Environment | The Guardian

Prime minister claims Australia will easily meet its obligations without an emissions reduction policyScott Morrison is continuing to insist that Australia will meet its Paris climate commitments “in a canter” despite the government having no emissions reduction policies to achieve that result.The prime minister used a radio interview on Wednesday afternoon to declare “the business-as-usual model gets us there in a canter” – which contradicts advice from the Energy Security Board that says business as usual will mean the electricity sector will “fall short of the emissions reduction target of 26% below 2005 levels”. Continue reading...

Palau’s climate change coordinator says Australia provides aid to region but on world stage undermines attempts to halt global warmingAustralia’s relationship with the Pacific region on the issue of climate change has been described as “dysfunctional” and “abusive” – providing aid to the region to deal with the effects of global warming but undermining attempts to halt its progress, according to a climate change representative for the Pacific nation of Palau.Xavier Matsutaro, the national climate change coordinator for Palau, a small nation in the north-west Pacific, said Australia’s relationship with the Pacific was “dysfunctional”, adding that Australia was also responsible for diluting the strength of previous regional declarations on climate change. Continue reading...

The O-Wind Turbine captures wind from any direction and, unlike traditional turbines, could be effective in citiesA ‘spinning’ turbine which can capture wind travelling in any direction and could transform how consumers generate electricity has won its two student designers a prestigious James Dyson award.Nicolas Orellana, 36, and Yaseen Noorani, 24, both MSc students at Lancaster University, have created the O-Wind Turbine which – in a technological first – takes advantage of both horizontal and vertical winds without requiring steering. Continue reading...

Internal watchdog found the agency has no approved procedures to determine how much security the administrator neededThe millions of dollars spent on a round-the-clock security detail for the scandal-laden former head of the US Environmental Protection Agency were not justified, according to the findings of an internal watchdog.Scott Pruitt’s transition team asked for a 24/7 security team for him when he was appointed as head of the EPA by Donald Trump, even pulling agents from criminal investigations to guard him, in a move that dramatically escalated the cost for the taxpayer and broke with the protocol followed by his predecessors. Continue reading...

French president accused of doing too little, as he appoints new environment ministerFrench environment campaigners have warned Emmanuel Macron is doing too little to combat climate change and must radically rethink his environment policy if he is to honour his promise to “make this planet great again”.Renewed criticism of the centrist French president’s approach to green issues came as Macron replaced his former environment minister, the TV personality Nicolas Hulot, who quit last week saying the government was in thrall to powerful lobby groups and taking only “mini-steps” that were insufficient to deal with climate change. Continue reading...

Rockfall a growing risk as high temperatures thaw ground at higher altitudesFrance will impose a daily cap of 214 climbers on Mont Blanc next year, one of several measures taken to limit overcrowding on one of Europe’s highest peaks.“It’s a tough decision but a very good one, because Mont Blanc is a climb unlike any other. You have to be prepared,” said Jean-Marc Peillex, mayor of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, the Alpine town where the most popular route to the top of the mountain begins. Continue reading...

Charities and ministers voice concern after discovery of carcasses with tusks hacked offNinety elephant carcasses have been found in Botswana with their tusks hacked off, in what is believed to be one of Africa’s worst mass poaching sprees.Most of the animals killed were large bulls carrying heavy tusks, Elephants Without Borders said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

No 10 hopes for ‘amicable outcome’ to dispute between UK and French fishing boatsDowning Street has attempted to defuse tensions between British and French fishing industry workers harvesting scallops in the Channel after the French navy said it would intervene to prevent further clashes.Theresa May’s official spokesman said both sides were hoping for a cordial solution from talks in London on Wednesday designed to resolve the dispute, suggesting there was were no plans for British warships to be deployed. Continue reading...

Defra’s decision not to renew Europa’s licence marks victory after 1o-year legal battleMichael Gove has blocked drilling of a controversial exploratory oil well in the south of England, causing campaigners to celebrate but sparking an angry response from one of the firms involved.Concerns over the impact on ancient woodland led the environment secretary to decide against renewing the lease at the site near Holmwood in the Surrey Hills, which is on Forestry Commission land. Continue reading...

Local authorities should be investing in a greener future – not using pensions to fund the very companies they are battling

Students will be offered bottled water and coolers after testing raised concern at dozens of schoolsThe 50,000 students returning to public school classrooms in Detroit on Tuesday following the summer break will find the drinking fountains dry, after elevated levels of lead and copper forced the district to shut off the water supply.After test results evaluating all water sources, from sinks to fountains, for 16 schools showed higher than acceptable levels of the chemicals last month, the Detroit public schools community district announced it was turning off the water at all its schools. Continue reading...

