Environment | The Guardian

Cadson Bury, Lynher Valley: Early farmers and their animals were protected from marauders and wild creatures lurking in the dense woodland belowJust below the summit a shaggy-coated cow with long, curving horns gazes into the greyness of this dull afternoon. The sound of rushing water carries up from the river, now swollen with run-off from Redmoor and Tresellern Marshes, the Withey Brook and other boggy headstreams on the eastern side of Bodmin Moor, as well as little tributaries from intermediate waterlogged land.Up here, on this precipitous hill, topped with defensive earthworks of ditch and rampart, a dozen or so highland cattle of varying age (owned by the Crago family of the nearby Cadson Farm) mooch about, graze and thrive on heather and the coarser vegetation that would otherwise smother this iron age hill-fort and the adjoining hillside. Yellow gorse flowers and the silver bark of birch gleam in the murk and, below, in the Lynher Valley and on the Newton Ferrers estate, the leafless tree canopy (dominated by lichen-encrusted alder and oak) is tinged pale green and purple. Inside the eastern entrance, the encampment of some six acres is a spongy oval space of trampled bracken and mossy turf. This enclave was once a secure area for early farmers, where they and their animals were relatively protected from marauders and wild creatures lurking in the dense woodland below. Continue reading...

Asian food chain says it will hand out biodegradable paper alternative on request from 22 AprilWagamama has become the latest restaurant chain to commit to end the use of plastic straws.From Earth Day on 22 April, the Asian food chain will switch to a biodegradable paper alternative, which will be available on request. Continue reading...

40% of UK primary energy was derived from natural gas in 2016, a 50% increase from 1990, writes Ken CroninYour editorial (Fracking’s day may have passed, 10 January) was keen to downplay the role of onshore gas in the UK’s future energy mix, and was deeply concerning. Natural gas has a role to play for many decades, and this is backed up by the National Grid, the government and other forecasters. 40% of UK primary energy was derived from natural gas in 2016, a 50% increase from 1990. In the UK, a projected annual gas demand of 68bcm in 2030, which is 90% of 2015 economy-wide consumption, is in keeping with the Committee on Climate Change’s fifth carbon budget. Natural gas is the largest energy source for UK homes and businesses, providing us with heat, power and vital feedstocks needed for our industries.The site at Balcombe is not a site that will use hydraulic fracturing as there is not a need to – that was made clear by the company. You also refer to Ineos wanting to access gas in sensitive areas – this is despite the company confirming they have no plans to access site of special scientific interest (SSSI) areas for the purposes of the survey being carried out in the East Midlands, and this being confirmed by the governing authority, the local council. Continue reading...

If spilled, heavy fuel oil would remain for long periods and could spread widely if entrained in moving ice, writes Sue LibensonThe stricken tanker now sunk offshore of Shanghai should give pause to all with concern for the ocean, especially those who depend on sensitive, remote waters such as the Arctic. The tanker’s cargo of light fuel burned for a week, but response crews have voiced concerns about the heavy fuel oil or bunker fuel that powered the tanker. Heavy fuel is the dirtiest oil and highly persistent if spilled. A large heavy fuel spill into the waters of China’s largest fishery would compound the tragedy of the tanker’s missing crew. High seas, poisonous fumes, explosions, and winds have hampered rescue and response efforts this week. China’s calamity highlights efforts to prevent heavy fuel oil spills in other sensitive, but more challenging waters. International consideration is being given to phase out the use of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic where communities depend on marine life and spill response is negligible. If spilled, heavy fuel oil would remain for long periods and could spread widely if entrained in moving ice. This dangerous fuel is already banned under international rules for Antarctic waters. The Arctic deserves the same international precautions.

Qantas used the two most fuel-intensive aircraft and carried the most empty seats of any transpacific airlineQantas emits more carbon dioxide per passenger-kilometre than any other airline operating across the Pacific, according to an analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation, the group that exposed the Volkswagen emissions scandal in 2014.For each kilometre Qantas transports a passenger across the Pacific, it uses 64% more fuel than the two most fuel-efficient airlines operating across the Pacific: Hainan Airlines and All Nippon Airways (ANA). Continue reading...

Firm’s financial pain offset by rising oil prices as it winds down payouts from 2010 disasterBP is nearing the end of the $65bn (£47bn) Deepwater Horizon compensation process, it said as it announced an unexpectedly high payout of $1.7bn among the final few hundred outstanding claims.The British oil firm said on Tuesday it would pay the $1.7bn charge in the last quarter of 2017 for court-ordered payments resulting from the worst oil spill in US history. It means BP will have paed out $3bn in compensation for 2017, compared with the $2bn anticipated. Continue reading...

