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...

Experts fear UK’s planned Hinkley plant will face similar budget and deadline problemsEDF Energy has warned that a flagship nuclear power station it is building in France could run further behind schedule and over budget, after it detected faults at the €10.5bn ( £9.2bn) plant.The French state-owned firm said inspections last month had uncovered problems with welding on pipes at the Flamanville plant in north-west France. Continue reading...

Industry bodies and NGOs are planning to generate profitable new markets in British rosé veal to prevent rising numbers of bull calves being killed at birthNew initiatives to help end the practice of killing young male dairy calves in the UK are being planned by farming groups and NGOs.

Latest ambush worst attack to date at home to world’s largest population of mountain gorillasFive rangers and a driver have been killed in an ambush in Virunga national park in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Artificially low fuel prices are the root of the problem

WWF-Australia wants to buy 600m net, which would effectively end gillnetting in areaConservationists plan to establish a commercial fishing net-free zone in the northern Great Barrier Reef by buying and retiring the area’s last remaining licence.WWF-Australia will launch a crowdfunding campaign to buy the 600m net operating out of Princess Charlotte Bay in the far north, which would effectively end gillnetting in an area spanning 700km from Cooktown to the Torres Strait. Continue reading...

Supermarket’s customers will still be able to claim free drink if they bring a reusable cupWaitrose plans to remove all disposable coffee cups from its shops by this autumn as part of efforts to reduce plastic and packaging waste and stop millions going into landfill.Customers who belong to the myWaitrose loyalty scheme will still be able to get free tea or coffee from the stores’ self-service machines but will be instead be asked to use a refillable cup, the company said. Continue reading...

Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex: Thousands of ducks have already left, and the waders are putting on their breeding coloursMore chiffchaffs have begun to arrive in the past few days, and they move through the trees that line the footpaths, singing, feeding, then singing again. A rain shower falls, but soon passes. The Brooks seem comparatively deserted now. The thousands of ducks that wintered here are gone, leaving some teals, shelducks, gadwalls, mallards and Canada and greylag geese. Four black-tailed godwits – medium-sized waders, with tall legs and long, straight beaks – wander along a water channel, dipping their beaks into the water to probe the mud below. All of them are beginning to show breeding colours – warm russet-orange necks and breasts. They will soon be on their way north, too. Some of the godwits that winter here were ringed in Iceland, where many of them breed.A male blackcap flies up, out of a bramble bush just in front of me, with a pillow of wool-like down in its beak for a nest. It perches and sings, somehow still holding on to its precious cargo. The song is stuttering and scratchy, and short, but ends with a phrase of more tuneful notes. It sounds as though the bird is still practising. He slinks into the bushes and sings again. Continue reading...

Frozen food specialist will reformulate own-label range to be free of controversial ingredient which drives deforestation by the end of 2018Iceland is to become the first major UK supermarket to pledge to remove palm oil from all its own-brand foods, in a bid to halt the ongoing destruction of tropical rainforests in south-east Asia.The frozen food specialist will reveal on Tuesday that the controversial ingredient has already been taken out half of its own-label range, with the rest being reformulated by the end of 2018. Continue reading...

Light-coloured roads and rooftop gardens are planning measures being employed to combat rising urban temperaturesWith summer still apparently a long way off, it seems premature to be worrying about heatwaves but they are becoming as great a threat to life as winter cold. Predictions are that, in summer, most European cities could become as much as 10C hotter by the end of this century, testing the old and very young who both have trouble regulating body temperature.Related: Urban heat islands: cooling things down with trees, green roads and fewer cars Continue reading...

Securing rights to cultural flows would provide employment and skills for Indigenous communities along river system

Analysis shows 94% of the 5,000 estimated koala deaths due to habitat loss from 2012 to 2016 occurred outside the state’s heavily developed south-eastEnvironmentalists estimate that tree clearing in regional and rural Queensland is now 15 times more destructive to the state’s koala populations than urban sprawl.Development, and the loss of koala habitat for housing and infrastructure, was considered a key reason why the koala was added to the “vulnerable” species list in 2012. Continue reading...

The A’I Cofan in the Amazon fight back against small-scale gold-miners invading their land and new, large-scale concessions upriverThree A’I Cofan men were staring down at a pit of rocks, dead foliage and filthy water where two gold-panners were working. Beyond was a sluice and hoses running down to the rushing, green waters of the River Aguarico. To the right, there was mud, more rocks, more equipment, a makeshift tent and camp. Behind, to the left, a Hyundai excavator and a track running downriver.No more than two weeks before, no track had existed and all this had been primary forest. Now that was gone. Only an area about 110 x 50 metres, you might say, but this is how gold rushes start.