Environment | The Guardian

Conservationists say 27,000 hectares of green space will be lost to development by 2050Battle lines have been drawn for one of the biggest nimby battles in decades with a warning from conservationists that a plan to build a million new homes between Oxford and Cambridge will concrete over an area the size of Birmingham.The Council for the Protection of Rural England has calculated that the scheme, proposed last year by the government’s national infrastructure commission (NIC), could see 27,000 hectares of greenfield farmland and woodland lost to development by 2050. Continue reading...

First in network of chargers three times faster than current models installed near ParisShell has stepped up its move into electric vehicle infrastructure with the installation of its first ultrafast charging points in western Europe – but they are so powerful that no car currently on sale today would be able to fully exploit them.The chargers at a motorway service station outside Paris are one of 80 European locations the Anglo-Dutch firm is planning for swift charging by 2020, including as many as eight in the UK. Continue reading...

Union’s president says bill’s current wording could lead to a lowering of standardsThe National Farmers’ Union has told Theresa May she must treat the food industry as being of equal importance as the car sector, with special protections enshrined in new laws covering standards and production.The NFU president, Minette Batters, said she had raised concerns in a phone call to the prime minister that food production was not at the heart of a new agriculture bill, the first major overhaul of legislation in the sector since the second world war. Continue reading...

Move is aimed at halting the spread of ‘superbugs’ resistant to medical treatmentThe European parliament has approved a suite of restrictions on the use of antibiotics on healthy farm animals in a bid to halt the spread of “superbugs” resistant to medical treatment.Europe’s animals consume more antibiotics than humans on average, often via livestock feeds on factory farms, where farmers routinely use them as a prophylactic against the occurrence or spread of disease. Continue reading...

Burning coal is the single largest contributor to global climate breakdown. Human rights violations at the sites of fossil fuel extraction are often hidden.The connections between County Clare, Ireland and La Guajira, Colombia may not be entirely obvious at first glance. Yet the regions are linked through a shared commodity: coal. Extracted in one region and burned in the other.Coal extraction in La Guajira has a dirty secret, which I’ve witnessed first-hand: it is connected to a system of production entrenched in violence, bloodshed and environmental destruction. Continue reading...

More than 2,000 GP surgeries and hospitals in UK are in areas that breach WHO air pollution guidelines, study saysHundreds of thousands of patients who visit more than 2,000 hospitals and GP practices across the UK are breathing poisonous air that breaches World Health Organization guidelines, according to a new report.The study found that a third of GP surgeries and a quarter of hospitals – including some of the biggest children’s centres – are in areas that breach limits for the most dangerous particulates: PM2.5. Continue reading...

Only third who buy squash to create lanterns will cook leftover flesh, finds surveyThe UK will bin 8m pumpkins after Halloween, the equivalent of enough pumpkin pie to feed the entire nation, research has found.Almost three-fifths (58%) of consumers buy pumpkins to hollow out and carve, of whom only a third bother to cook the leftover but edible innards, according to the annual #PumpkinRescue campaign. Continue reading...

Program that protects and restores environmentally sensitive land on private property badly under resourced, report warnsQueensland’s 4.4m hectare network of nature refuges is “stretched to breaking point” and badly under-resourced, a new report commissioned by an alliance of conservation groups warns.The refuges are designed to protect and restore environmentally sensitive land on private property across Queensland. Landholders agree to dedicate part of their property as a private protected area, and in turn receive government support. Continue reading...

Proxy firm secures support from major investors for three resolutions calling for company to align policy to Paris agreementActivist shareholders in Australia’s largest independent coalminer are expected to vote in record numbers on Thursday to demand Whitehaven Coal aligns its long-term company strategy with the Paris climate agreement.Guardian Australia understands the group Market Forces has secured support from some superannuation funds and large overseas investors in Whitehaven for three resolutions that will be put to the company’s annual general meeting in Sydney. Continue reading...

Allegations of spying are unfounded, says government, as UN expresses alarmFive environmentalists have been charged in Iran with national security crimes punishable by death, in a development the UN environment head said was deeply troubling.The activists from the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation were arrested in January alongside at least four other people, and face allegations of spying, which human rights campaigners and Iran’s own government say are unfounded. Continue reading...

