Environment | The Guardian

Difficult to coordinate, yes. But it could ameliorate Australia’s waste and recycling woesIn June, a wide-ranging Senate inquiry into the state of Australia’s recycling system recommended a national container deposit scheme (CDS) be rolled out across the country.Of all 18 inquiry recommendations, a national scheme is one that is at least part way there, all states except Tasmania and Victoria with an existing scheme or one soon to be implemented. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Television ads in Victoria and Queensland aim to get state governments to veto Turnbull’s set piece policyThe Queensland and Victorian governments will be hit with a new television advertising campaign in an effort to persuade them to torpedo the national energy guarantee at a critical meeting in early August.The activist group GetUp has combined with Greenpeace to bankroll what it describes as hard-hitting television advertisements targeting the two Labor-held states ahead of a meeting of energy ministers in August that will make or break the Turnbull government’s signature energy policy. Continue reading...

Far more likely the Romans merely exploited any dead whales found floating or cast ashore, suggests Pete Eiseman-RenyardThe researchers first quoted in your article (Romans had whale industry, research suggests, 11 July) have made a very bold extrapolation from very small evidence. I would agree with Dr Erica Rowan, cited towards the end of the piece, that one might expect documentary evidence if the Romans actually had a whaling industry. Far more likely they merely exploited any drift whales (dead whales found floating or cast ashore).Right whales (so called because they were the right whale to catch, being slow-swimming, floated once killed, and had a thick layer of blubber and a mouth full of baleen) certainly were exploited in the post-Roman period, and the Biscayan community had been rendered extinct by the Basque whalers by medieval times. Continue reading...

Bill passed by parliament means more than €300m shares in coal, oil, peat and gas will be sold ‘as soon as practicable’The Republic of Ireland will become the world’s first country to sell off its investments in fossil fuel companies, after a bill was passed with all-party support in the lower house of parliament.The state’s €8bn national investment fund will be required to sell all investments in coal, oil, gas and peat “as soon as is practicable”, which is expected to mean within five years. Norway’s huge $1tn sovereign wealth fund has only partially divested from fossil fuels, targeting some coal companies, and is still considering its oil and gas holdings. Continue reading...

A bottle deposit hub on the outskirts of Oslo has had a stream of high-level international visitors. Can its success be replicated worldwide?Tens of thousands of brightly coloured plastic drinks bottles tumble from the back of a truck on to a conveyor belt before disappearing slowly inside a warehouse on the outskirts of Oslo.As a workman picks up a few Coke bottles that have escaped, Kjell Olav Maldum looks on. “It is a system that works,” he says as another truck rumbles past. “It could be used in the UK, I think lots of countries could learn from it.” Continue reading...

We’ll need to mitigate and adapt to global warming to avoid massive costs from sea level rise

Exclusive: UK attempted to weaken new EU regulations of a lucrative whitening chemical, Ti02, found in cosmetics and sunscreensMichael Gove has been accused of “green Brexit hypocrisy” for trying to weaken regulation of a suspected carcinogen found in sun creams, paints and toothpastes, in a proposal seen by the Guardian.The European commission had proposed mandatory labelling and a cosmetics ban for titanium dioxide (TiO2) – a whitening chemical – after the European Chemicals Agency (Echa) declared it a “suspected carcinogen” last year. Continue reading...

Flotilla of barges with energy generators would be sent to Northern Ireland if UK crashes out of the EUA flotilla of barges would be sent to the coast of Northern Ireland with energy generators after Brexit to keep the region’s lights on in the event of no deal, according to reports on Wednesday.The scheme, which has been described as “potty” by business leaders in Northern Ireland, is said to be part of contingency planning by Whitehall mandarins in case the UK crashes out of the EU, smashing Ireland’s all-island electricity supply in its wake. Continue reading...

Gladys Berejiklian’s government accused of allowing companies to conduct ‘production by stealth’Licences needed for coal seam gas exploration in New South Wales have been effectively extended indefinitely past their expiry date, due to a legal loophole.Gas exploration – both conventional and coal seam gas – in the state requires a petroleum exploration tenement. Analysis of the NSW government’s tenements database shows 14 titles listed under “current titles” that are past their expiry date.

