Departing secretary general says small island developing states should be given greater access to climate financePatricia Scotland, the departing secretary general of the Commonwealth, has described the 56-member-bloc as a powerful force in the battle against climate breakdown, and urged the members to continue her legacy of supporting small and vulnerable countries.Lady Scotland's two-term tenure began in 2016, shortly after tropical storm Erica destroyed 95% of Dominica's GDP. I came in understanding that this was an immediate threat to human lives, jobs, homes, infrastructure, and our very existence, and urgent action was our only option," she said. Continue reading...

The state Labor government is steering Australia's climate policy, letting emissions soar unbridled as it paves the way for massive fossil fuel projectsWestern Australia sometimes feels more than three hours behind the rest of the country.The tyranny of our distance has always meant it's been hard to get the attention of the east coast. Continue reading...

A sulphur-crested cockatoo named Mickey that had been 'living on brioche' inside a Sydney supermarket for four weeks has been captured by wildlife services and is expected to be set free soon. On Tuesday morning, another cockatoo, Old Lady Doris, was taken into the supermarket by the Feathered Friends bird rescue director Ravi Wasan to comfort the lost bird, allowing Wasan to successfully capture him. Wasan said Mickey looked 'physically fine' and was not hungry because he was eating 'really well' in the supermarket. The NSW environment minister announced on Tuesday evening the bird had 'been safely captured by wildlife rescuers after spending way too long in Macarthur Square' shopping centre

Comprehensive review suggests that adding more parks, trees and greenery could improve public healthGreen spaces in cities play a vital role in reducing illness and deaths caused by climate breakdown, according to the most comprehensive study of its kind.The findings of the review suggest that adding more parks, trees and greenery to urban areas could help countries tackle heat-related harms and improve public health. Continue reading...

Defra body, created to overhaul system amid public fury, may force firms to be run for public good rather than shareholder returns

The division of responsibilities between Ofwat, the Environment Agency and Drinking Water Inspectorate hasn't worked

Report also finds at least 1,344 individual birds of prey were persecuted in the UK between 2009 and 2023More hen harriers were killed in 2023 than in any other year on record, a report has found.The RSPB's Birdcrime report also found that at least 1,344 individual birds of prey were persecuted in the UK between 2009 and 2023, and that 75% of people convicted of offences related to the persecution of birds of prey in that period were connected to the gamebird shooting industry. Continue reading...

In the mountainous area near Asheville, affected growers must now replenish water-logged and often tainted landHurricane Helene took much from western North Carolina where I live, farm and raise my family. The stories are harrowing: houses obliterated by landslides, whole families washed away, corpses revealed as the waters receded.Suddenly, there's deep climate trauma here, in a place where we mistakenly thought hurricanes happened to Floridians and coastal communities, not us. Helene stole our sense of security: we now side-eye trees, which crushed homes, power lines, cars and people. And the rain, the farmer's frequent wish, turned our rivers maniacal. Continue reading...

Energy secretary prepares new pledge for big UK carbon cuts in next decade amid potential cabinet divisionEd Miliband is facing his first key test on Labour's ambitions for global climate leadership, with a crucial decision looming on how far and how fast to cut the UK's greenhouse gas emissions.The energy secretary is preparing a new international pledge for the UK to cut carbon sharply in the next decade, but could face opposition within the cabinet. Continue reading...

Critics say eels could be smuggled eastwards towards Asia but exporter says they are for restocking' projectMillions of critically endangered eels have been exported from the Severn estuary to Russia this year and conservationists fear export quotas will be increased next year.A tonne of glass eels, the young elvers that swim into European estuaries from the Sargasso Sea each spring, was flown to Kaliningrad this year, double the amount exported to the Russian port the previous year. Continue reading...

Deforestation fell by a third when the guerrilla leader Ivan Mordisco violently enforced a logging ban, but now he has changed tack and is threatening Cop16 biodiversity talksIn the Amazon states of southern Colombia, uniform patches of cattle pasture suddenly give way to trees so numerous and densely packed that the blots of emerald, lime green and white overlap as vines, leaves and tree trunks merge into one.According to official figures, this place is an international success story: the frontline of the country's fight against deforestation, which it slashed last year by 36%. Continue reading...

