Co-leader will take part in mayoral election in capital for second time in a rowThe Green party co-leader Siân Berry is to stand again as its candidate in the 2020 London mayoral election.Berry, a London assembly member and councillor, took over the joint leadership alongside Jonathan Bartley in September. She was the Greens’ candidate at the 2016 mayoral election, finishing third behind Labour’s Sadiq Khan and Zac Goldsmith of the Conservatives. Continue reading...

Unions urge pupils not to walk out of class but some schools may adopt relaxed attitudeSchool leaders are having to wrestle with their consciences over pupils joining the nationwide climate strike to be held on Friday afternoon, caught between their duties as teachers and instincts as educators.Thousands of the more than 8 million school pupils in the UK are expected to walk out of lessons to show their concern about the threat of escalating climate change. Continue reading...

Kevin Humphries denies telling cotton farmer Anthony Barlow he could pump water during embargo

10% of German state’s voters sign, obliging authorities to preserve species diversityA petition in Bavaria on preserving species diversity, popularly known as the “save the bees” campaign, has garnered sufficient support to enforce significant changes to the state’s farming practices.The organisers reached their target of securing the signatures of 10% of eligible voters in the southern German state well before the Wednesday evening deadline. Continue reading...

Global study sets out how industry could make waste reduction pay, using data taken from across 12 countries

Exclusive: Lock the Gate accuses state government of placing interests of mining sector over those of taxpayersNew South Wales taxpayers could be shortchanged up to $500m by a state government “accounting trick” that allows mining companies to dodge paying appropriate contingency costs for site rehabilitation.A 2017 report by the NSW auditor general found that security deposits paid by miners for future rehabilitation were inadequate and made several recommendations, including that the “contingency” costs be increased. Continue reading...

Urging political action on pesticide use is another way to help stem ‘collapse of nature’Buying organic food is among the actions people can take to curb the global decline in insects, according to leading scientists. Urging political action to slash pesticide use on conventional farms is another, say environmentalists.Related: Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature' Continue reading...

Tameside head came up with idea after noticing increase in asthma among childrenPrimary school pupils in Greater Manchester have started patrolling the streets outside their schools as uniformed “junior” police officers, issuing fake parking tickets to parents parked on the pavement or sitting with their engines running.The junior PCSOs (police community safety officers) were the brainchild of Steve Marsland, the headteacher of Russell Scott primary in Denton in Tameside, after he noticed a huge increase in the number of children with asthma. Eighteen months ago, he started to use an inhaler after having trouble breathing dangerously polluted air. Continue reading...

More than 200 sign letter to the Guardian saying pupils right to be angry at inaction

Bill sets aside more than 1m acres of new wilderness and conservation areas including rivers in California and UtahJoshua Tree and Death Valley national parks are to be enlarged, and stunning river landscapes in California and Utah will be protected, under new legislation that passed the US Senate on Tuesday.In all the public lands package sets aside more than a million acres of new wilderness and conservation areas in western states. Continue reading...

Wentworth Group finds the Murray-Darling Basin Plan’s environmental objectives are not being metWater flows at key environmental sites in the Murray-Darling Basin are unimproved or worse than before the basin plan was implemented, a scientific report has found, raising serious questions about where the $8.5bn of environmental water purchased by taxpayers is going.The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, a group of eminent environmental scientists formed a decade ago to advocate for the river system, have looked at two key sites which they identified when the plan was put in place in 2010. Continue reading...

Exclusive: lawsuit in Japan contends that dolphins are wrongly classified as fish and should be protected as mammalsAnimal rights activists have launched an unprecedented legal challenge to the slaughter of dolphins in Japan, claiming that fishermen are routinely violating animal welfare laws and exceeding government-set quotas.The London-based organisation Action for Dolphins and the Japanese NGO Life Investigation Agency on Wednesday submitted evidence they hope will halt the annual dolphin hunts in Taiji, a whaling town on Japan’s Pacific coast, the Guardian can reveal. Continue reading...

Idea of topping municipal plant in Copenhagen with urban ski resort won accolades for Danish architecture firm

The birds are severely at risk, but there is little public awareness or sympathy for their plightSquawking, chip-stealing seagulls are under threat in New Zealand, with some colonies experiencing “unbelievable declines”, and others disappearing altogether over the past few decades.New Zealand is home to three species of seagull but the native red-billed seagull – the beady-eyed interloper who makes an appearance at every beach picnic up and down the country – is the most common. Continue reading...

