US presidential candidate joins the Bahrain royal family and Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox America whose aircraft have all fallen foul of the EU’s emissions trading schemeA parliamentary petition backed by 500,000 people has so far failed to bar Donald Trump from the UK, but the controversial US presidential candidate and climate change sceptic now faces a new deterrent: a fine for the carbon pollution from one of his enormous private jets.

Motoring body data shows demand for electric vehicles rose by 48% last year, and plug-in hybrid vehicles by 133%, reports BusinessGreenDemand for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles is soaring, according to new figures released today by the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).The data shows the number of new cars eligible for the government Plug-in Car Grant scheme rose from 14,532 in to 28,188 last year, an increase of 94 per cent. Continue reading...

US photographer Joel Sartore is spending a decade taking portraits of the 12,000 species in captivity worldwide – with an emphasis on those facing extinction• See a gallery of Sartore’s portraits hereAs the world goes through what scientists have called its “sixth great extinction”, with animal species vanishing at a rate unheralded since the dinosaurs were wiped out 66 million years ago, the sense of helplessness can be acute among those who revere nature.Joel Sartore spent several years taking evocative photographs of endangered species for National Geographic before realising he needed to change tack if he was to drum up public concern about Earth’s diminishing wildlife. Continue reading...

A selection of photographer Joel Sartore’s images of monkeys, taken from his ambitious, decade-long Photo Ark project.• Read our feature on Sartore’s project here Continue reading...

Risk evaluation could pave the way for a rolling back of the hard won EU-wide ban on three neonicotinoid pesticidesThe European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) has begun a review that could pave the way for rolling back a pioneering EU-wide ban on three neonicotinoid pesticides, that are thought to have ravaged European bee populations.In a letter to the European commission last month, which the Guardian has seen, the EU scientists said that they would finish their risk evaluation by the end of January 2017. Continue reading...

New UK international development minister Nick Hurd wants to boost off-grid solar power in the only region where those without access to modern energy is set to rise

Conservative thinktanks in the US engaging in climate change have increased their attacks on science in recent years, a study of 16,000 documents finds.Is organised climate science denial finished?After global heat records were continually broken over the last decade, and as sea levels rose and scientists reported the accelerated melting of polar ice sheets, you might be forgiven for thinking the debate over climate change had shifted. Continue reading...

Crook, County Durham Unnoticed the larva continued its magical metamorphosis into a butterfly, as enigmatic as a mummyAfter the passing of the winter solstice the urge to sow seeds in the greenhouse is like an itch that just has to be scratched, even though the lengthening of the days is still barely perceptible.A chill wind rattles the panes of glass but in here, with winter sun filtering through the roof, it’s snug. A field mouse seems have come to the same conclusion; on the bench it has left a heap of snake’s head fritillary bulbs, dug from a flowerpot and gnawed. Continue reading...

Wild weather brings the yellow-bellied sea snakes, which are normally entirely aquatic and highly venomous, on to New South Wales beachesA spate of tropical sea snakes washing up along the New South Wales south coast after recent wild weather seems to be part of a global trend – and weather pattern.Carolyn Larcombe, from Burra near Canberra, spotted a small yellow-bellied sea snake on the sand while walking along Congo Beach, 10km south of Moruya. Continue reading...

Smaller businesses do not have the resources to map out dangers of food fraud in their supply chain, warns the expert who led the horsemeat inquiryThe horsemeat scandal of early 2013 sent shockwaves across the food industry. After weeks of bad headlines, the UK government finally responded by agreeing to an independent inquiry to look into how horsemeat got into ready meals and frozen beefburgers.Related: What's really on your plate: hidden world of food fraud revealed - in pictures Continue reading...

Three years on from the horsemeat scandal, food safety expert Professor Chris Elliott explains how common food products are still at risk of adulteration

TransCanada launches two challenges as it argues president violated Nafta, saying it is seeking to recover $15bn spent in push for pipeline’s approvalThe company behind the rejected Keystone XL pipeline fired off two legal challenges on Wednesday, accusing Barack Obama of overstepping his authority and violating the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).

