Poverty, conservation and industry are at loggerheads in the eastern town of SomkheleDrive for an hour into the hills that lie behind South Africa’s wild eastern coast, and you will find a game park full of rhino and big cats, a sprawling town spread over dozens of summits and dry valleys, and a vast opencast coal mine.If all the advantages of the rainbow nation – stunning landscape and wildlife, massive mineral resources and a youthful population – are represented here, then so too are all its problems. Continue reading...

Opponents of the 160-mile Bayou Bridge pipeline, which will cross Native American land and 700 bodies of water, have chained themselves to machineryAs the flat-bottom fishing boat speeds through waterways deep inside Louisiana’s Atchafalaya basin, the largest river swamp in the US, the landscape suddenly shifts from high banks of sediment and oil pipeline markers on either side to an open grove of cypress trees towering above the water. Flocks of white ibis appear, seemingly out of nowhere, to nest and hunt amid the moss-dripped, century-old wetland forest.“This is what the entire basin is supposed to look like,” explained Jody Meche, president of a local crawfishermen alliance and a lifelong resident with a thick Cajun accent. Continue reading...

Environmentalist and former Australian of the Year was diagnosed with cancer in July 2017Ian Kiernan has died at the age of 78.The former builder and Sydney yachtsman became one of Australia’s most well-known environmentalists after he founded Clean Up Australia in 1989. Continue reading...

City firms have hardly covered themselves in glory over the Jamal Khashoggi affairIt should be an easy decision for a board of directors to make: after the disappearance of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it would be obscene to send a corporate representative to next week’s “Davos in the Desert” event in Riyadh. What’s more, it should not be difficult to say so.The list of high-profile dropouts is growing but, sad to report, the British financial establishment has not led the way to the exit. Big-name chief executives from the US – the likes of Jamie Dimon from JP Morgan – pulled out on Monday but the Brits followed only on Tuesday, leaving the impression they jumped only once it was less embarrassing, or commercially safer, to do so. Continue reading...

New independent panel may allocate funding based on more varied factors than EU CAPFarming conditions across the UK’s regions are to be assessed for the first time with a view to allocating financial assistance after EU subsidies are withdrawn, the government has said.A new independent advisory panel will consider what factors should determine how future funding is divided among England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a remit to look at farm sizes and farm numbers, as well as environmental and socio-economic issues. Continue reading...

Leaked letter shows advisory council recommended the Lake Malbena project not be approvedOne of the first acts of the Morrison government was to greenlight a private tourism development with helicopter access in Tasmanian world heritage wilderness against the recommendation of an expert advisory body.The decision, signed by an environment department assistant secretary on 31 August on behalf of the environment minister, Melissa Price, signalled the luxury camp on remote Halls Island in Lake Malbena was not a threat to matters of national environmental significance and did not need approval under federal laws. Continue reading...

Ministers of island states call for help in tackling organised crime in the fishing industry, which they say is harming both the environment and human rightsMinisters from tiny island states including Palau, the Solomon Islands and Kiribati are calling for help over the “devastating” impacts of criminal networks in the fishing industry.Fishermen, unable to work because stocks are so low, are being lured into gun-running and drug trafficking by international organised crime, the nations’ officials told an industry conference in Copenhagen this week. Continue reading...

Far more must be invested in adapting to warming, says new global commission that aims to rebuild political will after US withdrawal from Paris agreementFar too little is being done to protect people from the heatwaves, storms and floods being supercharged by climate change, according to a high-level international commission. It aims to rebuild the political will to act that was damaged when US president, Donald Trump, rejected the global Paris agreement.The Global Commission on Adaptation is being led by Ban Ki-Moon, Bill Gates and Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank. It involves 17 countries including China, India, South Africa, Indonesia, Canada and the UK. Continue reading...

Almost 900,000 unsold meals are chucked out a day, according to food waste app Too Good To GoAlmost 900,000 perfectly edible, freshly prepared meals end up in the bin in the UK every day, new figures reveal, because they haven’t been sold in time by restaurants and cafes.This means that more than 320m meals are thrown away by British food establishments every year – enough meals for everyone in the UK five times over, according to food waste app Too Good To Go. Continue reading...

