Environment | The Guardian

Hard on the heels of the diesel emissions scandal, Volkswagen has come forward with new data discrepancies relating to CO levelsThat is the implication of the oblique statement released by the German carmaker on Tuesday. VW said it found “irregularities” and “unexplained inconsistencies” in the levels of carbon dioxide emitted by its cars. It admitted that CO levels and fuel consumption figures for some models were set too low during the testing process. Continue reading...

Company uses last resort emergency powers for first time, only lifting request after 40MW of extra power made availableNational Grid has for the first time used “last resort” emergency powers to tell companies to reduce their electricity usage in an effort to avoid the risk of blackouts.

The Experimental Farm Network seeks to preserve the world’s biodiversity one seed at a time. The best case for a plant’s survival is for people to grow it widelyOwen Taylor gently blows on tiny lettuce seeds from the Syrian region of Homs, sending fluff flying through their air and into a dust on his skin, as though he’d just emerged from a pillow fight.“I lose my breath pretty quickly, and I’m getting little bits of lettuce in my throat,” said Taylor. “It’s scratchy.” Continue reading...

Senator co-sponsors Keep it in the Ground Act in bid to ban all new fossil fuel leases on public lands, something activists view as a gap in Obama’s climate planBernie Sanders launched a new climate campaign on Wednesday, aimed at fighting global warming by banning new coal, oil and gas mining on public land.The Keep it in the Ground Act co-sponsored by the senator and Democratic presidential candidate aims at plugging one of the big gaps in Barack Obama’s climate change plan: his administration’s continued sanction of fossil fuel extraction on the government’s lands and waters. Continue reading...

Double U-turn as controversial technique for extracting shale gas will not be allowed in Sites of Special Scientific Interest after allThe government has backed down on its plan to allow fracking in some of England’s most important nature sites.The controversial technique for extracting shale gas will not be allowed in Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) after all, ministers said on Wednesday, after previously opening the door to fracking in such sites in July. Continue reading...

Canadian Dennis Mazur raises thousands online to cover cost of treating three pets, one of which was severely injuredThe owner of three dogs who was landed with a hefty vet bill after his pets encountered a prickly situation with a porcupine has raised thousands of pounds in a crowdfunding campaign.Dennis Mazur, a youth worker, was out walking his dogs – Mahalo, Nestah and Solijah – when they came across the spiny rodent and were stabbed with its quills in Saskatchewan, Canada. Continue reading...

Second round of Live Earth music concerts promised by former US vice-president and Pharrell Williams were due to be broadcasted to billions around the worldPharrell Williams and Al Gore’s promise of a second round of Live Earth concerts on seven continents that would be broadcast to an audience of billions has been downgraded to a webcast in Paris, organisers have confirmed.Related: Everything you need to know about the Paris climate summit and UN talks Continue reading...

The Hyundai ix35 is the Korean company’s first attempt to bring hydrogen-fuelled cars to the mass market, promising zero-emissions and more convenience at the pump. But with electric vehicles being backed by most of the big car-makers now, is hydrogen off to a late start in the race for green driving? Adam Vaughan takes it for a spin to find out more

Billed for the last decade as a clean alternative to petrol or electric vehicles, hydrogen cars are no longer a car show concept but a driving reality. The challenge for manufacturers now is widescale adoptionThe first mass production hydrogen cars, billed for more than a decade as a clean alternative to petrol and diesel vehicles but only glimpsed as concepts at automotive trade shows, have arrived on British roads.The most abundant element in the universe has added allure for carmakers in the wake of the Volkswagen pollution scandal and revelations about the gap between lab and real-world emissions tests. Continue reading...

Deputy environment minister says country’s green image has not been harmed by scandal that could force car manufacturers to come up with improved clean-energy designsVolkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal could force German carmakers to come up with new and better ways to build more climate-friendly vehicles, a senior government official said on Wednesday.Deputy environment minister, Jochen Flasbarth, said he did not believe the scandal had damaged Germany’s image as a leader in environmental protection ahead of a UN climate summit in Paris in December. Continue reading...

