Renewables accounted for two-thirds of new power added to world’s grids last year, says International Energy AgencySolar power was the fastest-growing source of new energy worldwide last year, outstripping the growth in all other forms of power generation for the first time and leading experts to hail a “new era”.Renewable energy accounted for two-thirds of new power added to the world’s grids in 2016, the International Energy Agency said, but the group found solar was the technology that shone brightest. Continue reading...

Morfa Harlech, Gwynedd They have drifted on ocean currents for 500m years, pulsing gently towards landfallThe wave smudges out something written in the sand with a stick. I imagine it as a spell cast to charm ashore those lost at sea. And so it does, as tides ebb and flow, stranding the barrel jellyfish. These extraordinary creatures, also known as dustbin-lid jellyfish because of their size and shape, have been shipwrecked after an epic voyage.Rhizostoma pulmo or R octopus is the largest jellyfish in British waters (they can grow to nearly 90cm in diameter) and is harvested around Wales for high-value medical-grade collagen. It feeds on plankton and its sting does not injure humans any more than do nettles; it is fed upon by leatherback turtles and sunfish. Continue reading...

Plant’s operator seeks approval for a phased development in the face of residents’ opposition and concerns over air qualityPlans for the world’s biggest waste-to-energy plant in Sydney’s west have been cut in half, in an effort to address concerns from health and environmental authorities, and residents.The Next Generation, a company owned by one of the largest waste operators in Australia – Ian Malouf, founder of Dial A Dump – has lodged new documents seeking a phased development of the plant. Continue reading...

Number ‘staggering’, researchers say – and likely to be driving the decline of threatened native speciesMore than 1 million native Australian birds are killed across the country by cats every day, new research shows.The study, published in the journal Biological Conversation, estimates feral cats kill 316 million birds a year, while pet cats kill 61 million birds annually. More than 99% are native. Continue reading...

The service industries on which the agricultural sector depends need to modernise the range and quality of the services they provide, writes Dr Jessica Cross. Plus Jason Downes sees strikes as an opportunity to embrace flexibilityAfter nearly three decades of working in the mining industry and financial sector, I traded my stiletto heels for wellies and went sheep farming. It immediately became apparent that the traditional business model of farming was unsustainable; the reliance on EU subsidies, the volatile and seasonal price of lamb subject to the big supermarkets importing cheap meat, and a wool price that barely covered the cost of shearing. So I applied my City of London background to diversifying my business. From my farm, I now ship locally and internationally a range of luxury wool bedding made from the fleeces of much of the UK’s Southdown pedigreed flock. I also offer disabled-accessible self-catering accommodation for a working farm experience.The problem with this business model is its dependency on three sectors, whose services I am finding totally inadequate and antiquated, to the point where my entrepreneurial initiative is being undermined. Continue reading...

The launch of China’s national carbon market could also harm the competitiveness of Australian productsFor a brief and shining moment in 2012, Australia was at the global forefront of climate change action, as one of the first countries to implement a carbon pricing mechanism. It lasted only two years, and was repealed amid much fanfare by the Abbott government in July 2014.During its time, Australian companies and industries exposed to the carbon pricing mechanism took a long hard look at the emissions liabilities embedded within their supply chains and worked to reduce them. Continue reading...

Policy includes target of 20 gigawatts by 2030, is modelled on the renewable energy target and contains incentives for households and small businessThe Greens are proposing a new national energy storage target of 20 gigawatts by 2030 to help drive the switch to renewables at both the household level and across the energy grid.The new policy will be announced on Wednesday ahead of meetings between the Greens climate and energy spokesman, Adam Bandt, and key industry players, such as the Australian Energy Storage Council, Tesla, the US firm AES Energy Storage, and Suntrix. Continue reading...

Energy minister Paul Wheelhouse says allowing unconventional extraction of coal and gas would put climate goals at riskThe Scottish government has banned fracking after a consultation found overwhelming public opposition and little economic justification for the industry.

Occupation by Sarah Green, 62, later joined by other protesters, is intended to be part of rolling campaign along rail link’s routeA 62-year-old environmental protester has spent more than 20 hours underneath a large digger as part of a new campaign to block the construction of the controversial HS2 high speed rail link.Sarah Green, a member of the Green party and a businesswoman in Hillingdon, started her protest under the digger, which is to be used for preparatory demolition work, in part of the Colne valley nature reserve at around lunchtime on Monday. Several other activists later joined her under the digger. Continue reading...

