by Daniel Hurst Political correspondent on (#W58X)
Backbenchers say fuel rebate available to farmers and miners is not a subsidy and want Malcolm Turnbull to steer clear of proposed Paris summit statementCoalition backbenchers fear Australia could be forced to end the diesel fuel rebate if Malcolm Turnbull signs up to a proposed statement on phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.The prime minister has arrived in Paris for UN-led climate talks but has restated his support for the emissions reduction targets adopted by his predecessor, Tony Abbott. Continue reading...
Will Ian the Climate Denialist Potato succeed in his cunning plan to depose Greg Hunt and represent Australia at the Paris climate talks? Continue reading...
Otley, West Yorkshire Usually as translucent as clear beer, the water has turned a monsoon brown, boiling with the force of countless tonnes and churning white as it surges under the arches of Otley’s bridgeThe river Wharfe has broken out of its enclosure. Normally lovely, languorous, and impeccably well-behaved, it has mutated in the heavy rain and now runs rampant through fields, climbs high up leaf-littered banks of ivy and alder, and carries huge tree trunks away with it like twigs in a game of Poohsticks.Scores of people have come out to watch the spectacle, milling around on roads cleared of traffic, friends and strangers alike chatting together. There is nothing like a bit of threatened calamity to get tongues wagging. Usually as translucent as clear beer, the water has turned a monsoon brown, boiling with the force of countless tonnes and churning white as it surges under the five arches of Otley’s bridge, leaving only a tight gap of air. Some houses are already swamped and the water is lapping at the Victorian terraces of Farnley Lane, but its residents seem impressively philosophical – or simply well-insured. Continue reading...
Ships to depart on 1 December for whale ‘research’ in the Southern Ocean despite global pressure to stop slaughter the UN says is a front for commercial huntsJapan will dispatch a “research†whaling mission to the Antarctic on Tuesday, the government said, defying international criticism and despite a UN legal decision that such activity disguises commercial hunts.Related: Japan under fire over decision to resume whaling Continue reading...
Global trade deals like TTIP and TPP will lead to an increase in greenhouse gases and negate any agreement on climate changeWhile all the focus and hope for tackling climate change is on COP 21 in Paris, starting today, secretive global trade deals are already negating any commitments that might be made at the summit.The texts from the various trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP), make it clear that they will increase production, trade and consumption of fossil fuels.
Guardian readers were among hundreds of thousands of people rallying against climate change in Australia and New Zealand over the weekend as part of a global campaign. They share their experiences of the marchesGuardian readers were among hundreds of thousands of people marching against climate change in Australia and New Zealand over the weekend as part of a global campaign to move away from the use of fossil fuels.Protests were held in Melbourne on Friday, and in Darwin, Brisbane and across New Zealand on Saturday, followed by Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Hobart and Perth. Continue reading...
Ahead of the COP21 climate conference in Paris, an estimated 40,000 festive protesters marched in Sydney on Sunday calling on Australia to play a lead role in brokering binding carbon emissions targets for the world to keep global temperature rise below 2C. The marchers, who ranged in age from the very young to the elderly, were among more than 600,000 people who took to the streets in 175 countries around the world to call for a strong deal in Paris Continue reading...
US President Barack Obama touches down at Orly airport outside Paris on Sunday night, ahead of the COP21 climate summit which is taking place in the French capital this week. The summit, due to start on Monday and continue for two weeks, aims to agree on a common global approach to tackling climate change Continue reading...
by Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington, Fiona Harvey and on (#W4JG)
The vow boosts a parallel initiative by global business leaders including Mark Zuckerberg and Ratan TataThe US and 18 other countries have pledged to double funds for clean energy research to a total of $20bn over five years, boosting a parallel initiative by Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg and increasing the prospects for successful agreement at the Paris climate negotiations that start on Monday.The countries, which include the UK, Canada, China, Brazil, India and South Africa, span the biggest global economies and major emitters, oil and gas producers, and leaders in clean energy research, the White House said. Continue reading...
