French government support for EDF to continue UK nuclear project might break EU competition rules, says GreenpeaceGreenpeace has written to George Osborne warning him not to allow the Hinkley Point C nuclear project to proceed until the European commission approves further planned support from the French state.The letter, which is signed jointly with the energy supplier Ecotricity, follows legal advice that plans for state help from France’sgovernment to enable EDF to continue with the reactor scheme could break European competition rules. Continue reading...

Cheetah cubs learning to hunt, cherry blossom and a prairie rattlesnake are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

City links: An ambitious urban photography project in Toronto, beavers make a comeback in the Swedish capital, and the Parisians who are suing City Hall over dirty streets, all feature in a roundup of this week’s best city storiesThis week’s best city stories takes us from barbershops in Philadelphia where a programme is bridging the gap between black men and the polling booths, to the grimy streets of Paris, where residents are fed up of being treated like the underdogs and are suing the state. Share your thoughts about these city stories – and any others you’ve seen – in the comments below. Continue reading...

On Earth Day 2016, cast your mind back to 2006, when fresh-faced new Tory leader David Cameron hugged a husky and promised Britain a greener future to combat climate change. So how did it all pan out? Is Cameron’s government the greenest government ever?

As Paris climate change agreement is signed in New York, developing country negotiators highlight gulf between ambition and fundingDeveloping countries must raise more than $4tn (£2,456bn), or roughly the entire annual budget of the US, to implement their climate change pledges by 2030, according to new research.But much more money will have to be be found by the world’s poorest countries to hold global temperatures enough to avoid catastrophic climate change, say British and Australian researchers who have analysed the financial implications of the pledges made to the UN last December and the money so far offered by rich countries. Continue reading...

Former head of world climate change body faces raft of accusations in case that will be closely watched in India and abroadCourtroom 506, in the south-east wing of Delhi’s purpose-built Saket district court, does not often sit centre stage in criminal cases of international interest.Its last appearance in the spotlight was three years ago, as journalists from around the world arrived in India’s capital for the trial of suspects in the gang-rape of Jyoti Singh. Continue reading...

These bloggers treasure taking a sleek, modern approach to reducing waste in their efforts to save the planet – but they face their fair share of criticism, tooKathryn Kellogg, a 25-year-old print shop employee, spends four hours a day on her lifestyle blog Going Zero Waste. She posts on Instagram, engages with Facebook followers, and writes about homemade eyeliner and lip balm, worm composting, and shopping bulk bins – anything to avoid unnecessary waste. Her trash for the past year – anything that hasn’t been composted or recycled – fits in an 8oz jar.Kellogg is earnest, enthusiastic, and admittedly still figuring out what it means to be zero waste. The aspiring actor has also weathered her fair share of criticism. “I’m not even that big yet and I get so much hate mail,” says Kellogg, who draws 10,000 unique page views a month and has 800 subscribers. Continue reading...

Kathryn Kellogg aims to reduce the amount of waste she produces to almost nothing. She buys secondhand, uses cloth bags and glass jars for shopping, composts leftovers, and views recycling as a last resort. It takes great determination, but being vegetarian and lactose-intolerant helps Continue reading...

About 170 countries are expected to sign today in a move the UN hopes will ensure early ratification of the dealAbout 170 countries gathered at the United Nations for a ceremonial signing of the landmark Paris agreement on Friday, in a powerful display of global efforts to fight climate change.A dozen countries – mainly the small island states at risk of being drowned by rising seas – said they would take the additional step on Friday of ratifying or granting legal approval to the agreement. Continue reading...

We asked candidates for their views on investment, infrastructure and safety to assess how far they would transform Scotland for active travelAs well as the much publicised London mayoral election, in just under two weeks the Scots also go to the polls, to select their next government. As transport policy is largely devolved, the vote could make a big difference to anyone who cycles or walks.Campaign group We Walk, We Cycle, We Vote – which is supported by over two dozen organisations and primarily funded by Cycling UK – aim get all parties to sign up to three key policy pledges: Continue reading...

Industrial park told to cease production after 20 students fell ill in Hai’an, on the heels of poisoning scare involving 500 pupils in another part of same provinceAuthorities have ordered the closure of a chemical industrial complex in eastern China after children at a local primary school came down with mysterious nosebleeds and skin complaints that their parents blamed on pollution.The case comes just days after hundreds of students in the same region were revealed to have fallen ill, some severely, after attending a school built on a toxic waste dump. Continue reading...