Environmentalists say holy ceremonies such as 10-day Durga Puja overwhelming already polluted Yamuna riverSections of a major river in Delhi are choking with plastic, flowers and debris after an annual Hindu festival in which hundreds of idols were immersed in Indian waterways.Related: Murder most foul: polluted Indian river reported dead despite 'living entity' status Continue reading...

Major high street retailers back drive to encourage recycling after poll shows more than half throw batteries away in the binMajor high street retailers have joined forces to encourage people to recycle their used household batteries as a new poll revealed that more than half of respondents admitted they throw them in the bin.Asda, B&Q, Currys PC World, Marks & Spencer and Morrisons are all backing the drive to make it easier for consumers to recycle dead batteries and avoid millions ending up in landfill every year and wreaking environmental havoc. Continue reading...

More than 40 Catholic institutions will make largest ever faith-based divestment, on the anniversary of the death of St Francis of AssisiMore than 40 Catholic institutions are to announce the largest ever faith-based divestment from fossil fuels, on the anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi.The sum involved has not been disclosed but the volume of divesting groups is four times higher than a previous church record, and adds to a global divestment movement, led by investors worth $5.5tn. Continue reading...

Claxton, Norfolk When the amount of aerial plankton in the atmosphere drops, the birds head for AfricaIn natural history, it is easy to notice a first for the year, but to be mindful of the last is more difficult. I know that the house martins are gone, yet their going from our village entailed an unremarkable dwindling of sights and sounds, but slowly, like a loss of moisture in a puddle.I did have one memorable sighting last week in the Yare valley. Over Blackwater, about 40 were pooled above a poplar plantation and in and out of their midst swirled a single lost swift. The martins were smaller, busier, each one with a swept-back wing silhouette, which, depending on the way it turned, was shaped like a broad smile, or frown. Continue reading...

Jacob Brown would like to expand his menu to include possums, wasps, ants and wild Canadian geeseAn environmentally minded New Zealand chef is selling hundreds of plates of imported jellyfish a month after becoming frustrated that the seafood is being wasted in his homeland.

As horizontal drilling starts in Lancashire this month, the Guardian talks to protesters and staff at the Cuadrilla wellMike Hill, sitting in his living room a few miles from a fracking site outside Blackpool, is brandishing a government letter brushing aside his concerns about the industry. “You, Theresa May, overruled democracy to force fracking on the residents of Fylde,” he says, referring to his own letter to the prime minister, in which he urges her to heed experts’ calls for tighter shale gas regulations.“And then you won’t pay attention, the slightest attention, to anybody in regards fracking regulation, fracking monitoring, public health risks, risks to indigenous industries,” says the chartered engineer, who used to work in the oil and gas sector. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Australia Institute polling finds 49% support moratorium in their state while 24% opposeDespite the Turnbull government’s insistence that state-based restrictions on unconventional gas extraction are putting Australia’s ­energy security at risk, twice as many voters support the bans as oppose them.A new poll, conducted by the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute, has found 49% of Australians support a moratorium on fracking for gas in their own state, while just 24% oppose it. Continue reading...

Environment secretary says working group will look at how a deposit return scheme could help reduce plastic waste in EnglandA deposit return scheme aimed at slashing plastic pollution has moved significantly closer after environment secretary Michael Gove said he would work with the industry to see how a scheme can be implemented in England.Gove, speaking at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, announced a four-week call for views to inform how a deposit return scheme (DRS) would be designed. The government’s working group on the issue will also consider DRS for metal and glass containers. Continue reading...

Savings from a new scheme will cover the £350-£400 annual cost of charging a Nissan Leaf, says electricity supplier OvoElectric car owners will be paid for letting an energy company use their vehicle’s battery in a pioneering scheme to increase take-up of the cleaner vehicles and help power grids manage the growth in green energy.Nissan and one of the UK’s biggest challenger energy suppliers, Ovo, will offer the “vehicle-to-grid” service to buyers of the Japanese carmaker’s new Leaf from next year. Continue reading...