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 2 December 1915In these days of early winter one gets very vivid colour still in morning skies, and the reflection of this in water is sometimes even deeper than any we see in midsummer. Standing above the winding reaches of a narrow stream which ran through marshy land, we saw the steel-blue of wind-ruffled water thrown up in sharpest contrast by the soft, pale buff of the grass and the slightly darker buff of the sedges.No such contrast appeared when the grasses were lush in midsummer, or in so mild a winter as we had last year, when even meadow grass remained as green as green moss; reeds and rushes too, have all some grey in their outer sheathing which makes them, in their green season, tone softly into the tints of sky and water. But under the sharp touch of frost buff and blue stood keenly contrasted, uncompromising, almost harsh; and the outlines of the little compact white clouds that raced overhead were sharp, too, and dazzling. Continue reading...
Residents of Madrid became the latest to have their daily lives disrupted by the failure to control air pollution. New emergency laws were enacted for the first time in mid-November following a finding by the EU commission that the city’s air quality plans were insufficient. Nitrogen dioxide reached almost double the World Health Organisation guidelines in central residential areas during still weather on 12 and 13 November. Urban motorway speeds were reduced from 80-90kph to 70kph (44mph) and city centre parking was restricted to residents.The cap of polluted air that settles over Madrid is nicknamed la boina (the beret) but the city is not alone in having air pollution problems. Nitrogen dioxide limits were set in 1999 to be met by 2010 but the failure to clean diesel exhausts in real-world driving means that cities throughout Europe have yet to reach compliance. Continue reading...
by Lenore Taylor Political editor Guardian Australia on (#W3ZC)
It won’t ‘solve’ climate change, but the Paris talks may make real gains possible. And that poses an interesting problem for Malcolm TurnbullIt will be fractious and frustrating and it won’t “solve†the problem. But the Paris climate summit that starts on Monday is likely to be characterised as a success anyway.That’s because negotiators have reset what qualifies as succeeding, and not just to allow world leaders to pat themselves on the back. Counterintuitively, demanding less might, in the end, achieve more than previous ambitious meetings that ended in failure. Continue reading...
Tens of thousands of environmental campaigners march through central London on Sunday on the eve of the Paris climate change talks. Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leader, praises those who braved the cold to turn out at the march. Organisers said the London event attracted even more people once it had been announced that the Paris demonstration would be cancelled
On the eve of the opening of the UN climate change conference in Paris, campaigners around the world from Melbourne to London are marching to demand action
Actor Emma Thompson discusses why protecting the Arctic is so important for the planet and the human race. Thompson speaks to ITV news reporter Richard Pallot as she takes part in a demonstration outside Shell’s London headquarters on Sunday, ahead of the Paris global climate change talks on Monday
Hundreds of protesters demonstrate near the Place de la Republique in Paris on Sunday despite a ban imposed by the French authorities. Activists clash with riot police who use teargas to try and disperse the crowds. The march, planned for Sunday to coincide with the global climate change talks in the city on Monday, had been cancelled for security reasons in the wake of recent terror attacks in the French capital Continue reading...
Over 10,000 pairs of shoes on the Place de la Republique replace marchers who were set to take part in a climate cancelled protest as activists take to the streets around the globe. The Paris march was expected to bring 200,000 people onto the city’s streets but was forbidden by French authorities in light of security concerns. Elsewhere, thousands marched in Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney ahead of the Paris climate summit on Monday Continue reading...
Perhaps privately developed technologies could do their bit insteadSeven years after his landmark 2006 report on the costs of ignoring climate change, Lord Stern confessed that he’d been wrong , and had underestimated the size of the task.“The planet and the atmosphere seem to be absorbing less carbon than we expected,†he said in 2013, “and emissions are rising pretty strongly. Some of the effects are coming through more quickly than we thought.†Continue reading...
Climate scientist says the world has come a long way since the failed Copenhagen climate conference and now accepts the urgency of tackling rising temperaturesThe world has “come late†to realising the potential devastation of climate change, Prof Tim Flannery says, but the former Australian of the Year believes there is now a global understanding of the need to cut emissions “hard and fast†to avoid calamitous global warming.Flannery, also formerly the chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council, said world leaders were more committed now to thrashing out a binding global climate agreement than they were at the Copenhagen climate summit five years ago. Continue reading...
Tens of thousands of Sydney protesters call for a focus on the cost of climate change to Pacific Islands, while an unusually high turnout marches in CanberraClimate change rallies rolled on across Australia on Sunday, following well attended protests in Melbourne on Friday and Darwin and Brisbane on Saturday.Related: Global climate march 2015: tens of thousands march in Australia and Asia – live #climatemarch Continue reading...
