by Nina Lakhani Climate justice reporter on (#6YVD7)
Activists launch civil disobedience campaign in New York and San Francisco after company dropped climate vowsSeven people were arrested as hundreds of climate and Indigenous rights activists participated in non-violent demonstrations at Wells Fargo's corporate offices in New York City and San Francisco on Wednesday, in what marks the launch of a summer of civil disobedience against billionaires and corporations accused of cowering to Donald Trump.In New York City, dozens of protesters stormed the lobby of the bank's corporate offices, disrupting employees by blocking the entrance and calling out what they describe as Wells Fargo's complicity in the climate crisis. Continue reading...
Landmark opinion says those that fail to prevent climate harm could be liable for compensation and restitutionStates must tackle fossil fuels, the world's top court has ruled, and failing to prevent harm to the climate could result in them being ordered to pay reparations.In a landmark advisory opinion published on Wednesday, the international court of justice (ICJ) said countries must prevent harm to the climate system and that failing to do so could result in their having to pay compensation and make other forms of restitution. Continue reading...
GMB and Prospect say government needs greater focus on green energy amid political shift away from net zero commitmentsThe Labour government needs to ramp up the creation of green jobs or risk workers being tempted to vote for parties opposing the shift to net zero, two major unions have said.The GMB and Prospect, who between them represent tens of thousands of energy workers, said there needs to be more of a focus on increasing green jobs as the fossil fuel industry is increasingly phased out. Continue reading...
Speaking to Ruth Rogers, the actor took aim at the film industry's lack of sustainability, noting he could feed a family with the amount I'm eating' when bulking up for film rolesBenedict Cumberbatch has called the Hollywood film industry grossly wasteful", taking particular issue with its squandering of resources in the aid of set building, lighting - and bulking up physiques for blockbusters.It's horrific eating beyond your appetite," Cumberbatch told Ruth Rogers on her food-focused podcast, Ruthie's Table 4, adding that when he was shooting Marvel's Doctor Strange, he would eat five meals a day. In addition, he would snack on boiled eggs, almonds and cheese, in order to try to ingest enough protein to transform his body. Continue reading...
Jacob Rees-Mogg's Tory fantasy of a post-Brexit bonfire of regulations is coming true. Our bodies and ecosystems will pay the priceIt's what the extreme right of the Tory party wanted from Brexit: to tear down crucial public protections, including those that defend us from the most brutal and dangerous forms of capital. The Conservatives lost office before they were able to do their worst. But never mind, because Labour has now picked up the baton.A month ago, so quietly that most of us missed it, the government published a consultation on deregulating chemicals. While most consultations last for 12 weeks, this one runs for eight, half of which cover the holiday period - it closes on 18 August. The intention is set out at the beginning: to reduce costs to business". This, as repeated statements by Keir Starmer make clear, means tearing up the rules.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnistOn Tuesday 16 September, join George Monbiot, Mikaela Loach and other special guests at the Guardian's climate assembly, live at the Barbican in London and livestreamed globally. Book tickets here or at Guardian.Live Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#6YTVX)
Petrostates and well-funded lobbyists at UN-hosted talks are derailing a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the planetBeing surrounded and yelled at about misrepresenting reality" is not how serious United Nations-hosted negotiations are meant to proceed. But that is what happened to Prof Bethanie Carney Almroth during talks about a global treaty to slash plastic pollution in Ottawa, Canada. The employees of a large US chemicals company formed a ring" around her, she says.At another event in Ottawa, Carney Almroth was harassed and intimidated" by a plastic packaging representative, who barged into the room and shouted that she was fearmongering and pushing misinformation. That meeting was an official event organised by the UN. So I filed the harassment reports with the UN," said Carney Almroth. The guy had to apologise, and then he left the meeting. He was at the next meeting." Continue reading...
Antonio Guterres says sun is rising on a clean energy age' as 90% of renewable power projects cheaper than fossil fuelsThe world is on the brink of a breakthrough in the climate fight and fossil fuels are running out of road, the UN chief said on Tuesday, as he urged countries to funnel support into low-carbon energy.More than nine in 10 renewable power projects globally are now cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives. Solar power is about 41% cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternative, and onshore wind generation is less than half the price of fossil fuels, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency. Continue reading...
Naturalists say it has been an outstanding" summer for butterflies and other flying insects after last summer's dramatic decline. Here are some of your sightings so far this year Continue reading...
