Environment | The Guardian

Group says church should show ‘moral leadership’ in light of claims that the oil giant misled the public over the risks of global warmingThe Church of England should “show moral leadership” and immediately sell its investments in the oil giant ExxonMobil, according to a group of bishops and other clergy.

Governments have been underestimating methane emissions from gas and must phase out the fossil fuel, along with coal and oil, by 2035 to keep within Paris climate targets, a major study showsGovernments have drastically underestimated methane emissions from natural gas and will miss the Paris agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 2C unless they urgently scale down its use, a major new study has found. Continue reading...

Rockland St Mary, Norfolk The fisherman rewarded the well-fed and fearless heron – a regular at the angling spot – with a small perch

Shale gas firm Cuadrilla says 29 Lancashire households will get payments – but one says they will refuse ‘blood money’A group of residents in Lancashire will soon receive £2,070 each for living near a fracking site, in the first payments made direct to British householders by a shale gas company.Cuadrilla said that 29 households within a 1km radius of the site would get the payment as part of a £100,000 community benefit fund for the second well it is drilling at a site between Blackpool and Preston that has attracted ongoing anti-fracking protests. Continue reading...

Radical proposal to pedestrianise area west of Oxford Circus is aimed at improving air quality and tackling congestionA large section of London’s Oxford Street could be traffic-free by next December under a proposal unveiled by the mayor on Monday to improve the area for shoppers.A public consultation has opened into banning all forms of transport between Oxford Circus and Orchard Street to coincide with the launch of the new Elizabeth line at the end of 2018. Continue reading...

The lawyer’s main qualification for leading the world’s most powerful central bank seems to be his lack of strong viewsJerome Powell was Wall Street’s choice to run the Federal Reserve. Given Donald Trump’s record on doing the unexpected, there was always the chance the president would pick another candidate, but for once he did not make waves.Powell was the business-as-usual candidate. Nothing he has said or done since he first joined the Fed’s board five years ago suggests he intends to make life difficult for Trump or rattle the financial markets. Well, not deliberately at least, for while Powell is the boring choice, he may not necessarily prove to be the safe choice. Continue reading...

Data so far this year points to 2017 continuing a long-term trend of record breaking temperatures around the world, says World Meteorological Organization2017 is set to be one of the hottest three years on record, provisional data suggests, confirming yet again a warming trend that scientists say bears the fingerprints of human actions.The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said temperatures in the first nine months of this year were unlikely to have been higher than 2016, when there was a strong El Niño weather system, but higher than anything before 2015. Continue reading...

Republican climate science denial reared its ugly head at Bridenstine’s congressional hearingUnlike past Nasa administrators, Trump nominee Jim Bridenstine doesn’t have a scientific background. He’s a Republican Congressman from Oklahoma and former Navy pilot. He also has a history of denying basic climate science. That’s concerning because Nasa does some of the world’s best climate science research, and Bridenstine previously introduced legislation that would eliminate Earth science from Nasa’s mission statement.At his Senate hearing last week, Bridenstine tried to remake his image. He said that his previous science-denying, politically polarizing comments came with the job of being a Republican congressman, and that as Nasa administrator he would be apolitical. A kinder, gentler Bridenstine. But while he softened his climate science denial, his proclaimed new views remain in line with the rest of the harshly anti-science Trump administration. That’s very troubling. Continue reading...

Drop for seventh month in a row driven by 30% plunge in diesel vehicle sales amid growing confusion over government’s road fuel policyNew car sales have declined for the seventh month in a row, falling more than 12% in October as worsening confidence among consumers and businesses continues to dampen the market.The figures show that the car market is on course for its first annual decline since 2011 and will continue to fall next year before stabilising in 2019, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

India’s population and emissions are rising fast, and its ability to tackle poverty without massive fossil fuel use will decide the fate of the planet“It’s a lucky charm,” says Rajesh, pointing to the solar-powered battery in his window that he has smeared with turmeric as a blessing. “It has changed our life.”

Babies in Nigeria at double the risk of dying before they reach a month old if mothers lived near the scene of an oil spill before conceiving, study showsBabies in Nigeria are twice as likely to die in the first month of life if their mothers were living near an oil spill before falling pregnant, researchers have found.