Brussels targets single-use plastics in an urgent clean-up plan that aims to make all packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030The EU is waging war against plastic waste as part of an urgent plan to clean up Europe’s act and ensure that every piece of packaging on the continent is reusable or recyclable by 2030.Following China’s decision to ban imports of foreign recyclable material, Brussels on Tuesday launched a plastics strategy designed to change minds in Europe, potentially tax damaging behaviour, and modernise plastics production and collection by investing €350m (£310m) in research. Continue reading...

Zero-emission TX eCity cab can’t ply for hire until problem is sorted … and don’t get cabbies started on the lack of charging pointsState-of the-art electric taxis that London’s transport authorities hope will replace diesel black cabs have yet to enter service on the streets of the capital – because the meter does not work.Only one zero-emission taxi has so far been licensed in the capital with none yet to carry a paying passenger – two weeks after rules came into force banning any other new black cabs. Continue reading...

Investment in green energy fell 56% in UK in 2017 – biggest fall of any country – after ‘stop-start’ support from governmentInvestment in clean energy plunged further in Britain than in any other country last year because of government policy changes, new figures show.The amount companies spent on green energy in the UK rose during the years of the coalition government (2010-2015) but has now fallen for two years in a row under the Conservatives, according to analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Continue reading...

When NGO Bikeygees set out to teach female refugees how to ride a bike they were shocked by the demand. Now hundreds have benefitted from the schemeEmily is a 21-year-old Afghan refugee living in Berlin, and her best experience in Germany so far has been, without a doubt, learning to ride a bike. Continue reading...

Wolsingham, Weardale: In the fog every surviving thread was spangled with water droplets, sparkling as the sun broke throughSwirling fog plays tricks. As we crossed an open field the silhouette of an oak loomed, with a glimmer of pale yellow light cradled in its branches, before it dissolved back into the clammy miasma.We had descended from the high fells, from clear blue sky and crystal-clear views into a monochrome lake of valley fog, cold grey vapour trapped by warmer air above. It thickened as we followed the footpath along the riverbank. Continue reading...

Retailer outlines five-year aim to replace all plastic packaging with trays made of paper and pulpIceland has become the first major retailer to commit to eliminate plastic packaging for all its own-brand products.The supermarket chain, which specialises in frozen food, said it would go plastic-free within five years to help end the “scourge” of plastic pollution. Continue reading...

Campaigners say London mayor has fudged a similar manifesto promise to divest the city’s remaining pension funds from fossil fuelsLondon has been put to shame by New York’s decision to divest city pension funds from fossil fuel companies, according to climate campaigners who accuse the mayor, Sadiq Khan, of fudging a similar promise he made during his election campaign.Global efforts to drive investment away from oil, gas and coal were given a major boost last week when the biggest city in the US announced plans to sell off its $5bn holdings in fossil fuel assets and sue the world’s most powerful oil companies over their contribution to dangerous global warming. Continue reading...

Model penguins have appeared in cities around the world as part of a new Greenpeace campaign that is aiming to turn a huge tract of the Antarctic Ocean into the world’s biggest wildlife reserve, protecting marine life and helping to fight climate change

Food Standards Agency reports ‘significant increase’ of harmful pathogen campylobacter in British-farmed chickensChickens for sale in Britain’s supermarkets are showing record levels of superbugs resistant to some of the strongest antibiotics, new research from the government has found.The results are concerning because resistance to antibiotics among livestock can easily affect resistance among humans, rendering vital medicines ineffective against serious diseases. Continue reading...

Vote on controversial method will be closely watched in the UK, which will decide on the issue as part of national fishing policy after BrexitEurope’s parliament will vote on Tuesday on the controversial issue of electric pulse fishing, in a debate that could decide the future of the fishing method.The debate is crucial for the UK, despite Brexit, because the UK’s fleets have yet to decide whether to lobby the government post-Brexit for an expansion in pulse fishing. Tuesday’s debate and vote will give an indication of both current scientific advice on the issue, and the strength of public opinion. Continue reading...