As a trained paramedic I understand emergency situations. In the face of catastrophic climate change, protest is a moral obligationI was arrested yesterday for blockading Cuadrilla’s fracking site at Preston New Road in Lancashire for more than 12 hours. It was the first day of fracking after a seven-year delay due to earthquakes, powerful local opposition and legal challenges.As a trained paramedic, I have a good appreciation of emergency situations. Climate change is the biggest emergency of them all. I join more than 350 people who have been arrested for disrupting Cuadrilla’s site in Lancashire over the last two years. People driven to take such action range from local councillors to faith leaders, students to grandparents. In the past fortnight, three people were sentenced to up to 16 months in prison for climbing on top of lorries that carried key fracking equipment. Continue reading...

Big six energy firm drops fossil fuels for generation and say cheap green energy is the futureScottish Power has ditched fossil fuels for electricity generation and switched to 100% wind power, by selling off its last remaining gas power stations to Drax for more than £700m.Iberdrola, Scottish Power’s Spanish parent company, said the move was part of its strategy to tackle climate change and would free it up to invest in renewables and power grids in the UK. Continue reading...

More than 300 mammal species have been eradicated by human activities, say researchersHumanity’s ongoing annihilation of wildlife is cutting down the tree of life, including the branch we are sitting on, according to a stark new analysis.More than 300 different mammal species have been eradicated by human activities. The new research calculates the total unique evolutionary history that has been lost as a result at a startling 2.5bn years. Continue reading...

Grenfell United group wants to know why residents were not told of soil contamination fearsSurvivors of the Grenfell fire have demanded urgent meetings with ministers and senior health officials following revelations that significant amounts of toxins were found in soil close to the tower in preliminary findings of a major study.The disclosures have prompted Grenfell United, which represents the families of the 72 people who died, to ask why no one who knew about the early results of the research had warned residents of the potential contamination problem. Continue reading...

Operations start at Lancashire site after protesters block entrance and nearby roadFracking has begun in the UK for the first time since 2011 despite an attempt by protesters to blockade the entrance to the Lancashire site.Activists from campaign group Reclaim the Power used a van to block the entrance to a site on Preston New Road near Blackpool for 12 hours from 4.30am on Monday, but the shale gas company Cuadrilla said all the equipment it needed to frack was already there and it had started the process by 1pm. Continue reading...

Activists have attempted to blockade a fracking site in Lancashire as operations began for the first time in seven years in the UK. Campaigners from Reclaim the Power used a van to block the entrance to the site on Preston New Road near Blackpool early on Monday. One protester climbed on top of a scaffold and locked his neck to it. Police dispersed the protesters and the energy company Cuadrilla commenced with planned operations

Chairman of Coalition’s backbench energy committee says Morrison government should wind up programThe chairman of the Coalition’s backbench energy committee, the outspoken conservative Craig Kelly, says the government needs to axe current subsidies for households and businesses to install renewable energy technology like solar panels.With the Morrison government in the middle of formulating its new energy policy, and with Labor now promising to maintain subsidies for households and businesses to install small-scale renewable energy until 2030, Kelly told Guardian Australia the Coalition needed to wind up the program. Continue reading...

Extreme weather damage to the global barley crop will mean price spikes and supply problems, according to new researchTrouble is brewing for the world’s beer drinkers, with climate change set to cause “dramatic” price spikes and supply shortages, according to new research.Extreme heatwaves and droughts will increasingly damage the global barley crop, meaning a common ingredient of the world’s favourite alcoholic beverage will become scarcer. Key brewing nations are forecast to be among the worst hit, including Belgium, the Czech Republic and Ireland. Continue reading...

As Cuadrilla starts operations in Lancashire, we examine the main arguments

Critics demand tougher action as Bank of England stops short of call for mandatory reportsThe Bank of England has stopped short of forcing financial companies to disclose the potential risks they face from climate change, despite growing calls from campaigners for such action.In a warning to finance firms to vastly improve their planning to safeguard against the financial risks posed by global warming, Threadneedle Street asked companies to “consider the relevance” of disclosing their climate-related risks. Continue reading...

Unusual collaboration between upmarket department store and frozen food specialist is because both have committed to going palm-oil-freeBoxes of Iceland mince pies have made a low-key debut in Selfridges’ food halls this year, sharing the aisles with £1,450 tins of beluga caviar and £5,000 Christmas hampers.The unusual collaboration between the upmarket department store and the frozen food specialist is on sustainability grounds, as both retailers seek to boost their environmental credentials by committing to removing palm oil from their own-brand ranges. Continue reading...