Smart Energy Council says state should reject Neg or make support for guarantee conditionalThe Smart Energy Council is urging the Queensland government to make any support for the Turnbull government’s national energy guarantee conditional, or it will risk dealing itself out of leading the effort on emissions reduction.With the fate of the Neg to be determined at a definitive meeting of state and federal energy ministers in early August, the Queensland government has called in stakeholders for a meeting on Thursday to help determine its position on the policy. Continue reading...

The record-breaking high temperatures across much of North America appear to be shaping people’s thinking, a survey findsThe warm temperatures that have scorched much of the US appear to be influencing Americans’ acceptance of climate science, with a new poll finding a record level of public confidence that the world is warming due to human activity.Related: Planet at its hottest in 115,000 years thanks to climate change, experts say Continue reading...

Leading expert on heather and moorland landscapes who was a dedicated environmentalistTravel north through the uplands of Britain in August and you enter the world heartland of the purple, heather-quilted landscape known as moorland. Its principal plant, ling heather, known scientifically as Calluna vulgaris, and the fire and grazing management that governs its growth and distinctive appeal, was the subject of Charles Gimingham’s pioneering research and quiet advocacy.Based at the University of Aberdeen from 1946, first as research assistant, then lecturer, and promoted on to be professor of botany from 1969 until 1988, Charles, who has died aged 95, became the foremost expert on heather and moorland landscapes, and a considerable force for scholarly environmentalism. Continue reading...

Alastair Chisholm urges the UK government to strengthen its national adaptation policy; Robert McCartney writes that China produces twice the CO as the USYour editorial warning that extreme events are likely to become a new and dangerous normal (The heatwave in Britain is part of a large and dangerous pattern, 10 July) highlights that what the UK can most effectively do in response is to plan to adapt. While decarbonisation across our economy and society is vital and the UK must improve its commitments on a range of fronts, we are also a highly populated island exposed to diverse and complex weather and climate risks from storms and floods to heatwaves and drought.Tuesday’s report by the National Infrastructure Commission makes the economic case for early, planned adaptation clear: it is way cheaper than responding to emergencies. This summer the government publishes its latest national adaptation programme. The first programme was spread too thinly and progress against it was hard to quantify. The latest version must establish an ambitious, targeted and measurable plan of action which ensures society is resilient to the worst the weather can throw at us in coming decades.

As US officials decide against banning product, producer Uralasbest puts Trump ‘seal of approval’ on palletsDonald Trump’s environmental policies may have caused controversy in the US but the president’s stance has managed to get him a literal stamp of approval from a Russian mining company.Uralasbest, one of the world’s largest producers and sellers of asbestos, has taken to adorning pallets of its product with a seal of Trump’s face, along with the words “Approved by Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States”. Continue reading...

Environmentalists have written to ministers, asking them to reform the planning system so that all future coal mines are automatically refusedEnvironmentalists have urged the government to kill off new coal mines in the UK, by reforming the planning system to block their development.Friends of the Earth, along with the RSPB, WWF and a group of academics, said ministers should build on their international climate change leadership against coal by taking stronger action at home. Continue reading...

Portland, Dorset: The gentle greens and yellows of our last visit are now bleached and tarnished, tall grasses faded to blond, wood spurge dried to rustA stone archway, framing sea and sky. The threshold to another world, a world unsuspected by visitors hurrying over the windswept plateau to the Bill, Portland’s beak-like southern tip.Under the eye of Rufus Castle, we wander down between spindly ivy-sashed trees and warm, lichened walls bright with valerian, to the cove where shuttered beach huts curve round a bank of big, pale stones. The sense of otherness increases. Earlier this year, we were met by the sight of three pebble minarets silhouetted against the waves. If we hadn’t taken photos, we’d have thought we had dreamed them. Continue reading...

Number of extinct species on EPBC fauna list will rise by almost 20% if species added to listTen species could soon be added to Australia’s list of extinct fauna, including a Queensland frog that was last seen in 1990.The federal government’s scientific advisory body is assessing whether to add nine mammals and the mountain mistfrog to its list of native animal species considered extinct under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Continue reading...

