Three-quarters of areas tested show contamination, European Environment Agency saysHeavy metals and a cocktail of dangerous chemicals continue to poison Europe’s seas, with more than three-quarters of areas assessed showing contamination, according to a report.The sea worst affected was the Baltic, where 96% of the assessed areas showed problematic levels of some harmful substances, according to the European Environment Agency. Similar problems were found in 91% of the Black Sea and 87% of the Mediterranean. In the north-east Atlantic, unsafe levels of chemicals or metals were found in 75% of assessed areas. Continue reading...

The Gulf of Carpentaria is being inundated with some of the highest densities of rubbish in the worldThe Gulf of Carpentaria hosts some of Australia’s most remote coastline, but Indigenous rangers say it is being inundated with some of the highest densities of rubbish in the world.In 2018 the Dhimurru rangers, based in Nhulunbuy, in eastern Arnhem Land, collected two-and-a-half tonnes of rubbish, 500kg more than in 2017 and roughly five times that collected in 2016. Continue reading...

Production must end now, says first ever estimate of plastic’s cradle-to-grave impact

Exclusive: Movement creates 1,280 new groups to boost numbers in deprived areasCubs and scouts are marching back into inner cities and have formed 1,280 new packs, troops and colonies in the most deprived parts of Britain over the past five years.The 112-year-old Scout movement has boosted membership in some of the UK’s poorest areas by 20,000 since 2014, according to figures published on Wednesday. New sections have opened on estates such as Byker in Newcastle and Wythenshawe in south Manchester but also in non-urban areas of deprivation such as Jaywick, an Essex seaside town named among the poorest in Britain. Continue reading...

Scalloped hammerheads were at the Nausicaá aquarium in the French port of Boulogne, near CalaisThirty hammerhead sharks captured on the Great Barrier Reef and exported to a French aquarium over an eight-year period have all died in captivity and the Australian government says it knows nothing about it.The deaths, which are the subject of legal action by Sea Shepherd France, could put a spotlight on the trade of threatened sharks caught in Australian waters because of a federal law that allows them to continue to be commercially fished. Continue reading...

Soft-drink brand’s products make up nearly 12% of litter found, says Surfers Against SewageCoca-Cola bottles and cans are the most commonly found items of packaging pollution on British beaches, making up nearly 12% of all litter, research by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS)has found.The results came from a series of 229 beach cleans organised by the anti-pollution campaigning group in April, which found close to 50,000 pieces of waste. About 20,000 of these carried identifiable brands, of which Coca-Cola was the leader, followed by Walkers crisps, Cadbury’s, McDonald’s and Nestlé. Continue reading...

International Maritime Organization aims to halve global emissions by 2050This week is the 74th meeting of the marine environmental protection committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and it represents one of the best hopes of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from a large and growing sector. Continue reading...

More people in UK are eating lunch on the go, report finds, in turn generating more wasteBritain’s growing “lunch on the go” habit is generating nearly 11bn items of packaging waste a year, much of which is not recycled, a survey has found.Workers are buying takeaway and fast food lunches more than they did five years ago, according to research from the environmental charity Hubbub, generating 10.7bn separate items of waste over a year, the charity estimates, from sandwich boxes to crisp packets and napkins. Continue reading...

The beloved science educator and children’s show host appeared on Last Week Tonight to help explain carbon-pricingBill Nye is done messing around. Look out, because while you might not typically associate angry talk with the normally-mild-mannered “Science Guy” Nye, when it comes to the threat of global climate change, he has – understandably, perhaps – lost his patience. And how.The beloved science educator and television personality, best known for his children’s program Bill Nye the Science Guy, appeared on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on Sunday in a segment on the plan to fight climate change, and started throwing the F-word about – a lot. (The plan is sponsored by the US House of Representatives’ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the longtime environmental advocate and Senator Ed Markey, and is known as the Green New Deal.) Continue reading...

Agency had one afternoon to accept government’s approval of Adani groundwater plan, emails revealEnvironment groups and the Greens have called for the winner of Saturday’s election to review the Adani mine decision, after it emerged pressure was put on the CSIRO to accept the government’s approval of the mine’s groundwater plans.The ABC reported on Tuesday that emails it obtained under freedom-of-information laws revealed the agency had a single afternoon to accept the federal government’s approval of Adani’s groundwater management plan. Continue reading...

A retired naval officer dove in a submarine nearly 36,000ft into the deepest place on Earth, only to find what appears to be plastic

Greenpeace supporters abseil off bridge unfurling banners calling on political parties to declare a ‘climate emergency’Thirteen people have been arrested after environmental activists abseiled off the Sydney Harbour Bridge to demand action on climate change.The Greenpeace supporters launched themselves from a public walkway on the western side of the structure at dawn on Tuesday, calling on the major federal political parties to declare a “climate emergency”. Continue reading...

