Photographer Ian Berry takes us from Uganda’s makeshift goldmines to a London jeweller’s, documenting how a Fairtrade programme is helping to end the exploitation, mercury poisoning and treacherous conditions faced by Africa’s small-scale miners Continue reading...
Rather than require no negative impact on water, requirement would be for no more impact than from original developmentThe New South Wales government is rushing through changes to laws that protect Sydney’s drinking water, weakening them to allow extensions to mines, or any other development, that pollute the water catchment.
Mayor must do more to reduce car use and promote public transport, walking and cycling, says reportLondon mayor Sadiq Khan has been urged to do more to tackle the capital’s air pollution crisis by leading health experts and academics.In a new report published on Tuesday, the group, including the chair of the NHS Sir Malcolm Grant, said the mayor must go further to reduce car use across the capital and harness new technology to create a system based around “public transport, walking and cyclingâ€. Continue reading...
Entomologist names parasitoid wasp after ‘redeemed’ character Lucius Malfoy in hope of showing not all wasps are badA Harry Potter fan turned entomologist has named a wasp after a redeemed villain in the series in the hope of drawing attention to the much maligned insect.Tom Saunders named and described a New Zealand parasitoid wasp as part of his masters study at Auckland University. Continue reading...
Chanctonbury Ring, West Sussex Jackdaws, ravens and hobbies dance in the sky, oblivious to tales of fairies and ghosts and ritual sacrificeThe morning sun shines through the canopy of the wood at the bottom of the hill, making the fallen leaves on the ground glow rust-red. The steep chalk and grey mud track is greasy from last night’s rain. Either side, flocks of tits – blue, great, coal and long-tailed – flit about, and wrens heckle my laboured climb with loud alarm calls.At the top of the hill, the strong, cold wind is shaking the trees, some already stripped skeletal-bare. Emerging into the open, I turn on to the South Downs Way and follow the path through a gate, over a cattle grid. The soft contour of the hilltop sweeps up to the early iron age fort, hidden by a cap of dark trees. Continue reading...
Former resources minister refuses to endorse clean energy target and says he has ‘queries’ about Finkel price predictionsThe government’s sidelined resources minister, Matt Canavan, has refused to back a clean energy target and says he thinks some of the Finkel review’s economic modelling is wrong.On the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday night Canavan, who quit cabinet when it was revealed he is one of seven politicians facing uncertainty about his eligibility to stand in parliament because of dual citizenship, did little to pour cold water on expectations the government is planning to walk away from a clean energy target. Continue reading...
by Karl Mathiesen for Climate Home in London on (#34JJN)
Former Australian PM delivers speech in London comparing global warming action to ‘killing goats to appease volcano gods’Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has suggested climate change is “probably doing good†in a speech in London in which he likened policies to combat it to “primitive people once killing goats to appease the volcano gods†.Abbott delivered the annual lecture to the London-based Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), a climate sceptic thinktank on Monday evening. The Guardian and several other media outlets were blocked from attending the event but a copy of the speech was later circulated. Continue reading...
Facility run by E.ON, to be followed by many more, will help UK grid cope with fast-growing amount of renewable energyBritain’s switch to greener energy will take another significant step forward this week with the opening of an industrial-scale battery site in Sheffield.E.ON said the facility, which is next to an existing power plant and has the equivalent capacity of half a million phone batteries, marked a milestone in its efforts to develop storage for electricity from windfarms, nuclear reactors and gas power stations. Continue reading...
