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by Ã…sa Romson on (#VYDR)
Vi siktar mot att bli ett av världens första fossilfria välfärdsländer som visar att det inte bara är nödvändigt att leva utan fossila bränslen, utan att det också är efterfrågat
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| Link | http://feeds.theguardian.com/ |
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| Updated | 2025-07-27 14:45 |
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by Guardian Staff on (#VXWH)
A playful scuffle of polar bears, crows feasting on fruit trees and mountain gorillas in the wild are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...
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by Emma Howard on (#VXSC)
Vivienne Westwood, Emma Thompson and Charlotte Church, alongside activists, politicians, teachers and businessmen, tell us why they will be joining thousands in cities around the world calling for action on climate change
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by Pascoe Sabido on (#VXM7)
Tackling climate change means drastically transforming our economies. Our political leaders, not business, are best placed to do thatAs the UN’s climate talks in Paris begin, the lobbying and public relations push from some of the biggest corporations responsible for climate change has gone into overdrive. What are the messages they’re so keen to spread, and what will they mean for the COP21 conference – and for the climate?A recent report from the NGO Corporate Europe Observatory reveals that what’s on offer at COP21 is nothing short of a climate catastrophe, a guaranteed recipe to cook the planet. But rather than sending the dish back, political leaders have asked for seconds, bringing the very companies responsible for the problem ever closer into the UN fold.
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by Daniel Boffey Policy editor on (#VXJS)
Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative will lay out risks to financial returns amid increasing government curbs on emissionsPrince Charles is taking part in a project to expose major polluting corporations based in Commonwealth nations to big-money legal action if they fail to accurately disclose their impact on climate change or reform their ways.Along with lawyers and academics, the heir to the throne is lending his help to an initiative designed to publicise and develop nascent laws in Britain, Australia, South Africa and Canada which investors in polluting firms could use to drag directors through the courts. Continue reading...
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by Jovita Sandaite in al-Rashayda on (#VXHR)
In area C of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian families must brave a military firing zone in order to obtain water for their land and livestockPhotographs: Arturas Morozovas/artmor.lt Continue reading...
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by Written and read by Sam Knight, produced by Simon on (#VXE3)
One of the most cutting-edge projects to tackle climate change is being pioneered in one of the most remote, undeveloped countries on earth. Does it have any hope of succeeding?
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by Dave Hill on (#VXDQ)
Assisted by the chancellor and the Evening Standard the Tory London mayor candidate his begun building his campaign platform
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by UCB Comedy on (#VXE5)
What hot holiday deals will the future offer if the effects of climate change ravage the Earth? UCB Comedy have some ideas and they don’t look very merry or bright. However, if you’re into making ‘mudmen’, decorating tree stumps and avoiding malaria, then Stuff Mart has the holiday sale for you! Continue reading...
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by Karl Mathiesen on (#VXC7)
A South African court decision to lift a ban on trading rhino horn has divided conservationists. In the race against poachers a solution must be found quickly – but the wrong decision could be catastrophicTime is fast running out for the rhinoceros. In their final stronghold of South Africa, rampant poaching for horn threatens to wipe out the last 20,000 southern white rhinos in less than two decades.Among conservation scientists, there is deep uncertainty over how best to respond to the poaching crisis. Many express reserved support for the controversial idea of a legalised international trade in rhino horn. Continue reading...
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by Matthew Weaver on (#VXB9)
Government accused of trying to impose fracking on communities after decision taken out of planning inspector’s handsEnvironmental campaigners have accused ministers of bypassing local democracy after the government said it would have the final say on controversial plans for fracking in Lancashire whatever the recommendation of a local planning inspector.Related: Locals can now veto windfarms: so what about fracking? | Damian Carrington Continue reading...
