Sweet peas may be popular as ever in our gardens, but their wild relatives are under threatIt’s that time of year again. That time of year when I battle with the question of whether I should sow my sweet peas now or in the spring.One thing I don’t battle with is which varieties I am going to sow. At the very least, I grow one pack of mixed ‘Spencer’ sweet peas, one modern variety and a packet or two of ‘Cupani’, whose scent, I reckon, is the best of the lot. I love its bi-coloured flowers and it’s tough to boot. Continue reading...

Decades after poachers stripped the forests surrounding Angkor Wat of large mammals, an innovative conservation group is bringing them back. Already, Wildlife Alliance has rewilded the forest with gibbons and langurs. And more are coming.

Decision to deny mining permit to Palatine energy comes same day traditional owners petition federal environment minister to protect landThe Northern Territory government has denied a mining permit to a company seeking to frack the Watarrka national park, which encompasses Kings Canyon in central Australia.The decision on an application first lodged about four years ago was announced on the same day traditional owners petitioned the federal environment minister to step in and protect the land under commonwealth legislation. Continue reading...

Dramatic decline in population associated with increased use of controversial neonicotinoid chemicals on farmsNeonicotinoids may be contributing towards the disappearance of butterflies from the countryside, according to the first scientific study to examine the effect of the controversial agricultural pesticides on British butterflies.Researchers found that 15 of 17 species which commonly live on farmland – including the small tortoiseshell, small skipper and wall butterfly – show declines associated with increasing neonic use. Continue reading...

China has ended its one-child rule but, with an ever-increasing need for resources, it’s unclear if the world can sustain the expected population growth

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? By Sam KnightOne day about five years ago, Frank Nolwo, a compact, quietly spoken boat skipper from the upper reaches of the Sepik river, in northern Papua New Guinea, woke up and headed into town. Nolwo, who is 42, has nine children. He was adding an extension to his house, and needed to buy some building materials.You do not just pop to the shops if you live in the upper Sepik. Nolwo left Kagiru, his village, in the early morning. Like other isolated clutches of palm-roofed houses on the river, Kagiru has no electricity, no mobile phone signal, and no road connecting it to anywhere else. Even by Papua New Guinean standards, the region is regarded as hot, poor and difficult to live in. When it rains, the place floods. When there is a drought, the creeks and streams dry up, stranding people and their canoes. It takes days to walk anywhere. For powerful, almost unarguable, geographic reasons, life in the upper Sepik has resisted meaningful economic development for thousands of years. There are lots, and lots, of crocodiles. Continue reading...

Sinderhope, Northumberland The river forms itself into muscled waves before curving over the lip of the falls and plummeting downWide enough for a cart, this now grassy track was once well used. It curves down, gate-posted by alders, to a stone bridge, also greened by turf over time. Through a well-worn field gate, the way thins to a foot-trammelled path that snakes through decaying meadowsweet, dog’s mercury and stands of wild raspberry.I walk alongside the East Allen, churning and noisy after two days of rain and the colour of strong tea. The river spits foam up into the wild wind. It’s my second time here in a month – first to see the fish migrating up stream, but today to thrill at the river in spate. Continue reading...

Tide is expected to spread along a 5.5-mile stretch of coastline, threatening a nature reserve after killing plants and animals along 400 miles of the Rio DoceA huge brown plume of mud and mining waste spread out along the coast of the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo on Monday, a little over two weeks after the collapse of a dam at an iron ore mine.

Mud and mining waste from the bursting of two mining dams in Brazil on 5 November reaches the coast on Monday, spreading out to sea. The brown plume has been working its way down the Rio Doce river since the accident, in which 12 people died with a further 11 still missing. The mining companies involved, BHP Billiton and Vale, have contracted local fishermen to collect and bury dead fish which have been washing up on the shoreline as a result of the pollution Continue reading...

Books voice doubt over whether climate change is real and suggest global warming could be beneficial, researchers say in analysis of four science textsTextbooks in California public schools are misleading students on climate change, with material that expresses doubt over whether it is real and promotes the view that increasing temperatures may be beneficial, according to a Stanford University study.An analysis of four key science texts given to sixth-grade students in California showed that the books “framed climate change as uncertain in the scientific community – both about whether it is occurring as well as about its human-causation”. Continue reading...

