Aigas, Invernessshire and Uganda: Wintering wheatears were abundant in Uganda, looking exactly the same as they do when they arrive in the Highlands Continue reading...

Tony Abbott argues offsets are carbon trading but government says it could include them in energy guaranteeThe Turnbull government is hedging its bets on whether to allow energy companies to buy offsets to comply with their new 26% emissions reduction target.

How much rubbish could you collect from a suburban beach in 30 minutes? You may find the answer confronting. Guardian Australia joins Paul Sharp and Silke Stuckenbrock from the Two Hands Project to see just how prevalent plastics are on Australia's beaches Continue reading...

‘It never breaks down and goes away,’ say scientists struggling to understand the impact of widespread pollutionWhile heading down the Brisbane river, Jim Hinds once pulled aboard a drunken half-naked man just seconds from “going down for the last time”.

My friend Iain Reddish, who has died aged 72, had a varied career in which he was a parliamentary aide, teacher, public relations officer and sports executive before settling down to be an international environmental lobbyist with Greenpeace for more than a decade.He joined Greenpeace in 1995, moving to its Amsterdam headquarters, and worked on various projects, including the Save the Whale campaign. By the time he left in 2007, he had visited 149 cities in 38 countries. His final role was as European coordinator for Eurogroup for Animals, an organisation based in Brussels that seeks to improve the treatment of animals throughout the European Union, a job he held until retirement in 2012. Continue reading...

Citizens Advice says silence on energy efficiency plans will mean households lose outThe government’s failure to take action on insulating draughty homes has been criticised by the statutory body for energy consumers.Related: Smart systems key to future of cheaper and cleaner energy supply Continue reading...

Five surprising objects that contain plastic – with toxic implications for the environmentLast Tuesday, Waitrose announced plans to remove all disposable coffee cups from their stores by autumn of this year – customers will have to bring a reusable one of their own. Despite their cardboard appearance, coffee cups are actually lined with polyethylene and are hard to recycle. The cups gradually break down to form microplastics, which make their way into our waterways and food supply. Continue reading...

Firm joins PG Tips in dropping synthetic sealants as other major producers look to make bags 100% biodegradableThe UK’s longest-established Fairtrade tea brand has become the latest to ditch synthetic sealants in its teabags, amid mounting consumer pressure on manufacturers to help cut down on plastic pollution.Clipper Teas – which champions the unbleached teabag – hopes to introduce a new, fully biodegradable bag free of polypropylene, a sealant used across the industry to ensure bags hold their shape, by the summer. Continue reading...

Fund to be split into three pots to tackle ocean pollution, research and waste managementThe government has earmarked £61.4m from the public purse to fight the rising tide of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.Theresa May announced the fund ahead of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in London next week. Continue reading...

A combination of the beast from the east and a dismal bank holiday weekend has put the nation’s crops on holdLast year, asparagus growers were harvesting as early as 8 April. This spring, they are not expecting to harvest their open-field crop until the last week of April – a week later than the official start of the season, St George’s Day, 23 April. Welcome to just one of the consequences of Britain’s disastrously delayed spring.“We have had a very challenging time,” said Guy Smith, vice president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU). “March breezed in with the ‘beast from the east’ and went out with the worst bank holiday on record.” For asparagus-lovers there is at least an upside. “The combination has to be right for the crowns to push through,” explained Per Hogberg, of grower Wealmoor. “The air temperature has to be at least 12C, while the soil temperature should be between 8C and 10C. With warmer weather expected, consumers can expect a bumper crop in mid-May,” he said. Continue reading...

Motoring experts believe thousands of older diesel cars will fail revamped vehicle testThousands of older diesel cars could be forced off the roads from next month by a stricter emissions test that forms part of the biggest shakeup to MOTs for 20 years.From 20 May, people taking their car to a testing station will face a completely new MOT, which motoring experts believe will lead to many more diesel car failures. Continue reading...

Last August, holidaymakers in East Sussex fell ill after a poisonous yellow cloud spread across the sky. What was it, and where did it come from?Mark Sawyer has worked for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for nearly 30 years, and since 2001 he’s been the full-time coxswain at the Eastbourne lifeboat station. Shortly after 5pm on the Sunday of a bank holiday weekend last August, he received a report from the coastguard in Southampton about an incident at a beach seven miles west of his station. “The call we got was that there had either been a fire or an explosion at Birling Gap, and they’d got 50-plus casualties suffering from smoke inhalation or burns.” There was what looked like a layer of thick smoke hanging just above the sea.Birling Gap is a popular National Trust spot between Beachy Head and Seaford, a dip in the chalk cliffs of the Seven Sisters, with a steel staircase leading down to a pebble beach. At low tide there is sand and rockpools; on the cliffs above there is a visitor centre, cafe, car park and coastguard station. Continue reading...