A pending decision on Monsanto’s ubiquitous weedkiller is a crucial opportunity to protect our children from the toxic cocktail of pesticides polluting their food, water and play areasOur children are growing up exposed to a toxic cocktail of weedkillers, insecticides, and fungicides. It’s on their food and in their water, and it’s even doused over their parks and playgrounds. Many governments insist that our standards of protection from these pesticides are strong enough. But as a scientist and a lawyer who specialises in chemicals and their potential impact on people’s fundamental rights, I beg to differ.Last month it was revealed that in recommending that glyphosate – the world’s most widely-used pesticide – was safe, the EU’s food safety watchdog copied and pasted pages of a report directly from Monsanto, the pesticide’s manufacturer. Revelations like these are simply shocking. Continue reading...

Hosts Fiji will be aiming to build transparency and constructive dialogue – and this will be crucial to successfully ratcheting up the tough climate targets sidestepped at ParisTalanoa is a Fijian term for discussions aimed at building consensus, airing differences constructively, and finding ways to overcome difficulties or embark on new projects. It is one of the building blocks of Fijian society, used for centuries to foster greater understanding among a people distributed over many small islands, and carry them through a tough existence.

Kirkham Priory, Malton, North Yorkshire The skeleton of a building offers respite from a biting wind and a final home for the last of the summer’s waspsIt is one of those season-hinge days when the slightest atmospheric whim might swing it either way. There is some warmth in the intermittent sunshine and autumn’s colours are still bright, but the wind is pure north and it carries smatters of cold rain. The river is swollen, with violet reflections in oxtail-brown water – an ominous palette of decay.This stretch of the Derwent was once used to transport stone a mile from the ancient Whitwell Quarry to Kirkham, where in 1122 a local nobleman founded an Augustinian priory as a memorial to his son, who died falling from his horse on the hill above. For 400 years, monks went about their practical and spiritual business here. Orchards spread on to the surrounding slopes, fishponds were excavated on the flood meadow. Continue reading...

New population naturally expanded since reintroduction to north-west Scotland in 2016Red squirrels, a species previously lost from their native woodlands, have been successfully returned to the Highlands, early results of a reintroduction project show.

Paradise Papers reveal use of cross-currency interest rate swaps, which are under investigation by the tax officeThe Australian arm of the global mining giant Glencore has been involved in cross-currency swaps of up to $25bn of a type under specific investigation by the Australian tax office, the Paradise Papers reveal.Glencore, the world’s largest mining company by revenue, has attracted significant controversy since its entry into the Australian market in the mid-1990s over its tax strategies, degradation of sacred Indigenous lands, and black lung and lead blood poisoning among its workforce and their families. Continue reading...

Testing by Third Energy expected to get go-ahead soon at Kirby Misperton, the first in UK since 2011For the past year, Leigh Coghill has devoted her life to one thing – trying to stop the gas exploration company Third Energy from fracking on the outskirts of a tiny village in North Yorkshire. The 26-year-old from Wolverhampton, who “married into Yorkshire”, quit her job working for York council in November last year, deciding to devote herself to the cause.Since September, when Third Energy started preparing the site at Kirby Misperton for fracking, she has been one of a group of around forty Ryedale locals to have spent almost every day protesting next to the gates to the well, holding banners and placards, and watching in dismay as lorries trundle in. Continue reading...

Halting dangerous global warming means putting the landmark Paris agreement into practice – without the US – and tackling the divisive issue of compensationThe world’s nations are meeting for the 23rd annual “conference of the parties” (COP) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which aims to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”, ie halt global warming. It is taking place in Bonn, Germany from 6-17 November. Continue reading...

Is it good news or bad when environment-friendly brands are bought out by major industry players?At a recent event held by the outdoor clothing brand Patagonia I detected a sheepish air. Nothing to do with eco wool, but rumours that the company was about to surpass a $1bn turnover.I'd rather market share went to Patagonia than to brands without discernible values Continue reading...