NSW environment minister hopes Mickey will be flying free by tomorrow' after successful capture by wildlife services

Mowi Scotland, which supplies Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's, blames a rise in sea temperatures for the deaths, while campaigners say expanding farms will make things worseMore than a million dead fish, the biggest mass die-off of farmed salmon in Scotland in a decade, have been recorded at a farm belonging to the UK's largest supplier.The deaths at two adjacent Mowi Scotland sites in Loch Seaforth on the Outer Hebrides - licensed as one farm by the Scottish government - rose to just over a million during the year-and-a-half production cycle that it usually takes to raise a salmon in seawater, and which in this case began in spring 2023. Mowi supplies salmon to retailers including Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Ocado. Many of its farms, including those in the Hebrides, are certified under the RSPCA Assured label, which guarantees higher animal welfare standards. Continue reading...

Efforts to reduce levels of PFAS chemicals in our drinking water are important - but most water supplies are already below the new limitsThe Australian National Health and Medical Research Council has today released draft guidelines for acceptable levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in drinking water. PFAS chemicals are also known as forever chemicals" because they do not break down easily and can persist in the environment, including drinking water supplies.The new guidelines - which are not mandatory but will inform state and territory policy - are expected to be finalised in April 2025. They propose a reduction in the maximum levels previously considered safe for four key PFAS chemicals: PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS and PFBS.Evidence to date does not establish whether PFAS at exposure levels seen in Australia might increase risks of cardiovascular disease ... Established risk factors ... are likely to be of a much greater magnitude than those potentially caused by PFAS. Continue reading...

Subsidiary of electricity firm SSE signs unique and novel' employment and social housing deal with local councilsMore than 1,000 new homes are expected to be built across northern Scotland linked to a 20bn investment in grid infrastructure needed to meet the UK's green energy targets.SSEN Transmission, a subsidiary of the electricity firm SSE, has signed a deal with local councils and housing associations in the Highlands to fund at least 1,000 new properties as well as the refurbishment of existing, unoccupied ones. Continue reading...

Rapid urbanisation thought to be damaging adolescent health, as researchers say need for medication and diagnostic tests is urgentMillions of teenagers in Africa are suffering from asthma with no formal diagnosis as the continent undergoes rapid urbanisation, researchers have found.The study, published in the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, involved 27,000 pupils from urban areas in Malawi, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria. It found more than 3,000 reported asthma symptoms, but only about 600 had a formal diagnosis. Continue reading...

Largest group lawsuit in English legal history opens over collapse of dam owned by mining firm that killed 19 peopleThe Anglo-Australian mining company BHP has been accused of cynically and doggedly trying to avoid" responsibility for Brazil's worst environmental disaster at the opening of the largest group lawsuit in English legal history.The claim for up to 36bn in compensation was opened by lawyers acting for more than 620,000 individuals at the high court in London. It comes nine years after the breach of a dam holding toxic waste from an iron ore mine killed 19 people near the town of Mariana in south-eastern Brazil. Continue reading...

As nations meet in Colombia to confront species and ecosystem loss, the onus is on the global north to put science and collaboration at the heart of the issue

The small town of Dimock saw its water become brown, undrinkable, even flammable - and its residents are still feeling the effectsFracking has burst back on to the national stage in the US presidential election contest for the must-win swing state of Pennsylvania. But for one town in this state that saw its water become mud-brown, undrinkable and even flammable 15 years ago, the specter of fracking never went away.Residents in Dimock, a rural town of around 1,200 people in north-east Pennsylvania, have been locked in a lengthy battle to remediate their water supply that was ruined in 2009 after the drilling of dozens of wells to access a hotspot called the Saudi Arabia of gas" found deep underneath their homes. Continue reading...

As the Cop16 conference begins, scientists and academics say human activity has pushed the world into a danger zoneHumanity is on the precipice" of shattering Earth's limits, and will suffer huge costs if we fail to act on biodiversity loss, experts warn. This week, world leaders meet in Cali, Colombia, for the Cop16 UN biodiversity conference to discuss action on the global crisis. As they prepare for negotiations, scientists and experts around the world have warned that the stakes are high, and there is no time to waste".We are already locked in for significant damage, and we're heading in a direction that will see more," says Tom Oliver, professor of applied ecology at the University of Reading. I really worry that negative changes could be very rapid." Continue reading...

