Environment | The Guardian

Juneau's residents are divided over whether to embrace the economic benefits of millions of visitors, or reclaim their town from an industry that has reshaped it

Ban on new petrol and diesel cars starts in 2030 but government may change rules for some modelsCar manufacturers may be allowed to sell Toyota Prius-style hybrid models in the UK until 2035, as the government looks at ways to loosen electric vehicle sales rules.Earlier this week the government launched a fast-track consultation to determine what types of electric vehicles carmakers can sell after a ban on new petrol and diesel cars, which is due to come into force from 2030. Continue reading...

The Tories' targets glossed over the impact on carmakers and cash-strapped drivers - but the move to net zero won't be cheap or simpleHave cake, will eat. For years it has been the default political response to awkward questions about the climate crisis, with successive governments insisting that going green would create jobs, not destroy them, and that the planet could be saved without stifling growth or demanding uncomfortable sacrifices. Keir Starmer promised only this month not to tell people how to live their lives", suggesting the road to net zero would not be quite as painful as some think. And then, this week, he hit a pothole.The carmaker Stellantis, which owns Vauxhall, announced it was closing its van factory in Luton, putting 1,100 jobs at risk; its rival Ford is axing 800 jobs. In Sunderland, Nissan has warned of an industry at crisis point".Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The best of this week's wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

It is one of the world's most dangerous materials, and global leaders are meeting in South Korea to thrash out a treaty to curb its effectsThis week, world leaders are gathering in Busan, South Korea, to hammer out a global plastics treaty to try to curb pollution from one of the most dangerous materials on the planet. While such a high-level event might seem far removed from our everyday lives, it is the products we use every day that are at the heart of the negotiations. Some plastics are worse than others and have a unique impact in various parts of the world. Here, we look at five of the worst offenders. Continue reading...

Satellite data analysis suggests algal blooms could be behind mass die-off in Botswana that sparked flurry of theories in 2020More than 350 elephants that died in mysterious circumstances probably drank toxic water, according to a new paper that warns of an alarming trend" in climate-induced poisoning.The deaths in Botswana's Okavango delta were described by scientists as a conservation disaster". Elephants of all ages were seen walking in circles before collapsing and dying. Carcasses were first spotted in north-eastern Botswana in May and June 2020, with many theories circulating about the cause of death, including cyanide poisoning or an unknown disease. Continue reading...

Early deaths from air pollution in US could be reduced by between 4,000 and 15,000 a year by 2035, study showsThe burning of fossil fuels that harms our climate also produces air pollution that damages ecosystems and harms our health. But we fail to tally up the benefits of reduced air pollution in our climate policies, and overlook opportunities to tackle these problems together.A reminder of this failure is illustrated in a new study which has found that reduced air pollution from net zero policies in the US could result in a health gain of between $65bn (51bn) and $128bn in 2035 alone. Continue reading...

Lord Howe Island is thriving, and so are the raucous local woodhens

Record $6.7bn expected to be spent from Friday to Monday but some brands choosing to opt out over overconsumption concerns

Government approves up to four days of paid leave so workers can avoid travelling during weather emergenciesSpain's leftwing government has approved paid climate leave" of up to four days to allow workers to avoid travelling during weather emergencies, a month after floods killed at least 224 people.Several companies came under fire after the 29 October catastrophe for ordering employees to keep working despite a red alert issued by the national weather agency. The firms said the authorities failed to inform them sufficiently and sent telephone alerts too late during the European country's deadliest floods in decades. Continue reading...

Temperatures of this week would be exceptional for summer, says climatologist, never mind late NovemberTowns in south-west France roasted in completely extreme" heat in the early hours of Tuesday, with overnight temperatures hitting 26.9C (80.42F).It's very exceptional temperatures - even for the summer, let alone late November," said Matthieu Sorel, a climatologist at Meteo France. Continue reading...

Restoration projects awarded grants to convert defunct bogs to bring environmental benefits and restore wildlifeAs millions of cranberries were being harvested for Thursday's US Thanksgiving holiday, Massachusetts farmers were working to convert defunct cranberry bogs to back to wild wetlands, amid climate crisis woes.Several restoration projects were awarded $6m in grants to carry out such initiatives, state officials announced this week. Continue reading...