Invitation from the company that wants to transport coal through the Great Barrier Reef to ‘do our bit’ for the environment does not go down too well onlineWorld Earth Day – it’s a day about protecting the environment. So Australians got a bit hot under their collars when Adani Group tried to get in on the action.Adani, remember, is trying its darnedest to build one of the world’s biggest coalmines in Queensland and transport the coal to India via the Great Barrier Reef. Continue reading...

Tory London mayoral candidate supports pulling City Hall’s fund out of oil, coal and gas companies if electedZac Goldsmith has backed the fossil fuel divestment movement and said he would pursue efforts to pull London City Hall’s pension fund out of investments in oil, coal and gas if he was elected mayor.

While the visual impact is not as dramatic as the coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, the rise in ocean temperature has been far higherOcean temperatures off the coast of Tasmania have risen to 4.5C above average – twice the temperature rise that led to the mass coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef – in a marine heatwave that has lasted more than 130 days.The above-average temperatures were first recorded in December and have continued into April, affecting the oyster, salmon and abalone industries, as well as stressing already declining kelp forests. Continue reading...

Nine of the mammals let loose in Northern Territory after being trained to avoid cane toads and feral catsToad-trained and cat-savvy northern quolls have been released into Kakadu national park, in a bid to save the threatened native Australian species from extinction.Nine of the small carnivorous mammals were let loose in the Mary river region on Thursday night after undergoing training to avoid the deadly and plentiful cane toads which wreak havoc across the north of Australia. Continue reading...

Leaked proposal on glyphosate seen by the Guardian has few substantive changes from the one that was blocked last monthThe European commission is planning to relicense a controversial weedkiller that the World Health Organisation believes probably causes cancer in people, despite opposition from several countries and the European parliament.In 2015 the International Agency for Research on Cancer – WHO’s cancer agency – said that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide made by agriculture company Monsanto and used widely with GM crops around the world, was classified as probably carcinogenic to humans. Continue reading...

Why aren’t Australians more freaked out about what is happening to the Great Barrier Reef? Why aren’t they treating this as a national disastermergecy? Call in the army! No wait, the navy!

Soldiers on guard at Pemex petrochemical plant in Gulf port of Coatzacoalcos, with relatives waiting for news of missing workersA leak has been blamed by Mexican authorities for the petrochemical plant blast that killed at least 24 people in the Gulf port of Coatzacoalcos.The Mexican oil giant Pemex confirmed the deaths on Thursday and said 19 more remained in hospital, 13 with serious injuries, as it grappled with the latest in a series of fatal accidents to batter the company.

Adventurers’ Land, Cambridgeshire Everything is straight, the ploughs, dykes, roads, below a horizon flat as a planed edgeOn the map two words lie in a flat-calm place. They cutlass-hook a drifting eye with an unlikely promise: Adventurers’ Land. Adventure means something different in fenland.The 17 century investors who suggested draining this wetland for agriculture were called adventurers. It could have been worse: those who did the draining were called undertakers. Scallywag names nearby suggest maybe the darker word should have won. Rogue’s Alley, Hook Drove, Bleak House. Continue reading...

22 April 1926: The capital’s first home for babies whose mothers were unable to care for them fears air quality has worsened because of the railways

Marine protections, which help coral reefs recover from bleaching, halted in Western AustraliaThe global coral bleaching event devastating the Great Barrier Reef has spread to reefs in Western Australia, where the federal government halted the implementation of marine parks, which would help the reefs recover.Related: Mourning Loomis Reef - the heart of the Great Barrier Reef's coral bleaching disaster Continue reading...

Up to $500m spent by donors on protecting rainforest in the Congo basin has failed to prevent destructive developments, says the Rainforest FoundationUp to $500m (£346m) spent by the US, EU and other donors to protect the world’s second largest swath of rainforest has failed – for the trees, the animals and the people who live among them – a major study has found.Analysis of five equatorial African countries in the Congo basin has found that destructive developments including illegal logging, oil and gas exploration, and palm oil plantations are taking place in 34 large protected areas, and that conservation has displaced villages and led to conflict and human rights abuses. Continue reading...