Report says plastics adding to death tolls in the developing world from easily prevented diseases

Shareholder resolution to be voted on at the company’s annual meeting next weekA coalition of major City investors have emerged as key players in forcing BP to be more transparent in how it fights climate change.Investors holding just under a tenth of all BP shares, equivalent to more than £10bn in value at Monday’s prices, put their names to the shareholder resolution, to be voted on at the company’s annual meeting next week, the Climate Action 100+ investor group revealed on Tuesday. Continue reading...

In the final episode before the election, politicians battle it out over Newstart rate, climate change and housing policyNews Corp Australia has triggered a rare moment of unity in the fractious 2019 federal election. Representatives from the Liberals to the Greens, appearing on Monday night’s Q&A on the ABC, hopped into the media giant over its coverage of Bill Shorten and his speech referencing his mother’s life story.Related: First homebuyers' scheme: who gets it and will it work? – explainer Continue reading...

The Last Week Tonight host focused on climate change, stressing the importance of radical interventionJohn Oliver has turned his focus to climate change in an urgent new episode of Last Week Tonight, referring to the situation as “critical”.Related: John Oliver on lethal injections: 'horrifying' and 'unpredictable' Continue reading...

Springwatch presenter will no longer attend Dogstival after ongoing protests from shooting communityA festival appearance by broadcaster and wildlife presenter Chris Packham has been cancelled because of ongoing protests over his campaign against shooting birds.Organisers of the Dogstival event in the New Forest said they were concerned about safety of the public after death threats received by Packham. Continue reading...

Exclusive: if Trump Tower and other sites do not cut emissions, Trump Organization will owe $2.1m a year from 2030Donald Trump’s reluctance to address climate change is set to cost his business empire millions of dollars in fines levied by New York City due to the amount of pollution emitted by Trump-owned buildings.Related: Could climate change submerge Joe Biden's presidential bid? Continue reading...

Speaking for Forestry England, Kate Humble says she finds comfort in talking to an oak treeThe custodians of England’s forests have launched a drive to encourage more people to make regular visits to woodland to improve mental wellbeing.They claim that research shows that two or three short jaunts to woods and forests dramatically improve mental as well as physical health. Continue reading...

Morrison government accused of failing to take action to reduce emissions or pursue adaptation measuresA group of Torres Strait Islanders from low-lying islands off the northern coast of Australia will on Monday lodge a complaint with the United Nations human rights committee against the Australian government, alleging climate inaction.The complaint will assert that the Morrison government has failed to take adequate action to reduce emissions or pursue proper adaptation measures on the islands and, as a consequence, has failed fundamental human rights obligations to Torres Strait Islander people. Continue reading...

A quick tour of the big stores shows they could do much more to cut out plasticCraig Curtis, the new president of the Recycling Association, is staring with exasperation at the aisle full of salad leaves. He presses a bag of rocket.“Do you hear that?” he says, as the plastic crackles. “That’s laminated. One sort of plastic on the outside, and a totally different sort on the other.” He shakes his head at the supermarket display. “You can’t recycle it. It just goes into waste. If these things were made from one polymer, we could recycle all of it.” Continue reading...

The former vice-president has yet to put forward a plan to address global warming, which polls suggest is the single most important issue for DemocratsClimate change is transforming life by redrawing coastlines, turning vast areas of forest into infernos, stirring enormous storms and spreading exotic diseases. An indirect casualty of this upheaval could be Joe Biden’s hopes of becoming US president.Biden, frontrunner in the polls to secure the Democratic nomination, has not laid out a plan to address the crisis. Continue reading...

Residents of Tchula feel abandoned. Now, with the Rev William Barber, it’s ‘time to make noise’When Tchula lake overran its banks, after heavy rains, Walter Coats’s home was one of the first to succumb.“I left that morning when I saw the waters start rising,” Coats said. “When I came back I couldn’t even get in the house.” Continue reading...

Mass-breeding of the highly intelligent creatures is ecologically unjustified, a new study saysPlans to create octopus farms in coastal waters round the world have been denounced by an international group of researchers. They say the move is ethically inexcusable and environmentally dangerous, and have called on private companies, academic institutions and governments to block funding for these ventures.The researchers say that farming octopuses would require the catching of vast amounts of fish and shellfish to feed them, putting further pressure on the planet’s already threatened marine livestock. Continue reading...

