayers will have to help plug a looming multimillion-pound gap in its finances left by shrinking revenues.David Peattie, chief executive of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, said revenues would fall more than 10% annually in coming years due to the end of an era of nuclear waste reprocessing. One plant ceased operations in November and another will stop in two years. Continue reading...

... and how to cut back on your household’s wasteIt was once a simple choice of stilton or cheddar with a few grapes on the side and the pleasure of assembling a course that requires no cooking.But for many households the Christmas cheeseboard has become an elaborate affair – often resulting in a vast amount of waste. Now, as a new survey estimates that 2.2m kilograms of cheese from the festive dining table will be chucked in the bin this year, specialists are urging shoppers to aim for a “zero waste” cheeseboard. “If you buy cheese that tastes amazing you’re far less likely to waste it,” said Dominic Coyte of Borough Cheese Company. “In my house I tend to end up with lots of small bits left, so I grate and freeze it. Freezing can affect the texture so it loses its rigidity, but it’s still good to use for cheese on toast or in sauces or gratins. The remainders of a boxed soft cheese can also be baked in the oven with garlic, rosemary and white wine – day-old bread with a bit of bite is ideal for dipping in it.” Continue reading...

Bill Shorten announces new Environment Act and says he wants ‘an Australian republic with an Australian head of state’. This blog is now closed

When we talk about saving the planet, we employ the narrative of war. Does it only deepen our divisions?Each dead house fly was worth a quarter, my mom told us kids, but I never earned any money. Every time I cornered a fly, I pictured goo marks left on the wall – spots splayed with tiny black guts and twisted legs. My halfhearted swats gave even the most sluggish fly time to escape.That I genuinely couldn’t hurt a fly might have been something I picked up in church. I grew up attending a Mennonite congregation in Indiana. We weren’t the bonnet-wearing, buggy-riding sort, but we embraced some traditions, like the Anabaptist teaching of nonviolence. This sometimes expressed itself in an instinct for conflict avoidance. Continue reading...

Nations agree on implementing 2015 Paris agreement, but put trickiest issues on back burnerThe UN climate change talks ended late on Saturday night in Poland with a deal agreed on how to put the 2015 Paris agreement into action, but with other contentious problems left to be resolved next year.Countries thrashed out the complex details of how to account for and record their greenhouse gas emissions, which will form the basis of a “rulebook” on putting the Paris goals into action. But difficult questions such as how to scale up existing commitments on cutting emissions, in line with stark scientific advice, and how to provide finance for poor countries to do the same, were put off for future years. Continue reading...

Federal court in Virginia says officials were trusted to ‘speak for the trees’ as it tosses out pipeline permitA federal court in the US has cited the classic Dr Seuss children’s book The Lorax as it lambasted the US Forest Service for granting an energy company permission to build a natural gas pipeline across two national forests.“We trust the United States Forest Service to ‘speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues’,” the three-judge panel of the fourth US circuit court of appeals in Virginia wrote this week as it threw out the permit. Continue reading...

When uranium was scarce, reprocessing was all the rage. Two decades on, the Cumbrian plant, though still a major source of jobs, has outlived its missionDeep in the heart of Sellafield, Britain’s biggest nuclear waste site, a small piece of history is playing out. Technicians are about to use a huge amount of force to slice nuclear fuel into thin sheets, so that it can be dissolved in nitric acid, then chemically separated into uranium (for power stations), plutonium (for bombs) and highly radioactive waste.But first they face a computer-says-no moment. Taut minutes pass as on-screen red boxes indicate issues with the shearing machine, which is safely ensconced behind a metre of leaded glass. Finally, the boxes turn green. Continue reading...

Small bits of plastic packaging from waste food make their way into animal feed as part of the UK’s permitted recycling processPlastic traces in animal feed could pose a risk to human health and urgently need to be the subject of more research, experts have told the Guardian.Their comments came after British farmer Andrew Rock contacted the Guardian, having noticed plastic shreds in his animal feed. Rock was told by the suppliers that this was a legal part of the recycling process that turns waste food, still packaged, into animal feed. Continue reading...

Governor proposes destroying dams, repairing habitats and limiting whale-watching in bid to save struggling creaturesFive months after twin tragedies cast a spotlight on the state’s ailing orcas, Washington plans to spend more than $1bn to stave off extinction.If enacted, a proposal from the governor, Jay Inslee, would knock down two dams, repair habitat and place a three-year ban on orca watching. Crucially, Inslee hopes to shore up salmon runs that feed the orca while cleaning and quieting the waters in which they live. Continue reading...

Bird battles, snoozing seals and mischievous macaques in this week’s gallery Continue reading...