Boral has just days to tell the environment watchdog what it will do about zinc, nickel and manganese leaching into a river in NSW southern highlandsMultinational company Boral has been told to take urgent action to stop pollution flowing from a disused mine site into the Wingecarribee river in the New South Wales southern highlands.Boral now has three days left to tell the state’s environmental watchdog, the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), what it will do to stop zinc, nickel and manganese leaching into the river, which is part of Sydney’s drinking water catchment. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Company pledges products will be free from ingredients tainted with controversial herbicide after survey found traces in its European ice-creamsBen & Jerry’s has moved to cut all glyphosate-tainted ingredients from its production chain and introduce an “organic dairy†line next year, after a new survey found widespread traces of the controversial substance in its European ice-creams.The dramatic initiative follows a new survey by Health Research Institute (HRI) laboratories which found traces of the weedkiller in 13 out of 14 B&J tubs sampled in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Ruling made in effort to halt spike in toxic smog that led to closure of schools, power stations and construction sites last yearIndia’s supreme court has banned the sale of fireworks in Delhi during the upcoming Diwali festival, hoping to prevent the usual spike in toxic air pollution levels that accompany the holiday.Last year’s Hindu festival of lights, in which tens of thousands of firecrackers are burst in Delhi over several days, left the city sheeted in toxic smog that forced the closure of schools, power stations and construction sites. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#34H92)
New EU rules that allow car firms to keep their emissions control systems secret from the public risk another dieselgate and should be made illegal, say environmental lawyersNew EU rules that allow car manufacturers to keep pollution control systems secret from the public should be declared illegal, according to environmental lawyers.The systems can legally cut emissions controls under certain conditions on the road, meaning more pollution is produced. But keeping these strategies secret risks another “dieselgate†scandal, according to ClientEarth lawyers, who announced on Monday that they are seeking to challenge the regulation in the European Union’s court of justice. Continue reading...
Coal can no longer compete in the free market, so the Trump administration wants to prop it up with taxpayer subsidiesThe conservative philosophy of allowing an unregulated free market to operate unfettered often seems to fall by the wayside when the Republican Party’s industry allies are failing to compete in the marketplace. Trump’s Energy Secretary Rick Perry recently provided a stark example of this philosophical flexibility when he proposed to effectively pull the failing coal industry out of the marketplace and instead prop it up with taxpayer-funded subsidies. Continue reading...
Chief scientist once again endorses proposed mechanism as fastest, most flexible way to transform marketThe chief scientist says changes the Turnbull government is contemplating to the national electricity market would take five years to take effect, whereas his proposal for a clean energy target would achieve transformation more quickly, with “enormous flexibility†for the market.
Dolebury Warren, Somerset In an iron age hill fort once ruled by rabbits, waxcaps speckle the ground with luminous colourThis shapely hill has steep sides, the sheep-walked turf trodden into neat pleats along the contours. On the ridge, upstanding stony ribs encircle a heart of deeper soil – the iron age hill fort, the Dolebury. In medieval times, when rabbits were tender creatures, a protective warren was built up here, completing the modern name for the place. Nowadays the rabbits look after themselves and the place is often deserted, especially on a ditchwater-dull day like this.We had come to hunt waxcaps, glistening mushrooms in parrot shades of red, orange, yellow and green. In this peaceful soil their mycelium spreads undisturbed beneath thyme and tormentil (Potentilla erecta). We have been here before, quartering their favourite corners, luckless, only to look back and see them hiding behind a tussock, shining as brightly as lights on a Christmas tree. Continue reading...
Ashort film shot by Heath Patterson captures photographer Vaughan Brookfield and TomLynch'sjourney to a New Zealand glacier equipped with hundredsof kilograms of gear and a light projector. Their plan was to project images on to the rapidly receding Tasman Glacier. Brookfield says: 'We want to remind people of the effects humans are having on the environment'
State energy minister Don Harwin says mine that supplies Lithgow’s Mount Piper power station is ‘vital for energy security and affordability’The New South Wales government will introduce legislation to approve an underground coalmine that was blocked by the courts because it was polluting Sydney’s drinking water.On Monday the state’s energy minister, Don Harwin, announced the government would overturn a decision by the NSW court of appeal to block the extension of the Springvale colliery. Continue reading...
With pressure to boost recycling and cut costs, landfill waste in England is collected less frequently – with six councils collecting it once in three weeksMore than three quarters of English councils now pick up household rubbish which cannot be recycled or composted just once a fortnight, a survey reveals.With councils under pressure to boost recycling and cut costs, some have gone further, with six local authorities picking up residual household waste only once every three weeks. Continue reading...