Compromise follows long-running dispute over council’s road maintenance schemeSheffield city council has proposed a deal under which fewer trees would be cut down as a result of its controversial road maintenance scheme, following a long-running dispute with campaigners.The council paused the felling temporarily in March after dozens of protesters were arrested while attempting to stop trees being chopped down. Continue reading...

East Island has vanished after coming into contact with Hurricane Walaka, an intense storm that hit Hawaii earlier this monthA piece of the United States has been dramatically wiped off the map after an island in Hawaii was washed away by a powerful hurricane.East Island, a remote spit of gravel and sand that sat atop a coral reef, has vanished after having this misfortune to come into contact with Hurricane Walaka, an intense storm that surged past Hawaii earlier this month. Continue reading...

Iran is tackling the potential water supply crisis exacerbated by climate change

‘Sometimes you just have to suck it up,’ former deputy PM tells ousted Liberal leader. This blog is now closed.

Forests in the region of Raub in Malaysia are being burned and cleared to make way for durian plantationsThe habitat of one of the world’s most endangered tigers is under threat, according to environmental groups, as forests in Malaysia are cleared to meet growing demand for durians, the divisively pungent fruit hugely popular in China.Forests in the region of Raub in Malaysia, which has become a popular destination for Chinese and Singapore tourists on “durian tours”, are being burned and cleared to make way for plantations to grow the Musang King variety of the spiky but stinky fruit. Continue reading...

Magnitude 0.4 tremor follows several others recorded since Cuadrilla restarted drillingFracking operations in Lancashire have been shut down after seismic activity was detected. The move came a little more than a week after the process was restarted in the UK for the first time since it was banned in 2011.Cuadrilla Resources, which is carrying out the operations at its Preston New Road site, confirmed it paused work early on Tuesday as a precaution because of the microseismic event, which was measured at a magnitude of 0.4 and within the limit allowed by UK authorities. Continue reading...

Since 2015, Canadian companies have provided $2.4 billion in combat vehicles, weapons, surveillance technology, pilot training relied on by the oil-rich SaudisEach time she learns Saudi bombs are falling on Yemen, Shireen Al-Adeimi rushes to her cell-phone.Living an ocean-away in the United States, the Yemeni-Canadian anxiously scrolls through her WhatsApp chats to make sure her friends and family back home are safe. Continue reading...

Aurelia Skipwith, who worked as a lawyer and in research at Monsanto, will be nominated to run the Fish and Wildlife ServiceDonald Trump is nominating a former executive of agrochemical company Monsanto to run the US Fish and Wildlife Service.Aurelia Skipwith has been the deputy assistant secretary of fish, wildlife and parks for the interior department since April 2017. She is a lawyer and was in research for six years at Monsanto, where she led a team that brought new agricultural products to market, and then was in corporate affairs, according to her self-reported work history. Continue reading...

Exclusive interview: Angus Taylor will look at overcoming financing problems new generation projects faceThe energy minister, Angus Taylor, has signalled the Australian government could indemnify new power generation projects against the future risk of a carbon price, and says it could also support the retrofitting of existing coal plants.In an interview with Guardian Australia, the man dubbed the “minister for getting power prices down” by the prime minister, Scott Morrison, has also committed to keeping current subsidies for households and businesses to install renewable energy technology like solar panels until 2030, and insists Australia’s electricity sector will reduce emissions by 26% on 2005 levels in “the early 2020s”. Continue reading...

As the Coalition announces new measures to reduce power bills, Taylor talks to political editor Katharine MurphyInterview with the energy minister Angus Taylor and Guardian Australia political editor Katharine Murphy. The discussion follows government announcements on measures to reduce power prices, including a “last resort” divestiture power to break up power companies, and mechanisms to boost investment in new electricity generation.I’ll get on to today’s announcements [about measures to lower power prices and increase investment in generation] in a second, but first, what are you doing with small-scale renewable energy scheme (SRES)? Labor has now said it stays until 2030. Continue reading...

