Environment | The Guardian

Anti-palm oil campaigner Nazildo dos Santos Brito is the third victim in four weeks as land conflicts increase in the country’s Pará stateBrazil’s Amazonian state of Pará has added to its reputation as a killing ground for land activists with the murder of an anti-palm oil campaigner.Nazildo dos Santos Brito – a leader of a Quilombo Afro-Brazilian community formed by runaway slaves – was killed at the weekend. It was the third assassination in four weeks in the north-eastern corner of the state, which also saw more killings over territory and the environment than any other last year. Continue reading...

Researchers predict energy use for air conditioners and refrigeration to jump 90% on 2017 levelsA burgeoning middle class and a warming world will result in energy demand for cooling overtaking that for heating by the middle of the century, researchers have predicted.Energy use for air conditioning, refrigeration and other cooling appliances will jump 90% on 2017 levels, experts estimated, posing a challenge for energy grids and efforts to curb climate change. Continue reading...

The government pledged in 2016 to enshrine a zero target in law to meet its Paris commitments, but has yet to pass any legislationThe UK is to review its long-term target to cut climate emissions as part of global efforts to curb rising temperatures, the government has announced.The announcement by clean growth minister Claire Perry during the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) raises the possibility the UK could implement a target to reduce emissions to “net zero” by 2050, tightening the existing goal to cut greenhouse gases by 80% by that date. Continue reading...

Judge dismisses claims by Polish government that logging was necessary to protect ancient forest from outbreak of bark beetlesThe EU’s highest court has ruled that Poland’s logging in the Unesco-protected Białowieża forest is illegal, potentially opening the door to multi-million euro fines.At least 10,000 trees are thought to have been felled in Białowieża, one of Europe’s last parcels of primeval woodland, since the Polish environment minister, Jan Szyzko tripled logging limits there in 2016. Continue reading...

The UK’s climate laws forged a path for others to follow. But as progressive nations commit to zero emissions, it must reclaim its leading role, writes Sweden’s deputy prime minister

‘Crowd dispersal unit’ among measures to keep out tourists during six-month shutdownThe Philippines is to deploy hundreds of riot police to the holiday island Boracay to keep out tourists and head off potential protests ahead of its six-month closure to visitors.Rodrigo Duterte has described the tiny central island and its white-sand beach as a “cesspool”. The Philippine president ordered visitors to be kept away from 26 April to enable facilities to treat raw sewage to be set up and illegal structures to be torn down. Continue reading...

Concerns about welfare of 261 abandoned cattle cited as Asic obtains court order• Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noonConcerns about the welfare of a herd of 261 cattle abandoned on a Queensland farm as part of a failed investment scheme run by a bankrupt Brisbane property developer has finally prompted action by authorities.The Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Tuesday obtained orders from the supreme court of Queensland appointing Deloitte as provisional liquidators to three companies associated with Keith Batt and his wife, Margaret Letizia, who were behind the Nangus group of companies. Continue reading...

Poorest are hardest hit with many developing countries falling behind on cleaning up toxic air pollutionMore than 95% of the world’s population breathe unsafe air and the burden is falling hardest on the poorest communities, with the gap between the most polluted and least polluted countries rising rapidly, a comprehensive study of global air pollution has found.Cities are home to an increasing majority of the world’s people, exposing billions to unsafe air, particularly in developing countries, but in rural areas the risk of indoor air pollution is often caused by burning solid fuels. One in three people worldwide faces the double whammy of unsafe air both indoors and out. Continue reading...

The scale of growth of Australia’s natural gas industry is inconsistent with our Paris commitments

First exploration fracking expected next year but national parks and conservation areas will be protected

Most people willing to swap to supermarkets trying to improve farming standards, survey findsShoppers around the world overwhelmingly support high animal welfare standards for pigs, and most would also be prepared to change their supermarket habits in response, an international survey on pork consumption has found.Seven out of 10 people questioned said they found the manner in which pigs are reared for slaughter on some factory farms “upsetting”, “wrong” or “shocking”, after being shown photographs of some pig-keeping conditions in the online poll. The survey highlighted practices such as sows kept in small cages, antibiotic use, as well as tail-docking, teeth-grinding and castration, sometimes without pain relief. Continue reading...