Solar-powered highway signs have been placed in the city’s five boroughs as part of the Climate Signals installationThe existential threat of climate change is being spelled out to New Yorkers via a selection of flashing highway signs that have been placed around the city.The 10 large solar-powered signs have been placed in locations in each of New York’s five boroughs, including areas deemed particularly vulnerable to the sea level rise and powerful storms associated with climate change, including the Rockaways in Queens and the west side of Manhattan. Continue reading...

Exclusive: organic fresh produce and dairy are now worth a record £2.2bn a yearSupermarket sales of organic food and drink in the UK have risen by 4% this year, new figures reveal, marking seven consecutive years of growth.Despite an exceptionally cold winter and a hot, dry summer which have played havoc with crops, organic fresh produce and dairy sales remain the main drivers fuelling growth of the overall market, now worth a record £2.2bn. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Friends of the Earth says revised national planning policy makes it ‘virtually impossible’ for councils to refuse fracking schemesThe government is facing a legal challenge over its new planning policy, which campaigners say was illegally adopted because the government failed to assess its environmental impact.The revised National Planning Policy Framework, published in July, informs local policies across England, from planning permission to town and country planning and land use. It has significant weight in development decisions, from the amount and location of built development to the way environmental impacts are assessed, and also deals with policies concerning air pollution, energy generation, water management and biodiversity. Continue reading...

Imposing tariffs on energy trading could also hinder efforts to counter global warming

The disclosure of the cull, conducted under a legal loophole, comes as Japan seeks to further weaken a global ban on commercial huntsJapanese whalers have killed more than 50 minke whales in an Antarctic marine protection area this year, WWF has revealed.The disclosure comes on the opening day of the International Whaling Commission’s annual meeting in Brazil, which Japan is chairing as it seeks to restart commercial whaling. Killing whales for profit was banned in 1986, but nations including Norway and Iceland have granted themselves exemptions. Continue reading...

Analysts say sector could expand sixfold if all planned projects proceed and government focuses on carbon reduction policies

Consumers face a double whammy of prices rises brought on by the long hot summer and BrexitYields of key crops have fallen significantly in this year’s harvest as a result of the hot summer and massive swings in weather, leaving farmers counting the cost and consumers facing higher prices for food.After record heatwaves and drought, when rain finally arrived it caused problems in some areas, particularly the north and west, as farmers have struggled to bring in wet crops. Continue reading...

California’s Democratic leaders are determined to fight the climate change that’s ravaging their state

Invaders continue to seize land within the Chaparrí ecological reserve, one of Peru’s most biodiverse forestsShortly after sunset, along an isolated stretch of highway leading out of a dusty hamlet in northern Peru, a band of five weary farmers clad in reflective neon vests and armed with traditional whips made of bull penises set out on a solemn march.The Ronderos – self-governing peasant patrols – are resuming their nightly rounds five months after the brutal killing of their lieutenant governor, Napoléon Tarrillo Astonitas. Continue reading...

Lancastrians protested against it, the council rejected it, the health impacts are shocking. But this government doesn’t careOne day soon, in a field by the A583 in sight of Blackpool Tower, fracking for shale gas will resume in the UK. The first attempt to kickstart this dangerous and disruptive industry had to be abruptly halted, after fracking at a nearby site in 2011 by the same company, Cuadrilla, set off earth tremors. For nearly two years, local people have maintained a round-the-clock vigil on the roadside. Their presence reflects the overwhelming opposition of residents to the forced intrusion of fracking into this green and tranquil corner of Lancashire. Passing motorists toot support.The people of Lancashire could have been forgiven for thinking that they had seen off the threat of being turned into the UK’s shale gas guinea pigs. In 2015, responding to their well-evidenced concerns, the county council refused permission for Cuadrilla to frack in the very same field, and in the nearby secluded village of Roseacre. But, taking advantage of planning rules the coalition government had put in place to favour fracking, Cuadrilla appealed. In 2016, Sajid Javid, then communities secretary, duly overturned Lancashire council’s decision. This July, the government gave final consent for Cuadrilla to begin. Continue reading...

NFU chief says there has been little action from the environment secretaryStruggling farmers have called on Michael Gove to honour his promise of assistance after the summer drought.The first half of this year’s summer was the driest in the UK since 1961, with harvests suffering as a consequence of the hot weather. Continue reading...

Shorten to pledge a permanent control trigger that can be pulled when prices are too highLabor has proposed stronger export restrictions on gas, promising to help reduce energy costs by reserving more domestic supply.On Monday Bill Shorten will promise a permanent gas export control trigger that can be pulled when gas prices are too high, not just when a gas shortfall is forecast. Continue reading...

Greens leader also targets new prime minister and Coalition who he says ‘don’t deserve to govern’The Greens leader Richard Di Natale will promise to work with a new Labor government to get action on climate change back on track.Di Natale makes the pledge in a landmark speech to be delivered on Monday in Melbourne, kicking off a national speaking tour that anticipates the major policy battles of the next federal election. Continue reading...