Dolbenmaen, Gwynedd: As a climber, I’d often pass within metres of the peregrine falcons on the cliff face, harsh chattering between the pair echoing from the rock wallsThe huge dolerite cliff at the head of the valley glows in afternoon light. A pale green algal cast accentuates white streaks and fresh spatterings. This is peregrine and raven territory, the latter maintaining a respectful distance from the former. They’ve been present here for at least 50 years.I first saw the falcons at their inaccessible eyrie under the great overhang in 1968. That was the time when peregrine and raven populations in Wales were recovering from dramatic postwar declines caused by organochlorine pesticides, used in dusting racing pigeons for fleas, treating crops, dipping sheep for parasites. The DDT, particularly, concentrated in the birds’ food chains, led to the thinning of eggshells and repeated brood failures. Continue reading...

Shipping firms to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as part of historic agreementCarbon dioxide from ships at sea will be regulated for the first time following a historic agreement reached after two weeks of detailed talks in London.Shipping companies will halve their greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 under the plan, brokered by the International Maritime Organization and binding across its 170 member states. Continue reading...

Call by Cristiana Pașca Palmer comes ahead of a major biodiversity conference in Beijing in 2020At least half of the world should be made more nature-friendly by 2050 to ensure the wellbeing of humanity, according to the UN chief leading efforts to create a new global pact on biodiversity.The call to strengthen the world’s life support system comes ahead of a major conference in Beijing in 2020 that many hope will be the biodiversity equivalent of the Paris climate agreement. Continue reading...

Karen state activists mourning community leader Saw O Moo, who campaigned to protect a local forest and for residents’ land rightsIndigenous activists in Myanmar’s Karen state are mourning the killing of a community leader who campaigned for a peace park to protect a local forest and its residents’ land rights.Saw O Moo was ambushed by government troops on 5 April as he was riding a motorbike with a soldier from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), a rebel group that is fighting for autonomy. Continue reading...

How close the world is to a catastrophic collapse of giant ocean currents is unknown, making halting global warming more critical than ever, scientists saySerious disruption to the Gulf Stream ocean currents that are crucial in controlling global climate must be avoided “at all costs”, senior scientists have warned. The alert follows the revelation this week that the system is at its weakest ever recorded.Past collapses of the giant network have seen some of the most extreme impacts in climate history, with western Europe particularly vulnerable to a descent into freezing winters. A significantly weakened system is also likely to cause more severe storms in Europe, faster sea level rise on the east coast of the US and increasing drought in the Sahel in Africa. Continue reading...

Orphaned baby elephants and mating hamlets are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Committees seek clarity on indecision over taxpayer support and price guarantees for flagship tidal clean energy scheme to harness tide power

An internal battle is simmering among evangelicals in the US over whether climate change is a call to protect the Earth, the work of God to be welcomed, or does not exist at all.

Pompeo is extreme in his denial of climate change. We must pressure Democrats who have backed him to change course

Gosforth Park nature reserve, Newcastle: Among the calling of birds and the swishing of reeds, only the sound of an ice-cream van reminds me how close to the city I amAs soon as we enter the wood, the noise of traffic seems to recede, replaced by a feeling of calm. Our focus shifts to take in birdsong, the drumming of a woodpecker, the rustle of dry leaves. Gosforth Park nature reserve is a retreat from busyness, the quiet eye of the storm. With access restricted to members of the Natural History Society of Northumbria, its wildlife is undisturbed.This is an open wood with a high canopy of oak trees and an understorey of coppiced hazel. There’s the occasional lofty Scots pine or dense, dark holly. Fixed to tree trunks are numerous bat boxes; seven species of bats have been recorded here, including Daubenton’s, noctule, Nathusius’ pipistrelle and Brandt’s. In summer, though very hard to spot flying among the tops of the oak trees, flit purple hairstreak butterflies. Continue reading...

Non-farmed bugs and scallops also listed as red in latest conservation guideWild-caught Queensland prawns, bugs and scallops will be off the menu if consumers heed warnings about unsustainable fishing practices from conservationists.The shellfish varieties have all been downgraded to a red rating in the latest sustainable seafood guide published by the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS). Continue reading...

Proliferation of giraffes, lions, tigers and elephants in toy shops and films creates ‘virtual population’ and skews our perception

Traffic has fallen by 40% in the City since 1999 – good news for air pollution and people’s fitnessCity workers are swapping their pinstripe suits for cycle helmets and hi-vis jackets. Since 1999, total traffic in the City of London has fallen by 40% and bicycles are now the dominant vehicle during the rush hour.This is good news for air pollution in an area that breaches EU limit values for nitrogen dioxide, but an increase in active travel has many other benefits: less road traffic noise, fewer climate change emissions and people benefiting from more exercise. Continue reading...