Justin Trudeau is bailing out a Texas oil billionaire. He should be bailing out Canada’s workers and the climate.Last Saturday, Indigenous leaders stood arm-in-arm in front of the gates of Kinder Morgan’s pipeline worksite in Burnaby, British Columbia.For weeks before, hundreds of non-native people – environmentalists, federal parliamentarians Elizabeth May and Kennedy Stewart, even an engineer formerly employed by the Texas oil corporation – had marched to the same place. In each case, police approached, read aloud their violation of a no-go zone, and arrested and shackled them.

Purchase of a soundproof booth for EPA chief violates federal law that prohibits spending more than $5,000 on office improvementsAn internal government watchdog says the Environmental Protection Agency violated federal spending laws when purchasing a $43,000 soundproof privacy booth for administrator Scott Pruitt to make private phone calls in his office.The Government Accountability Office issued its findings on Monday in a letter to Senate Democrats who had requested a review of Pruitt’s spending. Continue reading...

With Australia’s beaches and oceans covered in rubbish, Tangaroa Blue volunteers spend days trying to clean things up. While these images are not beautiful or professionally taken, they are the harsh reality of the world’s plastic pollution problem.• ‘Plastic is literally everywhere’: the epidemic attacking Australia’s oceans Continue reading...

PM says he is prepared to use taxpayer dollars to fund controversial expansion opponents say will have serious environmental consequencesJustin Trudeau has said Canada’s government is prepared to use taxpayer dollars to push forward plans for a controversial pipeline expansion, despite protests and efforts by a provincial government to halt the project on environmental grounds.

Biodiversity concerns prompt emergency plan to use ferrets to round up the few rabbits leftIt is not a pastime for which rabbits usually require much encouragement. But a mystery depletion in numbers on the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog has led to an emergency effort to coax the local population into breeding … well, like rabbits.Ferrets are being deployed to chase the reluctant remaining animals out of their warrens and into the hands of conservationists, who are bringing them together, safe from the stress of predators, in the hope that romance will blossom. Continue reading...

Environmentalists call strategy ‘20th century response to a 21st century problem’Environmental leaders have dismissed BP’s new low-carbon strategy as “greenwash” and a lightweight response to climate change and the energy market’s rapid switch to renewables.In a strategy published on Monday, BP said there would be no increase in its carbon footprint over the next seven years because it will cut emissions from its oil and gas rigs, and offset the rest. Continue reading...

Oil companies? The government? The public? All of the above share the blame.

Former Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder says NSW ‘actively undermined’ Murray-Darling basin plan

Man in his 30s taken to Royal Perth hospital after being bitten on the leg while a 41-year-old surfer was treated at beach for minor injuriesTwo people have been bitten by sharks while surfing off the same stretch of Western Australia’s southwest coast on Monday.A 37-year-old man was bitten on the lower leg at Cobblestones beach in Gracetown, near the Margaret River Pro surfing tournament, just before 8am and managed to bodysurf back to shore. Continue reading...

Campaign against plan to remove chicks from their nests and rear them in captivity raises £25,000 in four daysA controversial plan to remove the chicks of endangered birds from their nests and rear them in captivity could be challenged in the high court after a crowdfunded campaign raised £25,000 in four days.Wildlife campaigner and author Mark Avery is leading an application for a judicial review of the hen harrier “brood management” plan, in which chicks will be raised in captivity and released into the wild. Continue reading...

Patents by female inventors from the 1890s reveal the creative ways women made their body mobile through clothingMuch has been written about the bicycle’s role as a vehicle of women’s liberation. But far less is known about another critical technology women used to forge new mobile and public lives – cyclewear. I have been studying what Victorian women wore when they started cycling. Researching how early cyclists made their bodies mobile through clothing reveals much about the social and physical barriers they were navigating and brings to light fascinating tales of ingenious inventions.Cycling was incredibly popular for middle- and upper-class women and men in the late 19th century, and women had to deal with distinct social and sartorial challenges. Cycling exaggerated the irrationality of women’s conventional fashions more than any other physical activity. Heavy, layered petticoats and long skirts caught in spokes and around pedals. Newspapers regularly published gruesome accounts of women dying or becoming disfigured in cycling crashes due to their clothing.

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...