Conservationists fear Hong Kong’s unique dolphins are at risk of disappearing due to loss of habitat and pollution from two major construction projectsConservationists have warned that projects to expand Hong Kong’s airport and build a new bridge to Macau could result in the loss of the city’s beloved “pink†dolphins.Dolphin numbers have declined sharply in Hong Kong harbour over the past few decades, and campaigners fear that the large-scale construction work will drive the mammals away for good. Continue reading...
Prime minister derides Labor’s pledge to cut 2005 carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 as unrealistic and ‘a political rather than an environmental statement’Related: Bill Shorten lays out bold climate aims as Malcolm Turnbull heads to ParisLabor’s target on climate change is “heroic†and aimed at making a political point rather than helping the environment, the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said. Continue reading...
Officials maintain a third of previous numbers will be caught and insist plan is scientifically soundJapan is set to resume whaling early next year, after a break of more than 12 months, in defiance of an international court of justice ruling that it cease the practice.The Japanese government says it has taken into account the court ruling and its “scientific†whaling programme will catch only a third of the minke whales it caught under its previous programme – 333 instead of 1,000 – which it halted in March last year. Continue reading...
Governments must commit themselves to greater R&D or their vows on climate change will just be hot airThe most obvious response to climate change should be to transform the way the world generates energy. Living standards have risen 40 times over the last 250 years in the west, driven neither by the small state beloved of conservatives nor the large state favoured by socialists.Rather, the growth has resulted from a complicated interaction between capitalism and science and technology, of necessity publicly funded, creating wave after wave of transformations in the character of our economic base and the quality and quantity of what it produces. Continue reading...
Mark Butler says Coalition government wasting money on windfarm ‘conspiracy theories’ after Andrew Dyer’s salary revelationThe government is wasting more than $600,000 on windfarm “conspiracy theoriesâ€, Labor said, after a report revealed the salary of the newly appointed wind commissioner, Andrew Dyer.Related: Windfarm commissioner appointed with strong credentials in renewables Continue reading...
Environment minister says Tokyo cannot ‘unilaterally decide’ to ignore scientific advice and international court of justice ruling to hunt and kill 333 minke whalesJapan cannot unilaterally decide to start whaling in Antarctica again against the advice of scientists, says the environment minister, Greg Hunt.
Ending support for carbon-capture technology is ‘betrayal’ says expert Stuart HaszeldineBritain will enter the Paris climate change talks this week with its credentials as a responsible, low-emission power generator in tatters. That is the stark conclusion of one of the country’s leading energy experts, Professor Stuart Haszeldine of Edinburgh University.Haszeldine believes George Osborne’s last-minute decision to axe the government’s £1bn support for a scheme to capture and bury carbon dioxide emissions from power stations was a final act that utterly undermined British negotiators’ status in Paris. Continue reading...
Thirty-five protesters occupy 1840s room at London gallery two days before UN climate change talks open in ParisClimate change activists have occupied part of Tate Britain, where they have started to tattoo each other in protest at BP’s sponsorship of the gallery.Tate has closed the 1840s gallery where 35 activists have set themselves up and started to tattoo each other with the numbers of the CO concentrations in the atmosphere in the year they were born. They estimate it will take all day to complete the tattoos. Continue reading...
The shooting down of a Russian fighter jet by Turkey, Europe’s refugee crisis, the reaction to a video of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald in Chicago – the best photography in news, culture and sport from around the world this week Continue reading...
by Suzanne Goldenberg in Firebaugh, California on (#W0KC)
As people dig ever deeper to find water, nearly 1,200 square miles of California is sinking 2 inches a month – destroying roads, bridges and farmland in the processOn a day when the skies were ashen from the smoke of distant wildfires, Chase Hurley kept his eyes trained on the slower-moving disaster at ground level: collapsing levees, buckling irrigation canals, water rising up over bridges and sloshing over roads.
Face paint, stunts and gas masks: a visual guide to climate marches as thousands prepare to take to the streets in cities around the world this weekend
The UK and US are reviewing their dietary guidelines – this is an opportunity to tackle climate change via people’s platesThe food writer Michael Pollan summed up how to eat healthily: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.â€It is unlikely that when the British and American governments issue new dietary guidelines the advice will be quite so succinct, or sensible. Continue reading...
by Fiona Harvey and Kim Willsher in Paris on (#W02B)
France steps up diplomatic efforts to get consensus on a global deal six days before official talks concludeNegotiators at key UN climate talks in Paris that open next week are being told by the French government they must iron out their main differences six days before the end of the talks, according to the foreign minister, Laurent Fabius.Related: The Central Valley is sinking: drought forces farmers to ponder the abyss Continue reading...