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by Hannah Ellis-Petersen on (#VXA7)
Timed to coincide with the COP21 UN conference in Paris, this video installation is a stark reality check for Earth’s inhabitants as sea levels rise, natural disasters proliferate and forced migration multipliesThere are more than 19.5 million refugees worldwide, cities are emitting 70% of all greenhouses gases and around 3,500 languages are currently in danger of extinction.The statistics around the climate change debate may make for increasingly stark reading, but they suffer from one major drawback: that we, as humans, find it difficult to relate to data – no matter how shocking the numbers. Continue reading...
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by Joni Pegram on (#VX92)
Despite rhetoric about protecting our planet for future generations, children and human rights have been largely absent from COP21 negotiationsMillions of lives are being turned upside down by life-threatening extreme weather. Communities are no stranger to the disastrous impacts of climate change, but this year’s El Niño is wreaking havoc. Although the warming of the Pacific Ocean is a natural phenomenon, climate change is increasing in the intensity and destructiveness it unleashes in the form of floods, droughts and typhoons. Unicef has warned that an estimated 11 million children are at risk from hunger, disease and lack of water (pdf) in eastern and southern Africa alone, and many more face record-smashing droughts and floods across swathes of Latin America, Asia and the Pacific.Children, particularly the most destitute, are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change. Climate-related disasters and changing weather patterns increase the risk of malnutrition, vector-borne diseases such as malaria, and water and food-borne diarrhoea – all major killers of children who, according to the World Health Organisation, suffer a much greater burden of these climate-related diseases than adults. Continue reading...
by Roberto Lovato on (#VX93)
Increasing numbers of people are predicted to migrate as a result of rising sea levels and extreme weather events. We must treat them as victims not threatsWe are all entering uncharted waters as the effects of climate change begin to create categories of migrants that have no precedent: migrants rendered stateless after their island nations disappear; migrants constituting a vast, roaming “environmental refugee†population; migrants fleeing climate-intensified wars and violence like that in Syria and Central America.
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by Emma Howard on (#VX8M)
In order to avoid climate calamity, global temperatures must not rise by more than 2C. Here’s how you can do your bitOn Monday, one of the biggest meetings in the world will begin in Paris. COP21, or the 21st conference of the parties, is the UN’s most significant summit on climate change since the 2009 meeting in Copenhagen, bringing together political leaders and delegates from just about every country in the world. Their mission is to negotiate a new deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions after 2020 – a deal on which the earth’s future may depend.Related: World set to use more energy for cooling than heating Continue reading...
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by Arthur Neslen on (#VX5Y)
One quarter of 570 bird species studied globally have been affected negatively by climate change, says Birdlife InternationalThe world’s birds have begun flocking towards the earth’s north and south poles and upwards to higher ground as climate change begins to transform their habitats, a new report has found.One quarter of 570 bird species studied globally have been affected negatively by climate change, while 13% have responded positively, says the study by Birdlife International. Continue reading...
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by Scriberia, Karl Mathiesen, Nabeelah Shabbir, Pasca on (#VX4X)
At the UN 2015 Paris Climate Conference between 30 November and 11 December, governments of more than 190 nations will meet for a new global agreement on climate change. The world’s changed a lot since they last met in Copenhagen in 2009, when countries united – but didn’t seal the deal. From the rise of renewables to changing attitudes of big polluters like the US, here’s why will this year’s deal could be better
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by Lenore Taylor on (#VX3K)
The maths doesn’t add up – Australia’s emissions are trending up and yet we are meeting pledges to cut them. But it all makes sense in the complicated and chaotic world of climate negotiationsThe numbers look clear. In 1990, Australia emitted 564m tonnes of carbon dioxide. In 2005 that rose to 611m. By 2014-15 that had fallen a bit to 565m. But in 2029-30, the latest published projections say we will emit 724m tonnes.Related: Coalition's weird climate rhetoric says one thing, its modelling says another Continue reading...