Climate breakdown is an imminent threat to humanity. But an international treaty could avert calamityHow did government respond to the recent scientific conclusion that only “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society” can deliver the globally agreed target for stopping climate breakdown? In the UK, fracking for fossil fuels was given the green light, plans were announced for a huge new road in the south-east, incentives for electric vehicles withered, the expansion of Heathrow airport is still going ahead and Gatwick airport is trying to expand too by bringing a back-up runway into use. It’s like seeing a sign that says “Danger: vertical cliff drop” and pulling on your best running shoes to take a flying leap.Something isn’t working. The head of the oil company Shell responded to the new climate science warming by clarifying that “Shell’s core business is, and will be for the foreseeable future, very much in oil and gas.” BP announced new North Sea oil projects. Immediate choices are being made with blank disregard to avoiding climate breakdown. Continue reading...

New plastic-to-fuel technology means there is a growing case for stockpiling our plastic waste, argues Patrick Cosgrove. David Reed says it’s time to start burning all household rubbish to generate powerIn August, exchequer secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Tackling the scandal of plastic pollution is one of our top priorities.” But it’s now confirmed what many have long suspected, that the UK recycling industry is riven with corruption (Report, 19 October) and only now is government dimly aware of the problem. Taxing coffee mugs and plastic straws, and placing a charge on plastic bags are commendable actions, but in the face of ever-increasing plastic production, single-use or not, are minuscule and potentially token. In addition to stamping out the illegal export of waste and reducing single use plastic at source, a radical upheaval of domestic recycling is required. Local authorities pay waste management companies to collect, sort and, hopefully, recycle domestic plastic waste. Yet they only recycle a proportion of it and ship the rest abroad. Much ends in landfill or in the oceans. The council tax we pay for these destructive processes could be better deployed.With rapid progress now being made on carbon capture, home and industrial-based pyrolysis (waste to energy), and other plastic-to-fuel processes, there is a strong case to stockpile plastic that is difficult to recycle or contaminated. In compacted or granulated form at 10% of its previous volume, it can be stored for future use as feedstock for negative emission energy production and other innovative uses. We used to have grain mountains and wine lakes. Why not temporary plastic mountains?

There’s a 97% expert consensus on human-caused global warming, but most Americans are unaware

Australian Maritime Safety Authority report says food waste and grey water spill occurred on 26 August

Charities tackling hunger could save Britain £500m a year if they had capacity, finds reportThe collection and redistribution of edible food by the UK’s largest charity tackling hunger – and that would otherwise go to waste – saves the UK economy some £51m every year, according to an independent report published on Monday.If FareShare and other charities in the sector were able to scale up their capacity in order to handle half of the surplus food available in the UK supply chain, the value back to the state could be as much as £500m per year, it claims. Continue reading...

Thinktank says transition to low-carbon economy could result in ‘local deprivation’As many as 28,000 jobs will be lost in the north of England in the next 12 years under the government’s drive towards a low-carbon economy, a thinktank has warned.The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said in its report that the region could be at the heart of a “clean energy revolution” – with a potential for 46,000 new green jobs – but instead faced economic decline under current plans. Continue reading...

Michael Gove unveils consultation on move to cut pollution and protect oceansPlastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds could be banned within a year under government plans to cut pollution, Michael Gove is to announce.Launching a consultation on the proposals on Monday, the environment secretary will cite the success of the 5p charge on single-use plastic bags, which led to an 86% drop in their use at major supermarkets. Continue reading...

Workers on Beatrice project in Scotland have included irregular migrants on under £5 an hourWorkers hired to build the flagship £2.6bn Beatrice offshore windfarm in Scotland have included migrants without proper immigration documents paid a fraction of the UK minimum wage, the Guardian can reveal.Offshore windfarming is one of the UK’s biggest growth industries, hailed by both the Conservatives and Labour as a priority for investment that will create thousands of jobs while also producing clean energy. Continue reading...

Berta Cáceres’s family left without lawyers as legal manoeuvres continue bitter legacy of her protest against the Agua Zarca damThe trial of eight men accused over the murder of Honduran indigenous leader Berta Cáceres has been thrown into disarray after judges ousted the victim’s lawyers from proceedings.The legally suspect ruling in the country’s most high-profile case leaves the verdict vulnerable to appeal. The case is considered a litmus test for the justice system which has received millions of dollars of international aid in recent years Continue reading...