Planes going to the finals in Spain and Azerbaijan will emit 35,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide – climate activists want change

Review will assess impact of dirty air on health and will support NHS efforts to go greenThe health secretary has described polluted air as a “slow and deadly poison” and warned of a growing national health emergency.Matt Hancock has commissioned a review of the impact of dirty air on health, including updated estimates of the number of new cases of illness that could be caused by air pollution by 2035. Continue reading...

LGA says councils struggling to tackle problem amid budget cuts and lenient sentencingThe illegal dumping of waste across England has increased by nearly 40% in six years.Local councils are struggling to tackle escalating fly-tipping as their budgets are cut and courts fail to impose the toughest sentences available. Continue reading...

Conservationists plan for removal of excess algae in two of the region’s lakesIt was once famed for its gin-clear waters but today the waterways of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads are more typically a murky greeny-brown.Now a new “bio-manipulation” project aims to restore clear waters to Ranworth Broad and Barton Broad, paving the way for the return of osprey, common terns and rare aquatic plants currently thwarted by the murky depths. Continue reading...

Britain’s net zero by 2050 goal may have impact on whether existing policies are reassessedBritain’s move to “net zero” carbon and the declaration of a climate emergency in parliament will be “given careful consideration” in deciding whether to grant a review of Heathrow airport’s expansion, the government has said.The new approach falls well short of any commitment to review Heathrow’s expansion, but means the decision on whether to grant campaigners’ request for a review will include the net zero target and the climate emergency among its criteria. Continue reading...

US reportedly opposed deal, which follows concerns that villages in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia had ‘turned into dumpsites’Almost all the world’s countries have agreed on a deal aimed at restricting shipments of hard-to-recycle plastic waste to poorer countries, the United Nations announced on Friday.Exporting countries – including the US – now will have to obtain consent from countries receiving contaminated, mixed or unrecyclable plastic waste. Currently, the US and other countries can send lower-quality plastic waste to private entities in developing countries without getting approval from their governments. Continue reading...

The buses will only have water exhaust emissions and will be on the capital’s streets by 2020London will have the world’s first hydrogen-powered doubledecker buses on its streets next year, as the capital steps up attempts to tackle its polluted air.Transport for London (TfL) has ordered 20 of the buses, which cost around £500,000 each and only emit water as exhaust. Continue reading...

John McDonnell’s tough message likely to trip City alarm bells as party puts climate battle at heart of agendaUK companies failing to tackle climate change would be delisted from the London Stock Exchange under radical plans for greening the economy being drawn up by Labour.John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said he would consider changing the law if necessary to force UK-listed firms to take adequate steps to fight the “climate emergency” facing the planet. Continue reading...

A buzzard, elephants and yellowbanded sweetlips Continue reading...

Find shows ecological value of demilitarised zone after decades cut off from humans

Upside readers are calling for a shift to a sustainable economy. So what would that look like?

Greta Thunberg says Dublin decision to follow British MPs’ lead is ‘great news’Ireland’s parliament has become the second after Britain’s to declare a climate emergency, a decision hailed by the Swedish teenage environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg as “great news”.An amendment to a parliamentary report declaring a climate emergency and calling on the parliament “to examine how [the Irish government] can improve its response to the issue of biodiversity loss” was accepted without a vote late on Thursday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: industry tried to thwart policy that would increase use of recycled plasticThe trade body for the plastics industry has held last-minute meetings with government officials as part of a lobbying effort to water down a tax on single-use plastics, internal documents have revealed.Members of the British Plastics Federation (BPF) met Treasury staff this week, the documents state, in their fight to persuade the government to row back on a key aspect of the policy to tackle plastic pollution. Continue reading...

Social services statement backs Labor’s emissions reduction target as a minimumAction on climate change should make polluters pay and include compensation for people on low incomes, according to the social services sector.The Australian Council of Social Services and others have called for “at least” a 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 coupled with regular indexation of the energy supplement to compensate welfare recipients. Continue reading...

Jury finds Roger Hallam not guilty of causing damage after spray painting building’s wallThe founder of Extinction Rebellion has been cleared by a jury of all charges relating to a protest against fossil fuels in what campaigners say is a historic moment for the climate justice movement.Roger Hallam, 52, did not deny criminal damage worth £7,000 in an action to urge Kings College, London to divest from fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Ghent to pipe greenhouse gas into vast under-sea reservoirThree of the largest ports in Europe – Rotterdam, Antwerp and Ghent – are to be used to capture and bury 10m tonnes of CO2 emissions under the North Sea in what will be the biggest project of its kind in the world.The ports, which account for one-third of the total greenhouse gas emissions from the Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg region, are to be used to pipe the gas into a porous reservoir of sandstone about two miles (3km) below the seabed. Continue reading...

