Environment | The Guardian

Emails tabled in Senate inquiry recommended ‘trade-offs’ to Great Barrier Reef FoundationGreat Barrier Reef scientists were told they would need to make “trade-offs” to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, including focusing on projects that would look good for the government and encourage more corporate donations, emails tabled in the Senate reveal.The documents, including cabinet briefing notes, contain significant new details about the workings of the foundation and the government decision to award it a $443m grant, including: Continue reading...

Extra 259GW capacity from coal in pipeline despite Beijing’s restrictions on plantsChinese coal-fired power plants, thought to have been cancelled because of government edicts, are still being built and are threatening to “seriously undermine” global climate goals, researchers have warned.Satellite photos taken in 2018 of locations in China reveal cooling towers and new buildings that were not present a year earlier at plants that were meant to stop operations or be postponed by orders from Beijing. Continue reading...

A jury ruled the agrochemical company caused Dewayne Johnson’s cancer. He tells the Guardian he wants to use the victory to make a difference while he still canDewayne Johnson tries not to think about dying.Doctors have said the 46-year-old cancer patient could have months to live, but he doesn’t like to dwell on death. These days, he has an easy distraction – navigating the international attention on his life. Continue reading...

Discovery comes as zoo faces scrutiny after a meerkat was stolen, and later recoveredPolice in Western Australia have located a critically endangered tortoise that was stolen from Perth zoo seven years ago.The discovery comes as the zoo faces intense scrutiny of its security measures, after last week’s theft, and subsequent recovery, of a baby meerkat. Continue reading...

Product will be sold in 100% recyclable FSC-certified paper-based cartonsThe first mainstream fresh dairy brand to switch from plastic milk bottles to cartons goes on sale in UK supermarkets on Wednesday, in the latest drive to reduce the use of single-use plastics.With millions of plastic milk bottles disposed of daily in the UK, a2 Milk is switching to 100% recyclable paper-based cartons that use 80% less plastic than bottles and carry the Forest Stewardship Council label. That means they are made with pulp from FSC-certified forests and/or recycled sources. Continue reading...

In conference speech Labour leader to lay out plans to change direction of economyJeremy Corbyn will on Wednesday attack the “greed-is-good” capitalism that he claims has resulted in large swaths of the UK being left behind, promising a raft of new policies including a “green jobs revolution” that will create 400,000 new positions.The Labour leader will attempt to reset the theme of the Labour conference which has so far been dominated by deep divisions over its Brexit stance and return to his core argument about the failure of the broken economic system. Continue reading...

DUP leader claims deputy first minister at time was aware of concerns about energy schemeArlene Foster, the Democratic Unionist party leader, has claimed Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness knew of warnings about a botched green energy scheme that cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds.A public inquiry into the “cash for ash” scandal heard evidence from Foster on Tuesday that she had told the late deputy first minister about a note from a whistleblower that claimed people were abusing the system for financial gain. Continue reading...

Men who stopped lorries to become first campaigners to be jailed for a protest in UK since 1932Four anti-fracking activists face being the first environmental campaigners to be jailed for a protest in the UK since 1932.Simon Roscoe Blevins, 26, Richard Loizou, 31 and Richard Roberts, 36, were told by a judge to expect custodial sentences after being convicted of causing a public nuisance by a jury at Preston crown court in August. Another defendant, Julian Brock, 47, pleaded guilty so did not face trial. Continue reading...

Lawsuit argues that customers are being misled after tests found traces of glyphosate in bread productsTwo lawsuits have been filed against the sandwich company Pret a Manger in the US, claiming it deceptively labelled and marketed breads as “natural” when they contained glyphosate.The “false and misleading” practice suits come after it emerged that a teenager who was severely allergic to sesame died at London’s Heathrow airport in 2016, after eating an unlabelled Pret sandwich that contained the ingredient. Continue reading...

Two countries have frozen funding after a draft internal UN audit raised concerns over Erik Solheim’s frequent flying and expensesTwo countries have halted their funding to the UN Environment programme following sharp criticism of its leader’s frequent flying in a draft internal audit.The audit also said Erik Solheim, a former Norwegian environment minister, had “no regard for abiding by the set regulations and rules” and had claimed unjustified expenses. Now, Denmark and Sweden have frozen their funding until the audit is finalised. Continue reading...

