Environment | The Guardian

Institution set up to power UK’s green energy revolution could switch to funding more lucrative schemes abroad, say criticsA financial institution set up by government to accelerate Britain’s green power revolution could end up being sold to private equity firms and fund wind farms in Germany.The Green Investment Bank, hailed as a world first for the UK when it was set up, is expected to bring in more than £4bn for the Treasury when it is privatised, probably by the end of this year. But it may be snapped up by foreign buyers and already has plans to expand significantly overseas. Continue reading...

Tens of thousands of fishermen and farmers from Niger delta region allege decades of uncleaned spills have polluted areaTens of thousands of fishermen and farmers have been given permission to sue the energy giant Shell in a British court for oil spills in two further areas of the Niger delta.The action brought by London lawyers Leigh Day on behalf of the Ogale and Bille communities alleges that decades of uncleaned oil spills have polluted fishing waters and contaminated farming land. Continue reading...

Green power company believes it can build onshore windfarm in Cornwall with local people helping finance it, despite government scrapping subsidiesThe UK’s first onshore windfarm to be built without government subsidy is now under planning in Cornwall, to be financed in part by the local community.The Big Field wind farm, near Bude, will consist of 11 turbines, none of more than 125m in height to the tip of the blade, and provide electricity for 22,000 homes. Its backers hope it will point the way to further such projects, after the damages to the onshore wind industry caused by the reversal of policy on government support for clean energy. Continue reading...

System that provides hard evidence of logging crimes in almost real time gives new hope of combating tropical deforestationTaken from outer space, the satellite images show illegal loggers cutting a road into a protected area in Peru, part of a criminal enterprise attempting to steal millions of dollars worth of ecological resources.With the launch of a new satellite mapping system on Wednesday, governments and environmentalists will have access to hard evidence of these types of crimes almost in real time as part of a push by scientists to improve monitoring of tropical deforestation. Continue reading...

We asked you to share your most striking images of the weather in February from around the world. Here are some of our favourites for each day of the month• You can add your March weather photographs here Continue reading...

New findings show a ‘convergence of evidence’ that climate change has influenced the Syrian drought, Climate Central reportsThe relentless flow of refugees from the Middle East into Europe continues to raise tensions across the region.This weekend, fires ignited at a refugee camp in Calais, France, and countries are beginning to tighten their borders as more than 1 million people have streamed into Europe in the past year. The 1 million refugees represent just a portion of the 4.2 million that have fled Syria in all directions. And that’s on top of the 7.6 million people internally displaced in Syria who are trapped in limbo in their home country. Continue reading...

Baghdad resident Raad al-Quraishi talks on Monday about citizens’ increased fears overrising water levels and flooding. Iraqi authorities instructed people to stay at least 6km from the Tigris River after the US embassy warned of an imminent catastrophe due to the possible collapse of the dam further north Continue reading...

On Luzon Island, scientists have accidentally discovered the smallest of the giant Rafflesia flowers, a species that may be critically endangered, reports MongabayIn the rainforests of southeastern Asia, a parasitic plant called Rafflesia produces the world’s largest flowers. Some Rafflesia flowers, for instance, can be a meter and a half in diameter, and can weigh up to 22 pounds (or 10 kilograms). These flowers, called “corpse flower” locally, often smell like rotting flesh.Now, on Luzon Island in the Phillipines, a team of scientists have discovered the smallest of these giant flowers. Continue reading...

Organisers hope march from the capital to the heritage-listed mangrove forest will persuade Bangladesh’s government to drop backing for the power plantsThousands of Bangladeshis will march from the country’s capital, Dhaka, to the world’s biggest mangrove forest next week in protest at plans to build two coal-power plants on the edge of the World Heritage-listed forest.The organisers of the so-called long march on 10 March hope to persuade the Bangladeshi government to drop its backing for construction of the plants near the Sundarbans, an area of rice paddies, shrimp farms and vast mangrove forests. Continue reading...

