Conservative government breaks manifesto promise on project to capture emissions from fossil fuel plants, days ahead of UN climate summit in ParisThe UK government has cancelled its £1bn competition for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology just six months before it was due to be awarded, breaking a pledge in the Conservative party’s election manifesto.

Slowdown in 2014 is attributed to lack of growth in Chinese coal use and signals new period of slower rises in world emissions, say expertsThe growth of global carbon emissions virtually stalled last year after a decade of rising rapidly, figures published on Wednesday show, just days before world leaders meet in Paris for international talks on climate change.The slowdown in the growth of the emissions that have caused record-breaking heat in recent years was largely down to China, which bucked its trend of ever-increasing coal use, the Netherlands environment agency said. Continue reading...

Readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific conceptsSince I installed nut feeders and fatballs in my garden the birds have abandoned the seed feeders completely. Have I ruined their diet?Graham Williams, Taggs Island, Hampton, London Continue reading...

Labour leader tells PM that Britain will go to Paris climate talks with biggest gap between usage and 2020 targets of any EU countryBritain will go to the Paris climate talks with the biggest gap between current renewable energy usage and 2020 targets of any EU country, Jeremy Corbyn has said.

Ban would be effective from 2017 if industry and the African countries involved don’t improve practices, says environment ministerThe UK will ban imports of lion trophies by 2017 unless the hunting industry cleans up its act, environment minister Rory Stewart has said.The killing of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe by a US dentist sparked an international outcry over trophy hunting this summer, leading to calls by politicians and conservationists for a ban on their import to the EU and US. Continue reading...

Failure of Spanish renewable group proves embarrassing for US investment bank, which launched share sale to raise funds for it earlier this yearA Spanish renewable energy group has collapsed into insolvency protection, it said on Wednesday, just months after US investment bank Citi led a €100m (£70m) share sale to raise funds for the group.Abengoa shares dropped 70% in minutes after the company said it was entering insolvency protection after a deal for a €350m capital injection fell through. Continue reading...

There are only three northern white rhinos after Nola was put to sleep. But it’s not just rhinos in peril – thousands of species face extinction. It doesn’t have to be this wayOn Sunday, zookeepers euthanised a 41-year-old rhino who was suffering from a painful bacterial infection at the San Diego zoo safari park. Zoo animals perish all the time – and this one died largely of old age – so why is this worthy of global news? Because the rhino, a female named Nola, represented 25% of her subspecies’ global population.The northern white rhino once roamed a large chunk of central Africa, but centuries of poaching have left the subspecies on life support. With Nola’s death, only three aging individuals survive, all under constant armed guard at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya – and all unlikely to reproduce. Continue reading...

In a relatively low-key exchange at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Jeremy Corbyn questions David Cameron on the government’s environment policy, including support for solar panels and wind turbines. Corbyn also asks Cameron ‘why one third of those referred to women’s refuges in England are now being turned away’

They eke out an existence in the face of myriad humanitarian, environmental and political challenges. Now people in rural Somaliland face a debilitating drought that threatens to change their way of life foreverHassan Haji Towakal has lived in one of the world’s toughest environments for 80 years. He has seen many droughts, but the recent prolonged lack of rainfall is the worst he has experienced in Somaliland, the breakaway country situated in Somalia’s relatively peaceful northern corner.The drought, which has left roughly 240,000 people without enough food and killed between 35% to 40% of Somaliland’s precious livestock, has also made Haji Towakal question the future of pastoralism – the only life he has known. Continue reading...

Touchwood in Solihull cancels event after animal rights group denounces use of at-risk Humboldt penguins as ‘entertainment’A shopping centre has cancelled a festive meet-the-penguins event after pressure from animal rights campaigners.

At recent Guardian roundtable discussion, experts talked about how the energy sector can bring down dependence on fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissionsWith the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP) in Paris just days away, a global strategy for reducing carbon emissions is tantalisingly close. Current commitments on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are due to run out in 2020 and governments are convening in Paris to agree a roadmap for what happens in the next decade and beyond. For any such agreement to work, however, it must include a transition from high-carbon, fossil-fuelled energy production, to one where power comes from clean, renewable energy.There are some indications that the energy transition is under way. The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently announced that renewable energy accounted for half of all new power plants in 2014, while large oil companies cancelled 80 drilling projects worldwide in 2015. But the IEA also calculates the world is still on course for global warming of 2.7C before the end of the century, significantly above the danger threshold of 2C, with “major implications for us all”. The transition, therefore, must happen sooner and faster. Continue reading...

White House officials say Obama is determined to take lead on climate change during talks set to begin on Monday with bilateral meeting with ChinaLessons from past failures will help push nations towards a robust climate change agreement that will push down greenhouse gas emissions, the White House has predicted.

Security concerns following the Paris attacks have seen the climate march, and other street protests, banned at COP21. Tell us what message you want to send to the heads of state and government

Buy local, look for companies giving something back – or go back to basicsIn 2012 the University of Vermont bravely banned bottled water on campus. It backfired – the number of plastic bottles rose by 6% as students went for soft drinks and juices, increasing their plastic consumption. Eco-friendly bottled water sounds like an oxymoron. But this cautionary tale suggests that sometimes it’s most pragmatic to find the most ethical bottled HO.Water miles remain indefensible. Over 20% of water sold in the UK is sourced overseas though we have our own aquifers. What’s more, bottled water companies here tend to invest in keeping the land pristine to comply with anti-pollution regulations. The land around Ty Nant’s spring in Wales has a large tree-planting programme, while Highland Spring is sourced from certified organic land in the Ochil Hills, Perthshire. So go local and help the environment. Continue reading...