Experts say animal may have been forced 1,000 miles south of its usual habitat by stormsA beluga whale has been sighted off Gravesend in the Thames estuary, more than 1,000 miles from its usual habitat in the Arctic.The ghostly white whale was videoed and photographed coming up for air on Tuesday lunchtime. Whale experts said the animal appeared lost but seemed to be swimming strongly. Continue reading...

Bulwark could protect against rising sea levels and 35,000 tonnes of first world war weaponry on seabedFor almost 100 years 35,000 tonnes of poison gas grenades, abandoned by the fleeing Germans around first world war battlefields, have lain in steel barrels on the seabed less than a kilometre from the Belgian coastline.A convoy of small boats dumped the cargo into the North Sea over a period of six months in 1919 when unloading it into the world’s oceans was thought to be the best way to protect people from exposure to the toxic material. Continue reading...

Experts warn emerging markets could suffer as crude prices hit four-year high of $82The global economy could be damaged if oil prices return to $100 (£76) a barrel, experts have warned, after crude prices hit a four-year high of $82.16.Some market watchers have predicted prices between $90 and $100 by the year’s end after Opec last weekend rebuffed Donald Trump’s demands for the oil cartel to rein in prices by expanding production. Continue reading...

Park lands have warmed twice as fast as the rest of the countryAmerica’s national parks have warmed twice as fast as the US average and could see some of the worst effects of climate change, according to a new study.Most of Joshua Tree national park could become uninhabitable for its eponymous trees, glaciers will continue to melt away at Glacier national park, and many other of America’s most treasured beauty spots could be rendered virtually unrecognizable by climate change, Patrick Gonzalez, the lead author of the study, writes in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Continue reading...

Residents of the transforming Brooklyn neighborhood, a peninsula surrounded by water, saw a grim look at its future on the city’s floodplain after Hurricane Sandy in 2012

Ruling cancels indefinitely a controversial sport hunt of grizzlies in Wyoming and IdahoIn a ruling hailed as historic for wildlife conservation in America, a US judge on Monday ordered that the world-famous grizzly bears living in and around Yellowstone national park be returned to the endangered species list.The move means that a controversial sport hunt of grizzlies in Wyoming and Idaho – outside the boundaries of the park – will be canceled indefinitely, extending protections against hunting that have lasted 44 years. Continue reading...

As people flee intense heat in Arizona for gentler climes, rental and property values soar. But what about those left behind?Only half-jokingly, some residents of a progressive city 300 miles north of the Mexican border have adopted the “build the wall” slogan in the face of a wave of newcomers. But these perceived interlopers are starkly different from Donald Trump’s imagination.They are American, mainly white and are fleeing the unlivable heat. Continue reading...

Submission to Senate inquiry urges reforms to ensure international obligations to protect biodiversity are metThe Law Council of Australia is concerned Australia’s system of environment laws was failing to meet international obligations to protect its biodiversity.In a submission to the Senate inquiry into the high rate of fauna extinctions, the council’s environment and planning law committee has called for reforms to reverse the decline in native species. Continue reading...

Roadmap outlines steps firms must take to reduce waste at every stage of supply chainLarge supermarkets and manufacturers are signing up to efforts to drive down the UK’s annual £20bn food waste bill by committing to halving waste from “farm to fork” by 2030.A roadmap being published on Tuesday by the government’s waste reduction body, Wrap, and the food and grocery charity IGD sets a series of milestones for businesses to reduce waste at every stage of the supply chain. The annual bill is equivalent to more than £300 per UK citizen. Continue reading...

Party committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by middle of the centuryAlmost all of Britain’s homes and businesses would be powered by wind, solar and nuclear power by 2030, under bold new green energy plans being outlined by Labour.Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, will declare on Tuesday that the party is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by the middle of the century. The UK’s current goal is an 80% cut by 2050. Continue reading...

Glyphosate – the most used pesticide ever – damages the good bacteria in honeybee guts, making them more prone to deadly infectionsThe world’s most used weedkiller damages the beneficial bacteria in the guts of honeybees and makes them more prone to deadly infections, new research has found.Previous studies have shown that pesticides such as neonicotinoids cause harm to bees, whose pollination is vital to about three-quarters of all food crops. Glyphosate, manufactured by Monsanto, targets an enzyme only found in plants and bacteria. Continue reading...