From flood responses in Cumbria to IT in Essex – more than one in three public-private partnership deals return in house, finds Guardian surveyStorm Desmond decimated historic Pooley Bridge, over river Eamont at the northern end of Ullswater, in December, when more than a trillion litres of rain in the north-west flooded more than 7,000 properties and closed down three major highways in the Lake District. Officials in Cumbria say one unlikely factor proved crucial in the flood recovery that followed: the council’s decision a few years earlier to bring its outsourced major highway and housing services back in-house. Continue reading...

Australian National University researchers have reintroduced wild eastern quolls from Tasmania into a Canberra sanctuaryThe eastern quoll is making a comeback to mainland Australia, from where it disappeared more than 50 years ago, with a new generation introduced to the Australian Capital Territory from Tasmania.A team of researchers from the Australian National University has reintroduced a group of wild eastern quolls from Tasmania into the Mulligan’s Flat Woodland Sanctuary in Canberra. Continue reading...

Iraqis who built dam say structure is increasingly precarious and describe government response as ‘ridiculous’Iraqi engineers involved in building the Mosul dam 30 years ago have warned that the risk of its imminent collapse and the consequent death toll could be even worse than reported.They pointed out that pressure on the dam’s compromised structure was building up rapidly as winter snows melted and more water flowed into the reservoir, bringing it up to its maximum capacity, while the sluice gates normally used to relieve that pressure were jammed shut. Continue reading...

Tax should be lowered by up to £5,000, according to Policy Exchange report, which says the government is doing far too little to cut energy wasteThe stamp duty paid on energy efficient homes should be up to £5,000 less than on leaky, hard-to-heat homes, according to a new report that says the government is doing far too little to cut energy waste.The report is from the thinktank Policy Exchange, which is close to the government, and ministers are considering the idea. It estimates the stamp duty change would lead to 270,000 households a year improving their energy efficiency. Continue reading...

After suffering its worst floods for a century, the Indian city of Chennai is consulting cities all over the world – from New Orleans to Jakarta – about the ambitious projects that could reduce their risk of flood devastationWhen the floods came last December, the city of Chennai and its surrounding districts in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu were caught cold. Amid dramatic scenes of flooded streets and devastated homes, 347 people died across the state and damage valued at more than 20,000 crore rupees ($3bn) was sustained – with Chennai the largest city affected.The highest level of rainfall for 100 years, together with clogged and shrunken river mouths, encroachments on river banks, blocked natural drainage pathways and a lack of early flood-warning systems all contributed to the drowning of this coastal city. Continue reading...

Three-year survey of eleven European countries by MarketWatch finds only a quarter of white goods sold online in UK were correctly labelledMost electrical goods bought online have either been given a misleading energy label or none at all, according to a three-year survey across eleven European countries.By law, energy performance energy labels for products such as dishwashers, ovens and fridges must be displayed as prominently on a website as they are in shops. Continue reading...

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s World Culture festival is to be held on the Yamuna river, with campaigners saying it risks ‘an everlasting impact on the environment’Indian guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has come under fire for a festival to promote peace that environmentalists say risks damaging the delicate ecosystem of Delhi’s Yamuna river.Critics say the World Culture festival, to be held from 11 March on the banks of the river with millions of fans – including India’s prime minister – in attendance, will cause lasting environmental damage. Continue reading...

Reports find increases in family violence and mental health problems due to stress of natural disasters outweighs cost of rebuilding infrastructureThe cost of natural disasters in Australia is 50% more than previously estimated– $9bn in 2015 – and is set to increase to $33bn by 2050 even ignoring the effect of climate change, according to two reports commissioned by the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience and Safer Communities.The reports included the first analysis of the economic costs of social impacts of natural disasters, and concluded they cost the economy more than tangible impacts like damage to property. Continue reading...

