‘This is not good news,’ Bureau of Meteorology says, warning drought conditions could get worseHeatwaves and bushfires are predicted in southern Australia thanks to a 70% chance of El Niño weather conditions, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned. Although cyclones may ease up in the north by the end of the year, the outlook for drought-hit areas is not good, according to the bureau.“Between the [above average] temperature and the lack of rainfall, this is not good news,” climatologist Robyn Duell said. “This outlook on the back of such little rainfall and dry conditions makes it such a worry for people.” Continue reading...

Seattle residents had hoped to use ‘necessity defense’ in Minnesota court, arguing threat to planet was so great they had no choiceA Minnesota judge abruptly dismissed charges against three climate change activists during their trial on Tuesday, saying prosecutors had failed to prove that the protesters’ attempt to shut down two Enbridge Energy oil pipelines caused any damage.The Clearwater county district judge Robert Tiffany threw the case out after prosecutors rested their case and before the protesters could use their defense: that the threat of climate change from using crude oil drilled from Canadian tar sands was so imminent that the activists’ actions were not only morally right, but necessary. Continue reading...

Policy Exchange report calls for steadily rising levy to help tackle climate changeCompanies selling fossil fuels in Britain should face a steadily rising carbon tax to tackle climate change after Brexit, according to the former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling and the Conservative party grandee Michael Howard.In a cross-party campaign to ensure the government sticks to its commitment to cut carbon emissions after Britain leaves the EU, the two politicians said a tax should be introduced as soon as reasonably possible. Continue reading...

President says he ‘will be looking at’ report warning ‘unprecedented’ changes needed to avoid extreme heat, floods and povertyFaced with a major UN report that warns of floods, drought, extreme heat and increased poverty should the world not take radical action to address climate change, Donald Trump has been uncharacteristically quiet.The US president was visiting Florida, a state particularly vulnerable to sea level rise and currently in the path of Hurricane Michael, when the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report warned on Monday that “unprecedented” changes were needed to stave off dire impacts if the world warms 1.5C beyond the pre-industrial period. Continue reading...

Ben van Beurden says ‘another Brazil in terms of rainforest’ will help achieve UN targetThe boss of Shell has said a huge tree-planting project the size of the Amazon rainforest would be needed to meet a tougher global warming target, as he argued more renewable energy alone would not be enough.Ben van Beurden said it would be a major challenge to limit temperature rises to 1.5C (equivalent to a rise of 2.7F), which a landmark report from the UN’s climate science panel has said will be necessary to avoid dangerous warming. Continue reading...

Readers including Fawzi Ibrahim and Caroline Lucas MP discuss ways to combat greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate changeThe “final tick box” to limit global warming is not just political (Global warming must not exceed 1.5C, landmark UN report warns, 8 October), it is also economic. Capitalism, the cause of global warming, cannot be its remedy. Industrial production came about when commodity production became dominant – an economic system in which commodities are produced for the sole purpose of being sold, upon which they return more money to the investors than their original outlay.The profit is then used to produce more commodities; a continually expanding process with expanding energy needs. New technology and sustainable sources of energy will help to contain global warming, but only if the rate of removing pollutants exceeds the rate of increase in energy needs. Evidence so far points to the contrary. Continue reading...

Matt Wheeler, Chris Osman, Pam Laurance and Bill White on the changes that need to be made to road regulations and driver habits in order to avoid climate catastropheFollowing the UN’s report concluding carbon emissions need to be reduced massively and rapidly to prevent an average increase in global temperatures of more than 1.5C (Global warming must not exceed 1.5C, landmark UN report warns, 8 October), one quick and simple way in which the UK could make a start is by cutting the top speed vehicles can travel on motorways from 70 to 60mph. All cars operate most efficiently at a speed between 50 and 60mph. At the stroke of a pen we could ensure all vehicles on motorways are running far closer to their most efficient levels. It won’t save the world on its own, but it’s a cost-free and easy step to take that gets us moving in the right direction.