Devon and Cornwall police warn activists as cull zone is massively expandedPolice have warned badger cull protesters that they may use drones to try to keep order in the far south-west of England following heightened tensions between activists and officers.In an email to protesters seen by the Guardian, a Devon and Cornwall officer said the force would consider using drones “where intelligence dictates”. Continue reading...

Unfortunately, mainstream climate scientists are still right, and we’re running out of time to avoid dangerous global warmingWe’re currently on pace to double the carbon dioxide-equivalent (including other greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere by around mid-century. Since the late 1800s scientists have been trying to answer the question, how much global warming will that cause?In 1979, top climate scientists led by Jule Charney published a report estimating that if we double the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from pre-industrial levels of 280 ppm to 560 ppm, temperatures will warm by 3 ± 1.5°C. Four decades later, ‘climate sensitivity’ estimates remain virtually unchanged, but some climate contrarians have argued that the number is at the low end of that range, around 2°C or less. Continue reading...

By the end of this century, sea level rises alone could displace 13m people. Many states will have to grapple with hordes of residents seeking dry ground. But, as one expert says, ‘No state is unaffected by this’After her house flooded for the third year in a row, Elizabeth Boineau was ready to flee. She packed her possessions into dozens of boxes, tried not to think of the mold and mildew-covered furniture and retreated to a second-floor condo that should be beyond the reach of pounding rains and swelling seas.Boineau is leaving behind a handsome, early 20th-century house in Charleston, South Carolina, the shutters painted in the city’s eponymous shade of deep green. Last year, after Hurricane Irma introduced 8in of water into a home Boineau was still patching up from the last flood, local authorities agreed this historic slice of Charleston could be torn down. Continue reading...

Big Butterfly Count records worst summer ever for the species, despite the heatwave providing a boost to most othersFears are growing for the small tortoiseshell butterfly after this once-common garden insect continued its baffling decline despite the hot summer proving a boon to most species.The small tortoiseshell suffered its worst summer in the history of the Big Butterfly Count with sightings falling by 32% compared with last year, according to the charity Butterfly Conservation. Continue reading...

Nicola Sturgeon told more vigorous action needed to achieve post-2020 emissions targetNicola Sturgeon’s government needs much tougher policies on cutting emissions from Scotland’s roads and farms to meet its ambitious CO2 reduction targets, experts have warned.The UK government’s committee on climate change (CCC) said the Scottish National party government was well on track to hit its 2020 target to cut emissions by 56%, reducing them faster than the UK as a whole. However, that was largely because of substantial gains from the closure of Scotland’s last coal-fired power station at Longannet in Fife in 2016 and gains from cutting CO2 emissions from waste, which were relatively easy things to achieve. Continue reading...

Increasing demand from airlines will more than offset reductions from electric carsWorld oil production will soar to new records over the next five years, as a dramatic expansion in demand from airlines offsets the arrival of electric cars, according to a report from Opec.In a forecast that will dismay environmentalists – and which questions the theory that oil company reserves will become “stranded assets” – Opec’s annual report significantly revised production estimates upwards. Continue reading...

‘True risks’ of warming played down to placate fossil-fuel nationsWarnings about the dangers of global warming are being watered down in the final version of a key climate report for a major international meeting next month, according to reviewers who have studied earlier versions of the report and its summary.They say scientists working on the final draft of the summary are censoring their own warnings and “pulling their punches” to make policy recommendations seem more palatable to countries – such as the US, Saudi Arabia and Australia – that are reluctant to cut fossil-fuel emissions, a key cause of global warming. “Downplaying the worst impacts of climate change has led the scientific authors to omit crucial information from the summary for policymakers,” said one reviewer, Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. Continue reading...

Protesters including Billy Bragg and Chris Packham take to central London to demand pro-wildlife policiesThousands of people marched to Whitehall on Saturday to demand the government invests in wildlife-friendly policies and swiftly reverses the decline of British ecosystems.Protesters including Billy Bragg delivered a radical manifesto, co-edited by the broadcaster Chris Packham, to Downing Street. The manifesto called for an end to the “war on wildlife” following the decline of more than half of British species in recent decades. Continue reading...