In a booming sector where the biggest ships have doubled in size since 2000, pressure is growing to make cruising a greener, more sustainable way to travel

As Australia's natural environment declines, Labor appears to cave to vested interests, writes Felicity WadeOn Thursday we were hoping to be celebrating the Australian parliament passing legislation to create a federal Environmental Protection Agency, an expert watchdog to oversee our country's natural bounty. This was going to be a major moment for which my organisation, the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN) and many others had worked for years. Promised on the eve of the 2022 election, it was the centre-piece of the Labor's commitment to the environment. But late on Tuesday afternoon the legislation was moth-balled.It is a sad and sorry tale.Felicity Wade is national co-convener of the Labor Environment Action Network Continue reading...

The case, brought by the EDO on behalf of three Tiwi Island traditional owners, was dismissed in January in a scathing judgment

Devastated by quota changes post-Brexit, fishers are pinning all their hopes on Ireland's politicians as they head into a general election

Across the globe, vast swathes of land are being left to be reclaimed by nature. To see what could be coming, look to BulgariaAbandonment, when it came, crept in from the outskirts. Homes at the edge of town were first to go, then the peripheral grocery stores. It moved inward, slow but inexorable. The petrol station closed, and creeper vines climbed the pumps, amassing on the roof until it buckled under the strain. It swallowed the outer bus shelters, the pharmacies, the cinema, the cafe. The school shut down.Today, one of the last institutions sustaining human occupation in Tyurkmen, a village in central Bulgaria, is the post office. Dimitrinka Dimcheva, a 56-year-old post officer, still keeps it open two days a week, bringing in packages of goods that local shops no longer exist to sell. Once a thriving town of more than 1,200, Tyurkmen is now home to fewer than 200 people. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Stellantis executive's recent comments to investors undermine claim Luton closure was down to emission mandate

Exclusive: National landscapes' chiefs say environment secretary has given no budget assurances and they are to expect cutsProposed cuts to England's most beautiful landscapes pose an existential threat", the managers of the National Landscapes Association have warned.These 46 regions, including the Chilterns, the Cotswolds, the Wye Valley and the north Pennines, used to be known as areas of outstanding natural beauty but were renamed this year as national landscapes". They cover 15% of England, including 20% of the coastline. Continue reading...

Source of Philadelphia's drinking water sees salt line pushed closer to city by drought and sea level riseSalty ocean water is creeping up the Delaware River, the source for much of the drinking water for Philadelphia and millions of others, brought on by drought conditions and sea level rise, and prompting officials to tap reservoirs to push the un-potable tide back downstream.Officials say drinking water is not imminently at risk, but they are monitoring the effects of the drought on the river and studying options for the future in case further droughts sap the area, amid the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Fossil fuel and chemical industry representatives outnumber those of the EU or host country South KoreaRecord numbers of plastic industry lobbyists are attending global talks that are the last chance to hammer out a treaty to cut plastic pollution around the world.The key issue at the conference will be whether caps on global plastic production will be included in the final UN treaty. Lobbyists and leading national producers are furiously arguing against any attempt to restrain the amount that can be produced, leaving the talks on a knife-edge. Continue reading...

Loyalists selected for important roles have offered staunch support to fossil fuels and downplayed climate crisisDonald Trump's cabinet picks have been eclectic and often controversial but a unifying theme is emerging, experts say, with the US president-elect's nominees offering staunch support to fossil fuels and either downplaying or denying the climate crisis caused by the burning of these fuels.Trump ran on promises to eviscerate green new scam" climate policies and to drill, baby, drill" for more oil and gas, and his choices to run the major organs of the US government echo such sentiments, particularly his picks relating to the environment, with Lee Zeldin chosen as the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Chris Wright as energy secretary and Doug Burgum as interior secretary. Continue reading...