Use-by and best-before dates have been endowed with an authority they do not deserve, and allow food manufacturers and supermarkets to play around with the concepts of freshness and safetyRekindled by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s War on Waste programme, contributions to the seemingly intractable food-waste debate are piling up like an overstuffed compost bin. Environment secretary Liz Truss admitted that she ignores best-before dates; hardly a shocker that, because most people who have a grasp of the keeping properties of food do the same. Such is our creeping disillusionment with supermarkets, many of us are now inclined to trust our intuition as to whether a food can safely be used in some way or other. Such scepticism is a wholly positive trend – the best-before date has always been deeply dubious.Related: Produced but never eaten: a visual guide to food waste Continue reading...

Revelation may mean China has emitted close to a billion additional tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each yearChina, the world’s largest carbon emitter, has been dramatically underreporting the amount of coal it consumes each year, it has been claimed ahead of key climate talks in Paris.Official Chinese data, reported by the New York Times on Wednesday after being quietly released earlier this year, suggests China has been burning up to 17% more coal each year than previously disclosed by the government. Continue reading...

Communities in Germany, Canada and Uganda are already reaping the benefits of moving away from fossil fuels to more decentralised energy systemsAs the world’s energy system shifts from fossil fuels to renewable sources, the question is no longer if the world will transition to sustainable energy, but how long it will take and whether the transition can be made in ways that maximise the benefits today and for future generations.Changing our energy system is about more than replacing fossil resources with sun and wind. In fact, the economic model for renewables is completely different: 100% renewable energy can lead us to a more equal distribution of wealth. Continue reading...

Li Keqiang says Chinese economic model is ‘unsustainable’ and it must cut energy use, but does not outline specific measuresChina has used up too much energy and too many resources in its quest for growth, premier Li Keqiang has told visiting French president François Hollande, adding that the country has a “duty to humanity” to clean itself up.

Almost quarter of world’s largest listed companies have set targets for reducing their climate emissionsBusinesses’ commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions has reached a tipping point, claims a new report, despite a rise in emissions over the past five years and a lack of transparency by some high-profile brands.Just weeks ahead of a critical UN summit on tackling climate change in Paris, an analysis of data from 2,000 of the world’s largest listed companies has found a rise in action on climate change. Continue reading...

Five years of surveys show 52% of Liberal voters believe in climate change but don’t think human activity is causing it, and 13% do not believe it is happeningFour out of five Australians believe that climate change is happening, but those who do not are much more likely to vote for the Coalition, new analysis of existing CSIRO data has found.Related: Lack of planning for climate change puts Australia behind its allies, report finds Continue reading...

State recommends 90-day jail sentence, fine and lifetime hunting license suspension for Jacob Pool: ‘I hate myself for it because I respect animals’A hunter accused of poaching a well-known and well-liked buck in Twin Falls last winter has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.Jacob Pool, 34, pleaded guilty last week to a felony count of killing or wasting a trophy mule deer during a closed season and a reduced misdemeanor count of destructing or concealing evidence, the Times-News reported. Continue reading...

Amnesty condemns ‘shocking attempt to threaten freedom of the press’ as trio from state-run Sunday Mail face slander chargeThree journalists from a state-run weekly newspaper in Zimbabwe will be charged with slander for a front-page story that implicated an unnamed top police officer and other officials in fatal cyanide poisonings of more than 60 elephants for tusks.Sunday Mail editor Mabasa Sasa, investigations editor Brian Chitemba and reporter Tinashe Farawo were arrested on Monday, police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said. Continue reading...

Owner of local power station pays undisclosed sum for barren headland in south Kent, once home to the late artist and film director Derek JarmanDungeness Estate, the windswept stretch of shingle coastline where the film-maker Derek Jarman spent his final years, has been bought by EDF Energy, the French company that owns a nearby nuclear power station.The sparsely populated, barren headland on the south Kent coast, home to disused railway coaches and sometimes inaccurately described as “Britain’s only desert”, has been snapped up by EDF for an undisclosed amount after being put up for sale in the summer for £1.5m. Continue reading...

Christiana Figueres takes swipe at Barack Obama, saying China ‘has taken an undisputed leadership’ in transforming economy to avoid further climate changeChina is now leading the world when it comes to fighting climate change – handily beating the US’s efforts under Barack Obama to move to a clean energy economy, the United Nations climate chief said on Tuesday.

Miners are suing lawyers for bad contracts ahead of release of The 33, which stars Antonio Banderas and Juliette Binoche and depicts their 69-day ordealNine of the Chilean miners who were trapped underground for more than two months in 2010 have sued their lawyers for failing to secure an adequate share of the revenue from a new Hollywood film about their 69-day ordeal.The plaintiffs – many of whom are still suffering from physical and psychological after-affects – say their lawyers offered bad advice and cheated them out of income from books, TV serials and the movie.