Labour mayoral candidate says if elected he will cut the capital’s carbon emissions, after similar green pledges are made by other major citiesThe Labour mayoral candidate, Sadiq Khan, has pledged to put London on course to be run entirely on clean energy by 2050 if he is elected next May, amid criticism that the capital is falling behind its emissions targets.The promise puts the capital on an equal footing with promises made in Britain’s other major cities, after the leaders of 50 Labour-run councils – including those in Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Nottingham and Glasgow – also made a 100% clean energy pledge on Monday.

Willie Walsh criticises Airport Commission’s £17.6bn cost estimate for third runway and calls for new ways to pay for improved road and rail linksToll roads should be introduced around Heathrow to help pay for the costs of building a third runway, according to the boss of British Airways’ owner, IAG.

Sensors should signal if there is any contamination of the water supply at the summit that begins 30 November, with up to 45,000 people attendingFrance is to protect water systems from attack during the global climate summit that begins in Paris on 30 November with up to 45,000 people attending, including 138 heads of state, just over two weeks after Islamist militants struck in the French capital.“A terrorist could very well take advantage of this gathering to strike,” said Jean-Louis Fiamenghi, head of security for French water and waste company Veolia. Continue reading...

A friend’s encounter with a mysterious feline creature shows how unpredictable and thrilling the countryside could be with a little rewildingLast Wednesday, at dusk, a good friend of mine went to close his curtains overlooking the Norfolk countryside. About 100 metres away an animal stood, motionless, in a field. At first my friend, a farmer and wildlife-lover, assumed it was a deer, but then it moved.Related: Tiger schmiger – big cat sightings simply play on our will to believe | George Monbiot Continue reading...

Wildlife film-maker whose series such as Fragile Earth educated audiences about conservationThroughout the golden age of wildlife film-making, during the last quarter of the 20th century, a handful of visionary pioneers created the memorable TV nature programmes that millions watched and enjoyed. Many of them stuck to the tried and trusted formula of showing spectacular scenes of animal behaviour. But a few – including Michael Rosenberg, who has died aged 71 – focused on the urgent message of conservation. His approach achieved stunning results: Rosenberg won more of the prestigious Wildscreen Golden Panda awards – the Oscars of the wildlife world – than any other film-maker.Through series such as Fragile Earth, which appeared on Channel 4 from 1982 until 1993, Rosenberg and his colleagues brought audiences vitally important, yet always entertaining, stories about the plight of the world’s wildlife. For more than two decades, his independent company, Partridge Films, attracted some of the brightest and best talents in the industry. Partridge provided a much-needed foil to the BBC natural history unit’s output at the time, which sometimes ignored conservation stories on the grounds that viewers would switch off. Continue reading...

Leaders of more than 50 Labour-run councils sign pledge to eradicate carbon emissions ahead of Paris climate talksMost of Britain’s major cities will be run entirely on green energy by 2050, after the leaders of more than 50 Labour-run councils made pledges to eradicate carbon emissions in their areas.In a highly significant move, council leaders in Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Nottingham, Glasgow and many others signed up to the promise ahead of the crucial international climate talks that will take place next month in Paris. Labour said this would cut the UK’s carbon footprint by 10%. Continue reading...

Floods and heatwaves frequency almost double in two decades, but scientists say ‘jury is out’ on how much is due to climate changeWeather-related disasters such as floods and heatwaves have occurred almost daily in the past decade, almost twice as often as two decades ago, with Asia being the hardest hit region, a UN report said on Monday.

Linguist Noam Chomsky and historian Naomi Oreskes among signatories of open letter urging leaders to limit warming to 1.5C, rather than current 2C target, at Paris climate talksMore than 2,000 academics from over 80 countries – including linguist Noam Chomsky, climate scientist Michael E Mann, philosopher Peter Singer, and historian Naomi Oreskes – have called on world leaders to do more to limit global warming to a 1.5C rise.In an open letter, they write that leaders meeting in Paris at a crunch UN climate summit next week should “be mustering planet-wide mobilisation, at all societal levels” and call for citizens around the world to hold their leaders to account on the issue. Continue reading...

Pastoralists long accustomed to a harsh environment are reeling as drought and cyclones lay waste to their herds and leave families weak from thirst and hungerIf you drive north from the Somaliland village of Gargara – where women speak of their heartache at losing goats in this year’s drought – and ford the fractured beds of dry rivers, passing the sun-bleached bones of dead animals, you eventually arrive in Lughaya, where open-mouthed fish lie on the white sands by the Red Sea after a wave “like a mountain” smashed into the coast this month.This is what a changing climate looks like. Continue reading...