We've cared for our farm through war, pandemic and money worries. The inheritance tax row shows how little the government respects that

Hundreds of climate protesters joined a rally in Canberra on Wednesday - days after a protest in Newcastle

Another vast tourist resort project promising jobs and prosperity. But critics say such developments imperil the pristine environments they advertise

Ed Miliband argues the UK should race towards becoming a clean energy superpower', but costs to the consumer shouldn't be ignoredThe government's plan to decarbonise the UK's electricity system by 2030 is a vast undertaking. Energy companies will throw 40bn-plus annually at the effort, backed by financing that ultimately affects consumers' bills. So it is extraordinary that no official body seems able to answer this question: will it cost more to complete the job by 2030 rather than by the old 2035 timetable? Is it more expensive to go faster?That is not to dispute the necessity of generating electricity from clean domestic sources, an ambition shared widely across the political spectrum for reasons of security of supply and climate emergency. But the pace of decarbonisation can clearly also affect the cost for consumers, a point Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, tends to skip over too breezily when he argues that security, sustainability and affordability are now perfectly aligned. Continue reading...

Research reflects rising optimism about country's green transition as it takes leading position on climate actionNearly half of experts surveyed by a climate thinktank believe China's carbon dioxide emissions have already peaked, or will do so in 2025, reflecting increasing optimism about the country's green transition at a time when it is being called on to take a leading position on global climate action.According to a report published on Tuesday by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a research organisation, 44% of climate experts from academia and industry believe that China's CO emissions will peak, at the latest, in 2025. In last year's survey, only 21% of experts gave the same response. Continue reading...

The environmental harm caused by this shapeshifting, underregulated industry must be tackledLocal pushback against cruise ships in the world's top tourist destinations is nothing new. More than three years ago, these vast vessels were barred from Venice's lagoon on grounds of the risk they posed to the city's historic buildings. This summer, cruise ships in Amsterdam and Barcelona were targeted by protesters, on grounds of chemical pollution but also as part of a wider movement against overtourism (as the negative impacts of huge influxes of visitors have become known). But - as revealed this week in a series of Guardian articles, The real cost of cruises - the environmental and social impact of this fast-growing industry goes way beyond individual cities, and requires action on a global scale.The carbon emissions of a cruise are roughly double that of the equivalent flights plus a hotel stay. The industry is also responsible for a vast quantity of waste discharged directly into the sea, as well as high levels of toxic air pollution in the ports where ships are docked - usually with their engines running. Once seen as the exclusive pursuit of a minority of wealthy retired people, these holidays are now mainstream, with vast floating resorts designed and marketed for families and young adults. The largest ships have up to 20 floors and room for several thousand people.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

In this excerpt from his book Consider the Turkey, philosopher Peter Singer explains how the birds bred for maximum breast meat suffer from health problemsThe United States is the world's largest turkey producer and the largest exporter of turkey products. Its residents also consume an ever-increasing amount of these birds. In 1970, Americans ate just over 8lbs (3.6kg) per person annually; by 2021, the National Turkey Federation reports that figure had nearly doubled to more than 15lbs.That demand and modern breeding have transformed turkeys. They've been bred to put on weight quickly, and at slaughter, the average turkey today weighs almost twice as much as turkeys did in 1960. The contrast with the rate of growth of wild turkeys is even greater. At four months old, a male wild turkey will weigh no more than 8lbs, whereas at the same age, a male turkey selectively bred for meat will weigh 41lbs. Continue reading...

Scheme to fund activities such as hedge-planting paused owing to budget constraints, sources sayGrants promised to farmers in England for planting hedges and cleaning up waterways have been frozen by the government.The capital grants scheme, which was opened by the government to allow farmers to invest in infrastructure such as slurry storage so animal excrement does not go into rivers, has been abruptly paused. Farmers have said this will make it difficult for them to run their businesses in an environmentally friendly way. Continue reading...

Departmental analysis includes contentious measurements, but climate minister says government is cleaning up after decade of denial, delay, dysfunction and utter neglect'

It is only a matter of time before a mountainside is brought down. We need climate adaptation help - and we need it now

River water quality distinctly worse than that of coastal bathing sites, results from tests for harmful bacteria foundWater quality has been designated as poor in a record number of bathing areas this year after 16 rivers were included in summer testing for harmful bacteria, figures reveal.The push to clean up England's rivers has led to an increase in demand for bathing water status at river locations across the country. Rivers suffer from water company sewage pollution and agricultural pollution, and the results show river water quality is distinctly worse than that of coastal bathing sites. The results come after sewage pollution into rivers by water companies reached record levels last year. Continue reading...