Four Nigerian women bring landmark case over state executions of nine activists in a military courtFour Nigerian women at the centre of a long-running legal battle against oil giant Royal Dutch Shell saw their historic case reach the Hague on Tuesday.The company is accused of complicity in the state execution of nine Ogoni protesters and human right abuses dating back to 1993. The allegations concern the 1990s violent government crackdown in Ogoniland, in the oil-rich Niger delta region, where oil spills inflicted environmental damage on a huge scale. Continue reading...

Ricardo Salles’ comments fuel criticism of administration’s stance, which environmentalists say is excessively pro-businessBrazilian environmental groups have blasted Jair Bolsonaro’s environment minister after he dismissed the murdered Amazon rain forest defender Chico Mendes as “irrelevant”.Related: Climate change a 'secondary' issue, says Brazil's environment minister Continue reading...

Communities secretary James Brokenshire cited traffic issues in rejecting plans for four wellsCampaigners have welcomed the government’s decision to reject a planning appeal by shale gas firm Cuadrilla to frack at a second site in Lancashire, capping a week of bad news for the industry.James Brokenshire, the communities secretary, said he was turning down the appeal for planning permission to develop four fracking wells in the Fylde area because of traffic concerns. Continue reading...

There’s no way we’ll achieve the targets five years early without major policy changes, which are unlikely under the current governmentThe Australian National University has been making headlines for its analysis that, with the current rate of renewable energy growth, Australia will achieve its Paris agreement targets five years early – by 2025. Unfortunately, after a careful review, we find their analysis doesn’t stack up.The ANU briefing note has surprised, if not shocked, many in the expert and analytical community with detailed knowledge of Australia’s climate and energy policy. Continue reading...

For graziers who sweated to keep their herds alive, praying for rain, the scale of the flood is hard to take• Satellite images before and after the floods reveal devastationOut the back of Mount Isa, in late January, the locals marked a wry milestone.For an unbroken stretch of 43 stinking afternoons, the temperature at Cloncurry and Camooweal had topped 40C. The herds of cattle in Queensland’s north-west, the ones that had survived through six years of drought, started to show signs of severe heat stress. They became thinner, weaker. Continue reading...

As new promotion launches, volunteers are still cleaning up debris from the Little Shop campaign on Australian beachesColes is launching a new collectible promotion of plastic toys on Wednesday, while the vestiges of the supermarket giant’s last campaign are still having a negative impact on the environment.From this week, shoppers can collect one of 24 plastic fruit or vegetable toys for every $30 they spend in-store as part of the Coles Stikeez campaign. Continue reading...

Party says Labour government would tackle climate change by starting economic revolutionLabour is to set out how the UK can move swiftly to a decarbonised future to tackle the unfolding climate crisis and put “meat on the bones” of its promise to create hundreds of thousands of high-skilled, unionised green jobs.Trade unionists and industry leaders will come together with academics, engineers and public institutions to build detailed regional plans setting out the challenges and opportunities ahead. Continue reading...

Actor attacked Trump and other leaders at World Government Summit for denying science to justify not facing the ‘moral crisis’Harrison Ford has launched a scorching attack on Donald Trump and other world leaders, for denying science in order to justify doing nothing to face the “moral crisis” of climate change.Related: European colonization of Americas killed so many it cooled Earth's climate Continue reading...

Ombudsman finds authority ‘deliberately set out not to reveal true advice’ about alder treeSheffield council has apologised after a year-long independent investigation found it “deliberately” misled residents over the city’s street tree-felling programme.A resident, Sally Goldsmith, questioned the decision to remove an alder tree in Aldam Way, Totley, and was told by a council contractor in August 2017 that removal was recommended because of “decay within the stem”. It added that an independent surveyor had “confirmed a decay pocket … as well as damage to the highway network”. A similar email was sent to another complainant. Continue reading...

Petrol and diesel vehicles cost more over four years in UK and four other European nationsElectric cars are already cheaper to own and run than petrol or diesel alternatives in five European countries analysed in new research.The study examined the purchase, fuel and tax costs of Europe’s bestselling car, the VW golf, in its battery electric, hybrid, petrol and diesel versions. Over four years, the pure electric version was the cheapest in all places – UK, Germany, France, Netherlands and Norway – owing to a combination of lower taxes, fuel costs and subsidies on the purchase price. Continue reading...