Poultry owner claims his new approach has the highest welfare standards and lowest cost to environmentThere’s the much-criticised battery hen egg, and then the pricier organic and free-range varieties. But for the truly ethically committed, how about the carbon-neutral egg, laid in what has been billed as the world’s most environmentally friendly farm?Dutch stores are now selling so-called “Kipster eggs” laid at a shiny new farm near the south-eastern city of Venray. “Kip” means chicken in Dutch, “ster” means star, and it’s no coincidence the name rhymes with hipster. The intention is to rethink the place of animals in the food chain, according to Ruud Zanders, the poultry farmer and university lecturer behind the farm, which includes a visitor centre, corporate meeting room and even a free cappuccino machine. Continue reading...

A busload of indigenous leaders have been crossing Europe to highlight their cause before the start of UN climate talks in BonnOf the many thousands of participants at the Bonn climate conference which begins on 6 November, there will arguably be none who come with as much hope, courage and anger as the busload of indigenous leaders who have been criss-crossing Europe over the past two weeks, on their way to the former German capital.The 20 activists on the tour represent forest communities that have been marginalised over centuries but are now increasingly recognised as important actors against climate change through their protection of carbon sinks. Continue reading...

Up to 80% of Kimberley’s inshore reef bleached in El Niño heatwave of 2016, with about 29% of the coral at Rottnest, off Perth, also affectedUp to 80% of coral in inshore reefs in the Kimberley was bleached during the global mass bleaching event that also affected 93% of the Great Barrier Reef in the summer of 2016-2016, according to new research.Led by scientists from the University of Western Australia and published in Scientific Reports this week, the research found between 57% and 80% of corals in the Kimberley, particularly at Montgomery Reef, the largest inshore coral reef in Australia, were bleached in April 2016. Continue reading...

Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire To see how many features I once climbed have been battered away by wave and wind is a salutary lesson in human ambitionMeadowsweet still flowered along lanes through an obscenity of tank ranges; grasses riffled and glistened in the verges; far offshore, Lundy dipped in and out of view. Nowhere’s better in stormy weather than south Pembrokeshire’s Castlemartin peninsula. Here the elemental interplay of land and sea is slow-motion spectator sport of the utmost drama.I was there when Storm Ophelia was at her raging height, to watch sculpting forces of weather at work on massively bedded, malleable limestone. In my decades as a rock climber, pioneering routes on this coast obsessed me. To look east from the Green Bridge of Wales and see how many of the features I had climbed have been battered away by wave and wind is a salutary lesson in human ambition. Continue reading...

Major report by government agencies goes against senior members of Trump administration and finds evidence of global warming stronger than ever

Millions of fruit bats, migrating cranes and a new species of orangutan are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

A new study shows that the biological effects of two ecosystem changes can be greater than their individual impacts

An elevated level of climate change would lock in irreversible sea-level rises affecting hundreds of millions of people, Guardian data analysis showsHundreds of millions of urban dwellers around the world face their cities being inundated by rising seawaters if latest UN warnings that the world is on course for 3C of global warming come true, according to a Guardian data analysis.Related: The three-degree world: the cities that will be drowned by global warming Continue reading...

As sea levels rise, the county’s low-lying farm plains and coastline would flood, changing the entire shape of eastern England foreverLincolnshire’s flat, low-lying agricultural plains, which stretch north from the fens, curling around the Wash to Skegness and Grimsby, have long been a frontline of mankind’s battle to claim and protect food-producing land from the sea.

Average of 358 items per square kilometre found in 2016, of which more than three-quarters were plasticThere has been a dramatic rise in the amount of litter found on the seabed around Britain, according to new government data.An average of 358 litter items were found per square kilometre of seabed in 2016, a 158% rise on the previous year, and 222% higher than the average for 1992-94. Continue reading...

Ilkley, Wharfedale, West Yorkshire It is tempting to see the outward beauty and lethal potential of the river in the oversized eyes of a weathered stone relicOn this darkening evening, the sky above Wharfedale is wild and oceanic, and the river Wharfe is its turbulent likeness, swollen with rain and surging urgently eastwards. An excoriating wind, the kind that makes you grimace, whips brass, bronze, and copper foliage into the water for the current to swallow, hastening winter’s approach with every gust.The sound and fury is suddenly muffled as I enter the centuries-brewed silence of Ilkley’s All Saints church. In the church’s collection of Anglo-Saxon crosses is an altar stone on which a figure is carved out of rough millstone grit. She wears a pleated robe and holds what appear to be two snakes in her hands. Her oversized eyes may have looked out on the world for almost two millennia. Continue reading...