And emergency services plan to rescue campers trapped by flooding on NSW south coast and some residents isolated north-west of SydneyThe search for a yachtsman missing off the New South Wales coast has become a recovery operation.Experienced sailor Mal Lennon, 62, was believed to be at the helm of the 36ft Amante when he was struck by a huge wave near Broughton Island and swept off the boat about 11.30am on Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading...

Aerial footage of Los Angeles streets flooded with water on Wednesday, after an El Nino-fueled storm moved into southern California. Brad Walsh, an LA resident, films a trash bin being swept along by the floodwater as he drives behind it in his car. The National Weather Service has issued further flash flood warnings for some areas in the state’s south

Sir Philip Dilley tells MPs he wishes he had cut short Christmas break to help deal with flooding in northern EnglandThe chairman of the Environment Agency, Sir Philip Dilley, has said he wished he had returned earlier from a Christmas holiday in Barbados to help deal with the flooding in northern England, which hit more than 16,000 homes after record rainfall in recent weeks.“In hindsight it would have been much better if I had come back as early as I could, which was one or two days earlier,” Dilley told MPs on the environment, food and rural affairs select committee on Wednesday. “One of my biggest regrets is that it has detracted from what really matters, which are the people who have been affected.” Continue reading...

Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee and Perthshire residents advised to get ready for further flood disruption as Met Office upgrades weather warningsFlood-weary communities across central and north-east Scotland have been told to expect further heavy and prolonged rain as the Met Office upgraded its weather warning for Thursday to amber, meaning residents should “be prepared”.With 25 flood warnings still in place from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) on Wednesday night, residents of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee and Perthshire were advised to get ready for further disruption as water fell on already saturated ground and river levels rose. Continue reading...

The French capital’s Canal Saint-Martin is being dredged for the first time in 15 years – and the mysterious objects emerging from the sludge unmask the area’s secret lifeCurious crowds had gathered on the arched footbridges that criss-cross Paris’s favourite hipster hang-out, the Canal Saint-Martin, craning to get a look at the oddities poking out of the mysterious brown sludge below.“Bloody hell, it’s a giant dustbin,” said Marie, a local office-worker, taking photos of the mountains of old wine-bottles, scores of office chairs, bikes, rolled-up carpets, wheelie suitcases and street signs stranded in the muddy pit. Continue reading...

PM offers support to former shadow Europe minister after he was demoted in Labour reshuffle, saying MP was right to condemn terrorism after Paris attacksDavid Cameron has offered strong support for Pat McFadden, who was sacked from the shadow cabinet after he was accused of disloyalty for asking pointed questions about terrorism in the House of Commons.The prime minister told MPs that condemning terrorist attacks should be “an essential component” of aspiring to high office, as he said that McFadden had been “absolutely right”. Continue reading...

Conservationists say 100 elephants sold in July were sentenced to life of inhumane treatment and criticise plans to sell more wildlifeZimbabwe plans to sell more elephants and lions to China as part of a scheme to raise funds for conservation, its environment minister has said.

Police divers search for camper missing in Aberdeenshire and Newcastle estate residents flooded out for sixth timeFlood warnings remained in place across almost all parts of Britain on Wednesday, with the north-east of England worst hit overnight.Torrential rain flooded out residents on one Newcastle estate for the sixth time in less than a decade, while police divers in Aberdeen joined the search for a missing camper thought to have been caught up in the floods that swept Aberdeenshire. Continue reading...

Andy Johnson rides a jetski under a railway bridge and past a flooded bus stop on Euxton Lane near Chorley, Lancashire, while locals watch. Kieron McLaughlin filmed the moment on New Year’s Eve after canoeing down the waters. The clip has since picked up more than 100,000 views on Facebook Continue reading...

The party needs to put internal politics aside and focus on the vital issues affecting the country, from housing to floods to the NHSJeremy Corbyn, the Arsène Wenger of politics (copyright J McDonnell), completed his shadow cabinet reshuffle in the early hours with the appointment of his north London neighbour Emily Thornberry, a sceptic about Trident, to shadow defence secretary. Maria Eagle, not a sceptic about Trident, is moved to culture. She replaces Michael Dugher, the sacking of whom had happened more than 12 hours earlier. Pat McFadden’s removal as shadow Europe minister, was the only other significant change in a reshuffle more remarkable for what didn’t happen – Hilary Benn is still shadow foreign secretary this morning – than what did. It will go down in history more for the time it took than the impact it had. It’s over now – or at least it is for the moment (Twitter is already awash with rumours of resignations from the defence team).Corbyn grew up while Harold Wilson was Labour leader. It was probably one of the defining experiences of his politics, for within a couple of years of Labour’s famous victory in the mid-60s, its leader was vilified by the left as a miserable example of failure and betrayal. Continue reading...