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by Rachel Obordo on (#VX3Q)
With more than 2000 events planned all over the world this weekend we’d like to see your pictures, videos and stories
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by Melissa Davey on (#VX1S)
Thousands of people march through Melbourne’s city centre in one of many climate change protests that will take place across the world this weekendThousands of people were marching through Melbourne’s CBD on Friday evening in what is expected to the largest in a series of climate change protests being held throughout Australia over the weekend.They gathered in front of the state library and, as the lawns filled with protesters putting finishing touches on their placards, they took to the surrounding roads just in time for peak hour. Continue reading...
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by Fiona Harvey on (#VX0H)
The UN climate chief is confident that the Paris summit can make history and produce a landmark deal to limit future carbon emissions – but any success depends on her pivotal roleThe offices of the UN’s climate change body in Bonn have glorious views over a pretty stretch of the Rhine river, looking out on grasslands and splendid old and new buildings. Just a short distance away is the historic campus most famous for being where the Marshall plan was signed after the second world war.That plan, which channelled billions in American aid to rebuild European economies, was instrumental in creating modern Europe, and redrawing the global economy. Instead of the punitive measures and reparations inflicted on Germany in the Versailles treaty, the Marshall plan offered healing and financial support – a message of hope, not fear. Continue reading...
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by Guardian Staff on (#VX0K)
A mudslide at an iron ore mine in Brazil, in which at least 13 people died, has reignited calls for safer ways to dispose of millions of tonnes of waste as toxic mud leaks into the Atlantic ocean Continue reading...
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by Australian Associated Press on (#VWX5)
Federal environment minister Greg Hunt approves $380m Mount Emerald windfarm, which can provide power for up to 75,000 homesAfter four years of delays owing to red tape, construction on Queensland’s largest windfarm could start within a year.The federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, approved the $380m Mount Emerald farm, in the Atherton Tablelands, on Thursday. Continue reading...
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by Mark Dearn on (#VWWT)
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership aims to pave the way for the exploitation of toxic tar sand crude oil – with potentially devastating resultsThe prospects for a meaningful agreement at the UN climate change talks beginning on Monday are bleak. As a result, so too are the prospects for the 100 million more people predicted to be living in poverty by 2030 as a result of global warming.Though framed by record high temperatures and an increasing number of extreme weather events, the Paris talks are already beset by the same problems that repeatedly dog climate change negotiations: the richest countries steadfastly refuse to meet legal commitments and shoulder their share of responsibility, preferring to uphold the desires of all-powerful corporate lobbies. Meanwhile, the poorest countries meet or exceed their responsibilities. Continue reading...
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by Letters on (#VWSE)
We, the creative community as represented by the signatories below, ask all those responsible for negotiating the post-2020 climate change framework to agree an ambitious and inspiring international agreement.The creative community – design, broadcasting, publishing, film, gaming, fashion, literature, music, the performing and visual arts, galleries and museums – can make a unique contribution to the global sustainability challenge. Collectively we shape not just our material world, but our conceptual world too, including the values that underpin our lives. The creative industries generate wealth and employment but we also innovate, we shape and express cultural values, influencing how people feel and the choices they make: as such we have huge potential to prompt, and reinforce, positive and sustainable change. Continue reading...
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by Adam Vaughan on (#VWS0)
More than 300 musicians, actors and writers including David Bowie and Emma Thompson have signed an open letter ahead of next week’s climate talksBjörk, David Bowie and a host of musicians, actors, artists, novelists and leading figures in the creative industries have called on negotiators at next week’s climate summit in Paris to reach a deal that staves off dangerous global warming.The letter to the French foreign minister and the UN climate chief in charge of the talks is signed by a selection of A-listers from the British cultural scene, including actors Steve Coogan and Emma Thompson, musicians Damon Albarn and Guy Garvey, and writers Ian McEwan and Philip Pullman. Continue reading...