Former head of federal agency that holds the government’s water entitlements says Victoria and New South Wales being overly influenced by irrigatorsThe former head of the federal agency that holds the government’s water entitlements has accused New South Wales and Victoria of undermining the Murray-Darling Basin plan by failing to do their part on enforcement and being overly influenced by irrigators.The accusation by the former commonwealth environmental water holder comes as several politicians, including the federal government’s new envoy on drought, Barnaby Joyce, call for environmental water holdings to be made available to farmers to finish growing winter fodder crops. Continue reading...

Science and industry museum accused of hypocrisy for taking money from oil companyThree partners of a major UK science festival have pulled out in protest at Shell sponsoring its headline exhibition.The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, which organises the Manchester science festival, confirmed the partners had withdrawn their events because of the oil company’s sponsorship of its forthcoming electricity exhibition. Continue reading...

Trade minister fails to name mechanism for emissions reduction as energy policy looms as key issue in Wentworth byelection

Exclusive: Marine Park Authority scaled back surveys in 2017, when mass bleaching occurred in successive years for first timeThe Australian government-funded Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority drastically scaled back surveys of coral bleaching in the middle of an unprecedented two-year marine heatwave, as its monitoring program almost ran out of money.The authority’s field management program conducted more than 660 in-water surveys of reefs in 2016, during the first of two consecutive mass bleaching events. The program’s annual report said those surveys “played a key role in determining the extent of mortality caused”. Continue reading...

The government finds itself in a mess after the national energy guarantee was used as a catalyst to evict TurnbullWe’ve lost another prime minister in the front bar brawl that is Australian politics, but we’ve lost something else as well, something that’s a bit harder to see.

Government has not come to terms with ‘unprecedented’ water shortages, NSW Greens MP saysWater flows into the Sydney drinking water catchment are at a record low and less than half than they were during the millennium drought last decade, prompting more concern about the city’s water security.Previously the lowest inflows into the catchment had been 136 gigalitres in 1944. In 2004, during the height of Sydney’s last water shortage during the millennium drought they fell to 234 gigalitres. Continue reading...

At world’s largest farm show many say US government aid has helped ease their pain – but what they want is trade security

IOPC upholds complaint by six people arrested under obscure clause of Trade Union ActSix activists detained by police while protesting against tree felling in Sheffield were arrested on false grounds, the police watchdog has found.The four men and two women were arrested between November 2016 and February 2017 “for the prevention of harm and injury” under an obscure clause of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act. Continue reading...

A baby freen sea turtle, a grizzly bear and her cubs, and a grey-headed flying fox are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Former head of Greenpeace UK and Labour peer revered as fearless campaignerPeter Melchett, the environmental campaigner and Labour peer, has died aged 71.Lord Melchett, who lived in Norfolk, became the executive director of Greenpeace UK in 1989 and was most recently policy director of the Soil Association. Continue reading...

Researchers say underwater drone can monitor coral bleaching and inject coral-eating starfish with vinegarAn underwater drone that can keep watch over the Great Barrier Reef’s health and kill invading species is ready to be put to the test.Researchers from Queensland University of Technology say their robot reef protector can monitor coral bleaching, water quality, pest species, pollution and sediment buildup. Continue reading...

Proliferation of music festivals and other events across capital’s green spaces means disruption and restrictions to access for residentsAccess to parks across London is being increasingly restricted by corporate events such as music festivals, a researcher has found, linking it to “creeping privatisation” of public space.Findings presented at the Royal Geographical Society’s annual conference on Friday show that, more than ever before, London parks are being rented out to private companies as councils seek to boost revenue to fund key services. Continue reading...

Tuilaepa Sailele berates leaders who fail to take issue seriously, singling out Australia, India, China and the USThe prime minister of Samoa has called climate change an “existential threat ... for all our Pacific family” and said that any world leader who denied climate change’s existence should be taken to a mental hospital.In a searing speech delivered on Thursday night during a visit to Sydney, Tuilaepa Sailele berated leaders who fail to take climate change seriously, singling out Australia, as well as India, China and the US, which he said were the “three countries that are responsible for all this disaster”.

Anger after hundreds of fish and reptiles have been left in tiny pools amid crumbling concrete since JanuaryAnger is mounting in Japan after a dolphin, 46 penguins and hundreds of fish were found to have been abandoned for months in a derelict aquarium. Continue reading...

Wealthy nations’ drastic increase in construction sand consumption contributes to erosion of estuariesThe secretive trade of coastal sand to wealthy countries such as China is seriously damaging the wildlife of poorer nations whose resources are being plundered, according to a new study.Sand and gravel are the most extracted groups of materials worldwide after water, with sand used in the concrete and asphalt of global cities. China consumed more sand between 2011 and 2013 than the US did during the entire 20th century. India has more than tripled its annual use of construction sand since 2000. Continue reading...