MPs debating the ivory bill must distinguish between the illegal market and the legitimate sale of significant works of art, says Martin Levy. Cecilia Grayson draws parallels between the ivory trade and the food industryFiona Harvey reports that, despite restrictions in place since 1989, illegal ivory is being sold across Europe (Report, 10 July). Nothing more clearly demonstrates the significance of the widely welcomed ivory bill currently passing though parliament.However, the impression given in the pages of Hansard suggests that many MPs cannot distinguish between culturally significant works of art created over the millennia, and the knick-knacks sold online (which they often cite)and other popular outlets. The elimination of the market for trinkets is unequivocally supported by campaigners for bona fide, pre-1947 works of art. It is hoped that when the bill becomes law, appropriate consideration will be given to the regulations required to ensure its fair operation. Continue reading...

Dwight and Steven Hammond convicted of arson, which led ranchers and militia groups to occupy federal wildlife refuge in protestDonald Trump on Tuesday issued full pardons to two Oregon ranchers whose imprisonment prompted a militia standoff with the federal government.Related: 'I still don’t believe it': Hammond family feels forgotten in Oregon standoff Continue reading...

Study shows poor air quality leads to health problems and ‘should serve as a warning’Air pollution leads to spikes in health problems and drives up hospital admissions and visits to the GP, according to a new study.The report proves an “absolutely clear” link between poor air quality and health problems and researchers said it should serve as a warning to politicians about the serious impacts of toxic air on public health. Continue reading...

Coffee giant first in UK to add charge in bid to cut overuse of 2.5bn disposable cups a yearStarbucks is the first UK coffee chain to introduce a national “latte levy” - a 5p charge on single-use paper coffee cups - in a bid to reduce the overuse and waste of 2.5bn disposable cups every year.Following the success of a three-month trial in London, the chain said it would roll out the charge to all of its 950 stores in the UK from 26 July. Continue reading...

Rescue workers search for survivors and 2 million people are subject to evacuation ordersThe number of people who have died in floods and landslides triggered by “historic” levels of torrential rain in Japan has climbed to at least 155, with dozens of others still missing.Almost 2 million people were still subject to evacuation orders on Monday, while tens of thousands of rescue workers battled mud, water and rubble to search for survivors stranded in their homes. Continue reading...

Commissioner says Murray-Darling authority seems to have approved plans it did not see as achievableThe commissioner heading South Australia’s royal commission into the Murray-Darling Basin plan, Bret Walker SC, has repeatedly questioned whether the Murray Darling Basin Authority relied on the best available science.Hearing evidence today from the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, a group that includes some of Australia’s most eminent environmental scientists, Walker quizzed the group on the twin themes of whether the MDBA was fulfilling its obligations under the Water Act and whether it was relying on the best available science. Continue reading...

Europe must increase efforts to investigate and control the ivory trade, say campaignersIllegal ivory has been found on sale in 10 European countries, contravening international efforts to cut down on the trade which campaigners say encourages the poaching of elephants. Continue reading...

Harting Down, West Sussex: Bees and black-veined marble white butterflies float from flower to flower, as skylarks trill above and a meadow pipit parachutes down into the grass Continue reading...

Zoos Victoria made the decision after Nestlé lost its sustainable certificationProducts from the food and drink giant Nestlé will no longer be stocked at the stores and food carts at Melbourne and Werribee zoos.

Government advisers say UK should back just one more new nuclear power station in the next few yearsGovernment advisers have told ministers to back only a single new nuclear power station after Hinkley Point C in the next few years, because renewable energy sources could prove a safer investment.The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) said the government should cool down plans for a nuclear new build programme that envisage as many as six plants being built. Continue reading...

Its own infrastructure adviser says more renewables is the low-cost optionHere’s a report that must not be lost in the noise of Brexit. The National Infrastructure Assessment is a once-a-parliament affair from a body that was created to save us from the deadly combination of politicians’ machismo and the electoral cycle.More prosaically, the National Infrastructure Commission’s job is to inject long-term strategic thinking into the critical business of building important stuff. Its first report contains a devastating conclusion: the government should drop its obsession with building more and more nuclear power stations. Continue reading...