A new generation is taking to the ocean in growing numbers - and fears over the environmental impact of cruise ships appear not to be denting their popularity

Survival International says Hongana Manyawa in Indonesia are at risk but mining company says the people in voluntary' contact with workersUncontacted hunter-gatherers in Indonesia are facing a severe and immediate threat of genocide" because of mining for minerals on their lands for use in electric vehicles, a report claims.In their own language, the Indigenous Hongana Manyawa people, of Halmahera island, call themselves the people of the forest". But their forest home is being destroyed in a rush for nickel, a crucial component in rechargeable batteries, campaigners say. Continue reading...

UK energy secretary played key role in $300bn deal for developing countries, branded a betrayal' by critics

Operations at a cold war lab exposed at least 1,073 people to radiation. Risks to the nearby communities persistExposed: The Human Radiation Experiments at Hunters Point is a special report by the San Francisco Public Press, an independent non-profit news organization focused on accountability, equity and the environment.In September 1956, Cpl Eldridge Jones found himself atop a sunbaked roof at an old army camp about an hour outside San Francisco, shoveling radioactive dirt. Continue reading...

IFS suggests gifts of land before a certain date could be tax-free so that elderly farmers would not be caught outMinisters should give farmers an inheritance tax holiday for the next few years, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said as it warned that government changes to agricultural taxes risked treating some landowners unfairly.Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, announced in her budget last month that farmers with a business worth more than 1m could be subjected to 20% inheritance tax, prompting a tractor protest outside parliament. Continue reading...

Experts say financial movements mean poor nations will in effect get billions less in value from 300bn pledgeA failure to factor in inflation means the $300bn (240bn) climate finance deal agreed at Cop29 is not the tripling of pledges that has been claimed, economists have said.The international talks in Baku were pulled back from the brink of collapse early on Sunday morning when negotiators struck an agreement in which rich countries promised to raise $300bn a year by 2035. On paper, this is a tripling of the previous climate finance target of $100bn a year by 2020, and has been trumpeted as such by the UN and others. Continue reading...

Britain wanted much better outcomes on many issues, but seeing the ambition at the conference gives me hope for the futureThe climate crisis is all around us. And the world is not moving nearly fast enough. In that context, the Cop process for climate negotiations feels frustratingly slow. Yet it is the best mechanism for multilateral action we have, so we have to use it to do everything we can to speed up action.The UK went to Cop29 determined to play its part in a successful negotiation because it is in our national interest. As the prime minister said in Baku earlier this month, there is no national security without climate security. That is so clear from the effects of Storm Bert over the past couple of days. If we do not act, we can expect more and more of these extreme and devastating outcomes.Ed Milband is secretary of state for energy security and net zeroDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

My negotiating team tried in vain to push up support for the global south. Lessons must be learned before the next summit in Brazil

After spending most of his life on commercial vessels, Guillaume Picard is now fighting to keep these vast liners out of the French port of Marseille

Mexico is a leading international pork producer, but Yucatan residents say the waste oozing from hundreds of enormous hog farms is destroying the environmentThe stink of excrement was the first thing the residents of Sitilpech noticed when the farm opened in 2017. It hung over the colourful one-storey homes and kitchen gardens in the Maya town in Yucatan, and has never left. Next, the trees stopped bearing fruit, their leaves instead covered with black spots. Then, the water from the vast, porous aquifer emerged from the well with a horrible, overwhelming stench.Before, we used that water for everything: for cooking, for drinking, for bathing. Now we can't even give it to animals. Today, we have to give the chickens purified water because otherwise they get diarrhoea," says one resident. The radishes grow thin and the coriander often turns yellow. This has always been a quiet town, where life was very good until that farm started," they say. Continue reading...