The dark waters of San Antonio estuary are thought to hide 190 bodies, killed over decades of conflict. The first state-backed search turned to local experts to try to find themAs scuba diver Pedro Albarracin scours the muddy seabed surrounding Skull Island, opposite the Colombian port city of Buenaventura, he invokes the protection of Yemaya, goddess of the seas, and Oshun, goddess of the rivers - deities of the Yoruba faith.The dark waters of the San Antonio estuary around him are believed to conceal the bodies of at least 190 people disappeared during Colombia's long and violent armed conflict, a struggle that gave the islet its morbid name. Continue reading...
Agency will no longer use socially disadvantaged', which describes people subjected to discrimination, including Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian groupsThis story was originally published by Capital B, a nonprofit newsroom that centers Black voices.Lloyd Wright isn't shocked that the US Department of Agriculture is reversing a 35-year-old policy meant to help Black farmers in favor of a race-neutral approach. Continue reading...
by Nina Lakhani Climate justice reporter on (#6YT6Q)
Processing debris from Israel's destruction of homes, schools and hospitals could take four decadesMillions of tonnes of rubble left by Israel's bombardment of Gaza could generate more than 90,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions - and take as long as four decades to remove and process, a study has found.Israel's destruction of Palestinian homes, schools and hospitals in Gaza generated at least 39m tonnes of concrete debris between October 2023 and December 2024, which will require at least 2.1m dump trucks driving 18m miles (29.5m km) to transport to disposal sites, researchers said. Continue reading...
Public holiday announced in Tehran as government tries to grapple with deepening water crisisIranian authorities have asked people to limit water consumption amid severe heatwaves and a water crisis across the country.Iran is experiencing its hottest week of the year, according to the national meteorological service, with temperatures exceeding 50C in some areas. Continue reading...
Two years after the Nova Kakhovka dam was destroyed in Ukraine, nature has returned in abundance to the drained land in a big natural experiment' - but it could be lost as quickly as it appearedAt the southern tip of Europe's largest river island, the ground falls away into a vast and unexpected vista. From a high, rocky ledge on Khortytsia Island, the view opens on to a sea of swaying young willows and mirrored lagoons. Some of the trees are already many metres tall, but this is a young forest. Just a few years ago, all of it was under water.This is Velykyi Luh - the Great Meadow," says Valeriy Babko, a retired history teacher and army veteran, standing on the former reservoir shoreline at Malokaterynivka village. For him, this extraordinary new-old environment represents more than nature alone.Water flows over the collapsed Kakhovka dam on 7 June 2023. Photograph: AP Continue reading...
Twenty-seven trunks symbolise child flood victims: They died as a result of choices - terrible and deadly choices'Twenty-seven blue, pink and purple trunks, adorned with yellow roses and other flowers, were placed within view of the White House on Monday - each representing a child who perished when Camp Mystic in Texas was overwhelmed by a devastating flood.We are gentle, angry people and we are singing for our lives," sang a group of activists, including mothers from Texas, as they protested against the deadly consequences of government cuts and Donald Trump's inaction on the climate crisis. Continue reading...
This precious resource should never have been privatised, and tougher regulation won't solve the problemLabour could have chosen the public interest over the profit motive, as it set about its promised reorganisation of the water industry in England and Wales. Polling last year showed a higher level of support for publicly owned water companies than railways. Yet while train companies are being renationalised as contracts expire, ministers ruled out a reversal of 1989's water privatisation before they commissioned Sir Jon Cunliffe, a former central banker, to report on how they could improve this failing industry through tougher regulation.This newspaper regrets that the question of ownership was taken off the table. Water is among the most precious of all natural resources and the promarket logic for the sell-off was bogus. In the absence of competition, regional monopolies were created and, in the decades since, businesses have enriched themselves while failing to fulfil their responsibilities. No other European government has followed suit in offloading vital infrastructure including pipes and reservoirs, and enabling investors to extract wealth by loading up balance sheets with debt.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