As world leaders prepare for climate talks in Paris, Republicans are under fresh scrutiny for their refusal to acknowledge the science. Here, from the extreme to the merely contrary, is a sample of some of their statementsTweeted in November 2012: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive.” Continue reading...

In an interview with Sky News, Prince Charles says climate change may have been a cause of the civil war in Syria. The prince links the drought in the country to the conflict which has seen the rise of Islamic State and the creation of millions of refugees

President of Lima climate summit says he’s optimistic as developed countries and emerging economies are in agreement to take action on carbon emissionsPolitical will for a climate change deal at international negotiations in Paris next month is unprecedented, according to the president of last year’s climate summit.Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, environment minister Peru, which hosted the UN climate talks in Lima, said that he was optimistic for a deal in Paris. Continue reading...

Safari park said Nola, 41, had arthritis and a bacterial infection linked to an abscess in her hip, leaving just three elderly animals in KenyaOne of only four northern white rhinos believed left in the world has died at the San Diego zoo safari park.Nola, a 41-year-old female who has been at the park since 1989, was put down on Sunday after her health worsened, a statement from the zoo said. Continue reading...

Canadian province and tar sands heartland addresses criticism of inaction on climate change by announcing carbon tax and coal power phase-out

East African plant is completed in less than a year – creating jobs and setting the country on the path to providing half its population with electricity by 2017

Placing an economic value on ‘natural capital’ forces companies to conserve nature rather than destroy it“Nature is priceless”; “you can’t but a price on nature”; “economic valuations are a neo-liberal conspiracy”: these are the sorts of claims levelled at the natural capital approach to the environment. At best they represent a category mistake, and at worst they condemn the environment to yet more degradation.Related: Can you put a price on the beauty of the natural world? | George Monbiot Continue reading...

The heir to the throne linked drought in the Middle East to the conflict that has created a refugee crisis and spawned Islamic StatePrince Charles has said that climate change may have been one of the causes of the civil war in Syria.The heir to the throne has long been a passionate campaigner on environmental issues and linked drought in the Middle Eastern nation with the conflict which has left hundreds of thousands dead, created millions of refugees and seen the rise of Islamic State. Continue reading...

Henstridge, South Somerset Slow worms like to lie close to the headstones and were vulnerable to predators in the short grass, but now the grass is allowed to grow long, offering shelter and encouraging the growth of wildflowersI went through the lych-gate at the church of St Nicholas on a damp day with wet leaves thick underfoot. The grass alongside the churchyard wall to the left, where generations of folk taking a short cut from the village have beaten an unofficial footpath, had just had its annual cut. The cut is only annual, rather than more frequent, because this is territory favoured by a protected species, the slow worm.Slow worms like to lie close to the headstones and were previously highly visible, and vulnerable to predators in the short grass, but now this section of the churchyard is managed by South Somerset district council under the Living Churchyard scheme, so as to become a sanctuary for them. Residents have become used to the fact that, instead of a closely mown sward, they now see grass allowed to grow long, offering shelter and encouraging the growth of wildflowers. Continue reading...

Scientists amazed by isolated group of koalas in New South Wales that have developed a taste for the bark, as well as leaves, of eucalyptus tree speciesAn isolated group of koalas has baffled Australian ecologists by developing a taste for the bark, as well as leaves, of a particular species of gum tree.The behaviour is widespread among several hundred koalas found in New South Wales – but is limited to the brittle gum, Eucalyptus mannifera, and only some individual trees. Continue reading...

Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 24 November 1915Farmers are urged to plough more land and increase our supply of home-grown corn, but some people who are well acquainted with the conditions under which farmers work doubt whether this is the right course to take. Favourable though the autumn was for outdoor work in most places, a part of the oat crop is still to gather in Aberdeenshire, and both in Scotland and parts of Wales there is still corn to harvest. This is to a great extent owing to the scarcity of labour. This difficulty, as we know well in this district, is rapidly making it impossible for any farmer to lay out work for the coming season which will entail men’s labour.Many women are coming forward to the aid of the farmer, and it is well that they are. Only a few days ago, when many farm servants were away at the statute fair, a squire’s wife (the squire is away at the front) was told of a farmer friend who had many cows to milk and a quite inadequate staff to undertake the work. She at once saddled her horse, rode over to the farm, and did her share of the work quickly and well. This lady not long ago took her horse to the smithy, and, finding the smith away, selected a shoe, shod her horse, placed the money on the anvil, and rode away. I mention these incidents because there are things in rural life that women can do that many seem afraid to try. Continue reading...