Mayor wins long-running battle to introduce emergency traffic bans when pollution from vehicles reaches dangerous levelsThe mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has won a long-running battle with the French government to introduce emergency traffic bans in the city when air pollution spikes.The move to speed up the introduction of alternate driving days for cars with odd and even number registration plates was announced after pollution spiked in the French capital on Monday, just weeks before the city is due to host a crucial UN climate change summit. Continue reading...

Most intense storm in decades sends thousands fleeing for shelter. UN says of 1.8 million people in cyclone-hit area, 1.4m already need humanitarian support

They have their problems, but hoverboards are much more efficient and eco-friendly than your average petrol scooterEver since blacksmith Kirkpatrick Macmillan was fined 5s in 1842 for injuring a girl on the bike he is said to have invented, history and bylaws have been unkind to new forms of personal transport.Are self-balancing scooters or unicycles (the “hoverboards” seen on our most hipsterish streets) our equivalent? These have been touted as the great crossover technology hit of our times. Continue reading...

We asked a panel of experts how communities from Mexico City to Belfast are becoming healthier and more sustainable

George Osborne has backed a deal with China to build a new £24bn nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset. At a Guardian Live event in Manchester we asked, should the UK back nuclear power?Last month George Osborne backed a deal with China to build a £24bn nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset. The government claims the new plant will be relied on to deliver 7% of the UK’s electricity while providing a low-cost, low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels. But not everyone agrees, with critics arguing that the plants will be expensive to build and questioning whether nuclear energy represents a safe, clean and cost-effective energy future.The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester played host to a public debate as part of the Manchester Science Festival in which four expert panellists debated the motion: Nuclear power, yes please. These were some of their thoughts: Continue reading...

In Arnhem Land, the Northern Territory government is pinning its hopes on some unusual, but potentially lucrative, projects to increase employmentThree-dimensional printing using recycled water bottles is an unlikely enterprise to be found in a remote corner of Arnhem Land, but it’s among a suite of potential ventures being explored to boost development in Indigenous Northern Territory communities.Also on the table is an expansion of a crocodile egg harvest and hatchery program, and a high-end bespoke furniture company targeting the overseas market. Continue reading...

Claxton, Norfolk It’s odd to think of them as chimney-pot solitaries in Warsaw or KrakowOne of the striking aspects of starling flocks is the lack of rhythm in their flight. It looks all metropolitan bustle and hurry, but as I emerge on the track by the marsh I can hear the air rush through all those wings. Then there comes that eternal rash of brittle notes that is the essence of starling palaver.There are about 400, probably fresh in on yesterday’s north-easterlies and originally from Russia or Poland. It’s odd to think of them as chimney-pot solitaries in Warsaw or Krakow – where they call them szpak – each producing that quirky wing-flicking spring bluster, or stabbing worm mush into the yellow-lined flowerheads of their begging youngsters. Continue reading...

The 50th anniversary of Indonesia’s 1965 anti-communist purges which killed 500,000 gets public airing despite authorities’ moves to enforce silenceIf the Indonesian authorities hoped to silence conversation about the 50th anniversary of the country’s anti-communist purges that killed an estimated 500,000 people in 1965, their 11th-hour curbs on the Ubud writers and readers festival failed spectacularly.Amid the bright floral garlands, free yoga sessions and Bintang beer bottles that dotted 38 venues across Bali’s self-styled “cultural capital”, politics hung heavy in the humid air. The year of 1965 wasn’t so much the elephant in the room as the monkey, popping up wherever it could to add punch and bite to the debate. Continue reading...

Company asks to suspend permit application with US authorities due to dispute in Nebraska – pushing pipeline issue into next president’s termThe company behind the Keystone XL pipeline has asked for its US permit application to be put on hold – a move that would leave the final decision on the controversial tar sands oil project to Barack Obama’s successor.

The extreme weather conditions – which caused 10% of flights from Heathrow to be cancelled on Monday – are expected to clear by Tuesday afternoonForecasters have warned that the thick fog which has been causing disruption at UK airports is likely to return for a third day on Tuesday.A total of 129 flights – equivalent to 10% of departures – were cancelled at Heathrow airport on Monday due to air traffic restrictions caused by low visibility. Continue reading...