We are calling for the adoption of a third pact, enshrining a new generation of fundamental commitments, write Yann Aguila, Antonio Herman Benjamin, Laurent Fabius and 128 othersOn 10 April 2018, the United Nations general assembly adopted a resolution that paved the way for negotiations on a global pact for the environment. This international treaty would combine the guiding legal principles for environmental action into one single and far-reaching text. In 2015, the adoption of the sustainable development goals and the Paris climate agreement represented major progress. However, environmental damage persists and is more serious than ever before. The years 2017 and 2018 have seen record-breaking temperatures. Biodiversity continues to decline at a rapid pace.With the global pact for the environment, the international community would be equipped for the first time with a treaty of a general nature that covers all environmental areas. It would be the cornerstone of international environmental law, therefore overseeing the different existing sectoral agreements (climate, biodiversity, waste, pollution, etc), filling the gaps and facilitating their implementation. Continue reading...

Feed-in tariff subsidies must not be abandoned, writes Sandra Walmsley, while Gaynor Adey says the UK government should look again at the Swansea Bay tidal projectNicholas Stern suggests that strong political will is needed if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change (All leaders must recognise the choice: act decisively now or suffer the consequences later, Analysis, 8 October). Unfortunately, there no evidence of such will, and the rollercoaster of policy for renewables means that potentially thriving industries have faced uncertainty.82% of UK citizens support renewables, yet the management of subsidies has already reduced the number of registered PV installers by more than 60%. Current proposals on abandoning feed-in tariff (FiT) subsidies will cause even more job and skills losses. Maintaining the current export tariff on FiTs is essential. Proposals for all suitable new buildings to have renewable energy systems would have a major effect on carbon emissions for a very small proportion of the costs. Continue reading...

Ecosystems | Fossil-fuel adverts | Brexit | Fracking | Compostable bagsIt is good to see that an appalling future awaiting the planet is being recognised (Huge risk if global warming exceeds 1.5C, warns landmark UN report, 8 October) and brought to light by the IPCC. Is there now any hope that the Convention on Biological Diversity can be jolted into comparable action that promotes the possibly more important and urgent demise facing biodiversity and ecosystems on our planet?

HGVs, buses and coaches would pay full fee with taxis and LGVs paying £12.50Drivers of the most polluting vehicles, could be charged up to £50 a day to enter Leeds under radical new plans to cut air pollution in the Yorkshire city.The Clean Air Zone (CAZ), which could be the first outside London, will cover more than half of Leeds and will see drivers monitored using a network of cameras from January 2020. Lorries, buses and coaches would all face the maximum charge. Continue reading...

Former leader says it might take losing the seat to get the party to do something on climateFormer Liberal leader John Hewson has called on voters in his former seat of Wentworth to use the byelection as a referendum on climate change and vote against the Liberals.He suggested it might take “a drubbing” in the byelection on 20 October to force the party he once led to respond to “the urgent challenge” of climate change, and that Liberal voters should consider voting for others before returning to vote Liberal at a general election in six months’ time. Continue reading...

Officials in India say Obsession cologne may help trap animal that has killed nine peopleWildlife authorities in India trying to catch a tiger thought to have killed at least nine people say they are considering the use of an unconventional weapon: Calvin Klein’s Obsession cologne.The six-year-old tiger, given the name T1, has been accused of preying on people in Pandharkawada, a town in Maharashtra state. Continue reading...

Ecosia offers to buy remaining forest from energy firm RWE, which plans to fell most of the treesA non-profit Berlin tech startup has offered to buy the remaining 200 hectares of an ancient German forest to save it from being destroyed for coal surface mining.Ecosia, a search engine which donates the majority of its advertising revenue to conservation initiatives and funded the planting of almost 40m trees across the world, has approached the energy firm RWE with an offer of €1m (£877,000) to secure the final stretch of the 12,000-year-old Hambach forest in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Continue reading...