Creature filmed off east Antartica using technology developed by Australian researchersA deep-sea cucumber known as a “headless chicken monster” has been filmed in the Southern Ocean for the first time using camera technology developed by Australian researchers.The creature was filmed off east Antarctica and it is the first time the species has been seen in the area. Continue reading...

‘It’s obvious some of the violence we are observing … is directly linked to climate change,’ says Peter MaurerClimate change is already exacerbating domestic and international conflicts, and governments must take steps to ensure it does not get worse, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross has said.Peter Maurer told Guardian Australia it was already making an impact and humanitarian organisations were having to factor it into their work far earlier than they were expecting. Continue reading...

George Eustice’s boast that government strategy is working called untrue by vets and animal specialistsGovernment claims that the controversial badger cull is reducing tuberculosis rates in cattle have been undermined by a group of leading vets and animal welfare experts who have shared data that, they say, confirms it has made no difference.Last month the farming minister George Eustice said: “Reductions in TB cases in Somerset and Gloucestershire are evidence that our strategy is delivering results.” But the group, which includes Iain McGill, the former government vet who helped expose the BSE cover-up, Adam Grogan, head of wildlife at the RSPCA, and Mark Jones, head of policy at the Born Free Foundation, disagrees. Continue reading...

Treasurer says government does not intend to ‘reduce emissions at the expense of people’s power bills’Josh Frydenberg has played down the need for a significant shift in the Morrison government’s stance on climate change before the next federal election after the strong protest vote in the seat of Wentworth.The treasurer and former energy and environment minister Josh Frydenberg told Sky News on Sunday people in Sydney’s eastern suburbs were concerned about climate change, but he said the government did not intend to “reduce emissions at the expense of people’s power bills”. Continue reading...

Fish eaters advised to ‘Say No’ due to environmental concerns surrounding Tasmania’s salmon farming industryIt’s one of Australia’s – and the world’s – favourite fish but Tasmanian Atlantic salmon should be off the menu for now, according to the Australian Marine Conservation Society, publishers of Australia’s independent sustainable seafood guide.On Wednesday, the AMCS downgraded the farmed fish’s rating from an amber “Think Twice” to a red “Say No” due to ongoing environmental concerns. The previous review was in 2015. Continue reading...

One tremor was magnitude 0.3, the level beyond which experts say fracking has to proceed with cautionA series of small earthquakes have been detected in Lancashire close to the site where fracking operations began this week.The British Geological Survey (BGS), which provides impartial advice on environmental processes, recorded four tremors in the vicinity of the energy firm Cuadrilla’s site on Preston New Road near Blackpool on Friday. Continue reading...

Scheme launched by ethical investment platform Abundance offers 12% interestA “green” investment that pays 12% interest and involves putting your money into a major tidal energy project was launched this week.But that high rate indicates this is a great deal riskier than putting your money into a high street savings account, with no compensation if things go wrong. So this is not one for the risk-averse. Continue reading...

Chinese ban on waste imports is significantly affecting UK councils’ ability to collect and recycle plasticMajor problems in the plastic recycling industry are costing local councils in England up to £500,000 extra a year, as they struggle to deal with the continuing fallout from import bans imposed by countries who are no longer able to take the UK’s waste.A survey by the Local Government Association (LGA) revealed nearly half of councils who responded (52) say China’s ban is having a significant impact on their ability to collect and recycle plastic, due to rising costs. Fourteen councils across the country say their recycling costs have increased by an average of half a million pounds a year, in part because of rising processing charges per tonne. Continue reading...

Council in Kent told that disturbing the whale would breach wildlife lawIt has attracted plenty of spectators during its stay. But Benny the lost beluga whale, who took up residence in the Thames last month, may end up leaving the crowds disappointed after it was announced that a fireworks display would have to be postponed to protect him.About 15,000 people were expected to gather for the annual bonfire night celebrations in Gravesend, Kent, on 2 November to see a display set off from a barge on the river. Continue reading...

President will sign memo directing agencies to review standards that conservatives argue are keeping water from farmersThe Trump administration is wading into California’s “water wars” on behalf of embattled Republicans and agricultural interests weeks before the November midterm elections.Donald Trump signed a memo on Friday directing agencies to review and revise or rescind environmental standards that conservatives argue are keeping water from flowing to farmers in the Central Valley. He is also setting deadlines for biological assessments of regional projects. Continue reading...