Retailer says it will find other ways to make products sparkle in effort to stem plastic wasteWaitrose has joined the crackdown on glitter by pledging to ban it from all own-brand products by 2020.The supermarket chain said its own-label cards, wraps, crackers, tags, flowers and plants will either be glitter-free or use an environmentally friendly alternative. Continue reading...

Stores selling stubby sprouts and curvy carrots in attempt to reduce festive food wasteSupermarkets have increased their efforts to reduce the national food waste mountain at Christmas by offering shoppers edible produce nearing the end of its shelf life, as well as “wonky” sprouts, carrots and parsnips.The wonky or “ugly” lines were being offered at cheaper prices in an effort to stop the rejection or waste of fruit and veg that was misshapen, had growth cracks or was much smaller or larger than average. Continue reading...

Coal, known as ‘black gold’ in Poland, has helped the country achieve energy independence. However, the high-polluting fuel has been linked to serious diseases and premature death. With COP24 climate talks under way in Katowice, pressure grows on Poland to reduce its reliance on the fossil fuel. But with 100,000 coal-dependent jobs in the country, switching to alternative sources of energy carries great economic risk. Here, Violeta Santos Moura explores the problem in her essay Dark Clouds

Climate experts say the renaissance can be stopped but change must happen now – and the main obstacle is at the top

Comments by science review board chairman add weight to fears that Trump administration is aiming to discredit research to justify scrapping regulationsA conservative science adviser to the Trump administration is casting doubt on longstanding research linking fossil fuel pollution to early deaths and health problems, worrying environmental experts.At a meeting to review air pollution science compiled by staffers at the Environmental Protection Agency this week the advisory board chairman, Tony Cox – a consultant and statistician who has worked for the industry and criticized EPA standards – questioned whether soot from coal plants and cars can be directly blamed for asthma and cardiopulmonary problems. Continue reading...

Annastacia Palaszczuk says state has done all it can to prepare for severe category-four stormCyclone Owen will “wreak havoc” across Queensland, with remote communities braced for 280km/h winds and much of the state on flood alert, the premier has said.Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state had done all it can to be ready for Owen, which is expected to hit as a severe category-four storm late on Friday or early on Saturday. Continue reading...

Frustrated leaders appeal to ‘all OECD countries’ to phase out use as Australia signals support for new plantsPacific countries vulnerable to climate change have urged Australia to abandon coal power generation within 12 years, and to prohibit new coal plants or expansion of existing plants.The call from 15 small Pacific island states came one day after the Australian government called for expressions of interest in new power generation projects, indicating it would be prepared to use taxpayer money to underwrite new coal plants. Continue reading...

Chile and Costa Rica thought to be considering alternative bids after Brazil withdrew offerBritain is bidding to host the UN climate change conference in 2020, the biggest since the Paris agreement was signed in 2015, as part of the government’s aim to be seen as a green leader.The conference will mark a vital deadline for countries to comply with their commitments on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and move on to tougher targets for the decade to 2030, and so it is likely to be a fractious affair. Continue reading...

Researchers conclude the most likely cause for the dramatic declines is commercial fishingShark numbers along the Queensland coast have declined by more than 90% for some species in the past five decades, according to new research that calls for better protections for sharks in Australian waters.University of Queensland and Griffith University researchers analysed shark control program data to measure changes in shark populations along the Queensland coastline in a 55 year period. Continue reading...

After months of protests, council says it won’t fell 87 trees earmarked for chopSheffield city council has pledged to save nearly 100 trees that were marked for felling as it sought to defuse a bitter row that sparked scores of arrests and months of protests.The council has been locked in negotiations with campaigners over the future of its controversial scheme to fell thousands of trees to improve the condition of the city’s streets. Continue reading...

Study shows people in cars and buses spend longer in toxic air, as do walkers on main roadsCyclists are the least exposed to air pollution on daily commutes into a congested city centre, research has shown. People in cars and buses spent longer in toxic air, as did walkers unless they made detours to avoid main roads.The work, conducted in Leeds, supports the investment in cycle lanes to both reduce air pollution by cutting vehicle journeys and improve citizens’ health. It also found that air pollution reached relatively high levels inside cars, echoing a recent warning that cars are “boxes collecting toxic gases”. Continue reading...

UK Met Office professor tells UN summit Earth’s ‘energy balance’ is changing“Global heating” is a more accurate term than “global warming” to describe the changes taking place to the world’s climate, according to a key scientist at the UK Met Office.Prof Richard Betts, who leads the climate research arm of Britain’s meteorological monitoring organisation, made the comments amid growing evidence that rising temperatures have passed the comfort zone and are now bringing increased threats to humanity. Continue reading...

Today’s black lung rates are higher than 50 years ago, affecting men as young as their 30s, and in Kentucky their right to decent healthcare is being curtailed