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by Matt Shardlow on (#VWQ7)
Lower Benefield, Northamptonshire One oak is notably verdant, as if in defiance of the near onset of DecemberThe frost has bitten and winter finally arrived. In Banhaw Wood, after a particularly colourful autumn, the trees have mostly shed their leaves. On the aspen a few hang on, stiff yellow flags rattling delicately in the breeze. The more sheltered hazels are still in leaf, but they are flaccid and defeated. Many oaks are bare, but some still hold rusty brown leaves, and one moderately sized oak is notably verdant, as if in defiance of the near onset of December.The ash trees dropped their leaves a while ago; they stand in naked greyness, adorned with many hanging bunches of dark keys. In one ash, two pairs of bullfinches flit between bunches of seeds. Each grips a twig and leans upside down to pluck a seed, then rights itself and dexterously unsheathes the kernel with its thick bill. This behaviour makes them look more parrots than finches, particularly the males with their gaudy orange-pink fronts and neat black caps. Continue reading...
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by Guardian staff on (#VWK2)
Residents explore legal options to overturn decision by state government commission to approve expansion of Mount Thorley-Warkworth open-cut mineA town in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales has vowed to continue fighting the battle against the expansion of a Rio Tinto coalmine.The village of Bulga lost its fight on Friday with the government’s planning and assessment commission, which approved the expansion of Mount Thorley-Warkworth open-cut mine. Continue reading...
by Lenore Taylor Political editor on (#VWHE)
Post-Abbott, the Coalition is still claiming its own policies can cut emissions with almost no cost while wildly exaggerating the cost of alternatives
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by Shalailah Medhora on (#VWCX)
However, as world leaders head to Paris to discuss carbon emissions, a survey has found most Australians believe coal is an energy source of the pastCoal can help countries meet international climate targets emerging from next week’s Paris conference, the Minerals Council of Australia has said.Greg Evans, an executive director of the council, said the industry had a role to play in reducing climate change. Continue reading...
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by Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent on (#VW5T)
Consumer goods giant pledges to go ‘carbon positive’ by 2030, generating 100% of its energy needs from renewables with more to spareUnilever, the consumer goods giant, has pledged to eliminate coal from its energy usage within five years, and derive all of its energy worldwide solely from renewable sources by 2030.The company will become “carbon positive†by 2030, through its own use of renewables, and by investing in generating more renewable energy than it needs, selling the surplus on the markets and making it available to local communities in areas where it operates. About 40% of the company’s energy use currently comes from green sources. Continue reading...
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by Peter Bradshaw on (#VVZX)
Navigating the US with mustangs as sole transport provides some breathtaking scenery, even if it does look a bit like a Marlboro ad without cigarettesThis good-natured, Kickstarter-funded documentary shows the adventures of four young guys from Texas as they attempt to travel 3,000 miles on horseback from the Mexican to the Canadian border, using only “adopted†wild horses, or mustangs, which they have trained themselves. We get to see some beautiful country along the way, and there’s some pertinent thinking on the levels of intervention needed in managing America’s wild horse population. Unbranded does sometimes look a little bit glossy and self-congratulatory, like a 105-minute commercial for itself, or indeed a Marlboro ad without cigarettes. One argument the young men have looks a bit staged, to create drama, though there is one very real and disconcerting disagreement they finally have about all crossing the finish line together: a really strange moment that the movie doesn’t fully investigate or explain. At any rate, there are some breathtaking landscapes in Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Continue reading...
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by Robin McKie on (#VVR9)
Na véspera da cimeira de Copenhaga de 2009, informámos para o facto de que muitas famÃlias eram ameaçadas pela alteração climática em todo o mundo. Neste momento, à medida que nos aproximamos da cimeira de Paris, muitos dos seus piores receios estão a concretizar-se
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by Reuters on (#VVCK)
Unacceptable levels of pollutants found at several places along Rio Doce following Brazil’s worst ever environmental disasterIllegal levels of arsenic and mercury polluted the Rio Doce river in the days after a dam burst at an iron ore mine in early November in Brazil’s worst ever environmental disaster, according to tests by a state water agency.The Institute for Water Management in Minas Gerais (IGAM) found arsenic levels more than 10 times above the legal limit in one place along the Rio Doce after the dam burst on 5 November, leading to at least 13 deaths and flooding thick mud across two states. Mercury slightly above the permitted level was also found in one area. Continue reading...