The next event, if it occurs, may not be as damaging as the previous two, but could ruin the chances of coral recoveryThe Great Barrier Reef could face more bleaching in the coming months, following unprecedented mass bleaching events in 2016 and 2017, which are believed to have killed half the coral.Forecasts stretching to February are pushing the science to its limits, leaving significant uncertainty. But scientists say there is reason to be concerned, and some bleaching is very likely, although it won’t be anything like what happened during the past two years. Continue reading...

US energy secretary faces criticism from Sierra Club after describing girl who told him about the importance of electricity in African villageThe US energy secretary, Rick Perry, has said he thinks using fossil fuels can help prevent sexual assault, sparking criticism from the Sierra Club, which accused Perry of exploiting the struggle of those most affected by climate change.

Scientists identify new species of great ape, Pongo tapanuliensis or Tapanuli orangutan, but fear its survival is already in doubt as habitat under threatA new species of great ape has been discovered, according to scientists studying a small population of orangutans in northern Sumatra.Among the great apes – a group that also includes humans, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos – orangutans are our most distant relative. Since 2001, two distinct species have been recognised: the Bornean (Pongo pygmaeus) and Sumatran (Pongo abelii) orangutans. Now, it seems, there is a third. Continue reading...

The European Environment Agency invited European citizens to capture how nature benefits them in a competition called Nature@work. Here are the winning images, announced this week Continue reading...

As the cycling event returned to the capital for the third year, we got the trackside word on the races, the music and which riders like to party hardestThe lights are low and the music is loud. The beer is flowing and some of the world’s best riders are whipping round the wooden boards of Lee Valley velodrome in one of the many furious and fast paced races of the Six Day London event, now in its third year.Night after night, thousands of people crowded to the velodrome to watch elite riders fight it out for laps and points to a background of flashing lights and a clubbing soundtrack. And like a club, the action is not just centre-stage; there’s something going on in every corner. Here are six lessons from Six Day London. Continue reading...

Experts warn refugees could number tens of millions in the next decade, and call for a new legal framework to protect the most vulnerableTens of millions of people will be forced from their homes by climate change in the next decade, creating the biggest refugee crisis the world has ever seen, according to a new report.Senior US military and security experts have told the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) study that the number of climate refugees will dwarf those that have fled the Syrian conflict, bringing huge challenges to Europe. Continue reading...

Hollingside wood, Durham city Acorns’ chances of survival make lottery odds look attractive as most will be eaten by insects, birds and small mammalsThis wood was last clear-felled in 1799, then replanted with beech and oak. Silver birch, horse chestnut, sycamore and holly have since found their own way in. On the southern slopes the oldest trees, straight-trunked with lofty crowns, tower above the understorey like the pillars and vaulted roof of a cathedral, inspiring a sense of reverence.The raised voice of a distant dog-walker seemed almost like sacrilege, breaking the stillness of a tranquil afternoon. I sat on a fallen branch under an oak, to listen to the sounds of the woodland. Continue reading...

Global investment could hold the key to fighting climate change, with one trillion dollars already invested in solutions such as renewables and energy efficiency, says International Finance Corporation

Labor says the NSW Natural Resources Access Regulator has been compromised by the choice of a former Nationals minister to recruit its boardA former National party minister is heading the search for members of the New South Wales government’s Natural Resources Access Regulator.The new body, which is being established after the Four Corners allegations of large-scale water theft in the Murray-Darling basin, is designed to provide independent oversight of enforcement of water licences. Continue reading...

New research has found a quarter of pregnant sharks and rays lose their pups when caught, threatening some speciesAustralian researchers have found a quarter of pregnant sharks and rays abort their pups when captured, revealing a little-known risk to the survival of the slow-growing animals.An analysis of recorded instances of sharks and rays either aborting their pups or undergoing a premature birth once captured found 24% of pregnant females across 88 species lost their young. In some species, such as the pelagic stingray, the rate of abortion on capture was 85%. Continue reading...