Big six firm to focus exclusively on renewables, adding solar power to its windfarmsScottish Power, one of Britain’s biggest energy companies, has said it will invest in solar power for the first time as part of its move away from fossil fuels.The big six firm sold off its last gas-fired power stations to Drax Group this week to focus exclusively on renewables, which today consists of onshore and offshore windfarms. Continue reading...

World body urges Conservative government to ‘step up and show leadership’ on the air pollution crisisThe UK government is putting the health of millions of its citizens at risk by failing to tackle the country’s air pollution crisis, according the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights and the environment.David Boyd said people’s right to breathe clean air was being violated in the UK and warned the crisis was responsible for up to 50,000 deaths – and devastating the lives of “many millions” more in towns and cities across the country. Continue reading...

A 1,000-metre spider web and a hellbender devouring a snake are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Research forecasts Iowa corn yields could drop in half within the next half-century thanks to extreme weather – yet it’s not part of the political conversationFarmers around here are itching to go after that amber wave of soya beans, but there was that 5in rain a couple of weeks ago and then a 7in rain, and it drives even the retired guys batty.Those beans aren’t worth much at the elevator thanks to a Trump trade war with China, but they’re worth even less getting wet feet in a pond that was a field which the glacier made a prairie bog some 14,000 years ago – until we came along and drained it. Continue reading...

Photographer Christopher Thomond has been documenting protests over fracking in the north of England since 2011After years of protest, hyperbole and delays, fracking has returned to the UK. After seeing off a last-minute legal challenge, shale gas firm Cuadrilla began fracking near Blackpool on Monday.The drive to extract gas from the rocks beneath the UK has catalysed the environmental movement in recent years, uniting concerned local residents and climate campaigners. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Watchdog examining claims plastic waste is not being recycled but left to leak into rivers and oceans

Close passing and dooring are serious concerns but there is more to be done to make our streets safer and cleaner, from funding boosts to road planningThe announcement of a Highway Code review for walking and cycling is a forward step for active travel and road safety. It may not be the millions of pounds of investment needed, but it’s a start.The Department for Transport (DfT) review will cover issues such as how to safely overtake cyclists, guidance on preventing car-dooring of cyclists, and giving pedestrians and cyclists the right of way at side roads. Continue reading...

UK risks falling behind global switch to electric vehicles with ‘unambitious’ target of 2040, says committeeMPs have urged ministers to bring forward their ban on new petrol and diesel car sales by eight years to 2032, to avoid the UK being left “in the passenger seat” in the global switch to electric vehicles.Government plans for a 2040 ban on fossil fuel-powered cars and vans across Britain were unambitious and did not even show leadership within the UK, given Scotland has set itself an earlier target, the business, energy and industrial strategy committee said. Continue reading...

Oil-rich kingdom says money is needed to protect against water scarcity but request sparks strong criticism and fears over the fitness of the public fundBahrain – one of the world’s most oil-rich nations – has applied to the international Green Climate Fund for $9.8m for its National Oil and Gas Authority, raising questions over whether taxpayer-funded assistance for poor countries is reaching its intended targets.The kingdom has requested funding for water conservation work to be carried out by its national oil and gas company, which it says is necessary to protect against water scarcity in future – a problem that is likely to grow worse around the world as a consequence of climate change. Continue reading...

Uncontrolled imports spark ‘garbage dump of the world’ fears and raise fears over how much is ending up in landfillItinerant garbage pickers run down the hilly streets of Istanbul, their trolleys packed with plastic and other waste.Their haul is a boon for the recycling industry in Turkey. “We collect 80% of the waste from the streets,” said Recep Karaman, head of the street waste collectors association. Continue reading...

Trio of activists freed from prison after appeal get hero’s welcome at site of anti-fracking protestOn Thursday morning, the day after being released from prison, three environmental activists who became the first people to be jailed for an anti-fracking protest in the UK returned to the Preston New Road fracking site near Blackpool.Related: I’m out of jail after my fracking protest. But justice has not been done | Simon Roscoe Blevins Continue reading...