Creation of the world’s largest marine reserve comes a step closer as major companies add supportThe creation of the world’s biggest ocean sanctuary, protecting a huge tract of remote seas around Antarctica, has come a step closer after major fishing companies came out in favour of the plan.A global campaign – spearheaded by Greenpeace and backed by 1.7 million people – had put massive pressure on the krill fishing industry and retailers amid fears it was endangering one of the world’s last great wildernesses, undermining the global fight against climate change. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Data obtained by the Guardian suggests land clearing may be accelerating under Biodiversity Conservation ActComplaints about suspected illegal land clearing to a government hotline have increased sharply under the New South Wales government’s new Biodiversity Conservation Act, suggesting the rate of land clearing may be accelerating.Data obtained by the Guardian under freedom of information laws after an eight month battle with the Department of Environment shows that reports of suspected illegal land clearing have increased by nearly 30% in the months since August last year when the new laws came into force.

EDF Energy thought to have piggybacked on plans by Centrica to sell off some of nuclear power stakeThree international banks have begun courting buyers for a 49% stake in Britain’s eight nuclear power stations, starting the process of a major shakeup of the sector’s ownership.UK-listed Centrica said in February it was looking to sell its 20% stake in the nuclear plants, which UBS and Goldman Sachs are understood to be handling. Continue reading...

Scientists find a spectacular forest of bamboo coral, rare carnivorous sponges, and species never before seen in the region Continue reading...

Deniers have conservative media outlets and control the Republican Party; climate alarmists are largely ignored

Chris Grayling to unveil plans to increase take-up of ultra-low emission vehiclesPlans to install hundreds of thousands of additional charging points for electric vehicles are to be announced by the transport secretary.Chris Grayling will unveil proposals aimed at making it easier to recharge electric vehicles than refuel those running on petrol or diesel, in an attempt to increase the take-up of ultra-low emission vehicles. Continue reading...

Campaigners propose using buried rivers as source of fossil fuel-free heatBoris Johnson’s team wanted to uncover them for Londoners. The Environment Agency explored turning them into wildlife paradises.Now campaigners are targeting London’s lost rivers, water courses that have been gradually buried over the centuries, as a source of fossil fuel-free heat. Continue reading...

On-the-ground investigation finds use of banned CFC-11 is rife in China’s plastic foam industryA mysterious surge in emissions of an illegal ozone-destroying chemical has been tracked down to plastic foam manufacturers in China, according to an on-the-ground investigation published on Monday.The chemical, trichlorofluoromethane or CFC-11, has been banned around the world since 2010 and is a potent destroyer of ozone, which protects life on Earth from UV radiation, and strong greenhouse gas. A shock rise in the gas in recent years was revealed by atmospheric scientists in May, but they could only narrow the source to somewhere in East Asia. Continue reading...

Forestry industry and Barnaby Joyce have been pushing to downgrade species’ statusConservation groups say the Leadbeater’s possum should retain its conservation status as a critically endangered Australian species, based on new advice from the government’s scientific advisory body.In a draft consultation document, the threatened species scientific committee says the Victorian possum meets at least one of the criteria to make it eligible for listing as critically endangered. Continue reading...

Chinese state-run firm eyeing up multibillion-pound deal for majority share in eight sitesThe Chinese government has emerged as a potential buyer of a multibillion-pound stake in Britain’s nuclear power plants.The talks will reignite debate about China’s involvement in the UK nuclear power industry. Two years ago, the government paused approval for the £18bn Hinkley Point C project because of security concerns over China’s stake. Continue reading...

Chief executive James Cross defends the organisation and Norwich Green councillor Denise Carlo takes it to taskGeorge Monbiot (4 July) should be assured that Natural England retains its strong voice for nature, along with its statutory role and driving mission to protect and enhance the country’s wildlife, geology, habitats and landscapes. Our independence from government is firmly set out in the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, which gives Natural England the powers to ensure that the natural environment is conserved, enhanced and managed for the benefit of present and future generations.Like all public bodies we have met the challenge of reduced budgets by reducing our reliance on public funding and instead increasingly working in partnership with organisations and individuals that share our commitment to the natural world – such as the Back from the Brink partnership that has helped save 20 species from the threat of extinction. Furthermore, in recent years we have made great progress in creating the world’s longest continuous coastal footpath and helped establish a “blue belt” of 50 marine conservation zones around England, with more in the pipeline. With the publication of the government’s 25-year plan for the environment, Natural England has a key role to play in delivering this ambitious agenda to leave the environment in a better state.