It is no surprise the mayor of London wants to ban wood burning: even new stoves are much more polluting than the exhaust of a heavy goods vehicleBrowse through the home style magazines in your newsagent’s or watch Channel 4’s Grand Designs and you will see beautifully decorated living rooms complete with a roaring fire. Wood burning has become very fashionable and, let’s face it, a log fire is cosy.Natural gas central heating largely banished solid fuel and brought huge improvements in our urban air. For two decades the UK’s official energy statistics said that home wood burning was too small to be quantified, but under the radar it has been making a return. A 2016 government survey found that 7.5% of UK homes burned wood making up 30% of UK particle emissions. In London, one home in 12 burns wood, but this accounts for more than a quarter of the particle pollution produced in the capital. It is no surprise that the mayor of London, Sadiq Kahn, has called for powers to address this problem. Continue reading...
Birds reproduce only on three remote islands in Bass Straight and are listed as ‘vulnerable’ with just 1,500 breeding pairs remainingThe Tasmanian shy albatross has embraced the idea of settling down in an artificial, specially constructed nest, according to scientists who are trying to boost the population of the endangered seabird.
A competition, now in its 43rd year, dedicated to showcasing the beautiful and bizarre as seen under a light microscope attracted over 2,000 entries from 88 countries. Here’s a selection of the winning and commended images from the 2017 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition Continue reading...
It’s time the responsibility for recycling was laid firmly at the door of the packaging manufacturersLitter brings out an urge in me to ban everything. Under my regime, straws would be outlawed. Plastic drinks bottles – only 57% of which find their way into recycling – would be verboten. But top of the list of banned items would be wacky recycling surveys.The latest, from Business Waste, highlights the craziest eco blunders found in the nation’s recycling bins. The list includes a car door, 1,000 Greenpeace badges (oh, the irony!) and a full Christmas dinner including plates, tablecloth, crackers and pudding. Continue reading...
ReachTel poll commissioned by Australia Institute shows people believe extending finance to coalmine would damage the country’s reputationPolling released on Sunday shows Australians are mostly opposed to Adani’s Carmichael coalmine, and even more strongly opposed to it getting any government assistance. Continue reading...
Of the millions of eggs laid by the endangered olive ridley sea turtles on one Costa Rican beach, few survive both predators and poachers. But how could allowing local villagers to harvest the eggs be a solution?Dawn on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast and the dark figure of a man at the water’s edge gradually becomes distinct under a pinkening sky. I switch off my torch. Jairo Quiros Rosales and I are the only people to be seen on this broad black beach, the volcanic sands of which stretch north for several miles. Jairo is beckoning, so I hurry down to him, scanning the beach and murky shoreline. As the light grows, I make out the funereal vultures flecking the distance, and assorted mutts appear from the gloom to sniff the night from the sands.And then I see them: about 100 metres further up the beach, like strange, regularly humped stones, hundreds of olive ridley sea turtles are making their way from the ocean on to the beach to lay their eggs. This is the arribada. It means “the arrival†in Spanish, and I have been waiting more than a month to see it. Continue reading...
About half of the power generated in the UK comes from low-carbon sources – here’s a breakdown of the four main sources of electricityAs one of the UK’s renewable energy chiefs has pointed out, electric cars won’t tackle climate change if they run off fossil fuels. Matthew Wright, managing director of Dong Energy UK, said that although plug-in cars could cut local air pollution, it would be a “pyrrhic victory†if they increased greenhouse gases from coal and gas power stations.“The fit between renewable energy and electric is a natural [one],†he argued. E.ON, one of the big-six energy suppliers, agrees: its dedicated new electric car tariff is supplied with 100% renewable power. Continue reading...