Despite second consecutive year of declines, report concludes the long-term outlook for solar energy production is positiveThe solar energy sector lost 8,000 jobs in the US last year, the second consecutive year of declines, hit by uncertainty over the Trump administration’s energy and trade policies and a 30% tariff on imported solar panels, according to a report released on Tuesday.But according to the Solar Foundation the future is still bright for solar. Despite the two-year dip, solar employment has grown 159%, from just over 93,000 to more than 242,000 jobs in all 50 states over the past nine years and the report concludes the long-term outlook for solar energy production is positive. Continue reading...

Conservationists urge Queensland government to investigate mining company over Caley Valley pollutionActivists have called on the Queensland government to investigate after mining company Adani confirmed that contaminated water released into the Caley Valley wetlands during last week’s Queensland floods occurred at almost twice the rate it is licensed for.The company issued a statement on Tuesday to say investigations at Abbot Point had concluded the flood waters did not enter the Great Barrier Reef marine park area. Continue reading...

As the world’s first junior cycle mayor, Lotta Crok wants to draw attention to the obstacles kids on bikes face – and inspire other children to cycleDuring Amsterdam’s chaotic rush hour, nine-year-old Lotta Crok cycles to a very busy junction. “Look,” she says. “There’s traffic coming from everywhere. Four trams from four different directions. For a child on a bike that’s really confusing!”Lotta is the first junior cycle mayor in the world and her working area is the Dutch capital. It is her mission to inspire children to cycle every day and draw attention to the obstacles that kids on bikes are facing. Continue reading...

Europe urged to promote diets lower in meat and dairy and restrict animals to grass-based systems to free land for cropsNearly a fifth of the EU’s total budget – more than £24bn of taxpayer money – goes to support livestock farming across Europe, according to new research by Greenpeace.At a time when scientists are calling for significant reductions in meat consumption, the report’s authors say taxpayers’ money should be redirected away from grain-fed, industrial animal farming. Continue reading...

Environmental and social problems could interact in global breakdown, report saysThe gathering storm of human-caused threats to climate, nature and economy pose a danger of systemic collapse comparable to the 2008 financial crisis, according to a new report that calls for urgent and radical reform to protect political and social systems.The study says the combination of global warming, soil infertility, pollinator loss, chemical leaching and ocean acidification is creating a “new domain of risk”, which is hugely underestimated by policymakers even though it may pose the greatest threat in human history. Continue reading...

High hopes for Hornsea One as developer says its output could fill the gap left by nuclearAn offshore windfarm on the Yorkshire coast that will dwarf the world’s largest when completed is to supply its first power to the UK electricity grid this week.The Danish developer Ørsted, which will be installing the first of 174 turbines at Hornsea One, said it was ready to step up its plans and fill the gap left by failed nuclear power schemes. Continue reading...

Body in charge of cutting aviation’s carbon footprint meets behind closed doorsA UN body tasked with cutting global aircraft emissions is covertly meeting this week for discussions dominated by airline industry observers.The environment committee of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) meets on Monday in Montreal behind closed doors to discuss measures to reduce emissions from international aircraft. Domestic and international flights emitted 895m tonnes of CO2 last year – 2.4% of global energy-related CO2 emissions, according to Carbon Brief. In terms of emissions, if aviation were a country it would be the sixth largest in the world. Continue reading...

The proposal is incredibly ambitious, both on climate change and with its reimagining of society

Republicans call it a ‘social manifesto’, environmental groups hail it, and some say it doesn’t go far enoughCongresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey, along with dozens of co-sponsors, have introduced a vision for the Green New Deal. One Republican called it a “socialist manifesto”. Many environmental advocacy groups have hailed it, but some say it doesn’t go far enough. Others warn that its broad scope and the long list of progressive social programs it endorses could hinder its climate efforts. Continue reading...

Experts deployed to remove dozens of hungry bears besieging Novaya ZemlyaAnalysis: what the polar bears reveal about the climate crisisRussian environmental authorities have deployed a team of specialists to a remote Arctic region to sedate and remove dozens of hungry polar bears that have besieged the people living there.

Trial of Peter and Jane Harris, accused of illegal pumping from Barwon-Darling river, set to become a test of NSW regimeA landmark trial of prominent Bourke cotton farmers accused of illegal pumping from the Barwon-Darling when the river was low is set to become a test of the robustness of New South Wales’s water laws.Michael Elliott SC foreshadowed in the NSW Land and Environment Court today that the defendants, Peter and Jane Harris, would challenge every aspect of the state’s water laws they are accused of breaching, including the accuracy of the government’s water gauges and administrative procedures followed. Continue reading...