To celebrate National Public Lands Day, a selection of our public lands storiesUS national parks are offering free entry today to mark National Public Lands Day, a celebration of the 640m acres of America that belong to the American people. We’ve been covering the fate of public lands relentlessly: they are adored by outdoors enthusiasts of every stripe, even as the administration of President Donald Trump is seeking to allow more mining and drilling and has already downsized two national monuments in Utah. Climate change, too, promises to be unforgiving – wildfires are reaching unfathomable size and glaciers are vanishing.Here is a selection of our public lands stories that should give you an idea of how to spend the day, visiting national monuments, forests and seashores from coast to coast. For a dose of reality, we’ve also included a few pieces exploring the threats America’s public lands are facing in the Trump era. Continue reading...

Lightweight bags will be rolled out within weeks to almost 1,400 stores across BritainThe Co-op is to be the first major supermarket in the UK to replace single-use plastic carrier bags with lightweight compostable alternatives that shoppers can reuse as biodegradable bags for food waste.The bags – a stronger version of the biodegradable bags the convenience chain has been trialling since 2014 – will be rolled out within weeks to almost 1,400 stores across England, Scotland and Wales, and then to all 2,600 shops. Continue reading...

The $1bn, decade-in-the-making creation can measure height and thickness of ice sheets to within a centimeter

There has been outrage online but Croydon locals seem unfazed and experts say real issue is carsOn the streets of Croydon on Friday morning, the only apparent sign of slaughter was a very dead pigeon, so trodden into the road as to be barely recognisable as animal remains. But for nearly three years, Croydon and the surrounding area of south London has been the hunting ground for an alleged mass killer of cats.At one point as many as 15 Scotland Yard officers, plus actor Martin Clunes, were on the case of the so-called M25 cat killer, suspected in approximately 500 cases of slaughter and mutilation reported since late 2015. On Thursday afternoon, however, it was announced that the long-running investigation, Operation Takahe, had concludedthat foxes were responsible. Continue reading...

A herd of bison, orangutan babies and a pod of hippos are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Erik Solheim’s huge travel bill is a ‘reputation risk’ and he has ‘no regard’ for rules, says draft internal auditThe globe-trotting travels of the UN’s environment chief have been sharply criticised in a draft internal audit as “contrary to the ethos of carbon emission reduction”.Erik Solheim, executive director of UN Environment, was travelling for 529 out of the 668 days audited, spending $488,518 (£370,380), according to the report. The audit also said he had “no regard for abiding by the set regulations and rules” and claimed unjustified expenses. Continue reading...

Black plastic, which cannot be recycled, to be phased out by end of monthLidl UK says it will remove black plastic from its entire fruit and vegetable range by the end of the month.Black plastic packaging is not recyclable in the UK, as it cannot be detected by the sorting systems used for plastic recycling, and the supermarket chain says its move will save an estimated 50 tonnes of black plastic waste a year. Continue reading...

The mayor of London is proud of his work boosting cycling in the capital, but his critics say too little is being doneOn a blustery September day two years into his mayoralty of London, Sadiq Khan appears atop a Santander cycle to open a stretch of kerb-protected bike lane – the 2.5km extension of cycle superhighway 6, from Farringdon to Kings Cross. It may be the first time he’s appeared officially on a bike since his 2016 election campaign but he seems genuinely passionate about cycling and walking, and has clearly done his homework – even if some of his stats don’t tell the whole story.Flanked by his deputy mayor for transport, Heidi Alexander, and his walking and cycling commissioner, Will Norman, Khan is bullish about his cycling record. This despite ongoing criticism over delays, and a bruising exchange with Westminster city council this summer – the council he brands “anti-walking, anti-cycling” after it blocked cycle superhighway 11 and Oxford Street pedestrianisation in quick succession. Continue reading...

For three months from November 1973, the Dutch government banned cars on Sundays to curb oil consumption during the Opec energy crisis. City residents enjoyed picnics on empty motorways and got around on foot, by bike ... and on horseback Continue reading...

Departmental officials repeatedly claim cabinet and budget confidentiality when asked about the grant processAustralia’s environment department head has told an inquiry it is wrong to assume that no due diligence was undertaken before a record $444m grant was offered to a private foundation for Great Barrier Reef projects.But the chair of a Senate inquiry examining the controversial grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation says he is “convinced now that there has been no long-term work into this proposal”. Continue reading...