Kevin Chmielewski told lawmakers he faced retaliation after pushing against outsized spending demands from EPA chief and his top aidesA high-ranking political staffer at the Environmental Protection Agency has told lawmakers he faced retaliation after pushing back against outsized spending demands from administrator Scott Pruitt and his top aides.House and Senate Democrats sent letters on Thursday to Donald Trump and Pruitt describing a meeting they had with Kevin Chmielewski, who was recently placed on involuntary, unpaid leave from his position as EPA’s deputy chief of staff for operations. Continue reading...

The Mary river turtle is just one of many endangered Australian reptile species which have fallen between the conservation cracksThe Australian government does not have a plan to save an endangered Australian turtle species that received global attention on Thursday for its green mohawk and its ability to breathe through its genitals.The Mary river turtle, found only in that one river in Queensland, attracted worldwide headlines as one of the standout species on a new list of the most vulnerable reptile species compiled by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Continue reading...

DUP leader says she believes Sinn Féin protests over RHI costs were an excuse to bring down power-sharing executiveNorthern Ireland’s former first minister Arlene Foster has told the inquiry into the green energy scheme that resulted in the collapse of the power-sharing government that she deeply regretted its spiralling costs.The renewable heat incentive (RHI) programme was championed by Foster when she was the devolved enterprise minister but its costs ran into hundreds of millions of pounds. Continue reading...

Stretch of road outside Stockholm transfers energy from two tracks of rail in the road, recharging the batteries of electric cars and trucksThe world’s first electrified road that recharges the batteries of cars and trucks driving on it has been opened in Sweden.About 2km (1.2 miles) of electric rail has been embedded in a public road near Stockholm, but the government’s roads agency has already drafted a national map for future expansion. Continue reading...

Sweden has opened the world's first electrified road. The 1.2-mile route, between Stockholm Arlanda airport and a logistics site, will now actively charge cars and lorries as they travel along it using an innovative energy transfer systemWorld's first electrified road for charging vehicles opens in Sweden Continue reading...

The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox Continue reading...

A new book published by the Natural History Museum showcases some of the most memorable underwater photographs taken over the last few decades in its annual wildlife photographer of the year competition. The stories behind the pictures - about both the behaviour and the photographers’ experiences - are often as interesting as the pictures themselves Continue reading...

Environmental standards are at risk across the board, from wildlife and habitats to water and air quality, a risk assessment showsGovernment promises of a green Brexit have been cast into doubt by a new study that warns of declining protections for water, birds and habitats once Britain leaves the European Union.The risk assessment – commissioned by Friends of the Earth – found standards are likely to weaken in every sector of environment policy, from chemicals and food safety to air pollution and climate, though the extent of deterioration will depend on the departure deal.

Sandy, Bedfordshire: While some birds plunder the scales for melody, the house sparrows strike a percussive noteThe most familiar and enigmatic garden birds have been feeding on nothing again. Six beaks probed the branches of the winter-bare rose bush, four beaks descended to peck at the ground beneath, one beak washed her meal down with a sip from the pond. Every day they return and every day I scan the soil, and interrogate the impervious hide of the rose, for anything edible, in vain. Do the birds milk the thorns? Continue reading...

Environmentalists plan to appeal decision as fish farm on Tasmania’s east coast gets green lightLegal action by environmentalists against a controversial salmon farm on Tasmania’s east coast has been dismissed in the federal court.In 2017 the Bob Brown Foundation and tourism businesses owned by the millionaire environmentalist Graeme Wood challenged the decision by the federal environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, to approve Tassal’s 28-pen fish farm in Okehampton bay, near a world heritage area. Continue reading...

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern says move ‘will essentially take effect in 30 or more years’ time’The New Zealand government will grant no new offshore oil exploration permits in a move that is being hailed by conservation and environmental groups as a historic victory in the battle against climate change.Related: Jacinda Ardern on life as a leader, Trump and selfies in the lingerie department Continue reading...

The Nimmie-Caira project could mean the restoration of one of the largest wetlands in the Murray-Darling basin

Move by CEFC designed to drive emissions reductions across Australia’s airports, ports and electricity infrastructure assetsThe Clean Energy Finance Corporation is investing $150m in Australia’s largest infrastructure fund to drive emissions reduction across some of Australia’s biggest airports, ports and electricity infrastructure assets.