Campaigners say humans must address the huge hidden costs of industrial farming, such as wasted food and caloriesOur habit of feeding human foods, such as grain and soya, to farm animals will cost us $1.32tn (£1tn) a year by 2050 globally, according to environmental campaigners.The hidden costs of the industrial farming system are vast, and urgently need to be brought into clear focus, Peter Stevenson of Compassion in World Farming told the Extinction and Livestock conference in London. “There’s a worrying disconnect between the retail price of food and the true cost of production. As a result, food produced at great environmental cost can appear to be cheaper than more sustainably produced alternatives.â€
Pentrefelin, Gwynedd Swirling sands made for a journey as perilous as the doctrinal disputes of the dark agesThe minor road climbs steeply to debouch on a rushy pasture between Mynydd Ednyfed and Bryn Braich y Saint. The views from up here are of startling breadth and loveliness. To the south the land falls away to where Afonnydd Glaslyn and Dwyryd spill into Tremadog Bay.Over on the southern shore, yews surround the clas (Celtic Christian monastic settlement) of Llanfihangel-y-Traethau. Continue reading...
Paula Kahumbu: The Global March for Elephants, Rhinos and Lions brings people in cities across the world together to demand action to save threatened wildlife from extinction
Thousands of people gather at 40 locations across the country on Saturday as part of the Stop Adani AllianceNew polling shows the majority of Australians oppose Adani’s proposed Carmichael coalmine going ahead, and an even bigger number are against Queensland allowing the company to receive a $1bn federal loan.
Readers respond to George Monbiot’s call for an end to raising animals for foodGeorge Monbiot’s fear of the few remaining British farmers (Goodbye – and good riddance – to livestock farming, 4 October) reached new levels when he wrote that the “rich mosaic of rainforest and other habitats that once covered our hills has been erased†and blamed us for the tectonic drift that moved Britain from the equator towards the Arctic, perhaps 300m years ago. In the rest of his article he mixed unrelated science from all over the globe with the peculiar claims of noted eccentrics, and suggested that we should plough unsuitable land to grow soya, which will not grow in this climate, to produce artificial meat in urban factories.He didn’t mention inconvenient features of the British ruminant livestock industry, such as the fact that most feed that animals get other than grass is made up of byproducts of the human food industry such as brewers’ grains, sugar beet and fruit-juice pulp, most of which would have to go to landfill if cows and sheep did not recycle it. Without the income from this form of recycling, the price of food in the shop would increase. We do need to moderate excessive meat consumption, and we do need to act on climate change, but this article sows confusion that will delay necessary change.
Conservationist who took on the ivory poachers to protect the African elephantWhen he was offered a leading role in the documentary The Ivory Game (2016) by its producer, Leonardo DiCaprio, the conservationist Wayne Lotter modestly gave the credit instead to his wildlife rangers, who led the way in tracking down one of Africa’s most notorious poachers, thought to be responsible for 10,000 elephants’ deaths. Lotter preferred to be in the background, while the spotlight fell on the cause for which he fought: saving the dwindling populations of Africa’s wild elephants, through practical, dogged, on-the-ground tracking of poachers and protection of their prey.Lotter has been shot dead in Dar es Salaam, aged 51. Although the identity of his killers is not known, the murder may have been connected to one of the criminal groups involved in wildlife killing and ivory trafficking in Tanzania. These groups have turned what used to be small-scale ivory poaching into a highly organised international criminal enterprise that exists mainly to service Chinese demand for ivory and other rare animal products. “The more you go after them, the more situations where there is confrontation between poachers and rangers will take place,†Lotter said last year. “There are going to be risks.†Continue reading...
by Rebecca Smithers Consumer affairs correspondent on (#34A3G)
Environmental health officers are urging consumers not to switch back to plastic following recent warnings that raw foods can spread harmful bacteria. So how can you keep your reusable bags hygienic?The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) is urging consumers to continue to shop for food with reusable “bags for lifeâ€, fearing that worries about the food poisoning risks could trigger a backlash and even a resurgence in the use of thin plastic bags. Continue reading...
Politicians may debate the merits of a cap on energy bills but making our leaky houses energy efficient is the solution that all political parties should unite behindAs the letters began to fall off the slogan behind Theresa May during her leader’s speech at the Conservative party conference, it was hard not to see symbolism. Not just of a premiership under threat, but also of a signature policy falling apart within hours of being announced.