Nearby residents warned to stay inside as firefighters battle to contain blazeA huge fire at a warehouse containing toxic materials in Melbourne’s west could burn for days, authorities have warned, as they prepare to spend the night battling the blaze.More than 50 primary schools and childcare centres were closed on Thursday as plumes of acrid smoke spewed from the fire at the factory in West Footscray. Continue reading...

Rising temperatures make insects eat and breed more, leading to food losses growing world population cannot afford, say scientistsRising global temperatures mean pests will devour far more of the world’s crops, according to the first global analysis of the subject, even if climate change is restricted to the international target of 2C.Increasing heat boosts both the number and appetite of insects, and researchers project they will destroy almost 50% more wheat than they do today with a 2C rise, and 30% more maize. Rice, the third key staple, is less affected as it is grown in the tropics, which are already near the optimal temperature for insects – although bugs will still eat 20% more. Continue reading...

Onus still falls on national governments to cut emissions to stave off worst impacts of climate change, Yale researchers sayIndividual cities, regions and businesses across the globe are banding together determinedly to confront climate change - but their emissions reductions are relatively small and don’t fully compensate for a recalcitrant US under the Trump administration, a new study has found.A cavalcade of city mayors, regional government representatives and business executives from around the world will convene in San Francisco next month for a major summit touting the role of action beyond national governments to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. Continue reading...

Native American leaders in Montana believe the Keystone oil pipeline puts them in grave danger – but they are up against powerful business interests

The country has just faced its 12th driest winter on record and the bureau says there is no change in sightAustralia’s weather forecasters have offered the country’s drought-hit farmers scarce relief after predicting that warmer and drier conditions are set to continue through spring.After a drier than average year so far, the Bureau of Meteorology released its spring outlook on Thursday and warned that southern and south-eastern parts of the country are facing the prospect of an early summer heatwave. Continue reading...

Productivity Commission says plan is lagging behind schedule and $5bn of taxpayers funds is at riskThe Murray-Darling Basin plan could fail to deliver on its next phase and $5bn of taxpayers’ funds is at risk unless urgent changes are made to how the plan is being implemented, the Productivity Commission has said in its five year review.The commission found the plan so far has delivered a significant amount of water to the environment. It found 20% of water once used for agriculture was helping restore rivers and wetlands. Continue reading...

Japanese government expected to propose reforms to the International Whaling Commission allowing them to circumvent the current banAttempts by Japan to resume commercial whaling are likely to raise controversy at the International Whaling Commission meeting, as opponents decry the country’s suggested reforms as a covert way to revive the banned practice.The Japanese government is tabling proposals that would allow members of the IWC to circumvent some of its key decisions, such as ending the killing of whales for consumption of their meat. Continue reading...

The wild tale of America’s energy revolution, and the cowboy who made and lost billions on shale. By Bethany McLeanBetween 2006 and 2015, the energy world was turned upside-down by an epic development in the oil industry few had foreseen. From the low point, in 2006, when it imported 60% of its oil, the US became an oil powerhouse – eclipsing both Saudi Arabia and Russia – and by the end of 2015, was the world’s largest producer of natural gas.This remarkable transformation was brought about by American entrepreneurs who figured out how to literally force open rocks often more than a mile below the surface of the earth, to produce gas, and then oil. Those rocks – called shale, source rock or tight rock, and once thought to be impermeable – were opened by combining two technologies: horizontal drilling, in which the drill bit can travel more than two miles horizontally, and hydraulic fracturing, in which fluid is pumped into the earth at a high enough pressure to crack open hydrocarbon-bearing rocks, while a so-called proppant, usually sand, holds the rocks open a sliver of an inch so the hydrocarbons can flow. A fracking entrepreneur likens the process to creating hallways in an office building that has none – and then calling a fire drill. Continue reading...

Analysis shows 7,200MW of renewables added to grid after closures of coal-fired plantsWhile the Morrison government has identified lowering power prices as a key early priority, a new analysis says wholesale prices will almost halve over the next four years because of the technology many Coalition conservatives oppose – renewables.The latest renewable energy index compiled by Green Energy Markets confirms analysis by the Energy Security Board that wholesale electricity prices are on the way down because of an addition of 7,200 megawatts of extra large-scale supply from renewable energy. Continue reading...

Study finds potential for fisheries to benefit in future - as long as warming can be kept in checkBetter management of fisheries and fishing rights around the world could increase profits and leave more fish in the sea as long as measures to meet climate obligations are taken, new research has found.Even if temperatures rise by as much as 4C above pre-industrial levels – in the upper range of current forecasts – the damaging effects on fishing can be reduced through improving how stocks are fished and managed. Continue reading...