SunEdison makes bankruptcy filing as the renewable energy company’s years of debt-fuelled acquisitions prove unsustainableSunEdison, once the fastest-growing US renewable energy company, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as years of debt-fuelled acquisitions proved unsustainable.

All 93 vehicles tested in Germany and UK exceeded EU-set limits on air quality and pollution in real-world situationThe air pollution scandal that hit front pages around the world last year with VW’s admission it had been cheating emissions tests has got much bigger.A UK government-sponsored trial launched in the wake of the VW revelations has found that every single one of the diesel-fuelled vehicles tested had higher emissions of nitrogen oxide pollutants than permitted under EU laws. For some models emissions were 12 times the legal limit. Continue reading...

UK inquiry after Volkswagen scandal finds much higher nitrogen oxide levels than when vehicles are tested in laboratoryDiesel cars are producing many times more health-damaging pollutants than claimed by laboratory tests, with some emitting up to 12 times the EU maximum when tested on the road, according to a government investigation undertaken following the Volkswagen scandal.

For a change it was nice to read good news (Fewer people developing dementia, says study, 20 April). Carol Brayne says “physical health and brain health are clearly highly linked” but only suggests at the nature of the link. The idea seems to be that for some reason men working independently of each other to improve their lifestyles over a number of years were acting in sufficient numbers to have a significant impact on the data as a whole. This seems somewhat surprising. However, there may be a more passive factor at work that correlates with the period of the study, 1990-2013. During the first part of this period the use of leaded petrol in cars was steadily being reduced, leading to a ban in 1998. The detrimental effect of lead in the environment on the developing brains of young people was well documented. Perhaps its long-term effect on the brains of older people was simply overlooked.

WB Yeats’ Aristotle | Walter Scott’s cauliflowers | Global warming | Logo T-shirtsThe interesting word “footsolider” (Paul Mason, G2, 19 April) deserves the kind of exegesis that occurred over the lines “Soldier Aristotle played the taws/Upon the bottom of a king of kings” in the printed version of WB Yeats’ Among School Children. Much energy was spent by scholars explaining, some quite plausibly, why Aristotle was referred to as a soldier, until inspection of the manuscript showed that Yeats had written “Solider Aristotle”.

Star magnolias capture the hearts of gardeners each spring, but in the wild they need saving from extinction. Surely we can take pity on this most beautiful of shrubs?Any day now it will happen; my Magnolia stellata’s buds, grey and hairy, are going to burst open. I can’t wait, I love my star magnolia. While walking around nurseries and garden centres at this time of year I just can’t get away from the rows of it, covered in blooms, tempting me to make another impulse purchase, just as I did five years ago.I found my little plant in a “reduced to clear” section, looking extremely battered and bruised. I couldn’t leave it there. It took a while to recover from its ordeal, but I am pleased to say it seems to be flourishing now. For most of the year it is clothed in insignificant bright green foliage but just now, before that foliage has made an appearance, its performance cannot be beaten. Flowers, so delicate, like multitudes of ballet dancers, and a scent so utterly perfect, if you can catch a hint of it on a warm spring day. I couldn’t be without this plant; it’s ideal for a small garden the size of mine. It was an impulse purchase that I haven’t for one minute regretted. Continue reading...

The common agricultural policy takes from the poor and gives to the rich. Its effects can be felt in every British household, and seen in the deadly waters of the Mediterranean tooThe estate agent Carter Jonas established its reputation running the estates of the Marquess of Lincolnshire. “Some of the biggest property owners in the country are our loyal clients,” boasts its website. And, in a recent poll of these landowning clients, 67% of them said that Britain should stay in the EU.So why all this Euro-enthusiasm in the Tory heartlands and among the landed gentry? “Should the UK vote to leave the EU, the CAP subsidies will likely be reduced,” Tim Jones, head of Carter Jonas’s rural division, explained. Thank you, Tim, for putting it so clearly. We understand. Continue reading...

‘Fusarium wilt’ is the hot topic at the International Banana Congress, where some fear it may already be too late to save the Cavendish from the fungal diseaseBanana experts from around the world have gathered in Florida to find a way to halt a disease that is wiping out the fruit across the world, amid mounting fears that it may soon invade Latin America.