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by Reuters on (#VV3X)
Pope meets Muslim and other religious leaders in Nairobi to call for success at the Paris summit and for greater environmental protections in AfricaWorld leaders must reach a historic agreement to fight climate change and poverty at coming talks in Paris, facing the stark choice to either “improve or destroy the environmentâ€, Pope Francis said in Africa on Thursday.
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by Aaron Kase on (#VTK9)
Near the resort of BahÃa de Caráquez, a community project has restored mangrove forests – and may help save it from one of the strongest ever El NiñosThe canoe sliced through the water and along a quiet, narrow tunnel enclosed by mangrove trees. As the craft slid past the spindly tree trunks and roots sticking several feet out of the water, tour guides pointed out ibis, herons and small red crabs hidden among the foliage.Related: Camping around South America Continue reading...
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by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#VTJV)
Andrew Stoddart and his family, who were told they must leave farm he has tended for 22 years, secure eviction postponement after talks with landlordA tenant farmer facing immediate eviction with minimal compensation has won an 11th-hour reprieve in a case that has galvanised the land rights movement in Scotland.Andrew Stoddart announced on Thursday – the day before his family’s scheduled eviction from Coulston Mains, East Lothian, which he has farmed for 22 years – that the departure date had been postponed until January and a settlement agreed after last-minute mediation with his landlord. Continue reading...
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by Lenore Taylor Political editor on (#VTG0)
Labor suggests tough 45% cuts to emissions – compared with Coalition’s 26% to 28% pledge – in bid to pressure prime minister at Paris climate talksBill Shorten has suggested he will adopt a far tougher greenhouse target – a 45% cut in emissions by 2030 – compared with the Coalition’s promised cut of 26% to 28%.Related: Malcolm Turnbull: coal export ban ‘would make no difference to emissions’ Continue reading...
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by Arthur Neslen Brussels on (#VTBC)
Documents and emails obtained by the Guardian reveal ‘collusion’ between Brussels and industry over the fossil fuel push in free trade negotiationsThe EU appears to have given the US oil company ExxonMobil access to confidential negotiating strategies considered too sensitive to be released to the European public during its negotiations with the US on the trade agreement TTIP, documents reveal.Officials also asked one oil refinery association for “concrete input†on the text of an energy chapter for the negotiations, as part of the EU’s bid to write unfettered imports of US crude oil and gas into the trade deal.
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by Philipp Rode and LSE Cities on (#VTA5)
Cities in numbers: The densest cities can be the most efficient, lively and sustainable – but only if they boast effective management and design to minimise overcrowding and pollutionCities exist to provide access to people, goods, services and information: the better and more efficient this access, the greater the social and economic benefits of urban living.A defining characteristic of cities is therefore the degree to which accessibility is based on the physical proximity between origins (eg where people live) and destinations (eg where people work) or on transport solutions which can overcome spatial separation, and the degree to which these solutions involve private or public motorised transport. More compact and dense cities are typical examples of providing connections through greater proximity. Continue reading...
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by Suzanne Goldenberg on (#VSG7)
The soap opera of global climate talks has been playing for 20 years. As it comes to Paris on Monday, Suzanne Goldenberg reviews the tears, the bloodshed and the unspeakable cateringOn the evening of 18 December 2009, Barack Obama and a trail of White House and State Department officials swept through a cavernous exhibition centre in Copenhagen and barged, uninvited, into a private meeting between the leaders of four powerful developing countries – China, India, Brazil and South Africa.It was about 6pm on the final day of the Copenhagen climate summit, when nearly 200 countries were expected to agree on collective action to fight climate change. For the first time, the United Nations claimed, countries were on the verge of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. Obama, along with dozens of other presidents and prime ministers, had flown into Copenhagen for the final day of the summit at the request of the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, who believed their presence would embolden negotiators to make a deal. The UN was so optimistic about the prospects at the start of that year that it signed off on an ad campaign touting “Hopenhagenâ€. Continue reading...