Cut carbon pollution as much as possible, as fast as possibleThe Paris climate agreement set a target of no more than 2°C global warming above pre-industrial temperatures, but also an aspirational target of no more than 1.5°C. That’s because many participating countries – especially island nations particularly vulnerable to sea level rise – felt that even 2°C global warming is too dangerous. But there hadn’t been a lot of research into the climate impacts at 1.5°C vs. 2°C, and so the UN asked the IPCC to publish a special report summarizing what it would take to achieve the 1.5°C limit and what the consequences would be of missing it.The details in the report are worth understanding, but there’s one simple critical takeaway point: we need to cut carbon pollution as much as possible, as fast as possible. Continue reading...

Climate scientists have political agendas, US president says in interview with 60 MinutesDonald Trump has reiterated his doubts about climate change, suggesting that the climate could “change back again,” and that climate scientists are politically motivated.The US president has long questioned man-made global warming. In an interview with CBS programme 60 Minutes that aired Sunday night, he said that he no longer believes climate change is a hoax, as he tweeted in 2012. Continue reading...

Often heard before it is seen, the kererū has been known to fall out of the odd tree after too much fermented fruitA native green and bronze wood pigeon with a taste for fermented fruit has been named the 2018 bird of the year in New Zealand.The kererū is endemic to the country and can be found in both the North and South islands, living in cities as well as rural areas. Although quiet and reclusive by nature, kererū have earned a reputation as the drunkest bird in New Zealand, and been known to fall from trees after consuming rotting fruit left lying on the ground. During the summer when fruit is in abundance drunk kererū are sometimes taken to wildlife centres to sober up. Continue reading...

State politicians and Oregon occupation leader Ammon Bundy address gathering against federal land managementAt a conference in Whitefish, Montana, on Saturday Ammon Bundy, a leader of a group which occupied federal land in 2016, shared a stage with Republican politicians, campaigners against Indian treaty rights and other rightwing groups.Related: Rebel cowboys: how the Bundy family sparked a new battle for the American west Continue reading...

Fuel cell could help Colombian farmers by using microbes to eat waste and develop energyScientists have turned coffee waste into electricity for the first time, in research that could help farmers and curb pollution in the developing world.The coffee industry generates a huge amount of liquid waste during the process of turning the raw material of the tree – the coffee cherries – into the 9.5m tons of coffee the world produces each year. Continue reading...

Chief scientist says Australia must use all available technologiesAustralia’s chief scientist says the question facing the nation’s energy future is not about renewables versus coal but how best to create “a whole-of-economy emissions reduction strategy”.In a prerecorded interview with Sky released on Sunday, Dr Alan Finkel responded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report, which warned that greenhouse gas pollution needs to reach zero by 2050 if the world is to have any hope of stopping global warming at 1.5C. Continue reading...

It’s a very lucky person who swims with whales – but many take heart from knowing such ecosystems exist and believe they need to be protectedI pull the outboard out of gear and let the boat’s momentum wash away until we’re dead in the water. Then I switch everything off – engine, echo sounder, even the radio – and there’s silence. Not even the sound of water lapping against the hull. Because it’s breathless out here today. The surface of the gulf is silky. The sky is cloudless, a shade paler than the water. And behind us, onshore, the arid ridges and canyons of the Cape Range are mottled pink and blond in the morning light.There’s only the two of us aboard, and although the air and water are still enough to be dreamlike we’re not at all relaxed. In fact, each of us is craning at opposite sides of the boat, heads cocked, tense with anticipation. Continue reading...

The Calanques national park was targeted by a gang who sold fish to smart restaurants. Now in a landmark case, they will pay ‘environmental damages’Johan Jimenez stood on a cliff, peering through binoculars at a picturesque inlet in this unspoiled corner of the Mediterranean near Marseille.“They don’t think anyone is watching from up here on land,” said the armed guard from the environmental police, scanning the rocks below for day-trippers casually dropping fishing lines into its protected waters. “But we can always get down there to stop them.” Continue reading...

Animal rights groups are outraged as overseas tour companies offer expensive shooting packages in UK conservation parksMany Britons probably think that trophy hunting is something that happens abroad. But anyone looking to bag an animal’s head to grace that empty spot on their wall needs only to head to deepest, darkest Bedfordshire where they can shoot rare deer, or, for the financially stretched, wallabies and sheep.A small number of overseas firms are offering trophy-shooting packages in the county, which boasts several impressive deer parks. A ‘grade A’ red deer stag, highly prized by hunters because of its magnificent antlers, can be shot for a £9,000 trophy fee, according to an online price list dated 2018 and distributed by a Danish travel company called Limpopo & Diana Hunting Tours. Continue reading...