A harder rain needs to fall on those responsible for the water crisis. Let Thames Water fail - it doesn't deserve a bailoutIn a bone dry summer, every drop of water counts. So, even though the rain is finally falling again now, it's still hard to take it for granted, or to ignore the way that everything in the countryside still feels unnervingly out of rhythm: earth too cracked, grass too bleached, wheat harvest being brought in too early, rivers too low - and, knowing what Thames Water has been pumping into them, water quite possibly too dirty to cool off in.In May, the company was fined 122.7m for the combined sins of sewage dumping and continuing to pay shareholder dividends despite its environmental failings. It responded by protesting that it might go bust if actually held accountable for its actions, a sentence that sums up everything people find infuriating about the water industry. Yet its resentful customers have no choice but to keep paying bills that are expected to rise by a third over the next five years - though Thames Water, inevitably, asked to be allowed to charge more - while wondering how we ever let a commodity this precious become so badly managed, heading into a volatile new era of summer drought and winter flood.Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
by Bryony Moore Ben Makuch Oliver Milman Mathilde Pon on (#6YSNF)
Disasters and tragedies have long been a source of conspiracy theories. But when devastating flash floods hit Texas over the Fourth of July weekend, far-right conspiracies over cloud seeding and weather manipulation spread within a matter of hours. The floods killed at least 135 people, including children who were staying at an all-girl summer camp along the Guadalupe River. Extremism reporter Ben Makuch explains more behind these conspiracy theories, while Guardian US environment reporter Oliver Milman tells us what really happened
More than 600 captive-bred spotted tree frogs have joined the dwindling wild population near Mount Beauty - and so far more than half have been found again
Captive-bred critically endangered frogs are managing to survive after being released at a mountain stream near Mount Beauty in Victoria, with some small frogs found about a kilometre from where they were dropped off. More than 600 spotted tree frogs have so far joined dwindling wild populations in the Kiewa River system, as part of a Zoos Victoria conservation breeding program designed to boost numbers and genetic diversity after 50% of the frog's habitat was severely burnt in the 2019-20 black summer bushfires Continue reading...
Technicalities of case mustn't stop Albanese government from bold action on emissions before problems of climate change are visited upon communities closer to home
1.2tn yuan project has broken ground in Tibet, premier says, despite fears of downstream nations India and BangladeshConstruction of the world's biggest hydropower megadam has begun, China's premier has said, calling it the project of the century".The huge structure is being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, in Tibetan territory. Continue reading...
Albert Manifold, ex-boss at buildings material company CRH, to take over from embattled Helge LundBP has appointed a successor to its embattled chair, Helge Lund, as the energy company breaks from its net zero strategy and pivots back to fossil fuels.Albert Manifold, the former boss of the building material company CRH, will join the BP board on 1 September as a non-executive director and as chair-elect, before taking over on 1 October. Continue reading...
by Oliver Milman in Satartia, Mississippi on (#6YSCJ)
In Satartia, Mississippi, locals say a CO2 pipeline leak created an aftermath like a zombie apocalypse'On a clear February evening in 2020, a smell of rotten eggs started to waft over the small town of Satartia, Mississippi, followed by a green-tinged cloud. A load roar could be heard near the highway that passes the town.Soon, nearby residents started to feel dizzy, some even passed out or lay on the ground shaking, unable to breathe. Cars, inexplicably, cut out, their drivers leaving them abandoned with the doors open on the highway. Continue reading...
by Lisa Cox and Australian Associated Press on (#6YSE9)
Greens' Sarah Hanson-Young warns $14m in federal funding nowhere near' enough to support South Australian communities reeling from toxic algal bloom covering coast
by Annette McGivney in Cortez, Colorado on (#6YRZE)
The decision to let a small blaze burn - before it suddenly erupted - has drawn scrutiny. Now those who love the remote North Rim are reckoning with the destructionWhen lightning struck on 4 July along the remote North Rim of Grand Canyon national park, sparking a small wildfire in a patch of dry forest, few predicted the terror and loss that lay ahead.Fire managers decided that conditions seemed ideal to let the blaze burn at a low intensity - a practice known as control and contain" that helps clear out excess fuels and decreases the chance of a more catastrophic wildfire in the future. Rains from previous weeks had left the forest floor moist and weather forecasts indicated the summer monsoon season would arrive soon. Continue reading...
Steve Reed says he is unable to rule out further above-inflation rises and any decision would be up to regulatorsThe environment secretary, Steve Reed, has said he is furious" about an average 36% rise in water bills in England and Wales but was unable to rule out further above-inflation increases in future to fix the broken water sector.Reed said he hoped that root and branch" reform of the industry would lead to billions of pounds more in investment, which would mean companies would never again" have to increase bills in the way they did last year. Continue reading...