First batches appear on shelves before the start of the traditional season and despite cold snapUK supermarkets have begun stocking the first batches of British-grown asparagus this year, despite the impact of the recent “beast from the east” cold weather system.Marks & Spencer was first off the block with British asparagus on sale in selected branches last week – nearly three weeks before the traditional start of the eight-week season on 23 April – while Waitrose put the first spears on sale on Wednesday. Sainsbury’s is likely to stock small quantities from the weekend. Continue reading...

A new early warning satellite system reveals countries where shrinking reservoirs could lead to the taps completely drying upShrinking reservoirs in Morocco, India, Iraq and Spain could spark the next “day zero” water crisis, according to the developers of a satellite early warning system for the world’s 500,000 dams.Cape Town recently grabbed global headlines by launching a countdown to the day when taps would be cut off to millions of residents as a result of a three-year drought. Drastic conservation measures have forestalled that moment in South Africa, but dozens of other countries face similar risks from rising demand, mismanagement and climate change, say the World Resources Institute (WRI). Continue reading...

Gas bubbles will be generated without boiling, which AB InBev says will cut its CO emissionsThe world’s largest brewer is rolling out what it claims is a greener way to put bubbles in beer and reduce its CO emissions by 5%.

Annual monitoring shows many native species suffered further falls, and two declining species had their worst seasons on recordLast year was the seventh worst on record for butterflies in Britain, and for two declining butterfly species it was their worst since records began.Fewer grayling and grizzled skippers took to the skies than in any year since the scientific monitoring of butterflies began more than 40 years ago. Continue reading...

Sustainable catch limits on key species after Brexit would also boost the economy by more than £300m a year as stocks recover, analysis showsMoving to sustainable catches of the most important species of fish would generate 5,000 new jobs and add more than £300m a year to the economy, after the UK leaves the EU’s common fisheries policy, a new report has found.Sustainable management of fish stocks would require limits on fishing for several years, as the current EU policies allow catches greater than populations of some key species can readily recover from, but within about seven to 10 years of setting its own policies the UK could be reaping the benefits, according to Oceana, a non-governmental organisation that focuses on fishing. Continue reading...

Dial A Dump’s waste-to-energy generation project likely to be put on hold until after NSW election due to pollution fearsA planned major waste incinerator and energy plant for western Sydney – the largest in the southern hemisphere – is likely to be put on ice until after the New South Wales election next March after the Department of Planning recommended against the project.The director-general of the department is about to issue a negative assessment, saying that on the advice of Environmental Protection Authority, NSW Health and independent experts, the department had concluded it was inconsistent with the NSW EPA’s energy from waste policy statement (2015), and the air quality impacts and risk to human health were unknown.

Large numbers of pharmaceuticals found at levels dangerous for wildlife and the environmentRiver systems around the world are coursing with over-the-counter and prescription drugs waste which harms the environment, researchers have found.If trends persist, the amount of pharmaceutical effluence leaching into waterways could increase by two-thirds before 2050, scientists told the European Geosciences Union conference in Vienna on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: State government-commissioned survey shows Strathbogie forest has very high densities of threatened speciesA nationally significant hotspot for the greater glider, a federally listed threatened species, is being logged by the Victorian forest agency, VicForests.

Chiffchaffs usually arrive in March, ahead of many other migrants, but this year’s rotten spring has delayed themMany birds are called after the sound they make, but few sing their name quite so persistently as the chiffchaff. From mid-March onwards, I hear them at the bottom of my garden; and occasionally catch a glimpse of a tiny, olive-coloured bird flitting among the foliage, pumping its tail up and down as it sings.Related: Country diary: Wenlock Edge: A search for meaning in this chiffchaff pair raising their chicks in my garden Continue reading...

The Murray-Darling authority questions the plan to shrink Menindee Lakes and its impact on communities, the environment and those downstreamThe Murray-Darling Basin Authority has delivered a scathing assessment of a project New South Wales is relying on to find water savings for the environment: a plan to reduce the size of the Menindee Lakes.The assessment contained in documents revealed today by Guardian Australia suggest the controversial Menindee Lakes project could do more harm than good. Continue reading...

Michel Barnier says any trade deal will not rely on the UK’s pledges, but should include a clause to uphold the bloc’s high standardsThe EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has warned that Brussels will not rely on Michael Gove’s pledges over the environment but instead insist on a “non-regression” clause in any future deal after Brexit to tie the UK to the bloc’s high standards.Barnier said he welcomed a 25-year plan published in January by the environment secretary, a fervent Brexiter during the referendum campaign, under which the UK vowed to be a “global champion” of greener policies after 29 March 2019. Continue reading...