James Hansen, ‘father of climate science’, accuses Britain of ignoring scienceOne of the world’s leading climate scientists has launched a scathing attack on the government’s fracking programme, accusing ministers of aping Donald Trump and ignoring scientific evidence.James Hansen, who is known as the father of climate science, warned that future generations would judge the decision to back a UK fracking industry harshly. Continue reading...

Closing the outstanding-rated outdoor nursery in Kent is at odds with the charity’s own campaign to get children to play outdoors, say parents“Set your children free,” urges the National Trust’s campaign to get children outdoors. “Let them feel the wind in their hair, smell food cooking on an open fire, track wild animals and eat a juicy apple straight from the tree.”But young children will no longer taste such freedoms in National Trust woods in Kent after a forest school judged “outstanding” by Ofsted was evicted by the charity. Continue reading...

The high court’s decision in favour of the shale gas giant will not deter the mass movement fighting the industry all the wayA whole new fossil fuel industry will launch in the UK on Saturday when energy giant Cuadrilla starts fracking for shale gas. This follows the defeat of Lancashire resident Bob Dennett’s attempt to block fracking in his local area with a court injunction – and comes just six days after a landmark report from the UN’s IPCC warning that we have just 12 years to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown.I can’t deny the fracking decision is a devastating blow for everyone in the UK who cares about our future and our democracy. Continue reading...

Britain is a leader in offshore wind but lacks political will to invest in other emerging technologiesA maritime climate with wind, sun and waves and an island surrounded by shallow seas with a high tidal range makes the UK probably the best-placed country in the world to take advantage of renewable energy.Britain is already a world leader in offshore wind but has been reluctant to invest in other promising technologies. Underwater sea turbines in particular, wave power and various forms of tidal barrage have failed to be given the political support needed to get them into the mainstream. Continue reading...

Fall in pound and uncertainty has led to farmers paying more to attract or retain EU workersBrexit is about to make Christmas turkeys more expensive. Prices are to jump as a result of the fall in the value of the pound and higher wages farmers now have to pay to their east European pluckers.Paul Kelly, the chairman of the British Turkey Federation and boss of KellyBronze, a free range producer, said the industry was being forced to increase prices because of a 5% to 7% rise in costs. Continue reading...

GD Agarwal had been fasting since 22 June to protest against government inaction in cleaning the riverAn Indian environmental activist has died on the 111th day of a hunger strike to pressure the government to clean the Ganges river.GD Agarwal, a former professor of environmental engineering at one of India’s top universities, died on Thursday afternoon in hospital in the north Indian city of Rishikesh, where he had been admitted earlier that day. Continue reading...

Overfishing and climate change harm the marine environment at least as much as plastic pollutionFilms such as A Plastic Ocean, and the huge success of Blue Planet II, have brought ocean plastic pollution firmly into the popular domain. Plastic has become ubiquitous through the world’s oceans, with fragments found in deep ocean trenches and the Arctic ice sheets. Furthermore, pictures of charismatic animals such as whales and turtles consuming or entangled in plastic provide powerful imagery of the problem to the public.There is no doubt plastic is a big issue. A study in the journal Marine Policy suggests plastic pollution might be reaching a planetary boundary, a term used to describe safe operational environmental limits within which the world can continue to function safely. Continue reading...

Greek island takes action to protect animals’ welfare as number of visitors soarsHad it not been for the donkeys of Santorini, few people would have associated overweight tourists with animal welfare or heard of the law Greece is about to pass.The island’s volcanic beauty lures millions of tourists each year, but the donkey population paid a heavy price for a record number of visits last year. Continue reading...

Government ends incentives to buy new hybrids and cuts those for electric vehiclesIncentives for consumers to buy hybrid and electric cars rather than diesel or petrol alternatives have been slashed by the government, adding thousands of pounds to the price of a new low-emission vehicle.Car manufacturers said the decision was an “astounding” move. It comes only three months after the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, published a Road to Zero strategy to curb vehicle emissions by promoting greener cars and three days after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called for an urgent switch to electric vehicles. Continue reading...

Some experts say scaling down inspections is likely to lead to more consumers being infected with campylobacterMillions of chickens could soon be sold across the EU without being individually inspected for contamination or signs of disease after being killed, in a move some experts believe will put consumers at increased risk of food poisoning bugs.Under current rules, every poultry carcass is individually, visually checked after slaughter and before being released for public consumption. But proposals being considered by the European Commission would see slaughter plants able to look at just a “representative sample” if they have a history of complying with the standards set by official veterinarians. Continue reading...