Prime minister tells Gloucester Citizen readers that local delicacies such as pork, cheese and cider are protected by EU legislationTraditional food from the UK’s regions, such as Gloucestershire’s famed cider, cheese and sausage, could be at risk if the country left the European Union, David Cameron has warned.Writing in the Gloucester Citizen, Cameron said farmers would lose the protected status awarded by the EU for food made in their area. This ensures, for example, that only pasties made in Cornwall can be called Cornish pasties and beef farmed in Wales can be branded Welsh Beef. Continue reading...

Proposed terminal to export coal to Asia creates tense showdown in port city as key players cite potential health risks, yet industry could provide needed jobsMargaret Gordon will not get out of the car. She is in the shadow of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridge on a triangle of land where a bustling maritime terminal is planned.

British documentary I Am Chut Wutty has been watched tens of thousands of times online following the government banA documentary about the murder of a rainforest activist has been viewed tens of thousands of times online after being banned by the Cambodian government.

The story of Acuña – a subsistence farmer from Peru – is a lesson that even the world’s largest companies can be held to account by activistsAs owner of some of the largest and most lucrative gold mines in the world, Newmont Mining Corporation is used to getting its own way. Not in Peru though. In a David-and-Goliath battle, community activists have, so far, succeeded in seeing off the creation of a $5bn (£3.8bn) open-caste mine next to a pristine lake.At the centre of that battle is Máxima Acuña de Chaupe, a 47 year-old subsistence farmer who owns an 60-acre plot of land precisely where Newmont’s local joint-venture, Yanacocha, wants to dig. Acuña’s refusal to sell up, despite huge pressure and persistent threats, has effectively stalled the proposed Conga mine. A spokesperson for Newmont has said that it does not anticipate developing the mine in the foreseeable future. Continue reading...

Authorities are looking into whether pollution is to blame for a spate of mysterious mass fish deaths along the country’s central coastVietnam said on Thursday it was investigating whether pollution is to blame for a spate of mysterious mass fish deaths along the country’s central coast after huge amounts of marine life washed ashore in recent days.Tonnes of fish, including rare species which live far offshore and in the deep, have been discovered on beaches along the country’s central coastal provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Quang Binh and Hue. Continue reading...

In southern Malawi and Zimbabwe, drought is overwhelming communities, forcing families to rely on meals of leaves and watermelon soupChidyamakondo high school, near Masvingo in southern Zimbabwe, has won the national girls’ football championships three years in a row. But that cherished record – and far, far more – is now at risk.“Students are fainting, struggling to concentrate in lessons, dropping out of school … we’re having to shorten our assemblies and cut back on sport,” says headteacher Morrison Musorowegomo. Continue reading...

The kākāpō has had its most successful breeding season since conservation efforts rescued it from the brink of extinction in the 1970sThe world’s heaviest parrot, a critically endangered bird that only lives in a remote part of New Zealand, has had its most successful breeding season since conservation efforts began more than two decades ago.Thirty-seven kākāpō chicks are currently surviving, providing a much-needed boost to the population of 123 adult kākāpō which live on predator-free islands. Continue reading...

Tech capital is first major US city to require all new buildings of 10 storeys or under to have solar panels, reports BusinessGreenSan Francisco has this week passed landmark legislation requiring all new buildings under 10 storeys in height to be fitted with rooftop solar panels.The city’s San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the new rule on Tuesday, making the metropolis the largest in the US to mandate solar installations on new properties. Continue reading...

Months on from widespread flooding across the north of England and Scotland, many business owners are still out of pocketJayne Shepherd and her son, Michael, had only run their restaurant Winner Winner in King’s Staith, York, for 15 months when the Boxing Day floods hit last year. When they raced to their restaurant that evening, there was little left to salvage. Sewage-contaminated water had surpassed 4ft, destroying stock, kitchen equipment and furnishings. “We were scrambling to pick up anything we could,” she says. “But we lost pretty much everything.”The floods had a devastating impact on many small businesses across the north of England and parts of Scotland. Months later, thousands of pounds out of pocket and with questions remaining over insurance payouts, affected businesses are fighting to get back to normal. The government has introduced Flood Re, a scheme to help provide affordable cover for homeowners, but it does not include small companies. And that’s something the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) wants to change. Continue reading...