Scott Morrison claims to have passed laws ‘dealing with that very issue’ raised by the UN environment reportScott Morrison has identified a bill that restricts testing makeup on animals as an example of his government “taking action” on the extinction of a million plant and animal species raised by a landmark UN report.On Tuesday, the prime minister told reporters he had “been taking action” on matters raised by the report, saying: “We already introduced and passed legislation through the Senate actually dealing with that very issue in the last week of the parliament.” Continue reading...

Our public space is increasingly out of reach for all but the fit, the brave, and those in motor vehiclesAlmost 90% of cyclists experience a “close pass” – an overtake within 1.5m – at least weekly, and 70% say conditions on Britain’s roads haven’t improved in the last five years, according to a new damning survey from British Cycling.Of 15,000 respondents, 66% said they were concerned about their safety while cycling on Britain’s roads, and almost 40% said they experienced a close pass daily. Continue reading...

Activist and politician Marina Silva warns Brazil’s rainforest protections being destroyed but vows ‘we can’t let that happen’Jair Bolsonaro is transforming Brazil into an “exterminator of the future”, the activist and politician Marina Silva has warned, as she and seven other former environment ministers denounced the far-right president’s assault on rainforest protections.The eight former ministers – who served governments across the political spectrum over nearly 30 years – warned on Wednesday that Bolsonaro’s government was systematically trying to destroy Brazil’s environmental protection policies. Continue reading...

Health food chain to replace all branded and own-label wipes with eco-friendly alternativesHolland & Barrett is to become the first UK high street retailer to stop selling wet wipes, in a drive to reduce the environmental damage wreaked as a result of them blocking sewers and waterways.The health food chain is removing all 34 branded and own-label products in its wet wipe range from its 800 UK and Ireland stores and – from July – replacing them with eco-friendly alternatives such as double-sided cotton cloths, unbleached cotton muslin cloths, cotton pads and exfoliating gloves. Its shops in other countries will follow suit by the end of September. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Former environment minister calls for creation of ‘war’ cabinet committee to plot transition to zero carbonThe former environment minister Peter Garrett has urged an incoming Labor government to convene a climate emergency summit to plot a transition to zero carbon, and create a super department aligned to Treasury, like the Department of Post War Reconstruction after the second world war, to implement the transition.In a speech overnight at the Carbon Market Institute summit gala dinner in Melbourne, Garrett – a former environment minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments – said Bill Shorten should create a standalone “war” cabinet committee, charged with the responsibility of overseeing the new initiatives and ensuring Australia meets its emission-reduction goals. Continue reading...

My intellectual and rational understanding of it has shifted to much more of an emotional and personal one

Global sales of plastic and glass drinks bottles, cans and cartons are rising, report findsPeople around the world are using almost 2tn plastic and glass drinks bottles, cans and cartons each year, according to research.The findings, from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), reveal that global sales of drinks containers are set to reach 1.9tn in 2019 – up from 1.6tn in 2015. Continue reading...

The EPA had moved to ban chlorpyrifos under Obama, but the Trump administration reversed that effortCalifornia is banning a widely used pesticide that has been linked to brain damage in children, a major victory for public health advocates who have long fought to outlaw the toxic chemical in the agricultural industry.The state ban on chlorpyrifos, a pesticide used on almonds, citrus, cotton, grapes, walnuts and other crops, follows years of research finding the chemical causes serious health effects in children, including impaired brain and neurological development. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had moved to ban the chemical under Barack Obama, but the Trump administration reversed that effort, rejecting the scientific conclusions of its own government experts. Continue reading...

The marine behemoths, which can weigh more than 10,000 pounds, are returning in numbers not seen in decadesGiant basking sharks have reappeared off the coast of southern California in numbers not seen in decades.“The sight just takes your breath away – it’s magic,” said Lotti Keenan, who saw nearly a dozen basking sharks while on a whale-watching cruise in April. Three of them circled the boat. “We knew this was such a rare thing. And people on the boat were screaming with excitement – it was like you were at a soccer game.” Continue reading...

Refundable charge to be added to glass and plastic bottles and drinks cans sold in any shopConsumers in Scotland will have to pay a 20p deposit on every bottle or drinks can they buy from shops under an ambitious new scheme unveiled by the Scottish government.The deposit return scheme, the first national scheme in the UK, will cover glass and plastic bottles, as well as aluminium and steel drinks cans, sold from any shop in Scotland. Continue reading...