Despite claims in your editorial (Boris Johnson leaves London breathing uneasy, 24 February), London’s air quality is improving as a direct result of the many bold measures introduced by the mayor to reduce health impacts. Since 2008 these have helped halve the number of Londoners living in areas exceeding legal limits, with the greatest improvements by roads, where people are most exposed. We know this as the mayor and boroughs work with many organisations, including King’s College, to deliver a multitude of testing and monitoring systems that are some of the most comprehensive in the world.The editorial failed to mention that no other country in the world has proposed an ultra-low emission zone with standards as tight as the mayor’s. However, its introduction requires a measured approach to take into account the many people who bought vehicles in good faith and have subsequently been let down by Brussels’ historic failure to regulate vehicle emissions and approach to dieselisation. Continue reading...

Rajendra Pachauri accused of stalking, intimidating and sexually harassing researcher at Delhi-based thinktankA former chair of a UN panel of climate scientists has been charged with stalking, intimidating and sexually harassing a woman who worked at a thinktank he headed for more than 30 years.Rajendra Pachauri, 75, was accused in February last year of sexual harassment by a researcher working at Delhi-based The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri) where Pachauri was director general. Continue reading...

Advisors to Boris Johnson have argued that more road-pricing, fostering “active travel” and creating attractive urban environments can all be part of the right response to London’s rapid growth

China’s lucrative black market for fish parts is threatening the vaquita, the world’s most endangered marine mammal. The porpoises, who live only in the Gulf of California, are getting caught up as bycatch in illegal gill nets and killed, reports Yale Environment 360In 2013, Song Shen Zhen, a 75-year-old resident of Calexico, California, was attempting to re-enter the United States from Mexico when border patrol noticed a strange lump beneath the floor mats of his Dodge Attitude. The plastic bags beneath the mats contained not cocaine, but another valuable product: 27 swim bladders from the totoaba, a critically endangered fish whose air bladders, a Chinese delicacy with alleged medicinal value, fetch up to $20,000 apiece. Agents tracked Zhen to his house, where they discovered a makeshift factory containing another 214 bladders. Altogether, Zhen’s contraband was worth an estimated $3.6 million.The robust black market is grim news for totoaba — but it’s an even greater catastrophe for vaquita, a diminutive porpoise that dwells solely in the northernmost reaches of the Gulf of California, the narrow body of water that extends between the Baja Peninsula and mainland Mexico. Since 1997, around 80 percent of the world’s vaquitas have perished as bycatch, many in gill nets operated by illegal totoaba fishermen. Continue reading...

Ministers have been forced to reassure consumers and business that the latest changes to the government’s flagship energy market reforms will deal with any supply problems, illustrating how desperate matters have become

Arrival of meteorological spring to be met with icy blast after one of warmest winters on record

In the wake of the Flint water crisis several schools have shut off their drinking water due to high levels of lead, raising the question: ‘how big is this issue?’Several schools across the US have either discovered or acted upon evidence of high levels of lead in their drinking water in the wake of the crisis in Flint, Michigan, with one leading expert warning the cases could mark “the tip of the iceberg”.Related: 'It's all just poison now': Flint reels as families struggle through water crisis Continue reading...

Specialist body tackling wildlife crime was set to close at the end of March but has been awarded four years’ worth of fundingThe UK’s national wildlife crime unit (NWCU) has won a late reprieve from closure after the government announced new funding on Tuesday.The specialist unit tackles wildlife crime from the killing of birds of prey and poaching of deer in the UK to the smuggling of endangered reptiles, birds and elephant ivory across the globe. It was set to close at the end of March, but environment minister Rory Stewart announced funding for four years in a statement to parliament. Continue reading...

Spring is in sight for the northern hemisphere with the arrival of March, while the southern hemisphere prepares for the autumn months ahead. We’d like to see your photos of the March wildlife near youDespite the recent cold mornings, the northern hemisphere will be hoping the arrival of March brings early signs of spring. Summer is now in the past as the southern hemisphere embraces the autumn months ahead. So what sort of wildlife will we all discover on our doorsteps? We’d like to see your photos of the March wildlife near you.Share your photos and videos with us and we’ll feature our favourites on the Guardian site. Continue reading...