Bristol’s open-air arts trail sees large-scale images of ocean life by some of the world’s leading wildlife photographers come to the city’s suburbs, to raise awareness of the species and their fight for survival

Use separate bags for raw foods, ready-to-eat foods, and household products to avoid bacteria spreading, warns food safety watchdogReusable “bags for life” can spread deadly food poisoning bacteria if they are used to carry raw foods such as fish and meat, consumers have been warned by the government’s food safety watchdog.In revised guidance on its website, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is recommending that shoppers use separate bags to carry raw foods, ready-to eat foods and non-food items such as household cleaners and washing powder. Continue reading...

There will be further autumnal signs in the northern hemisphere now October has shown up, while the southern hemisphere can finally begin to enjoy springtime. We’d like to see your photos of this month’s wildlife near youFor the northern hemisphere the leaves will only get browner, and the ground frostier, with October signalling a further shift towards the colder darker winter months ahead. For the southern hemisphere the month should be pleasant, with new signs of life emerging in the wild and warmer spring sunshine to be enjoyed by all. So what sort of wildlife will we all discover on our doorsteps? We’d like to see your photos of the October wildlife near you.Share your photos and videos with us and we’ll feature our favourites on the Guardian site. Continue reading...

Some have argued that consensus messaging is counter-productive. Here’s why they’re wrong.

Increase puts Coke’s production at more than 110bn single-use plastic bottles a year, according to analysis by the green groupCoca-Cola increased its production of throwaway plastic bottles last year by well over a billion, according to analysis by Greenpeace.The world’s biggest soft drinks company does not disclose how much plastic packaging it puts into the market. But analysis by the campaign group Greenpeace reveals what they say is an increase in production of single-use PET bottles from 2015-2016. Continue reading...

Legal loophole means landlords won’t need to comply with regulations aiming to protect tenants and cut carbon emissionsTenants in the UK’s draughtiest homes risk paying £1bn extra in energy bills because of a government loophole letting landlords off the hook, a charity has warned.Landlords will be banned from letting poorly insulated homes from next April under new regulations designed to protect vulnerable tenants and cut carbon emissions. Continue reading...

Research supports the idea that nature could be widely prescribed by doctors as a therapy, easing the burden on the NHSVolunteers on wildlife projects benefit from a big boost to their mental health, according to new research. It advances the idea that nature could be widely prescribed by doctors as a therapy, which its supporters say would ease the burden on the NHS.The new analysis tracked people across England taking part in projects run by the Wildlife Trusts, ranging from nature walks and conservation work to the Men in Sheds project in Bolton, which makes bird tables and bug hotels. Continue reading...

Charta Smerelda aims to encourage 150,000 sailors to reduce plastic pollution in ocean and protect marine habitatsOne of the most exclusive yacht clubs in the world has drawn up an environmental charter to ask 150,000 sailors across the globe to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean.The Costa Smerelda yacht club in Sardinia, established by the Aga Khan 50 years ago, is publishing the charter to cut plastic waste at the One Ocean Forum conference. International sailing organisations have signed up to support the document which will be disseminated to 150,000 sailors who compete across the world. Continue reading...

Andrew Broad says untapped reserves are not creating gas shortages and government should fix exports, which are to blameThe GST should not be used to force states to lift bans on gas exploration and development because exports, not bans, are to blame for shortages, the Nationals MP Andrew Broad has said.On Monday the energy and environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, doubled down on the government’s threat to use goods and services tax distribution as a lever to force states to end bans on gas exploration and development. Continue reading...

Kinder Scout, Derbyshire Kestrel numbers may be in decline but we saw maybe half a dozen hanging in the updraft or plummeting into peat groughsThe perfect wild camping place: an obliging flat spot next to a horseshoe-shaped meander where the stream has carved out a tall bank from the soft shale grit, offering water close to hand and shelter from the wind. Best of all, our tents face towards a slope covered in reefs of purple heather that are being prowled by a kestrel. Though dinner consists of a bag of rehydrated dust, the opportunity to eat while watching a wild bird at work without hurry or distraction makes it feel positively luxurious.I never fail to be captivated by kestrel flight; the suspenseful hovering, then the sudden swoop, that combination of charged stillness and sudden action that Gerard Manley Hopkins thrilled to in Windhover: “High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing… / then off, off forth on swing, / As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend.” Over an hour or so it makes several apparently unsuccessful plunges into the heather before finally reappearing with a vole in its talons. Continue reading...