It’s hard to imagine a bird that weighs less than a two pence coin travelling all the way from Siberia to end up near my home in Somerset. But that’s exactly what the tiny creature making its way through the dense foliage of ivy and sycamores in front of me had just done.Pallas’s warbler is one of the smallest of all British birds – just nine centimetres long and weighing a mere seven grams. So it’s difficult to believe that it can migrate at all, let alone fly several thousand miles from the forests of northern Russia all the way to Britain. Continue reading...

Grateful thanks to Christine Smith for writing such a lyrical account of a late afternoon on the seashore in South Uist (Country diary, 20 November). It was a very necessary and comforting antidote to all the appalling happenings of recent days, and a cogent reminder of what we are likely to lose through global warming.

George Monbiot (There’s a population crisis all right. But probably not the one you’re thinking of, 20 November) is right to point out the devastating impacts of expanding livestock operations around the world. Yet, in dismissing the relationship between human population and climate, he contravenes the IPCC’s November 2014 report for policymakers, which states “Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have increased since the pre-industrial era, driven largely by economic and population growth, and are now higher than ever.”Monbiot presents an outdated “either-or” approach to sustainability, where wiser dietary choices must supersede slowing down and stopping rapid human population growth as an environmental priority. This is a needless and false choice. Meat production is intricately tied to global population – in fact, the industry’s justification for increasing the number of livestock on the planet is to feed the growing number of people. Continue reading...

Conservationists and engineers battle to reduce the ecological fallout as mud and iron-ore residue from the BHP Billiton-Vale dam collapse flows down the Rio Doce to the AtlanticSeven years ago, Luciana Cunha paid her first visit to the fishing village of Regência, in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo, to surf the famous waves near the mouth of the Rio Doce.She fell in love twice – with the place and her husband, Fabio Gama – and together they set up an eco-tourism business, renting out kayaks by day and offering guided tours to the nesting sites of marine turtles at night. Continue reading...

US president seeks to shore up attendance at COP21 climate summit by saying world leaders had to show murderers ‘that we’re not afraid’Barack Obama has moved to ensure that the Paris attacks do not sabotage a crucial climate change summit in the city next week, urging his fellow leaders to attend and strike a new deal on global warming.

Earth’s temperature is heading towards its highest for three million years. We must move to zero emissions – and it can be done without closing down our economy“The deal’s dead.” These were the words of my chief negotiator, approximately six years ago, in the middle of the night in the final hours of the sleep-deprived Copenhagen summit. I was standing in my bedroom as I took his call, about to go to bed for the first time in 36 hours. Thanks to the efforts of a number of countries into the night and the next day, it turned out the deal wasn’t quite dead, and something did survive.Related: Ed Miliband urges UK to enshrine zero carbon emissions target in law Continue reading...

Officials hope Texan birds of prey will scare off migratory flocks, as bird droppings make roads slippery and ruin landmarksIn one of the most adrenaline-fuelled moments of Spectre, the new James Bond movie, 007 races along the banks of Rome’s Tiber river and makes a dramatic escape from his would-be assassin.But if the high-speed chase was recreated today, Bond’s Aston Martin would almost certainly skid on the droppings of countless migrating starlings that have come to roost in the trees lining the river. His suit almost certainly would not survive unstained. Continue reading...

Ahead of a major urban design conference, the architect says we must plan for a more sustainable lifestyle – and discusses his disappointment at the likely rejection of his Thames Hub airport“Do you believe in infrastructure?” asks Norman Foster, with challenge in his voice. He does. Infrastructure, he says, is about “investing not to solve the problems of today but to anticipate the issues of future generations”. He cites his hero, Joseph Bazalgette, who, in solving Victorian London’s sewage problems, “thought holistically to integrate drains with below-ground public transportation and above-ground civic virtue”.Foster is delighted that Britain now has an infrastructure commission, chaired by Andrew Adonis, which he says gives the opportunity to plan in 30-year cycles and remove the politics from infrastructure. He will expound these views this week at the Urban Age 10th anniversary Global Debates, Urban Age being the LSE’s Deutsche Bank-sponsored series of conferences in which high-powered and highly powerful people travel the world exchanging views on city building. Continue reading...