Heat proves no obstacle to the reported 15,000 demonstrators in Auckland, or the 5,000 in Brisbane, following a 40,0000-strong Melbourne event on FridayAn estimated 5,000 people have marched in Brisbane and more were planning to march in Darwin on Saturday, following Friday’s 40,000-strong rally in Melbourne.The People’s Climate March – a worldwide event – took place on Saturday, and organisers said thousands took part in 35 New Zealand centres – the smallest being on Raoul Island, where the island’s entire population of seven turned out. Continue reading...
Discover the story of the British elm, check your gutters and plant a medlarCould you spot an English elm at 40 paces? Me neither. But here’s a chance to learn about this iconic tree: an installation at Somerset House in London marks National Tree Week. The free exhibition tells the story of the elm, from its role as the raw material that helped bring piped water to the capital, to its sad decline in the 1970s in the wake of Dutch elm disease. Continue reading...
Tarbat Ness, Highlands I thought of their long journey from the north. Their bugle calls, reputed to be among the most far-carrying of any birds, would have kept families together by day and night, whatever the weatherThe bevy of whooper swans were resting on a stubble field at the end of this peninsula. The red and white banded lighthouse at the point seemed to brood over the scene. Beyond lay the vastness of the open sea and as I scanned the swans I knew that for me these whooper swans epitomise all that is the wildness of the Highlands.Almost certainly the swans I could see in the field had come south from their breeding grounds in Iceland, where I have in the past been fortunate to see their huge nests, conspicuous on raised ground in the vast glacial outwash plains. In Japan the whooper swan is known as the “Angel of Winterâ€, and they can overwinter on the remotest of large lochs in the open landscape. They have played an important part in mythology, legends and symbolism and have inspired many writers, poets and composers. The legend that they sing only once, just before they die, goes back to the Roman times. Continue reading...
Australian PM urges his fellow leaders to sign up to a climate change statement and agrees to contribute $1m to help poorer nations respond to its effectsAustralia’s prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has encouraged other Commonwealth leaders to send a powerful signal to other nations that strong climate change action is needed.Related: Australia must help Pacific islands at Paris climate summit, says PNG leader Continue reading...
The collapse of a wastewater dam at an iron-ore mine left more than 13 dead and has triggered am environmental crisis in the River Doce basinBrazil’s government has announced it will sue mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale for $US5.2bn after the deadly collapse of a dam at an iron ore mine sent 60 million cubic meters of mud and mine waste cascading into the Atlantic ocean and left more than 13 people dead.Environment minister Izabella Teixeira said a lawsuit would be filed demanding that the companies and the mine operator Samarco, which they co-own, create a fund of 20 billion reais to pay for environmental recovery and compensation for victims. Continue reading...
Report showing 16% increase in tree destruction underscores climate threat and is a disappointing result for government efforts to combat deforestationTrees covering an area more than seven times the territory of New York City have been cleared in the Brazilian Amazon over the past year, in a major setback for government efforts to combat deforestation.Related: Half of tree species in the Amazon at risk of extinction, say scientists Continue reading...
Statoil doesn’t debate climate science, it acts on it. The Paris talks must find radical solutions – and our optimism can be the fuel for changeHumankind’s ability to manage climate change is being tested. The Paris climate talks will conclude two weeks from today. Can we get it right this time?There is no shortage of pessimists. Mark Carney recently spoke of climate change as the “tragedy of the horizonâ€. Humans have an enormous capacity for failing to do what we know in our hearts we need to. As Ibsen’s Peer Gynt said: “To think it, wish it, even want it – but do it! No, that I cannot understand.†Continue reading...
French police arrest activists for flouting ban on organising protests during climate talks next weekAt least 24 climate activists have been put under house arrest by French police, accused of flouting a ban on organising protests during next week’s Paris climate summit, the Guardian has learned.One legal adviser to the activists said many officers raided his Paris apartment and occupied three floors and a staircase in his block.
Los escapes de metano y de otros gases tóxicos están contaminando el aire, lo que supone graves riesgos para la salud de las comunidades locales cuyo sustento depende del petróleo y del gas en el Estado del auge del gas de esquisto