Monarch refers to impact of Heathrow flight path on Frogmore House, on 70th anniversary of Gardeners’ Question TimeIn Queen Victoria’s day, the garden at Frogmore House in Windsor was a tranquil haven. It is less so for the present-day queen, it would seem.
EU laws that have protected hundreds of conservation sites and the species that live in them for decades could be watered down or lost with the EU withdrawal bill
EU opts for public awareness campaign on the impacts of plastics on the environment saying a tax would not be sustainableThe EU has ruled out penalties on single-use plastic products, in favour of raising public awareness of the damage consumer plastics are doing to the world’s oceans.Frans Timmermans, vice president of the European commission, said a tax would “not be sustainableâ€, but that changing the way plastic was produced and used could work. “The only sustainable method is to create recyclable plastic and take out microplastics. You can’t take out microplastics with a tax. You need to make sure things are reused, and not put in the ocean.†Continue reading...
Increasingly unfamiliar and unpredictable weather events mean that business as usual is not an option for these islands to surviveAs a Caribbean climate scientist, I am often asked to speak about how climate change affects small islands. In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, one of two category five storms to batter the eastern Caribbean in just a week, three words resonate in my mind.The first word is “unfamiliarâ€. Scientific analysis shows that the climate of the Caribbean region is already changing in ways that seem to signal the emergence of a new climate regime. Irma and Maria fit this pattern all too well. At no point in the historical records dating back to the late 1800s have two category five storms made landfall in the small Caribbean island chain of the eastern Antilles in a single year. Continue reading...
Indigenous leaders say operations in the remote Amazon violate rights and risk fatal epidemicsThere are more indigenous peoples living in “isolation†in Peru than any country in the world except Brazil. All live in the Amazon - the majority in poorly-protected reserves, or areas where reserves have been proposed but never established, or “protected natural areas†such as national parks.For years indigenous federations and other civil society organisations in Peru and abroad have worked for the territories of indigenous peoples in “isolation†to be made off-limits, citing Peruvian and international laws, emphasising their rights to self-determination, and stressing their vulnerability to contact because of their lack of immunological defences and the risk of epidemics and fatalities. The biggest dangers - in terms of outsiders entering their territories, exploiting resources and/or actively seeking contact - are oil and gas companies, loggers and logging roads, narco-traffickers, evangelical missionaries, Catholic priests, artisanal miners and highways.
Mayor has written to BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen urging them to contribute funding to help combat UK pollution as they have done in GermanyThe mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has written to three leading car manufacturers asking them to contribute to the fund set up to tackle the capital’s air pollution crisis.Khan has accused BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen of “double standards†after it emerged they had paid £223m to the German government’s Sustainable Mobility Fund for Cities earlier this year, but have given nothing to the UK. Continue reading...
World leaders must do more to defend custodians of natural world whose lives are at risk from big business, says UN rapporteur Victoria Tauli-CorpuzGlobal leaders must do more to protect indigenous people fighting to protect their land and way of life if the world is to limit climate change, according to the UN special rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz.Speaking ahead of key climate talks in Bonn next month she urged politicians to recognise that indigenous communities around the world were the most effective custodians of millions of hectares of forest “which act as the world’s lungsâ€. Continue reading...
The German city is working to shake off the coal dust of the industrial Ruhr, but will green tourism be profitable enough to regain its former economic strength?The shores of Baldeneysee, a ribbon of a lake that feeds into the Ruhr river near Essen, are busy. Schoolchildren cannonball into the water as sunbathers sit on beach chairs, nurse their beers and watch the paddleboarders pass by.
by Damian Carrington Environment editor on (#348R5)
Current UK law allows trade in ‘antiques’ carved before 1947 but government bows to campaigners and will ban sale of ivory regardless of ageThe UK government has bowed to campaigners and will ban the sale of ivory regardless of age, according to a new consultation.The UK is the biggest exporter of legal ivory in the world and shutting down the trade will help prevent illegal ivory being laundered by criminals. More than 50 elephants are killed by poachers every day on average and the population of African elephants plunged by a third between 2007-14 alone, leading to warnings that the entire species could go extinct. Continue reading...