South Australia is expected to generate more than half its electricity from wind and solar power this year. Who says you can’t run a modern economy on renewables?The sunbaked streets of Snowtown were deserted when I drove up from Adelaide in late 2000, 18 months after the dismembered remains of eight people were found in barrels of acid in a disused bank vault. The gruesome discovery brought the glare of publicity to the little country town in South Australia’s mid north, and – although no one from Snowtown was among the murderers or victims – the unwelcome attention persisted for years, as the protracted trials were followed by a film and four books.Talk to any local, though, and they will tell you that even before those tragic events, the place, like many rural communities, was in decline. And they will also tell you that Snowtown, if not exactly booming, is nowadays much rejuvenated, in large part due to the gales that howl across the nearby Barunga and Hummock Ranges. Continue reading...

The Paris agreement puts real pressure on Australia to close the gap between scientific and international reality and an unedifying climate policy paralysisFirst the good news. Greg Hunt is about to join 60 heads of state and representatives from more than 150 countries at the United Nations signing ceremony for last year’s Paris climate agreement, and has said Australia will move to ratify it by the end of the year.

Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand looking for new partners to source biofuel, amounting to about 5% of total useThis week Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand held a conference with the biofuel industry after joining forces to investigate options for locally produced biojet fuel for their domestic and international routes.This striking step signals the two airlines’ intention to aggregate their purchasing power in order to reduce their reliance on a single fuel, while at the same time significantly reducing their carbon emissions. Jet fuel, a petroleum distillate, has been used to power air travel since the first flights in the 1940s because of its high-energy density and thermal stability. And each year, the world’s airlines burn about 300bn litres, which represents about 10% of global oil consumption. Continue reading...

Ranked top in a list of populations most at risk from natural disasters, India must find solutions to make its economy less exposed

From deadly protests to billion dollar insurance schemes, we look at the impact of extreme weather and what the world’s fastest growing major economy is doing about it

Residents warned of toxic fumes from fire at Coatzacoalcos works in Gulf state of Veracruz that produces chemicals for making plasticsA large explosion has rocked a major petrochemical facility of Mexican national oil company Pemex in the Gulf state of Veracruz, killing at least three people, injuring dozens more and pumping a black cloud into the sky.Related: New US oil drilling regulations aim to prevent another Deepwater disaster Continue reading...

Several deaths and dozens of injuries were reported after an explosion at the Clorados 3 plant of Petroquimica Mexicana de Vinilo in Mexico. Javier Duarte, the mayor of Mexico’s Veracruz state, said authorities were co-ordinating with the operators and the state oil company, Pemex, to deal with the emergency Continue reading...

Climate Council pays for full-page advert as expert says the Courier Mail, Queensland’s biggest newspaper, is not covering coral bleaching properlyScientists say they are fed up with Queensland’s biggest newspaper not covering the worst bleaching event to hit the Great Barrier Reef, so have taken out a full page ad to get the message out.The ad comes as a survey revealed 93% of the Great Barrier Reef was affected by the bleaching. That finding motivated the Queensland government to call on the federal government to convene an urgent meeting of the nation’s environment ministers to talk about measures to address climate change in light of bleaching. Continue reading...

Michigan officials facing multiple felonies and misdemeanors accusing them of misconduct, tampering with evidence, and ‘willfully’ misleading federal officialsThree state and local officials involved in Flint’s water contamination crisis were criminally charged on Wednesday for their roles in the two-year public health debacle, the first round of what’s expected to be many charges against government employees.The officials are facing multiple felonies and misdemeanors accusing them of misconduct, tampering with evidence, and “willfully” misleading federal officials, more than six months after Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan admitted his administration gravely misunderstood the extent of a lead contamination problem in Flint. Continue reading...

Berta Cáceres’s daughter urges Europeans to suspend aid and investment in hydro projects until human rights are respectedThe daughter of murdered environmental leader Berta Cáceres has called for a suspension of European aid to Honduras and investment in its hydro projects until the country complies with human rights norms.Cáceres was shot as she slept on 2 March, after her family say that Honduran authorities failed to adequately respond to a slew of escalating death threats. Continue reading...