Exclusive: Researchers find 61% of fresh waters in the UK contain high levels of phosphate and nitrateThe UK's rivers contain a cocktail of chemicals and stimulants including caffeine, antidepressants and painkillers from water company sewage releases, polluting freshwaters at levels which can pose a risk to aquatic life, testing has found.Results from three days of testing in rivers by 4,531 volunteers for the environmental research group Earthwatch showed that, in addition to the chemical mix in rivers, 61% of fresh waters in the UK were in a poor state because of high levels of the nutrients phosphate and nitrate, the source of which is sewage effluent and agricultural runoff. England had the worst level of poor water quality in rivers, with 67% of freshwater samples showing high levels of nitrate and phosphate.Of the 91 samples already analysed, 100% contained caffeine, with levels in 80% of these samples presenting some risk to aquatic life, said Woods.Nicotine was found in 25% of samples, with concentrations that present some risk to aquatic life found in 7% of samples. The antidepressant venlafaxine was found in 30% of samples analysed, with 13% of samples containing levels that posed a risk to aquatic life.The antibiotic trimethoprim was found in 10% of samples, all at concentrations that posed some level of risk to aquatic life.Diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, was in 11 % of samples, all of which showed some level of risk.In 5% of samples, the fungicide tebuconazole was present as a result of agricultural runoff.The neonicotinoid acetamiprid was present in 19% of samples, all showing some level of risk to aquatic life.Earthwatch said the results showed the strong contribution that citizen science played in presenting a clearer picture of the health of rivers. Continue reading...

National Health and Medical Research Council proposal lowers the limits for four PFAS chemicals in drinking water

Ruth Davis named special representative for nature to put climate and nature at the heart of our foreign policy'The government has appointed the UK's first envoy for nature, a former environment campaigner described as the environmentalist's environmentalist", who will be charged with forging global agreement on halting the precipitous decline of species.Ruth Davis, the new special representative for nature, is in Colombia for the start of two weeks of vital talks that will decide the global response to the biodiversity crisis. The UK has played a leading role in such efforts in the past and Davis helped draw up a global pledge on deforestation that was one of the main outcomes of the UN Cop26 climate summit hosted in Glasgow in 2021. Continue reading...

It has been a nightmare season for farmers, with England said to have had its second-worst harvest on recordGiant orange pumpkins with ghoulish grins have become a Halloween doorstep tradition but this year trick-or-treaters may be greeted with even spookier green-tinged jack-o-lanterns after a nightmare season for growers.In Asda, pumpkin displays have signs telling shoppers don't worry if I'm slightly green, I will ripen at home and turn orange". Continue reading...

Greater bamboo lemur births in captivity are extremely rare and park is only UK collection to have bred it this yearCotswold wildlife park has successfully bred one of Madagascar's most endangered lemurs.The as yet unnamed youngster was born to a breeding male, Raphael, and female, Bijou, at the wildlife park. Continue reading...

Policies such as cash payouts for bicycle commuters have knock-on effects including reduced pollution and better physical and mental health

Princeton University, the only other North American school to take similar action, rolled back its commitment recentlyThe University of Toronto's environment school has announced it will financially dissociate from fossil fuel companies, in a landmark win for climate activists.The institution has committed to stop taking funds from the sector for research, sponsorships, scholarships or infrastructure such as buildings. It will also halt collaborations with the industry on events and school initiatives and cease to host fossil fuel recruitment events, while working to increase transparency about the our funding, donations, and partnerships". Continue reading...

Puffins, Manx shearwaters and kittiwakes on Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland have been dying. Now islanders and experts think they have the solutionThe dramatic sea cliffs, crags and stacks of Rathlin Island, county Antrim, rise more than 200 metres above the Atlantic Ocean and host one of the UK's largest seabird colonies, including hundreds of endangered puffins, attracting up to 20,000 birders and tourists a year.On a spectacularly sunny day in September, the cliff faces are devoid of birds, with the puffins already having made their annual migration to spend the winter months at sea. Instead, Rathlin's cliffs are dotted with roped-up figures in harnesses and bulging rucksacks, directed from above by a Scottish mountaineer, via a walkie-talkie. Continue reading...