After years of drought graziers were elated when the rain came. Now floods have created a humanitarian crisisIn north-west Queensland it hadn’t rained, any decent rain, for more than five years.When the downpour finally came last week, graziers were elated. Now it’s feared up to 500,000 cattle, mostly from severely drought-stressed herds, have been killed in widespread flood waters. Continue reading...

Bylong Valley residents hope Rocky Hill decision will sway state commission to reject proposed open-cut mineActivists and residents fighting against a proposed coalmine in central New South Wales are hoping last week’s historic judgment in the Rocky Hill case will sway the state’s Independent Planning Commission to reject the project.The NSW land and environment court ruled last week Gloucester Resources’ Rocky Hill coalmine in the state’s Hunter Valley should not go ahead, in part because of its social impact on the town of Gloucester and because a new coalmine was not compatible with Australia’s commitments under the Paris agreement. Continue reading...

Eight women from rural Malawi travelled to India to train as solar engineers. Now they are lighting the way for their communities, in a country where just 10% of households are powered by electricityPhotographs by Peter Caton/VSO

The reasons the mine was rejected have made international news. So how did we get here?

Exclusive: Insects could vanish within a century at current rate of decline, says global review

‘Cool heads’ not ‘politicking’ needed to bolster Australia’s electricity network, Grattan Institute says“Cool-headed policy” not “panic and politicking” is the answer to Australia’s future energy issues, a new report has found.But government underwriting of new power-generation investment – a key Coalition energy policy – could hinder, not help the bid to bolster network reliability, the researchers warned, by scaring away “genuine potential investors”. Continue reading...

Thousands of pupils set to be absent on 15 February, putting schools on the spotHeadteachers across the country will this week be faced with a tricky dilemma: should they allow their pupils to go on strike?Thousands of schoolchildren are expected to absent themselves from school on Friday to take part in a series of coordinated protests drawing attention to climate change. Continue reading...

Police search murky water for 35-year-old as rainfall in Queensland’s north easesA man remains missing in flood waters in north Queensland as police continue to search the area.The 35-year-old Townsville man was one of three on board a boat at Groper Creek when it crashed into a submerged jetty close to Hinkson Esplanade about 5.35pm on Friday. Continue reading...

Society says ‘it’s up to voters to work out what politicians they want to make into threatened species’The Wilderness Society will target former environment ministers Greg Hunt and Josh Frydenberg and former prime minister Tony Abbott in its first major federal election campaign in a decade.After a summer in which temperature records tumbled and up to a million fish died in in the Lower Darling, climate change and the environment are front and centre in voters’ minds before the expected May election, according to conservation groups and the major parties’ internal polling. Continue reading...

Proposed law would protect any shark or ray in state waters and be first of its kind in USSharks could soon become more numerous in Hawaii waters – and advocates say that’s a good thing.Lawmakers in Honolulu advanced a proposed ban on killing sharks in state waters on Wednesday, after receiving hundreds of calls and letters of support from around the country. The law, which would provide sweeping protection for any shark, rather than select species, could be the first of its kind in the United States. Continue reading...

NFU’s Minette Batters says ‘inept parliament’ forcing firms to spend millions to prepareFarmers are finding preparing for Brexit as disruptive as a major disease outbreak, and food companies are in danger of moving out of the UK or scaling back their investment, a farming leader has warned.Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers’ Union, said: “Millions are being spent every day in no-deal planning and contingency plans for the food industry. Businesses are having to invest so much money to protect us from an inept parliament. This will break some businesses.” Continue reading...

Rescued flamingo chicks, angry ibex and Californian elephant seals in this week’s gallery Continue reading...

Holly Gillibrand is skipping class to join pupils around the world in pushing for urgent measuresUntil recently, Holly Gillibrand was like any other schoolchild, keen on the outdoors, football and rock climbing, inspired by the stunning surroundings of her secondary school at the foot of Ben Nevis.But for the past five Fridays, while hundreds of her fellow students file into class, she has stood outside Lochaber high school in Fort William in the Highlands to take strike action. Continue reading...

Thousands of pupils to walk out of lessons amid growing concern over global warming

Five hundred people told to leave area around Sul Superior tailings dam at mine near Belo HorizonteBrazilian authorities have ordered the mining company Vale to evacuate hundreds of people from the vicinity of a dam in Minas Gerais, two weeks after a dam breach at another Vale mine in the state killed an estimated 300 people.Vale said it was evacuating 500 people from three communities around the Sul Superior tailings dam at the Gongo Soco mine, near Belo Horizonte, on the orders of the national mining agency. It said it was a preventive measure after an engineering consulting firm, Walm, refused to give the dam a declaration of stability. Continue reading...