Higher temperatures increase the number of people seeking asylum in the EU

Exclusive: Many of the country’s most famous ancient sites, from Holyrood Park to the Neolithic village of Skara Brae, need urgent protection, say expertsDozens of Scotland’s most famous historic sites are at very high risk of being badly damaged by climate change and need urgent protection, an expert survey has found.Historic Environment Scotland (HES), the agency which oversees nearly 340 of the country’s most important castles, abbeys, Neolithic sites and ruins, has for the first time issued red warnings for nearly a fifth of its sites and put amber, high risk warnings against another 70%. Continue reading...

Environment Victoria says extending Australia’s most polluting power station would pose an ‘unacceptable risk’ to the climate

Claxton, Norfolk: It was as if the field had uprooted and their calls were the landscape itself in full clamourOn any walk to the marsh I’m always struck how, with a single click of the closing door, the entire audible routine of the house interior – the ticking clock, the even hum of the central heating and fridge, the slow breathing of all that other civilised stuff – is washed away instantly by the sound tide of the outdoors.What we perhaps require as animals is release from that atmospheric certainty. Being outdoors permits an immersion in the unending and endlessly unpredictable music of nature, which the musician and naturalist Bernie Krause, in his book The Great Animal Orchestra, calls the “biophony”. Perhaps it is this that restores the default settings of our species. We have been attuned to the Earth’s wild song for 100,000 generations; why should we cease to want or need it after just 10 spent mainly indoors? Continue reading...

The planned investment is significantly higher than the previously announced target of $4.5bn by 2020Ford Motor Co will significantly increase its planned investments in electric vehicles to $11bn by 2022 and have 40 hybrid and fully electric vehicles in its model line-up, the company’s chairman, Bill Ford, said on Sunday at the Detroit auto show.The investment figure is sharply higher than a previously announced target of $4.5bn by 2020, Ford executives said, and includes the costs of developing dedicated electric vehicle architectures. Continue reading...

Wild flocks bred from aviary escapees pose threat to local species and ‘don’t just eat, they destroy’, mayor saysRegional councils in Western Australia are using fireworks, lethal gas, nets, and mass shooting to reduce the number of corellas, which are reportedly damaging buildings and destroying infrastructure.The culprits are primarily eastern long-billed corellas, Cacatua tenuirostris, which were introduced to WA as a popular aviary bird. Continue reading...

Action to combat unlicensed waste carriers to be taken after Environment Agency uncovers 850 illegal dumping sites in a yearHouseholds whose rubbish ends up being dumped illegally by unauthorised disposal companies could face fines under plans being considered by the government.Councils could be given the power to directly fine people caught using unlicensed waste carriers following a consultation by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Continue reading...

19 January 1918 Ducks waddled across to a narrow outlet, dabbled with their beaks, flopped in, and breasted away from the current, catching an odd flake as it fellSURREY

Decision hailed as huge step forward that will safeguard both the marine environment and the country’s lucrative dive tourism industrySome good news for the new year: in what has been called a huge step forward in protecting oceans and marine life, the Belize government has announced bold legislation to end oil activity in all of its waters.The move is designed to protect the fragile Belize Barrier Reef world heritage site, the second-largest in the world after Australia’s and home to 1,400 species, including endangered hawksbill turtles, manatees, rays and six threatened species of shark. Continue reading...

After wildfire and floods, nature has again taken its toll in California, from the rustic Verdugo mountains to Montecito’s celebrity homesJeanette Abney owns a big, fancy house and Elizabeth Terry rents a room in a boarding house. But this week they both ended up sleeping on cots in the same American Red Cross evacuation centre, sipping the same instant coffee, nibbling the same pastries and huddling under the same blankets. A rain-sodden poster at the entrance declared “disaster services”.Both women were in need. A storm had drenched the Verdugo mountains, a rugged, rustic outpost of Los Angeles, and unleashed a massive mudslide, forcing them to flee to an improvised evacuation centre in the San Fernando valley. Continue reading...

Vast 1.8m sq km fishing-free zone would protect species, such as penguins, leopard seals and whales, and help mitigate the effects of climate changeA global campaign is being launched to turn a huge tract of the seas around the Antarctic into the world’s biggest sanctuary, protecting wildlife and helping the fight against climate change.The huge 1.8m sq km reserve – five times the size of Germany – would ban all fishing in a vast area of the Weddell Sea and around the Antarctic Peninsula, safeguarding species including penguins, killer whales, leopard seals and blue whales.