In December, the world’s nations agreed on an aggressive plan to combat climate change. But what, if anything, will the landmark Paris agreement do for thousands of species already under threat from global warming?

Severe weather warnings remain in place as emergency services respond to thousands of calls, with rain expected to abate on ThursdayA man is missing after being thrown off a yacht in rough seas as wild weather and unrelenting rain cause havoc across the east coast of NSW.The yachtsman, in his 60s, was wiped off the vessel after being struck by a huge wave near Broughton Island on the NSW mid-north coast on Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading...

State officials tell residents not to revert back to pre-drought habits even after parade of storms from strong El Niño weather systemForced by drought to conserve water, Californians were warned against reverting to old habits on Tuesday as the first of several storms spawned by a record-tying El Niño began drenching the state.Related: How one man plans to make billions selling Mojave desert water Continue reading...

Researchers warn that the damage done by the amount of food and feed coming from abroad has an environmental impact on poorer countriesMore than half of the UK’s food and feed now comes from overseas, which is burdening poorer countries with the related environmental impact, a new study says.More than two-thirds of the land needed to produce the UK’s food and feed is based abroad, researchers said, meaning 64% of the related greenhouse gases are emitted on foreign soil. Continue reading...

Fears grow for Terence Kilbride, 48, who was reported missing on Monday, as flood-stricken communities remain on high alert across Scotland

Environment minister Liz Truss defends response to disaster as Labour claims government is underestimating risk

The risible inadequacy of the government’s £40m “extra” spending on flood defences (Cameron’s £40m flood money criticised as ‘sticking plaster’, 4 January) means that it’s time to seriously address how to find the countless billions needed to effectively mitigate this inevitable consequence of climate change. One answer is to be found in the recent extension of the European Central Bank’s €60bn-a-month quantitative easing programme, which included the crucial innovation that this money could be used to buy local government bonds.The Bank of England’s governor, Mark Carney, is on record as saying that if the government requested it then future QE in the UK could buy assets other than government gilts. In that case it is entirely possible for George Osborne to ask Mark Carney to buy local-authority-issued “climate bonds”. Local authorities have the power to issue such bonds, and with increased devolution they should be encouraged to do so to fund flood defences and to reduce carbon emissions by improving energy efficiency in all the nation’s 30 million buildings. Continue reading...

This weekend, hundreds of pink plastic bottles landed on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. What else has made the south-west the undisputed capital of washed-up treasures?We’ve seen Blackpool swamped with chocolate biscuits and Worthing almost buried under mounds of wood, but the the undisputed capital of British beachcombing is the south-west. The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, the weather down there can get extremely wild and, of course, this is often the first bit of Britain to be reached by the Atlantic current, which then drops much of what it is carrying on the Isles of Scilly, Devon and Cornwall – where hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pink plastic bottles washed up at the weekend.Sadly, and contrary to popular belief, there is no loophole that makes you the legal owner of anything you find washed up on a beach. You may get a reward if you correctly report your finding to Alison Kentuck, the receiver of wreck. If the owner does not claim it within 12 months, you may even get to keep it. Otherwise, in the eyes of the law, taking wreckage is simply stealing. Even so, the thrill of finding some things should be enough to encourage a lot more walks by the seaside. Continue reading...

A school bus is recovered after becoming stuck in several feet of floodwater in Newton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire. The bus appears to have been swept off the road by the overflowing river and rested at an angle against a hedge. Firefighters rescued around 26 pupils from the bus Continue reading...

Rupture of Aliso Canyon well has released more than 77,000 metric tons of methane and refocused attention on America’s accident-prone infrastructureThe single biggest contributor to climate change in California is a blown-out natural gas well more than 8,700ft underground, state authorities and campaign groups said Monday.