Female almost the length of a shipping container was found dead on a drumline in August, primary industries department has revealed

Growing infestations along the Logan river pose very high risk' of spreading downstream, Invasive Species Council says

The stakes are high for donors at next month's IDA summit in Seoul, but not investing in development means more instability globallyMultilateralism is under attack. A toxic brew of multiplying conflicts, worsening climate impact, new pandemics and spiralling debt has brought the system to its knees, appearing almost incapable of properly addressing these converging crises. Adding the unknowns of a Trump administration into the mix will do little to allay concerns.My own critiques of the current multilateral system are well documented, but I do not subscribe to the view that it has no future. What's needed is a total reboot. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: The view from Azerbaijan is of disappointingly low direct finance guarantees to the developing world, although it is less bad than nothing' Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Cop29 in Baku finally finished at 5.31am local time yesterday, more than 35 hours after it was due to conclude - and the extra time did not lead to a triumphant outcome.On the biggest issue under discussion, the transfer of climate finance from the developed to the developing world, the headline figure in the agreement was $1.3tn (1tn) by 2035. But that masked much smaller commitments in direct finance, mostly in the form of grants and low-interest loans, which amounted to only $300bn. Nor is the outcome an injustice whose impact is limited to the global South, of course: if the money isn't there to support a green energy transition in developing economies, temperatures will rise all over the world.UK weather | Storm Bert is expected to cause further disruption on Monday after torrential downpours caused devastating" flooding over the weekend and a major incident in Wales. At least five people have died in England and Wales since the storm hit.Economy | A defiant Rachel Reeves will rebuke critics of her tax-raising budget on Monday, telling disgruntled business leaders at the Confederation of British Industry that they have offered no alternatives". CBI director-general Rain Newton-Smith will meanwhile accuse Reeves of jeopardising economic growth, saying: Tax rises like this must never again be simply done to business."Britons detained abroad | Families of prominent British prisoners detained abroad have urged the foreign secretary to deliver on pledges to help secure their release with signs of growing resistance from diplomats. There are fears that they are resisting a plan to appoint a special envoy on those detained abroad without a fair trial lest it affect trade deals.Middle East | A Guardian investigation has found that Israel used a US munition to target and kill three journalists and wound three more in a 25 October attack in south Lebanon which legal experts have called a potential war crime.Europe | A little-known, far-right populist took the lead in Romania's presidential election on Sunday, and will probably face leftist prime minister Marcel Ciolacu in a runoff in two weeks, an outcome that has rocked the country's political landscape. Calin Georgescu led the polls with about 22% of the vote after nearly 93% of votes were counted.The money could come not just in the form of the grants and very low-interest loans that developing countries need, but ... from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral and alternative sources". Money will be mobilised" rather than provided - a nice distinction that allows for the inclusion of private sector co-investing to be counted alongside public money from government budgets and development banks. Continue reading...

Nearly all observers believe Chris Bowen is strongly committed to action. Most agree that can't be said for his partyCop29 in Baku has concluded but its outcome is disappointing - in many dimensions. Its decisions on finance - agreeing that the developed world would provide US$300bn a year by 2035 - come nowhere close to what's needed. Ultimately, it may even be poisonous because of its lack of ambition and muddled scope - it does not even cover loss and damage.Baku saw little sense of urgency or increased climate action, despite the universal message from scientific studies, including the Climate Action Tracker. Our global update this year found that in the last three years there's been virtually no improvement in either action on the ground, nor ambition to take action in the future. And this is despite a series of seemingly never-ending, global warming-linked deadly catastrophes unfolding around the world. Continue reading...

A rushed final text in Baku strains trust between nations, as inadequate climate finance commitments leave vulnerable countries calling for justiceThe hasty imposition of a deal at the UN climate conference, Cop29, in Azerbaijan, over the objections of poorer nations has fractured global trust and undermined recent progress. This was supposed to be the finance Cop" when two dozen industrialised countries - including the US, Europe and Canada - promised to pay developing nations for the damage caused by their rise. Instead, developing nations - led by a group including India, Nigeria and Bolivia - say this weekend's agreement for $300bn a year in 2035 is too little, too late. Worse, rich-world governments will be able to escape their obligations by being able to rely on cash from private companies and international lenders.Independent experts say the developing world, excluding China, would need $1.3tn a year by 2035 to fund its green transition and keep temperature rises in line with the Paris agreement. The climate finance target, pushed through by the Azerbaijani chair, is described by poor nations as a death sentence for those already drowning under rising seas and facing devastating costs.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Some countries say deal should not have been done and is abysmally poor' compared with what is neededThe climate finance deal agreed at Cop29 is a travesty of justice" that should not have been adopted, some countries' negotiators have said.The climate conference came to a dramatic close early on Sunday morning when negotiators struck an agreement to triple the flow of climate finance to poorer countries. Continue reading...