Ineos exaggerated the threat posed by protesters to justify its temporary legal action, court hearsA multinational firm has been accused of using “flimsy and exaggerated” evidence when it obtained an “astonishingly broad” injunction against all anti-fracking protesters, a court has heard.Petrochemicals giant Ineos is seeking to enforce a sweeping injunction to prevent any protester from obstructing its fracking operations. Campaigners face being jailed, fined or having their assets seized if they break the injunction. Continue reading...

From 1780s waistcoat to bioluminescent GM dress, exhibition traces interaction and celebrates sustainable yet desirable fashionA genetically engineered bioluminescent silk dress, a pineapple-fibre clutch bag and a cape made from cockerel feathers are among 300 items to go on display as part of the V&A’s next fashion exhibition.Fashioned From Nature, which opens in April, will trace the relationship between fashion and the natural world since 1600 and examine the ways in which designers draw on nature for inspiration. Continue reading...

There will be further autumnal signs in the northern hemisphere in November, while the southern hemisphere can finally begin to enjoy springtime. We’d like to see your photos of this month’s wildlife near youWhat sort of wildlife will we all discover on our doorsteps this month? We’d like to see your photos of the November wildlife near you, whether you’re a novice spotter or have been out and about searching for wildlife for years.Related: Your best pictures of insects around the world Continue reading...

A decade ago Amsterdam pumped money into tourism to recover from the global financial crisis but – even as the city bans ‘beer bikes’ – can it be saved from a monster industry of its own making?

Exclusive: report says outcomes of climate negotiations have been skewed to favour biggest corporate pollutersGlobal negotiations seeking to implement the Paris agreement have been captured by corporate interests and are being undermined by powerful forces that benefit from exacerbating climate change, according to a report released ahead of the second meeting of parties to the Paris agreement – COP23 – next week.The report, co-authored by Corporate Accountability, uncovers a litany of ways in which fossil fuel companies have gained high-level access to negotiations and manipulated outcomes. Continue reading...

As the peace deal opens up new areas to extractive industries, a long-running fight for land and the environment has erupted anew as indigenous communities try to reclaim their territory• Read more: Indigenous people of Colombia fighting for their lands

RSA launches food and farming inquiry as it highlights small quantity of these crops grown in UK and picked by non-EU staffThe UK faces serious health implications if the government fails to agree a Brexit deal, finds a report that says of 35 portions of fruit and vegetables, a figure relating to the five-a-day recommendation for individuals, just one “portion” is grown in the UK and picked by British or non-EU workers.The report, to mark the launch of a new RSA commission examining the impact of Brexit on food and farming, found that the five-a-day health target – which adds up to the 35 portions of fruit and vegetables a week – was overwhelmingly met by food grown in the EU or harvested by EU workers in the UK. Continue reading...

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire Scratch-calls and white strobing underwings announce a flock of fieldfare in the abbey ruinsYew berries glow brilliant red at the green edges of the tree’s inner darkness. It is five minutes to closing time when I slip into the Wenlock Priory ruins. Lawns have been freshly cut; towering stones radiate warmth on one of the last of the fine autumn days; no other feet tread the paths.It is still bright as the church clock strikes five. Lime, hazel and beech have the smouldering brassy ochre of a slow autumn’s burn, only now reaching their peak. A large horse chestnut bough has been downed in a recent gale. Tall pines rise skyward like those marking drover roads in the hills. Where they end the sky is blue beyond smoky clouds. Continue reading...

Environmental Justice Australia injuncts Victorian government-owned business from clearing in Kuark forestConservationists have won an injunction stopping a Victorian government-owned business from clearing old-growth trees in the Kuark forest in East Gippsland.Environmental Justice Australia, representing the Fauna and Flora Research Collective, took VicForests to the supreme court on Wednesday and successfully won an injunction stopping the logging of an area known as Princess Cut. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Charities band together to fight Coalition’s plan to ban or limit the use of donations from overseas for advocacy in AustraliaAustralian development and aid charities have joined forces to fight government moves expected to limit their ability to advocate for policy changes, passing a strongly worded motion at an annual conference to kick off a concerted campaign by the sector.The Coalition will introduce legislation to parliament in the coming weeks that will ban or limit the use of donations from overseas for advocacy in Australia. Continue reading...