Experts say UN event will be critical for world's declining wildlife population as host nation pushes for inclusivityWorld leaders, environmental activists and prominent researchers have begun to arrive in Cali, Colombia, for a biodiversity summit that experts say will be decisive for the fate of the world's rapidly declining wildlife populations.The host nation is also hoping that the summit, which formally opens on Sunday evening, will be the most inclusive in history. Continue reading...

The groundwater system in western Victoria and south-east South Australia has begun to show signs of collapse, threatening the water security of SA's second biggest city

Former guerillas were accused of 1989 killing, but supporters say government wants to intimidate activistsSix former guerrillas, whose trial for a civil war-era murder was criticised by fellow environmentalists as politicised, have been acquitted by a court in El Salvador.Prosecutors had sought up to 36 years in prison for the former rebels of the hard-left Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front. Continue reading...

Chumash Heritage national marine sanctuary, a 4,543 sq mile expanse of ocean along the California coast, will now be protectedAfter years of campaigning by Indigenous Americans in central California, the US has finally approved the country's first Indigenous-nominated national marine sanctuary, a 4,543 sq mile expanse of ocean that will protect marine life from mining and oil drilling.The Chumash Heritage national marine sanctuary - which will be nearly four times the size of Yosemite national park - will stretch along 116 miles of the California coastline that supports a number of at-risk species, including southern sea otters, abalone and blue whales. The area is also home to critical kelp forests, which not only provide food and shelter for marine life, but also act as a carbon storage system - they can sequester up to 20 times as much carbon as terrestrial forests. Continue reading...

Toxic emissions, health risks and leaching pollution - better management of landfill sites is a matter of urgencyLast summer, people living around the perimeter of Pilsworth South landfill in Bury, Greater Manchester, couldn't open their windows because of the elevated levels of hydrogen sulphide in the air. Referred to as sewer gas", its rotten-egg stench can be particularly unbearable at night. Even driving past with the windows closed on the M66, as I do regularly to drop my child at a local play centre, I have gagged at the overpowering smell.Including Pilsworth, there are 15 odorous landfills across the UK. Hafod landfill in Wrexham is the latest to hit the headlines. Another in Northern Ireland was so noxious before its decommissioning that it was subject to a supreme court ruling and now an appeal. Meanwhile, several others have breached their licences through overtipping, odour issues or poor management, forcing them to undertake engineering solutions to rectify the problems. These remedial works can make things worse in the short term, with smells created when rubbish is disturbed. Continue reading...

World Without End topped bestseller lists but was criticised for embracing nuclear powerIn 2019, France's best known climate expert sat down to work with its most feted graphic novelist. The result? Perhaps the most terrifying comic ever drawn.Part history, part analysis, part vision for the future, World Without End weaves the story of humanity's rapacious appetite for fossil fuel energy, how it has made possible the society people take for granted, and its disastrous effects on the climate. Continue reading...

Residents told to flee as firefighters battle blaze, with two homes burned and several others damagedA fast-moving fire fed by strong winds burned two homes on Friday and damaged several others in a hillside neighborhood in the city of Oakland, where roughly 500 people were ordered to evacuate, officials said.Damon Covington, the city's fire chief, said that at about 1.30pm, calls had come in reporting a fire in front of a home in the Oakland hills. Crews arrived as the inferno quickly grew with winds ranging from calm breezes to 40mph (64km/h) gusts during red-flag conditions. Continue reading...

NSW Maritime executive director says balls appear to be made up of fatty acids, chemicals found in cleaning and cosmetic products, and fuel oil

Democratic presidential nominee has raised alarm about Trump's plans but has not said much about her own

Campaigners point out it is often cheaper to drive or even fly within the UK than take the trainFuel duty is expected to rise by up to 7p a litre after the budget, with speculation intensifying that the chancellor will restore inflationary rises as well as ending the temporary cut.Environmental and transport campaigners have urged Rachel Reeves to bring the cost of motoring more in line with other forms of transport, after more than a decade of fuel duty freezes at the pumps and heavy increases in rail fares. Continue reading...