Shopkeepers are essentially correct: business rates are pre-internet and have become archaicHouse of Fraser, Mothercare, Marks & Spencer, Debenhams. The list of major retailing names that have announced plans to close stores this year is long, and will undoubtedly lengthen. That is before you count the chains that have gone the way of Woolworths and packed up altogether – the likes of Toys R Us and Maplin. And nobody has a reliable tally of the independent shops that have disappeared.No retailer has a right to survive and some of the headline-grabbing retreats owe much to outdated formats, lack of investment or bad management. Yet talk of a “crisis” on our high streets is legitimate. At least 35,000 retail jobs have been lost or put at risk of redundancy this year, which represents a brutal readjustment even at a time of high rates of general employment. Continue reading...

An exhibition at London’s Natural History Museum looks at how animals move, hunt and feed in places where no light ever shinesThe pale-throated sloth, from the northern Amazon forests, has evolved in an unusual way to survive the dangers of swinging through trees in total darkness. The nocturnal bear-like creature has developed a sense of smell so sensitive it can tell whether branches nearby are emitting whiffs of sap or not.“That allows them to swing only on to branches that are healthy,” said Professor Geoff Boxshall of the Natural History Museum in London. “They can avoid grabbing one that is sapless and dead, which might break, causing them to fall out of a tree and injure themselves. Thus they can swing safely through forests in complete darkness.” Continue reading...

Australia is drowning in a tsunami of plastic pollution and excessive packaging is one of the culprits. Boomerang Alliance asked supporters to send in pictures of the worst examples

Reducing and recycling our plastic waste will help the plastic crisis, but it won’t solve the problem. Corporations must take responsibility for the problems they are creating

The £2.15m deal will protect 460 acres of nature-rich farmland in the Peak DistrictHundreds of acres of flower-rich farmland have been bought by the National Trust to throw a lifeline to declining wildlife.The £2.15 million deal to buy 186 hectares (460 acres) of land in the Peak District – an area equivalent to 260 football pitches – is the biggest farmland acquisition by the Trust since it bought Trevose Head in Cornwall in 2016. Continue reading...

Rosamund Kissi-Debrah believes poor air quality in London contributed to her daughter’s deathThe evening before she died, Ella Kissi-Debrah picked the outfit she wanted to wear to her primary school disco the following day: new jeans and a checked top. Her mother laid them out next to her school uniform, but a few hours later the nine-year-old suffered an acute asthma attack. She never made it to the party.“We ended up burying her in the clothes instead,” said her mother, Rosamund. “I didn’t know whether it was the right thing to do, but it felt right at the time.”

Francis also denounces ‘sterile hypocrisy’ of those who turn a blind eye to the world’s poorPope Francis urged governments on Friday to make good on their commitments to curb global warming, warning that climate change, continued unsustainable development and rampant consumption threatens to turn the Earth into a vast pile of “rubble, deserts and refuse”.Francis made the appeal at a Vatican conference marking the third anniversary of his landmark environmental encyclical “Praise Be.” The document, meant to spur action at the 2015 Paris climate conference, called for a paradigm shift in humanity’s relationship with Mother Nature. Continue reading...

Exclusive: new construction work at coal terminal scheduled to begin as Juru group of traditional owners seeks stop orderAdani says it will proceed with new construction work at its Abbot Point coal terminal with or without the involvement of Juru local traditional owners, amid an escalating dispute about the protection of sacred sites.On Thursday a group of traditional owners, Juru Enterprises Ltd, lodged an application for a stop order that could force Adani to cease work in the vicinity of Abbot Point and along part of the proposed rail link to the Carmichael mine. Continue reading...

Rangers are sick of mistaken panther sightings, which detract from the fight against feral catsA large cat in Western Australia that was mistaken for a panther is the latest in a long line of mythical big cat sightings that wildlife rangers say are unhelpful.The large black feline – estimated to be 50% larger than a house cat – was spotted in the town of Coorow, 275km north of Perth, in late June, and reported to wildlife authorities as a potential panther or big cat. Continue reading...

RSPCA has collected a large number of gulls exhibiting signs of disorientation, confusion and loss of balanceGulls in Devon and areas of Dorset have been portraying signs of drunkenness, the RSPCA has said.The animal welfare charity has collected a large number of gulls exhibiting signs of disorientation, confusion and loss of balance. The first incidents were reported on 21 June. Continue reading...