From Shakespeare to Radiohead, ancient woodlands have shaped the UK's creative landscape. They deserve to be celebratedIf the mindless felling of the Sycamore Gap tree has taught us anything, it is that there is no such thing as just a tree", as one of the perpetrators, Adam Carruthers, told the jury. It was almost as if someone had been murdered," he said of the ensuing public outcry. For many it was.Animism runs deeply through our relationship with arboreal life. From Macbeth's prophetic Birnam Wood to the towering Ents in The Lord of the Rings, trees have long been personified in literature. And, from Constable's bucolic Suffolk to David Hockney's Yorkshire wold, they have helped shape Britain's artistic landscape.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
With tax reform back on the agenda thanks to the productivity roundtable, Henry's 2010 review has a lot of answers to the biggest challenges facing the Albanese government
Use of wastewater treatment plant effluent containing Pfas threatens wildlife, food and drinking water, advocates sayMany of the nation's wetlands are being filled with toxic Pfas forever chemicals" as wastewater treatment plant effluent tainted with the compounds is increasingly used to restore swampland and other waters. The practice threatens wildlife, food and drinking water sources, environmental advocates warn.Effluent is the liquid discharged by wastewater treatment plants after it disinfects" sewage in the nation's sewer system. The treatment process largely kills pathogens and the water is high in nutrients that help plants grow, so on one level it is beneficial to struggling ecosystems. Continue reading...
Big Butterfly Count asks volunteers to spend 15 minutes in local green space with big recovery expected after 2024's dramatic declinePeople are being urged to help measure the scale of Britain's butterfly bounceback after last summer's dramatic decline with this year's launch of the world's biggest insect survey.The Big Butterfly Count asks volunteers to spend 15 minutes in a local green space counting the butterflies and day-flying moths they see. Results of the survey, which takes place from 18 July to 10 August, can be logged on the Butterfly Conservation charity's website or via its free app. Continue reading...
Environment Agency records 75 serious incidents among total of 2,800, with Thames Water being worst offenderSerious pollution incidents by water companies were up 60% last year compared with the year before, data has revealed.These incidents are the most environmentally damaging and indicate that the sewage spill or other pollution incident has a serious, extensive or persistent impact on the environment, people or property. They could, for example, result in mass fish deaths in rivers. Continue reading...
by Ajit Niranjan Europe environment correspondent on (#6YQSN)
Rules to prevent enormous waste' of fuel are seen as weak and poorly enforced and firms have little incentive to stopThe fossil fuel industry pumped an extra 389m tonnes of carbon pollution into the atmosphere last year by needlessly flaring gas, a World Bank report has found, in an enormous waste" of fuel that heats the planet by about as much as the country of France.Flaring is a way to get rid of gases such as methane that arise when pumping oil out of the ground. While it can sometimes keep workers safe by relieving buildups of pressure, the practice is routine in many countries because it is often cheaper to burn gas than to capture, transport, process and sell it. Continue reading...
The Kangaroo Island assassin spider's only known home is in the north-west of the island off the coast of South Australia, where it hides out in moist clumps of leaf litter. As parts of Kangaroo Island - still recovering from the black summer bushfires - suffer through near-record drought, scientists say an invasive plant root disease is drying out the Jurassic-era spider's habitat even further Continue reading...
Indigenous groups had offered to rehome grizzly nicknamed Tex who was killed without authorizationThe journey of Tex, a young grizzly bear that gripped public attention in Canada after swimming to a tiny populated island, came to a violent end this week after he was shot and killed without authorization, despite plans by Indigenous groups to relocate him.The four-year-old bear's landfall on 25 May on Texada Island, a tiny island off the west coast, set off a controversy between differing interpretations of how to treat wild predators. Its shooting on Tuesday has advocates calling for the British Columbia government to act faster when it comes to working with First Nations on environmental stewardship. Continue reading...
The president is threatening to deport essential farm workers, grocery clerks and food delivery drivers. But without them, shelves could go empty and prices could soarThe Trump administration's assault on immigrants is starting to hit the American food supply.In Texas, farmers who have for years depended on undocumented people for cheap labor - to plant, harvest and haul produce - have reported that workers are staying home to avoid raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). In Los Angeles, restaurants and food trucks have been forced to close as the immigrants who cook and wait tables fear Ice and other law enforcement. Continue reading...
Residents of Minot, North Dakota, exasperated by proliferation of furry foot-long neighborsThe Richardson's ground squirrel weighs less than a pound, is about a foot long and is native to the northern Plains.The little creature also is a ferocious tunneler, and it's exasperating the people of Minot, North Dakota, where it's burrowing everywhere from vacant lots to the middle of town, and growing more plentiful over the past two decades. Continue reading...
Environment | The Guardian