The Victorian company had planned to explore for conventional gas as well as coal seam gasA company part-owned by Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart has failed to have the Victorian government’s fracking ban overturned or to be awarded $2.7bn in damages.Between 2002 and 2013 two subsidiaries of Lakes Oil, of which Rinehart is the second-largest shareholder, obtained four exploration permits and two retention leases under Victoria’s Petroleum Act 1998. A retention lease grants the right to any petroleum discovered during the permit period. Continue reading...

DfID says scheme to protect species in Indonesia and Liberia will create 16,000 jobsThe UK’s international development secretary has announced funding to help protect Sumatran tigers and west African chimpanzees.Only about 30 tigers are left in Indonesia as their forest habitats disappear, while in Liberia the illegal wildlife trade and loss of habitat threatens the survival of the chimpanzee. Continue reading...

Conservationists launch legal attempt to stop interior department from reversing a 100-year-old law that protects migratory birdsThe eagle may be America’s mascot, but being a bird today in the United States is tough. Billions die each year in the maws of domestic cats, or after crashing into power lines or skyscraper windows. But on a large scale, climate change is warping the environment of birds that migrate long distances, such as whooping cranes or Arctic terns. And bald eagles, the nation’s regal avatar, are being struck down by lead poisoning.Bird conservationists are now alarmed by a fresh threat – the Trump administration. In a striking new stance on a longstanding law protecting migrating birds, the federal government will essentially allow the “incidental” killing of birds via buildings, energy production and other developments that act as avian death traps. Continue reading...

More than 3,000 deer, ponies and cattle died last winter at the Oostvaardersplassen reserveA Dutch provincial council has authorised the mass culling of about 1,000 deer on a controversial nature reserve east of Amsterdam where more than 3,000 red deer, ponies and cattle died last winter, almost all of them shot by park rangers because they were starving.A report by a special committee of Flevoland council this year demanded an immediate end to the rewilding principles on which the unique 15,000-acre Oostvaardersplassen reserve was run, which allowed “natural processes” to determine the herbivore population. Continue reading...

Country rebuts charity’s accusations by inviting officials to see carcasses for themselvesBotswana has rebutted claims of a surge of elephant poaching by putting carcasses of animals that were allegedly slaughtered for ivory on display – some with tusks still intact.The Elephants Without Borders (EWB) charity claimed two weeks ago that it had discovered at least 87 elephant carcasses during a routine aerial survey of conservation areas, suggesting a sudden spike in killings in recent months. Continue reading...

U-turn means company will join BP, Shell and Total in contributing $100m to projectExxonMobil has joined the oil and gas industry’s flagship climate change project, reversing its decision not to join the alliance four years ago.The company was a notable holdout when the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OCGI) was launched, but will now join European peers BP, Shell and Total in contributing $100m (£75m) to curb the impact of global warming. Continue reading...

Spiders’ mating season leaves plants at Aitoliko Lagoon covered in 300-metre cobwebsA Greek beach has been turned into an arachnophobe’s worst nightmare, as spiders have covered it in a web some 300 metres long.A video, posted to YouTube by Giannis Giannakopoulos, shows the beach at the town of Aitoliko in western Greece under siege from the dense web. Continue reading...

Supplemental sand may have saved a North Carolina beach from Hurricane Florence, but some say the projects aren’t worth itWhen the coastal town of Wrightsville Beach, which buffers nearby Wilmington from the open ocean, began to come back to life on Wednesday after Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina, many people returning home were surprisingly relieved.Despite Florence roaring ashore in this exact spot last Friday and now causing catastrophic flooding inland, the hurricane had not destroyed the beach, as many had expected. Continue reading...

Record-breaking US wildfires are fueling a cottage industry of boutique services – and many are happy to pay the price

Documents suggest an aggressive response to possible protests against the oil pipeline amid fears of another Standing RockAngeline Cheek is preparing for disaster. The indigenous organizer from the Fort Peck reservation in Montana fears that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline could break and spill, destroy her tribe’s water, and desecrate sacred Native American sites.But environmental catastrophe is not the most immediate threat. Continue reading...

Financial analysts say regulator’s report makes it clear ‘many Australian companies are not meeting their legal requirements’Australian companies should be doing more to disclose risks to their business from climate change, according to a report by the corporate regulator Asic.The review, published on Thursday, examined climate risk disclosures by 60 companies in the ASX 300, in 25 recent initial public offering (IPO) prospectuses, and across 15,000 annual reports. Continue reading...