Lowering voltage about 5% could lower emissions and save customers on the national electricity market around $110 a year, research shows

Ed Miliband seems happy to see the landscape blighted. We value townscape - everywhere else has to fend for itselfDoes Labour believe in beauty? The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, celebrated his arrival in office this summer by permitting three of the largest solar panel arrays in Britain. One, a Suffolk array covering nearly 2,800 acres, was described by a county councillor as the poorest infrastructure application that I have ever dealt with".Now Miliband is demanding a procession of pylons filling the glorious Amber Valley in the Derbyshire uplands. Another parade of 420 pylons, each nearly as tall as Nelson's column, will run down the east of England from Grimsby to Walpole, near King's Lynn in Norfolk. The government also wants to allow the return of onshore wind turbines, overriding local objections.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Government accused of shocking' choice to dilute protection standards in first animal welfare policyLabour is using its first animal welfare policy since entering government to dilute standards by legalising the harmful practice of carrying chickens by their legs, charities have said.European transport regulation 1/2005, which still applies in the UK, prohibits lifting chickens by their legs on farms and during loading and unloading, but the government is going to change the law to permit the widespread but illegal method, according to the Animal Law Foundation. Continue reading...

High blood concentrations of forever chemical' compound PFOS linked to problems falling asleep and waking upSome of the most common types of PFAS may cause sleep disorders in young adults, new research finds, and the study's authors for the first time identified how the chemicals probably impact the brain to cause disruptions.The peer-reviewed University of Southern California (USC) study looked at PFAS levels in the blood of adults between 19 and 24 years old, and found those in the highest one-third slept an average of about 80 fewer minutes nightly than those in the lowest third. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Data on number and nature of wildfires at odds with claims of landowner seeking to ban wild campingWild camping is not a significant fire risk on Dartmoor, data shows, despite claims by a wealthy landowner who has been trying to ban the practice.The supreme court is deciding on a case brought by the hedge fund manager Alexander Darwall, who is seeking to remove the right to camp on Dartmoor without landowner permission. Continue reading...

Hail swath estimated at 120 miles damages crops in western Victoria as winds break windows and rip tiles from roofsOn Wednesday, the Australian state of Victoria was hit by thunderstorms. The town of Casterton was particularly badly affected, receiving 21mm of rain in just 30 minutes, followed by large hailstones.Vehicles and properties were severely damaged, with reports of broken windows and tiles blown off roofs due to strong winds. Continue reading...

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

Scientists examining petroleum-based balls believed to have come from an oil spill off Sydney as Bondi beach reopens

Thinktank says government should set up arm's-length company to buy Harland & Wolff site, which is in administrationThe UK government should set up an arm's-length company to buy the Harland & Wolff naval shipyard in Belfast as part of a drive to repurpose arms manufacturing towards producing green infrastructure, according to a report.The study from the thinktank Common Wealth is launching what it describes as a Lucas Plan for the 21st century" setting out how the UK's military industrial capacity can be transformed into a supply pipeline for green energy, benefiting workers, communities and the environment. Continue reading...

Survey of young people aged 16-25 from all US states shows concerns across political spectrumThe overwhelming majority of young Americans worry about the climate crisis, and more than half say their concerns about the environment will affect where they decide to live and whether to have children, new research finds.The study comes just weeks after back-to-back hurricanes, Helene and Milton, pummeled the south-eastern US. Flooding from Helene caused more than 600 miles of destruction, from Florida's west coast to the mountains of North Carolina, while Milton raked across the Florida peninsula less than two weeks later. Continue reading...

Only baby formula, expressed milk and prescription medicines will be allowed with large bags also prohibited under new measuresThe National Gallery has announced a raft of increased security measures after protesters attacked paintings including Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers, John Constable's The Hay Wain and Diego Velazquez's The Rokeby Venus.From Friday morning there will be a ban on bringing into the London gallery any liquids except for baby formula, expressed milk or prescription medicines. Continue reading...

Campaigners call for tightening of measures around wild' pheasants which are not subject to rules to help control bird fluThe most serious outbreak of bird flu this year has been found in a group of pheasants in England, sparking criticism of the loose restrictions around their rearing.Twenty of the non-native birds were found by the Animal and Plant Health Authority (Apha) to have been infected with the disease, which is decimating bird populations across the UK, in Worcestershire. All other reports from Apha show no more than five birds have been affected at any one location since January 2024. Continue reading...