Retailers and restaurants urged to sign up to new cross-European guidelines amid growing concerns over cruelty in intensive meat productionNew welfare standards for farmed chickens have been demanded by a large coalition of European animal protection groups, including the RSPCA, in a bid to address growing concerns about inhumane conditions in the intensive and large-scale production of meat.Supermarkets and restaurants are being urged to sign up to the new blueprint, which represents the first time a single set of requirements has been agreed on across the continent. Continue reading...

Theresa May’s new green strategy lacks regulatory bite, says Ray Georgeson, and, according to Maureen Evershed, is short on humility. Stephen Sibbald reckons an important problem has been ignored, while Peter Hames and Ros Cayton suggest ways to stamp out non-biodegradable coffee cupsIan Paul (Letters, 12 January), referring to plastics recycling, asks: “Surely we should urge government and private industry to build and develop plants to deal with the problem now, before we are knee-deep in bottles?” He is right, but we had started on this more than a decade ago, with world-leading recycling technology investment in plastic bottle recycling at Closed Loop in Dagenham, part funded by the government’s Wrap (Waste and Resources Action Programme) organisation, which produced the material to include recycled content in plastic milk bottles.This was a world first, establishing the use of recycled material in food-grade packaging. It foundered when the voluntary agreement between the dairies, brands, retailers and bottle-makers to use recycled content collapsed when the oil price fell and virgin material became much cheaper. Government failed to intervene to save the plant and the investment, for the sake of a price differential representing 0.1p on the cost of a two-litre milk bottle. All those responsible blamed each other, and the nation lost significant recycling capacity. Continue reading...

Dozen of planes near central London station to be felled in preparation for high-speed rail link developmentA protesting priest has been voluntarily unchained from one of 200 trees around Euston that HS2 is felling in preparation for the high-speed rail line.

Rockhopper penguins, bleeding heart baboons and a flying fox are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

North Sea curbs to last at least 21 months despite Michael Gove’s suggestion Britain would take back control of its watersThe EU’s insistence that quotas under the common fisheries policy for the seas around the UK will remain in force during a Brexit transition period has been backed up by the Norwegian government, dealing a fresh blow for Downing Street.Pers Sandberg, the Norwegian fisheries minister, said he expected talks between the EU, UK and Norway over fishing rights to be complex and likely to conclude at the end of a transition period. Continue reading...

Brazil is one of three Latin American countries with nuclear power. It also suffers from violent crime. Now a heavily armed gang has brought the two togetherFears over the security of Brazil’s two nuclear power plants have been raised after a heavily armed gang raided a secure workers’ condominium just a kilometre away and blew up two cash machines.About 10 men held security guards hostage at around 3am on Monday, robbed guests at a party in a private club then escaped in a waiting speedboat from the Praia Brava condominium for workers at the Angra 1 and 2 nuclear reactors, run by state company Eletronuclear. Continue reading...

Farlington Marshes, Hampshire: Thousands of waders and other birds exploded into flight, blossoming across the sky like fireworks

Australian beekeepers have challenged a UK ruling giving their trans-Tasman rivals sole rights to use the coveted termA trans-Tasman fight has erupted over which country has the right to claim lucrative manuka honey as its own.Manuka honey is produced from bees feeding on the pollen of the Leptospermum scoparium plant; known as “manuka” in New Zealand, and “tea tree” in Australia. Continue reading...

One bull shark caught during November and December period along with marine turtles and raysNew South Wales shark nets caught just one targeted shark but continued to kill protected species this summer, a result environmentalists have described as “unfathomable”.

Despite administration of antivenom, 24-year-old died within an hour of being bitten on the finger in NSW backyardA man is dead after he was bitten by a brown snake while trying to help his dog in the north-west of New South Wales.

Economists say city’s status as financial and cultural giant means move to sever ties with fossil fuel will catalyze others in US and around the world to follow

Britain should follow China’s example on renewables, writes Feargal Dalton, and Ian Paul urges the UK to step up to the recycling challenge. Neil Sinclair wants a fossil fuel-free February, while Grace Hewson wants a plastic-free newspaperIn view of the appalling revelations that the UK has been shipping vast quantities of plastic to China for many years (Editorial, 8 January), would it not be a good idea to have the UK lead once more in something and have genuine recycling plants set up here in the country? I mean genuine plants to process plastic from the UK and the rest of Europe, not just depots for onward reselling as seems to have been the case.There are initiatives to use such waste plastic in innovative ways. For example there is a small startup company in Scotland, MacRebur, developing ways to reduce the amount of toxic bitumen in asphalt by substituting a proportion of waste plastic into the mix. Surely we should urge government and private industry to build and develop plants to deal with the problem now, before we are knee-deep in bottles?

