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...

Peruvian lawsuit in London claims Xstrata should be liable for alleged police violence against demonstrators near Tintaya mineA UK-registered mining company, which is now part of Glencore, is facing claims in a London court that it hired security forces to mistreat environmental activists protesting about a copper mine in Peru.Two demonstrators died and others were left with serious injuries following the confrontations which lasted for several days during May 2012 on a remote hillside in the Andes, the court has been told. Continue reading...

Caritas says thousands face threats to their wellbeing, livelihoods and ‘their very existence’ due to rising sea levelsPacific Islanders whose homes face eradication by rising sea levels have called on Australia to not fund the Adani Carmichael coalmine, as a new report reveals the worsening impact of climate change across Oceania.Residents of the endangered islands have described their forced displacement as like “having your heart ripped out of your chest” as they called on the Australian government to do more to combat climate change. Continue reading...

Algal blooms, hurricanes and volcano fields are among the images captured by Nasa and the ESA last monthA potentially harmful algal bloom covered more than 700 square miles in the western basin of Lake Erie in late September, turning the lake bright green and alarming residents and local officials. Blooms tend to thrive in Lake Erie during summer, sustained by warm water temperatures and nutrients from farm runoff. This year, the bloom had been ongoing since mid-July. Continue reading...

Green MP Caroline Lucas criticises attempts by chemicals multinational Ineos to impose a sweeping injunction against anti-fracking campaignersThe chemicals multinational Ineos is facing criticism for seeking to curb democratic protests against fracking in a move described by Green MP Caroline Lucas as “extremely worrying”.On Tuesday Ineos began its latest legal move to impose a sweeping injunction against all campaigners protesting over its fracking operations. Continue reading...

Calvin Payne may get two-year term after being found guilty of twice entering ‘safety zones’ around trees the council plans to fellA campaigner could face up to two years in jail after being found guilty of breaching a court order while trying to stop trees being felled in Sheffield. Calvin Payne was found to have twice stepped inside so-called safety zones erected around trees due to be felled, in breach of an injunction brought by Sheffield city council.Related: I’m defying the council I serve on to stop it felling trees | Alison Teal Continue reading...

A new documentary, Rodents of Unusual Size, follows the hunters waging war against an invasive species that ‘put New York City sewer rats to shame’There are no medals to be earned for the hunters who are fighting the swamp rat takeover of southern Louisiana. Instead, their reward after waging a successful battle against the 20lb, orange-toothed critters is $5 for each severed 12-18in tail they collect.Louisiana’s government collects the tails as proof of a kill and gives a cash payout to incentivize citizens to help the state’s efforts to rein in the swamp rats, known as nutria, whose grazing has accelerated coastal erosion of land already vulnerable to hurricanes. Continue reading...

Report reveals large gap between government pledges and the reductions needed to prevent dangerous global warmingThere is still a large gap between the pledges by governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions and the reductions scientists say are needed to avoid dangerous levels of climate change, the UN has said.Current plans from national governments, and pledges made by private sector companies and local authorities across the world, would lead to temperature rises of as much as 3C or more by the end of this century, far outstripping the goal set under the 2015 Paris agreement to hold warming to 2C or less, which scientists say is the limit of safety. Continue reading...

Project announced after British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta chairs his first Zen Energy board meeting in AdelaideThe clean energy company Zen Energy has approved a $700m solar, battery and pumped hydro project at the South Australian town of Whyalla to power the OneSteel steelworks at Whyalla.The project was announced on Monday after the British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta, who bought the Arrium steelworks from receivers on 31 August, chaired his first Zen Energy board meeting in Adelaide. Continue reading...

Río Almonte, Extremadura, Spain Camel-haired legs, gleaming black eyes and the largest pair of spider jaws you’ve seen in your life – a tarantulaThere were all sorts of exciting birds overhead, including vultures in elegant spirals and clusters of crag martins spooked up by a hunting sparrowhawk. Yet the group’s attention had been called to an insignificant hole in the bare ground by the picnic table.The hole was 4cm across and had an untidy circlet of dead grasses arranged in a silk-knotted perimeter. By sheer chance I had just read about the occupant and how it could be lured into view with a grass stem drooped into the burrow entrance like a fishing line. Sure enough, within seconds, book learning was turned into startling experience. Continue reading...

Heatwaves, pollution and disease are the main health issues linked to global warming but action to halt emissions would deliver huge benefitsThe health of hundreds of millions of people around the world is already being damaged by climate change, a major report has revealed.