Netherlands ordered to increase emissions cuts in historic ruling that puts ‘all world governments on notice’A court in The Hague has upheld a historic legal order on the Dutch government to accelerate carbon emissions cuts, a day after the world’s climate scientists warned that time was running out to avoid dangerous warming.Appeal court judges ruled that the severity and scope of the climate crisis demanded greenhouse gas reductions of at least 25% by 2020 – measured against 1990 levels – higher than the 17% drop planned by Mark Rutte’s liberal administration. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Claire Perry says level at which operations must be halted could be raisedRules designed to halt fracking operations if they trigger minor earthquakes could be relaxed as the shale industry begins to expand, the UK energy minister, Claire Perry, has said.A series of small tremors seven years ago prompted tough regulations that mean even very low levels of seismic activity now require companies to suspend fracking. Continue reading...

Threats to the rainforest and its people and an end to the Paris agreement are among the promises of Brazil’s presidential hopeful, reports Climate HomeNo more Paris agreement. No more ministry of environment. A paved highway cutting through the Amazon.Not only that. Indigenous territories opened to mining. Relaxed environmental law enforcement and licensing. International NGOs, such as Greenpeace and WWF, banned from the country. A strong alliance with the beef lobby. Continue reading...

Whale was freed but marine charity says proposed new laws would have made it illegal to highlight the distress of the animalExtraordinary photographs that revealed a baby humpback whale caught in a shark net on the Gold Coast could not have been taken under new laws proposed by the Queensland government, two environmental groups have said.The baby whale is seen entangled in the shark net in photos and video released by the Humane Society International and the Australian Marine Conservation Society on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Iron Ox, based in California, aims to improve labor shortages and pressure to produce crops by using AI and heavy machineryAmerica’s first autonomous robot farm launched last week, in the hopes that artificial intelligence (AI) can remake an industry facing a serious labor shortage and pressure to produce more crops.Claiming an ability to “grow 30 times more produce than traditional farms” on the strength of AI software, year-round, soilless hydroponic processes, and moving plants as they grow to efficiently use space, the San Carlos, California-based company Iron Ox aims to address some of the agricultural industry’s biggest challenges. Continue reading...

IPCC report ‘underestimates potential of these key dangers to send Earth into spiral of runaway climate change’

Coastguard expresses shock after decades-old piece of debris ends up on UK beachA plastic washing-up bottle that is at least 47 years old has been found washed up on a beach in the UK with its lettering and messaging still clear, prompting warnings about the enduring problem of plastic waste.The item, found by a coastguard warden at a beach in Somerset, “still looks almost new”, said the organisation. “We were staggered yesterday by how much debris has washed up on the beach,” wrote the Burnham Coastguard on Facebook. “It’s shocking how long … rubbish can survive and ultimately harm nature.” Continue reading...

Deputy PM Michael McCormack says policy will not change based on ‘some sort of report’The Australian government has rejected the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report’s call to phase out coal power by 2050, claiming renewable energy cannot replace baseload coal power.The deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, said Australia should “absolutely” continue to use and exploit its coal reserves, despite the IPCC’s dire warnings the world has just 12 years to avoid climate change catastrophe. Continue reading...

Even half degree of extra warming will affect hundreds of millions of people, decimate corals and intensify heat extremes, report shows

IPCC authors suggest there is high agreement that injection of chemicals into stratosphere could help limit rises

2016 Kigali amendment on hydrofluorocarbons could reduce warming by a small but crucial 0.5CFrom the beginning of next year, a new global pact will take effect that could have a profound impact on climate change, cutting harmful greenhouse gas emissions by amounts that could help stave off some of the worst impacts predicted by the IPCC.This little-noticed treaty has nothing to do with the Paris accord, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations that have dragged on since 1992, or energy sector emissions, which have resumed their rise. Continue reading...

William Nordhaus and Paul Romer honoured over two of most ‘basic and pressing’ issuesTwo American economists at the forefront of work on climate change and the role of governments in boosting growth have been jointly awarded the prestigious Nobel Memorial prize for economics.The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said William Nordhaus and Paul Romer were being honoured for their research into two of the most “basic and pressing” economic issues of the age. Continue reading...

UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says coal-fired electricity must end by 2050 if we are to limit global warming rises to 1.5C

The UN’s climate change report shows every fraction of a degree matters but world governments now have the chance to deliver a safer futureThe new 1.5C report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a sophisticated intelligence briefing on the fate of our planet. Its message is relevant to every human being on Earth.Based on more than 6,000 scientific studies, the report was compiled by more than 80 of the world’s top climate scientists from nearly 40 countries, and calibrates 40,000 peer-review comments. It is a robust and outstanding example of international cooperation, and an extraordinary source of shared intelligence. Continue reading...

If we’re already doomed to disastrous climate change, then there’s no reason to cut carbon pollution, argues the Trump administration

Environment groups tell Senate inquiry there’s ‘massive and pervasive non-compliance with legislation’Australia’s environment laws have been “white-anted with loopholes” and non-compliance takes place on a “scandalously huge scale”, a Senate inquiry into threatened species has heard.The inquiry into the rate of faunal extinctions was established after a Guardian Australia investigation found that Australia’s 1,800 threatened plants, animals and ecological communities were poorly monitored and conservation efforts inadequately funded. Continue reading...

Queensland government move branded ‘another special deal’ for Carmichael mineThe Queensland government has quietly granted the Adani mining company a year-long extension to pay $18.5m for a water extraction licence, citing Carmichael coalmine “project timetable delays”.The extension was branded “another special deal” by environmental groups, who said the government had consistently defended granting water access to Adani in the middle of a drought by stating the company would be made to abide by strict conditions. Continue reading...

Distinct difference in amount of coral that would remain under two climate change scenarios

The world heating up by even 1.5C would have a brutal impact on future generationsThe authoritative new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sets the world a clear target: we must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to net zero by the middle of this century to have a reasonable chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C.Every government should read this report and recognise the clear choice we now have. Continue reading...

IEA head says growth in renewables needs to be paired with coal plant closuresCarbon emissions from the energy sector are on track to grow for the second year running, in a major blow to hopes the world might have turned the corner on tackling climate change.Preliminary analysis by the world’s energy watchdog shows the industry’s emissions have continued to rise in 2018, suggesting that an increase last year was not a one-off. Continue reading...

Five reports and an agreement: the IPCC has been raising the climate alarm for 30 yearsThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is set up by the UN and the World Meteorological Organisation, bringing together the world’s leading climate scientists to assess knowledge of climate change and provide scientific advice to policymakers. Continue reading...

PM says Australia won’t be providing more money to the global climate fundScott Morrison has resisted conservatives’ calls to withdraw Australia from the Paris climate agreement but ruled out providing more money to the global climate fund.The prime minister made the comments on 2GB Radio on Monday, before the release of a Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which is expected to call for a phaseout of coal power generation to help limit temperature rises to 1.5C. Continue reading...

Plans to expand program are on hold as gag-inducing pong and vermin are holding back residents, foodies and hipsters from saving food scrapsIt was meant to be an ambitious environmental program but efforts at composting in New York are breaking down amid rats, roaches and rank smells.New Yorkers are relatively good at recycling but an “ick factor” is holding them back from saving food scraps for reprocessing, the authorities admitted. Continue reading...

Ancient woodland will be pieced back together as part of Europe-wide project that will give endangered species their habitats backOnly a few tattered scraps of woodland in the Cairngorms provide evidence that a vast forest once covered the Scottish Highlands and much of the rest of the nation. This vast arboreal canopy provided homes for wolves, lynx, elks and many other species.Land clearances for farming, and felling trees for timber, destroyed most of that habitat hundreds of years ago, leaving only a few disconnected fragments of land to provide shelter for dwindling numbers of animals. Continue reading...

Even as we argue about the controversial drilling, we risk overlooking the urgent need for new sources of energyWithin a few days, the UK shale industry’s long-delayed bid to frack for gas beneath the English countryside is set to begin in earnest. Cuadrilla, the company that is currently leading the charge to use fracking technology in Britain, has confirmed that it plans to start working on a well in Lancashire later this week. The response of anti-fracking protesters – some having already been given lengthy prison sentences for their protests against the company’s operations – can be expected to be intense, vociferous and prolonged. One local businessman has already filed an injunction to try to further delay drilling, though it is unclear how long this manoeuvre will slow down Cuadrilla’s plans.Opponents of fracking point out that Britain is committed to halting the combustion of all fossil fuels as a means of generating electricity by the 2030s. After that, we will have to rely on only carbon-free technologies, such as solar, wind and nuclear plants, in order to provide power for our homes and factories. So why, ask green protesters, are we creating a new industry that will only make it easier for us to obtain gas and oil? Why bring these fossil fuels to the surface now? Why not invest more in green technologies, such as tide and wave power? Continue reading...