A rhinoceros hornbill and a white moray eel are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

High court rejects request to temporarily block Cuadrilla operation in Lancashire

Healthcare Environmental Services denies anatomical waste was caught in backlogA company facing a criminal investigation over a pile-up of NHS waste has claimed it repeatedly warned authorities about a lack of incinerators and disposal facilities.Garry Pettigrew, the managing director of Healthcare Environmental Services (HES), denied claims human body parts were among items caught up in a backlog at its sites. Continue reading...

‘Inseparable’ Sphen and Magic show ‘great excitement caring for their egg’ and are natural parents, aquarium saysTwo male penguins have “proposed” to each other in a Sydney aquarium, and are now the proud foster parents of an egg.Sphen and Magic, two gentoo penguins, have built a bigger nest than any other couple, take turns incubating, and have been praised by staff as model parents. Continue reading...

Farmers are ‘up for radical thought’ following bad harvests due to extreme weather, NFU saysFrom low-emission cows to robotic soil management, the farming industry will have to explore new approaches in the wake of a UN warning that the world needs to cut meat consumption or face worsening climate chaos.That was the message from Guy Smith, vice-president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), this week as policymakers began to discuss how Britain can address the challenges posed by the recent global warming report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Continue reading...

Campaigners say more than 15m people who care about the environment did not vote in the 2014 midterms – can they create a ‘green wave’ this November?Among the motivating issues for voters in US elections, the environment is typically eclipsed by topics such as healthcare, the economy and guns. But the upcoming midterms could, belatedly, see a stirring of a slumbering green giant.“The environmental movement doesn’t have a persuasion problem, it has a turnout problem,” said Nathaniel Stinnett, the founder of the Environmental Voter Project, which is aiming to spur people who care about the natural world and climate change to the ballot box. “This group has more power than it realizes. In the midterms we want to flood the zone with environmentalists.” Continue reading...

Academic Penny Olsen suggests ecologist John Young staged discoveries related to endangered night parrotThe Australian Wildlife Conservancy is investigating claims that photos it published which point to sightings of the endangered night parrot were staged.Former AWC ecologist John Young is credited with taking the first photograph of what has been dubbed the “world’s most mysterious bird” in Queensland in 2013. Last year Young said he had found a feather from the night parrot on Kalamurina Station, around northern Lake Eyre in South Australia, describing the July discovery as significant “beyond what I could have imagined”. Continue reading...

Mayor’s plan builds on success of this year’s scheme to build 20 fountains across the capitalLondon could soon be awash with drinking fountains, with 100 new installations in the pipeline across the capital.This year plans for 20 fountains were unveiled in a joint venture between the mayor of London and partners, with recent figures suggesting those installed so far have already dispensed thousands of litres of water to thirsty members of the public. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Kingvale station’s proposed clearing of 2,000 hectares could be held up for monthsFederal approval to clear more than 2,000 hectares of Queensland native forest in the catchment for the Great Barrier Reef could potentially be held up for months after the Environmental Defender’s Office launched court action to prevent it.The federal court proceedings against the state environment minister and the owners of Kingvale station come as the federal environment minister, Melissa Price, extended the time to make a decision on the controversial Kingvale proposal to 31 October. Continue reading...

Biologists fear that the storm surge carried with it red tide toxins that can cause respiratory distress and flu-like symptomsIf destroyed homes, lost livelihoods and mass power outages were not enough to be dealing with, Florida’s victims of Hurricane Michael are facing another potential problem – the state’s toxic red tide.In the days leading up to the monster storm’s landfall on Wednesday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) found cells of the Karenia brevis organism that causes red tide at two water sampling points close to Panama City and Mexico Beach where the storm swept ashore. Continue reading...

Ongoing animal slaughter must be treated with same severity as drug and people trafficking, say leaders from 80 nations gathered in LondonThe mass trafficking of wildlife impoverishes everyone in the world and must be treated with the same severity as drug and people trafficking, according to leaders from 80 nations gathered at the Illegal Wildlife Trade conference in London on Thursday.“The illegal wildlife crime makes us all poorer, not just those countries robbed of their wildlife, natural habitat and resources, but all of us who are cheated of our natural inheritance, the rich diversity of our living world,” said Theresa May, UK prime minister, on Thursday. “We need to treat this billion-dollar criminal enterprise in the same way we do other serious and organised crimes.” Continue reading...