Surfing dolphins and walrus cubs help follow-up to hit 2001 series attract up to 10.6 million viewers on Sunday eveningThe opening episode of Blue Planet II, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, drew on average more than half a million viewers than Strictly Coming Dancing on Sunday evening.

Rosamund Young, farmer and author of The Secret Life of Cows, says she is really a ‘ghostwriter’ for her herd, with a mission to explain how they play games, babysit and even judge us. But that doesn’t mean she’s a vegetarian …

Global carbon pollution appears to be close to peaking

Carmichael mine opponents disrupt campaign as LNP leader Tim Nicholls fends off questions about One NationThe Adani controversy has dogged Annastacia Palaszczuk at the outset of her state election campaign, with the premier forced to contend with disruptions from mine opponents within hours of hitting the trail in regional Queensland.An anti-Adani protester crashed a live TV interview Palaszczuk was giving from Airlie Beach in north Queensland on Monday morning, and a Labor staffer tackled the man as he brandished a sign. Continue reading...

Scientists optimistic of creating early-warning system after identifying two-year gap between clearance of forests inhabited by fruit bats and emergence of virusScientists studying links between the Ebola virus and deforestation have made a breakthrough that could lead to the development of an early warning system for outbreaks.Existing research into how the disease could be spread from animals to humans found Ebola hotspots matched deforestation patterns in west Africa. Continue reading...

Menstrual pads are hard to talk about, and also an eco disaster on our beaches – but we need to change our waysThis column nearly didn’t happen. When a manufacturer of eco friendly menstrual pads bounded up to me and asked me brightly in public: “Are you a flusher or a binner?” I stared at her in total horror. Menstrual products and their disposal represent one of the last great consumer taboos – odd in a society which cheerfully discusses the vajazzle. It’s a taboo that powers a huge environmental issue. In their 2016 beach clean-up, the Marine Conservation Society found 20 tampons and sanitary items per 100 metres of shoreline.Why not embrace the rise of the reusables? Continue reading...

Exclusive: Election-eve ban aims to cut contamination from coal and oil spills to help struggling reefThe Queensland Labor government has banned the loading of coal ships at sea in the Great Barrier Reef marine park, following through on its 2015 election promise.The environment minister, Steven Miles, signed off on the ban on Saturday, in response to public concerns after the environment department last month flagged allowing so-called trans-shipping in the marine park under certain rules. Continue reading...

The 50-year civil war is over but, in the Cauca Valley, indigenous communities are on frontline of fight against drug gangs, riot police and deforestationA green-and-red flag flies over a cluster of bamboo and tarpaulin tents on the frontline of an increasingly deadly struggle for land and the environment in Colombia’s Cauca Valley.It is the banner for what indigenous activists are calling the “liberation of Mother Earth”, a movement to reclaim ancestral land from sugar plantations, farms and tourist resorts that has gained momentum in the vacuum left by last year’s peace accord between the government and the leftwing guerrillas who once dominated the region – ending, in turn, the world’s longest-running civil war. Continue reading...

Though regarded as among the tastiest fish, 90% of the catch goes to Europe. Now a supermarket campaign aims to change thatAt close to midnight, the crew of the Rachel Anne are surprisingly cheerful, given they have spent seven hours fruitlessly searching the English Channel for sardines. Scanning the screens in the wheelhouse, Richard Chamberlain, the skipper, suddenly spots a red blob on the echo-sounder which indicates a sizeable shoal is close by. “It’s looking good,” he shouts, checking its location and satisfied that it is a “tight” (and therefore plentiful) shoal, and not too deep. “Let’s shoot.”The nocturnal silence off Cornwall is shattered as a huge circular net is catapulted or “shot” overboard by a hydraulic winch and – engine revving – the boat lurches ahead in a giant curve, the net unfurling behind. Continue reading...

This year’s Halloween confectionery will contain palm oil grown on land that should lawfully be habitat to orangutans, rhinos and clouded leopards, despite commitment to clean up supply chainsNestlé, Mars and Hershey have been accused of breaking pledges to stop using “conflict palm oil” from deforested Indonesian jungles, just days before the annual Halloween confectionery frenzy.The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) says consumers have been “deceived” by promises from the brands to clean up their supply chains which were subsequently delayed, revised or watered down. Continue reading...