After examining four oil polluted sites in the Niger delta, the human rights group says they remain ‘visibly contaminated’, though Shell says it has cleaned themFour oil spill sites in Nigeria identified by the UN, which Shell has claimed to have had cleaned up by contractors since 2011, are still polluted, says a report by Amnesty. Continue reading...

Speaking on ABC’s Q&A program on Monday, the doomsday ecologist Paul Ehrlich says Australia is waging a ‘very successful war on the environment’ and is destroying its life support systems. The academic tells the audience that the country is working towards becoming a third world nation due to its reliance on coal exports

Gasfields Commission Queensland, which works to improve relations between gas companies and farmers, also declared plane flights and private dinnersGas companies and lobbyists treated senior figures from the Queensland industry regulator to tickets to the Australian ballet, corporate boxes at football games and cocktail parties as part of thousands of dollars in hospitality.

Philippe Verdier of state-owned channel France 2 was taken off air in October for his book attacking ‘complete hype on the climate’A weather forecaster for French state television has been fired after releasing and promoting a book criticising politicians, scientists and others for what he calls an exaggerated view of climate change.Philippe Verdier’s dismissal from France 2 comes a month before Paris hosts a UN conference aiming for the most ambitious worldwide agreement yet to limit global warming. He announced his dismissal in an online video over the weekend in which he described it as an attack on media freedom. Continue reading...

Ehrlich warns ‘you are destroying your life support systems here’ and says his prediction of a 90% chance civilisation will collapse in 50 years is based on ‘gut feeling’Australia is “working to become a third-world country” through its economic dependence on mining natural resources for export and reliance on coalmining, according to doomsday ecologist Paul Ehrlich.Ehrlich made the prediction on the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday night, after dismissing the views of other panellists on the question of whether Australia was overpopulated as “mostly nonsense, unfortunately,” and before praising the economic theories of electronics retailer Dick Smith. Continue reading...

The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire has always been recorded as male but has started sprouting berries – something only female yew trees doThe UK’s oldest tree, thought to be up to 5,000 years old, is undergoing a “sex change”.Records have always noted the Fortingall Yew in Perthshire as a male tree but it has recently started sprouting berries – something only female yew trees do. Continue reading...

One of Britain’s largest arachnids has been brought back from the brink of extinction. Which is bad news for pond skaters and water beetlesThe possibility of lynx or wolves being brought back to our land thrills and terrifies in equal measure. But one creature has already been successfully returned to the wild that many people may find scarier: one of Britain’s largest arachnids, the palm-sized, fish-devouring fen raft spider.Related: Driver tries to scare off spider using lighter, sets gas station on fire Continue reading...

While Britain visualises a nuclear future, Angela Merkel’s aim of replacing it with renewables by 2022 is well under wayHinkley Point will be the first nuclear power plant to be built in Europe since the meltdown of Japan’s Fukushima reactor in 2011. But while the British government sees nuclear energy as a safe and reliable source of power, Germany is going in a different direction.As a result of the Fukushima, Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to switch off all nuclear power by 2022 and fill the gap with renewables – a process known as the energiewende (energy transition). Continue reading...

François Hollande and Xi Jinping say that any climate change deal agreed in Paris must include future checks on whether countries are cutting emissionsFrench president François Hollande claimed China and France had taken an “historic” step towards tackling climate change on Monday after the two countries agreed any deal reached in Paris next month should include checks on whether signatories are keeping their commitments to reduce emissions.

Exclusive: Sleep deprivation, inhuman hours and low pay revealed in Guardian investigation of undocumented migrants working on prawn and whitefish trawlers operating from IrelandAfrican and Asian migrant workers are being routinely but illegally used as cheap labour on Irish fishing trawlers working out of some of the country’s most popular tourist ports, the Guardian can reveal.A year-long investigation into the Irish prawn and whitefish sector has uncovered undocumented Ghanaian, Filipino, Egyptian and Indian fishermen manning boats in ports from Cork to Galway. They have described a catalogue of abuses, including being confined to vessels unless given permission by their skippers to go on land, and being paid less than half the Irish minimum wage that would apply if they were legally employed. They have also spoken of extreme sleep deprivation, having to work for days or nights on end with only a few hours’ sleep, and with no proper rest days. Continue reading...