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by Simran Sethi on (#VTA7)
Hopes are being pinned on backup vaults to rescue the seeds we’re losing, but some simple changes in our diets can make a difference too
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by Naomi Klein on (#VT8T)
La décision du gouvernement français d’interdire les manifestations pendant le sommet sur le climat de Paris est inquiétante
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by AFP on (#VT77)
South African game breeders win battle to overturn moratorium on domestic trade in rhino horn, arguing legalised trade would cut poachingA South African judge on Thursday lifted a domestic ban on trade in rhino horns, in a direct challenge to government policy put in place in 2009 to try to stem rocketing poaching numbers.
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Reino Unido concede 471 milhões de euros à Petrobas embora a empresa enfrente acusações de corrupção
by Harry Davies on (#VT79)
O Governo prepara-se para conceder um crédito de exportação generoso à gigante do petróleo brasileira envolvida num escândalo de branqueamento de dinheiro e num suborno multibilionário
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by George Monbiot on (#VT4V)
When users discovered a computer glitch on a Welsh government consultation on allowing scallop dredging in a dolphin reserve, it wasn’t the only thing wrong with this supposedly democratic processIt’s every politician’s dream: an electronic feature that automatically changes people’s votes from no to yes. It’s the perfect antidote to those tiresome folk who insist on having their voices heard. You know, the ones who claim we live in a democracy.This marvellous innovation has been pioneered, no doubt accidentally, by the Welsh government, but I’m sure David Cameron is taking notes. EU referendum: solved. Consultations on academy schools, a new runway at Heathrow, privatising the NHS and drowning the poor in ornamental fish ponds: sorted. Next election: in the bag. Continue reading...
by Damian Carrington on (#VT3D)
David Cameron will sit down at the summit’s high stakes poker game with little but bluff after his government’s discarding of endless trump cardsIf the crucial Paris climate summit is the highest stakes poker game of international diplomacy ever held, David Cameron will sit down on Monday with little but bluff. The UK has thrown away trump card after trump card, with the latest being £1bn of support for carbon capture and storage, dumped by the chancellor, George Osborne, on Wednesday.Trust is the vital ingredient in the UN climate negotiations, because they are built on voluntary pledges. Each nation has to believe that every other nation will honour its pledges to cut carbon emissions or provide green funds. But the UK government’s actions since it won the general election in May will make other countries think the UK is not good for its stake in the game. Continue reading...
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by Ã…sa Romson on (#VSZ8)
We are aiming to be one of the world’s first welfare nations to show that living without fossil fuels is not only necessary, but also sought-afterThe world can tackle climate change, but time is short. Sweden aims to be one of the world’s first fossil fuel-free welfare nations. With our initiative Fossil-free Sweden, we now challenge other countries to do likewise.
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by Damien Gayle on (#VSXJ)
Police deal with rush-hour airport incident by campaign group Plane Stupid in which activist has locked himself to vehicleEnvironmental activists have caused rush-hour chaos at Heathrow by parking a van across the entrance tunnel to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 and locking themselves to the vehicle so it cannot be moved.The campaign group Plane Stupid says three of its members parked the van across the tunnel at 7.40am and unfurled a banner quoting David Cameron’s election promise: “No ifs, no buts: no third runwayâ€. Continue reading...
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by Emma Howard on (#VSRB)
In August, the government announced plans to cut subsidies for rooftop solar by almost 90% in the new year. We asked 20 people affected to share their response to the cuts with us Continue reading...