Once it grew only sugar and was heavy handed with fertilizers and pesticides, now Cuba is in the grip of a small-scale organic farming revolutionIn the town of Hershey, 40 miles east of Havana, you can see the past and the future of Cuban farming, side by side.The abandoned hulk of the Camilo Cienfuegos sugar plant, shut along with 70 other cane refineries in 2002, towers over the town. But in the lush hills and grasslands around Hershey, fields of cassava, corn, beans, and vegetables are a sign that there is life after sugar. Continue reading...

Caersws, Powys Afon Hafren meanders to the flood plain, a broad, stately, river in comfortable middle ageLong before the Romans built their two forts at Caersws, the ridge to the west of the town was dominated by the ramparts of Cefn Carnedd. In the low afternoon sunshine the defensive banks that still rise above the hillside woodland were picked out by deep shadows.The iron-age fortress stands above a kempt farmed landscape drained by the afon Hafren (river Severn) as it meanders across the valley floor. Only a few miles from where it rises, gathering volume from the tributary streams funnelling in from the many side valleys, it has already changed from a lively moorland torrent to a broad, stately, river in comfortable middle age. Continue reading...

Scientists find that climate change has helped push first frosts later across the countryThe length of the US winter is shortening, with the first frost of the year arriving more than one later than it did 100 years ago, according to more than a century of measurements from weather stations nationwide.The trend of ever later first freezes appears to have started around 1980, according to data from 700 weather stations across the US going back to 1895 and compiled by Ken Kunkel, a meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Continue reading...

From solar to running generators, some have quit the energy grid and several others are showing interest in ‘defecting’In the heart of Queensland’s mining belt, a businessman who has grown his enterprise mostly off the back of the coal industry sees the energy sector going only one way.“I think renewable energy is where the market’s going – what we class as the energy revolution,” says Jason Sharam. Continue reading...

President will reverse protections established by two Democratic presidents on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, sparking fury from environmentalistsDonald Trump is shrinking two national monuments in Utah, accepting the recommendation of interior secretary Ryan Zinke to reverse protections established by two Democratic presidents, a Republican senator said Friday.Related: National Park Service wants to sharply raise entry fees at most popular parks Continue reading...

Colin Bannon on how to tackle a post-Brexit problemThe WWF is absolutely right that our fish stocks are at risk from leaving the common fisheries policy (Call for Brexit monitoring of UK fishing fleet, 27 October). This is because in reality fish stocks all round Europe are precarious and all the (welcome) “recovery” in cod stock means is that there are now very few fish instead of very, very few.My contribution to the future of fish stocks is to not eat fish until there are marine conservation zones all around the UK and fish stocks are allowed to increase massively. Continue reading...

Taskforce from UK’s pig, dairy and poultry farming sectors will aim to bring down use seen as major cause of increasing antibiotic resistanceFarming organisations have set new targets to reduce the use of antibiotics in raising animals for food, in an effort to cut the widespread overuse that has been blamed as a significant factor in increasing medicinal resistance among humans.The chief medical officer for England, Dame Sally Davies, has repeatedly said that the rapidly increasing resistance to antibiotics and the rise of resistant “superbugs” is one of the greatest threats to human health, which could make even routine operations life-threatening in future. Continue reading...

Universal credit | Weatherwatch | Real signs | Candles in Bath | Butter shortageI recently completed my tax return for 2016-17 and as I owe less than £3,000 HMRC is happy to let me start paying the bill on my tax code from April 2018. This generosity from the government for those of us fortunate enough to have taxable income seems in stark contrast to those being moved to universal credit (Rent arrears spiral in universal credit pilot, 24 October), where it is deemed better that vulnerable people live without any money for a few weeks because the money tree can’t afford it.

Green party’s Alison Teal accuses Sheffield council of behaving like ’bullies’, saying their pursuit of her for protest was ‘frightening for democracy’A Green party councillor has been found not guilty of breaching a court order while trying to stop trees being felled in Sheffield.Alison Teal, the councillor for Nether Edge and Sharrow, could have faced up to two years in jail for allegedly ignoring an injunction brought by Sheffield city council over its controversial programme, which has resulted in about 5,500 mature trees being chopped down. Continue reading...

Interior secretary Zinke calls himself a ‘Teddy Roosevelt guy’ – but he’s quietly dismantling environmental protections and yielding to oil industry interests

Vaquita, Fynbos flowers and the world’s only alpine parrot are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...