A Filipino social enterprise is bringing cheap solar lighting to more than 20 countries helping improve safety, reduce air pollution and cut energy costsEvery day at around 6pm, 40 families living in a remote corner of Andhra Pradesh in southeast India – a 6km walk from the nearest road – would be swallowed by darkness. With no access to electricity, sunset was a non-negotiable curfew – going outside was dangerous, people couldn’t cook and children were unable to do their homework.This changed in April 2015 when Liter of Light, a project that transforms plastic bottles into simple solar lights, introduced solar-powered street lamps to the villages. “Some of the children had never seen [artificial] light in their lives,” says Pankaj Dixit, co-founder of Liter of Light’s Bangalore branch in India. “They said we had added four hours to their lives every day.” Continue reading...

Key reforms to the energy market have been unexpectedly brought forward by a year in a bid to avoid supply gapsThe UK government has moved to allay fears of a coming electricity supply crunch by unexpectedly bringing forward key reforms to the energy market.An auction of contracts to supply electricity is to be brought forward a year, to next January, and will cover the supply of power in the winter of 2017 to 2018. Continue reading...

The typical UK press response to sensible EU rules on the energy efficiency of products is a textbook case of cutting off our nose to spite our faceSome Brits love to hate the EU, especially when the bureaucrats are going after things like kettles or toasters.Last week was no exception, when old news resurfaced that one day the EU may gently show the door to the worst-performing kitchen equipment. There are no current EU rules for toasters and there was no real development. Continue reading...

Photographer James Morgan has spent time with two WWF scientists who are undertaking a unique ecological and social monitoring project looking at the impacts of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the far east of Indonesia. Five years into the study, nearly half a million fish have been counted and more than 3,500 households interviewed, making it the largest study of this type ever conducted Continue reading...

Preliminary Met Office figures indicate temperatures beat previous records set in 2007 and 1989This winter is on track to be the warmest ever recorded in England and Wales, according to preliminary figures from the Met Office. Continue reading...

Partnering with indigenous groups, conservationists discover a wealth of wildlife in Bangladesh’s most remote region. Including maybe, just maybe, tigers.

Reclaim the Power says it will use direct action at a dozen international sites in May, including the UK’s largest opencast coal mine in south WalesClimate activists will use direct action to try to shut down major coal sites across the world in May, including the UK’s largest opencast coal mine in south Wales.The dozen international sites facing civil disobedience from the Break Free 2016 campaign span the globe from the US to Australia and South Africa to Indonesia. Continue reading...

Spain’s national parks showcase the country’s amazing diversity, from snow-capped mountains to volcanic semi-deserts and stunning archipelagos. This year marks the centenary of their foundingNudging the French border is Spain’s joint oldest national park (created in 1918 with Picos de Europa, see below) but also one of the least well known. The 3,355m Monte Perdido (Lost Mountain) looms over dramatic glacial valleys up to 3km deep. In its 156 sq km you’ll find hikes for every level, including paths along natural ledges in the limestone just a metre wide. Most popular hikes begin at Pradera de Ordesa including the Circo de Cotatuero, a six-hour circuit to a thundering waterfall (there’s also a shorter walk). There’s exhilarating rafting (€52pp) just a few kilometres south of the park in Torla which has a comprehensive visitors’ information centre.

Blackwater Carr, Norfolk The smell of which I speak is, in a sense, the scent of all human cultureAs my poor mother’s eyes mist over with cataracts, I give constant thanks for my own sight. This morning as I heard wild swans bugling faintly high over the house I thought also of friends who now have to wear hearing devices in their ears.Yet what of our sense of smell? Isn’t it, of all senses, massively underrated? Continue reading...