Court victory halts utility firm RWE’s plan to raze Hambach woodland and expand an opencast mineThousands of anti-coal demonstrators descended on Germany’s Hambach forest on Saturday to celebrate an unexpected court victory that suspended an energy company’s planned razing of the woodland to expand a giant opencast mine.The ancient forest near Cologne has been occupied by activists for the past six years and has become a symbol of resistance against coal energy in Germany, a country that despite its green reputation remains heavily reliant on this dirty fossil fuel. Continue reading...

Pending a legal challenge, Cuadrilla will start work on a well this week – and answer key questions about the industry’s viabilityFracking is due to return to the UK this week, as the shale gas company Cuadrilla prepares to start operations at a well in Lancashire – provided it can see off a last-minute legal challenge.It will be the first horizontal shale well to be fracked in the UK. The drills have penetrated two kilometres deep and later this week Cuadrilla will pump in water, sand and chemicals at high pressure to fracture the rock and release the gas. Continue reading...

Supporters demonstrate against ‘outrage and scandal’ of three men’s imprisonmentHundreds of supporters of the three environmental activists who became the first people to be jailed for an anti-fracking protest have demonstrated outside the prison where they are being held after an appeal against their imprisonment was lodged.Protesters marched across Preston chanting “Free the three”, “Protest is not a crime”, and “We said no”, in reference to the local council’s decision to ban fracking in the county that was later overturned by Sajid Javid. Continue reading...

As a UN panel prepares a report on 1.5C global warming, researchers warn of the risks of ignoring ‘feedback’ effectsThis week, hundreds of scientists and government officials from more than 190 countries have been buzzing around a convention centre in the South Korean city of Incheon.They are trying to agree on the first official release of a report – the bit called the Summary for Policymakers – that pulls together all of what’s known about how the world might be affected once global warming gets to 1.5C. Continue reading...

Waste is split into four categories – infectious, sharp, anatomical and medical – and transportation rules are stringentThe Environment Agency has launched a criminal investigation into how a major NHS supplier failed to dispose of body parts, including amputated limbs and waste from cancer treatment. What rules must UK hospitals follow to remain within the law?What sort of waste comes out of hospitals? Continue reading...

Manufacturer to collect and repurpose packaging after campaign against firm’s wasteWalkers has agreed to offer a free national recycling scheme to stop millions of empty crisp packets ending up in landfill in the UK every year after consumers heaped pressure on it to change its plastic packaging.A social media campaign asking crisp manufacturers to make their packaging recyclable led to Royal Mail issuing a plea to members of the public last week to put empty crisp packets in an envelope before posting them back to the company. Continue reading...

Waste management firm is first choice to replace supplier that allowed body parts to pile upThe NHS is in talks with Mitie about the outsourcing company taking over the disposal of body parts and hazardous waste after the existing contractor allowed huge stockpiles to build up, triggering health concerns.NHS chiefs fear the current contractor Healthcare Environmental Services (HES) could collapse and are urgently trying to find a replacement firm to undertake some or all of the work done by the company. Continue reading...

A Malaysian sun bear, lion cubs and a fruit bat in flight are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Three activists were first people to receive jail terms for anti-fracking protests in UK

Paulatuk, Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay were unable to receive shipments of food, fuel and lumberAuthorities in Canada’s Arctic north are scrambling to transport critical supplies to three isolated communities after the early arrival of sea ice prevented delivery barges from reaching in the region.Paulatuk, Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay, which have a combined population of nearly 3,000 people, have been unable to receive shipments of food, fuel and lumber after ice moving from the high Arctic sealed off the Amundsen Gulf. Continue reading...