Tesco joins boycott as food group closes doors at West Bromwich plant in order to retrain workers after Guardian/ITV investigationThe country’s largest supplier of supermarket chicken has suspended production at one of its main processing plants after undercover filming revealed poor hygiene standards and food safety records being altered.The temporary closure by 2 Sisters Food Group (2SFG), which will now put employees at the plant through a retraining programme, came as Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket chain, joined the boycott of the poultry group’s West Midlands plant in the wake of a joint undercover investigation by the Guardian and ITV News. Continue reading...

State-owned company refused disclosure of security arrangements for Chinese plant the Bradwell nuclear station could be modelled onThe Chinese state-owned company planning a nuclear power station in Essex refused to share the security arrangements for a Chinese nuclear plant with the British authorities, it has been revealed.Inspectors from the UK nuclear regulator visited the China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) in Shenzhen earlier this year, as part of the four-year approval process for the reactor the company wants to build at Bradwell. Continue reading...

My friend and colleague David Tayler, who has died aged 53, was a geographer, geologist and passionate conservationist who devoted his life to connecting people with landscapes. Through this he changed countless lives. Most of his career was spent in the Yorkshire Dales, running conservation, education and outreach projects.Born to John, a local government worker, and his wife, Margaret (nee Tyler), a teacher, in Maidenhead, Berkshire, he attended the local comprehensive, Desborough school (now Desborough college). There, particularly on geography and geology field trips, he developed a lifelong affinity with landscapes, wildlife and botany. He never lost that early sense of joy and wonder at the natural world and a desire to inspire it in others. Continue reading...

Fashion designer, 76, says not washing too much is the secret to seeming young, while her husband, Andreas Kronthaler, says he washes even less oftenAchieving eternal youth may not be as difficult as one imagines, according to the fashion designer and environmentalist Vivienne Westwood.

Finance minister indicates NSW, Victoria and Northern Territory could be penalised for their gas moratoriumsThe federal government has indicated it could use the GST to try to force states to end bans on gas exploration and development.As it seeks to avoid long-term gas shortages, the Coalition is escalating pressure on state governments to ease restrictions. Continue reading...

Cei Newydd/New Quay, Ceredigion Waterfalls flowed wide and white on to the foreshore, shedding excess water from the landscapeThe steep path up to the headland was scoured to the bedrock by the recent storms, with banks of debris built up at the breaks of slope like shoals in a stream. Long grass at the margin was flattened and the turf had been peeled back from the edges of the rock by the passage of water.Recent rain, a series of startlingly abrupt and intense showers, had made me wonder whether a walk on the coast path was a good plan – but the view northwards along the coast more than justified the risk of a soaking. Continue reading...

Tesla boss said the project is a great example of how to replace fossil fuels with renewables• Elon Musk: SpaceX can colonise Mars and build moon baseThe clock is ticking on entrepreneur Elon Musk’s promise to build the world’s largest lithium-ion battery in South Australia within 100 days or provide it for free.But with the facility already half finished, the US billionaire looks set to get paid. Continue reading...

A beetle and a fungus are killing off the trees that have become synonymous with the city, making way for trees that give more shade and use less waterThey are the sultry, swaying backdrop to countless films, posters and music videos, an effective way to announce: this is Los Angeles.Palm trees greet you outside the LAX airport, they line Hollywood Boulevard, stand guard over the Pacific and crisscross neighbourhoods poor and rich, a botanical army of stems and fronds which symbolise the world’s entertainment capital. Continue reading...

Commons committee to summon founder Ranjit Singh Boparan as three supermarkets suspend contracts and FSA launches investigation

Christine Tacon’s firm hand is bringing results but many farmers still fall foul of unfair practice, say Kerry McCarthy MP, Lindsey Macdonald of NFU Scotland and 11 other signatoriesFarmers at home and those in developing countries are waiting with bated breath for the government to rule on expanding the role of the groceries code adjudicator, Christine Tacon. Ms Tacon has wielded her ombudsman role to impose sanctions on supermarkets for failures to play fair with suppliers – and her firm hand is bringing results. But many farmers growing food for our tables still fall foul of unfair practice.Late cancellations to orders – the equivalent of ordering a meal only to walk out as it arrives at the table – leave piles of unwanted fruit and veg rotting on compost heaps instead of filling our shopping baskets. Ahead of the government’s call for evidence we interviewed banana farmers who received late order changes four weeks out of five, leading to additional costs in an industry notorious for tight margins and difficult working conditions. Late payments also cost farmers money. One group of UK dairy farmers has found itself out of pocket by up to £14,000 per farm since 2015 because of a two-week delay to payments imposed on them by their milk purchaser. Continue reading...