In response to letters about plans for a new northern forest, a defence of the Woodland Trust’s policies from Dr James Paterson, and a prediction of more leaves on the line from Paul BirchallThe response in your letters section to the northern forest raised some useful points (Development for the north? Let them eat wood, 9 January). However, drawing parallels between the Woodland Trust’s native woodland policy and xenophobia demonstrates ignorance of the ecology and the conservation of semi-natural woodlands. Britain’s native woodlands are so diverse because of the association and dependency of species that have co-evolved over several thousand years.The accusation that we create “plantations of birch and rowan and field maple, producing scrub rather than woodland” couldn’t be further from the truth (and, by the way, scrub habitat has huge conservation value). We use local tree and shrub species to create diverse, functioning and resilient habitats for biodiversity and local communities. Continue reading...

The strategy ignores a critical issue: the more our economy grows, the more we’ll inevitably consumeIt’s as if it were written with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. In terms of rhetoric, Theresa May’s 25-year environment plan is in some ways the best government document I’ve ever read. In terms of policy, it ranges from the pallid to the pathetic.Those who wrote it are aware of the multiple crises we face. But, having laid out the depth and breadth of our predicaments, they propose to do almost nothing about them. I can almost hear the internal dialogue: “Yes, let’s change the world! Hang on a minute, what about our commitment to slashing regulations? What about maximising economic growth? What would the Conservatives’ major funders have to say about it? Oh all right, let’s wave our hands around instead.” Continue reading...

Residents say they have been pushed into taking direct action to save the 200 trees around train station in central LondonA priest is to chain herself to a tree outside Euston station in central London in a protest against the felling of more than 200 trees around the station to make way for the HS2 rail line.Dozens of giant London plane trees in Euston Square Gardens are among those earmarked to be cut down to provide temporary sites for construction vehicles and a taxi rank displaced by work at the station. Continue reading...

The PM has finally made the environment a priority. But past double-dealing damages confidence in the government’s eco plan proposalsThe government’s new 25-year plan conjures up an environmentalist’s dream, from huge new nature reserves to protecting our long-neglected but life-giving soils. The nation’s beleaguered wildlife, toxic urban air and polluted waters certainly need it.The question is whether turning the plan into reality will become a political nightmare when confronted with vested interests or lack of Treasury funds. Such ghouls have shattered far less ambitious goals in the past. Continue reading...

Fresh offer of ‘substantial investment’ from Welsh first minister raises hope for clean energy plan getting a green light from WestminsterPlans for a £1.3bn tidal power lagoon in Swansea could still be backed by ministers despite government indecision on whether to support it, according to the author of an independent review on the project.Charles Hendry, a Conservative politician and former energy minister, enthusiastically supported the scheme a year ago as a source of clean power and UK jobs. Continue reading...

Home and kitchenware shops report growth in sales of portable mugs as government hints at a tax on disposable cupsSales of reusable coffee cups are soaring in the UK, retailers are reporting, as the government hints at a tax on disposable cups.Argos, which is part of the Sainsbury’s Group, said it had sold 537% more portable cups in December 2017 than the same month the previous year. Meanwhile, kitchenware chain Lakeland reported an increase in sales of more than 100% month-on-month, homeware company Robert Dyas reported a 50% lift year-on-year. Continue reading...

Moves to cut plastic, create a new environmental watchdog and boost wildlife habitats are among the new measures

Environmental groups welcome ambition but say 25-year promises must be backed by force of law, money and new watchdog

The home of Wall Street announced on Wednesday that it will be divesting its massive pension fund from fossil fuels. That hits fossil fuel giants where it hurts

PM declares war on scourge of plastic waste as she unveils much-heralded 25-year environmental planTheresa May has announced a war on plastic waste, with proposed policies including plastics-free aisles in supermarkets and a tax on takeaway containers.The prime minister set out her ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within 25 years in a speech on Thursday in which she promised the UK would lead internationally on environmental issues. But campaign groups said the aspirations would need to be backed up by legislation. Continue reading...

Crackdown on manufacture and sale of product will cut Scotland’s contribution to marine plastic pollution by half, says expertThe Scottish government plans to ban the manufacture and sale of plastic-stemmed cotton buds in a move that will cut the country’s marine plastic pollution by half, according to campaigners.Related: Plastic microbeads ban enters force in UK Continue reading...