Bearded tits in Norfolk, rutting deer in Dublin, and a hungry polar bear in Alaska are among our pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Focus of London mayor’s proposed ban will be on educating owners not to burn wood during bad air quality episodes

Sadiq Khan wants to reduce air pollution – and one of the worst offenders is the wood-fired stove. But is there any other use for your Scandi-inspired heater?In a blow targeted straight at the city’s middle-class heart, Sadiq Khan is trying to occasionally ban some wood-burning stoves from being used in London. To reduce air pollution, he is seeking powers to prohibit the burning of wood in any areas that suffer from poor air quality. However, there are 1.5m wood-burning stoves in the UK, and that number is increasing by 200,000 annually. So, if you have a wood-burning stove that you can’t currently use, what are you supposed to do with it? Some thoughts.• Use it to burn something less harmful to the environment than wood. Polystyrene perhaps? Continue reading...

Food Standards Agency, Tesco and Sainsbury’s investigate 2 Sisters Food Group plant after Guardian/ITV News story

In his new documentary, the explorer joins Borneo’s Penan tribe to see what the world’s indigenous people can teach us about our own survival and that of the planet

Mercury is found in household items from beauty products to electronics, and even in food. Without proper safeguards our health is in dangerMercury is far more pervasive than most people realise, and we have no idea how many people are at risk. It can be found in everything from mascara and dental amalgam to thermometers and skin whitening creams – and that’s before it reaches the food chain.There is no safe level of exposure, and everyone is at risk when mercury is released without safeguards. Children and newborn and unborn babies are most vulnerable, along with populations who eat contaminated fish. Studies have shown that children as far afield as Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia and Greenland all suffer cognitive impairment from eating fish containing mercury. Continue reading...

Bigger livestock in larger numbers in more regions has led to methane in the air climbing faster than predicted due to ‘out-of-date data’Emissions of the greenhouse gas methane from livestock are larger than previously thought, posing an additional challenge in the fight to curb global warming, scientists have said.Revised calculations of methane produced per head of cattle show that global livestock emissions in 2011 were 11% higher than estimates based on data from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC). Continue reading...

While Flint battles a water crisis, just two hours away the beverage giant pumps almost 100,000 times what an average Michigan resident uses into plastic bottlesGina Luster bathed her child in lukewarm bottled water, emptied bottle by bottle into the tub, for months. It became a game for her seven-year-old daughter. Pop the top off a bottle, and pour it into the tub. It takes about 30 minutes for a child to fill a tub this way. Pop the top, pour it in; pop the top, pour it in. Maybe less if you can get gallon jugs.Luster lives in Flint, Michigan, and here, residents believe tap water is good for one thing: to flush the toilet. Continue reading...

September saw more fires than any month on record, as experts say uptick is due to expansion of agriculture and reduction of oversight and surveillanceBrazil has seen more forest fires in September than in any single month since records began, and authorities have warned that 2017 could surpass the worst year on record if action is not taken soon.Experts say that the blazes are almost exclusively due to human activity, and they attribute the uptick to the expansion of agriculture and a reduction of oversight and surveillance. Lower than average rainfall in this year’s dry season is also an exacerbating factor. Continue reading...

Welburn, North Yorkshire Neighbourly etiquette precludes releasing our captives near another house, and compassion compels me to avoid roadsWhile we were on holiday recently, our home became the venue for an unsanctioned party. It probably started with one or two acquaintances, a few nibbles. But word got around, as it does. The first we knew of the ensuing orgy was the smell in the kitchen, the ureic perma-damp stink I associate with concrete-floored public toilets.Our house is highly permeable to small mammals. On moving in we found dozens of bank vole skeletons in the loft. Two shrews once drowned in a nappy bucket and another morning we found a baby rabbit camped under a bookcase. Sometimes bats appear in the kitchen. Continue reading...

Welsh climber Andrew Foster, 32, was man killed on El Capitan, say authorities, and ‘substantially bigger’ fall has since taken place

London mayor cites figures showing that the home stoves, used in 16% of households, produce up to a third of all the capital’s fine-particle pollution