Wessex Bus, First West of England and GENeco have submitted bids to low-emission vehicle grants scheme for more bio-busesDozens of “number two” buses – powered entirely by gas generated from sewage – could be picking up passengers in Bristol next year.Wessex Bus is hoping to run a 20-strong fleet in Bristol, while a rival operator, First West of England, is looking to bring 110 poo-powered doubledeckers to the city. Continue reading...

Next week, world leaders are meeting in Paris at a crucial summit on tackling global warming. Take our quiz to see if you are a climate change expert1Under the Kyoto protocol, the first international climate change treaty, how much, on average, did industrialised nations pledge to reduce their annual greenhouse gas emissions by?4.5% by 2015 compared to 19905.2% by 2012 compared to 19906.8% by 2012 compared to 19908.6% by 2015 compared to 19902What does the UN programme Redd stand for?Ratifying Emissions for the Determination of International DeclarationsRecognised Executive for Drought and DisastersReducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest DegradationRealising that Everything is a Dreadful Disaster3Who first proposed the 2C threshold for dangerous climate change, since agreed at international negotiations?William Nordhaus, a Yale economist in a paper in 1977Alden W Clausen, president of the World Bank at the World Economic Forum in 1981James Hansen, a Nasa scientist to Congress in 1986German chancellor Angela Merkel at the 1992 UN climate summit in Rio de Janeiro4Last year Canada switched on the world’s first commercial carbon capture and storage plant. How much did it cost?$13m$130m$1.3bn$13bn5Which greenhouse gas is the biggest contributor to the greenhouse effect?Carbon dioxideCarbon monoxideMethaneNitrous oxideNitrogen dioxideWater vapour6What proportion of Poland’s electricity is generated through coal?60%70%80%90%7What do the INDCs stand for?International Negotiations to Determine Carbon ReductionsIntentional National Diplomatic CooperationsIntended Nationally Determined ContributionsIdentified Necessary Distributed Carbon Cuts8“It’s about the same as the United States. It’s vastly better than Korea. Of course, it is unimaginably better than China.” Which politician described their government’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions like this?Vladimir Putin, president of RussiaTony Abbott, former prime minister of AustraliaCatherine McKenna, Canada’s new minister of Environment and Climate ChangeAmber Rudd, the UK energy and climate change secretary9Where was COP13, the 2007 UN climate change conference, held?Warsaw, PolandToronto, CanadaNairobi, KenyaBali, Indonesia10Which country is the world’s biggest user of renewable energy technologies, investing nearly $90bn last year?The UKGermanyChinaMorocco Continue reading...

Extreme weather risks the food security of thousands of Lao villages. At the COP 21 talks, will rich countries honour their pledge of $100bn a year by 2020 to help?Namai village in remote, mountainous central Laos has seen immense change in just 20 years. Its isolation only ended when a road was pushed up the valley in 2003, and electricity came several years later.Today Namai villagers mostly have televisions and refrigerators but they, and thousands of other communities, face a new set of problems that are forcing them to develop in ways they never imagined.

As the ‘sea of mud’ continues its path of destruction, allegations have surfaced that the dam collapse was a result of government and industry negligenceThe recent collapse of a mining dam in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais is one of the biggest environmental disasters in the country’s history. Apocalyptic images of communities swallowed by mud and a river flooded by mining waste have shocked a population that has become hardened to tragedy.Between 40-62m cubic metres of the water and sediment from iron ore extraction sluiced down a mountainside more than two weeks ago when the Fundão tailings dam failed at an open-cast mine operated by Samarco, a joint venture between mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale. Continue reading...

In 1991, the southern Swedish city became the first in the world to declare its intention to become fossil-fuel free. So how much progress has been made, and does Växjö offer a blueprint for bigger cities too?Within minutes of meeting the mayor of Europe’s self-proclaimed greenest city, it is clear where he draws much of his inspiration from.It’s not just the fact that 61-year-old Bo Frank is wearing a black Beatles T-shirt and has a Beatles badge pinned to the lapel of his jacket. When he shows me into his office on the ground floor of Växjö city hall, Fab Four memorabilia is everywhere you look – along with photos of Sweden’s king and queen, Barack Obama, and a black-and-white sketch of himself with long hair and a flowered shirt from when he was first elected to Växjö (pronounced Veck-Ruh) city council 41 years ago. Continue reading...

Paris climate deal could render oil, gas and coal projects worthless with US, Canada, China and Australia most vulnerable to losing billionsFossil fuel companies risk wasting up to $2tn (£1.3tn) of investors’ money in the next decade on projects left worthless by global action on climate change and the surge in clean energy, according to a new report.The world’s nations aim to seal a UN deal in Paris in December to keep global warming below the danger limit of 2C. The heavy cuts in carbon emissions needed to achieve this would mean no new coal mines at all are needed and oil demand peaking in 2020, according to the influential thinktank Carbon Tracker. It found $2.2tn of projects at risk of stranding, ie being left valueless as the market for fossil fuels shrinks. Continue reading...

Current pledges to cut carbon emissions will cost developing countries 50% more than if global warming is limited to 2C, Oxfam report saysDeveloping countries will have to pay $270bn extra each year to adapt to the impacts of climate change if global pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions do not increase, according to a new report by Oxfam.Plans submitted by more than 170 countries ahead of crunch UN climate change talks in Paris next week are likely to lead global temperatures to rise by 2.7-3C above pre-industrial times. Continue reading...

Ballina becomes first beach to get ‘smart’ drum lines, previously used in Reunion to hook sharks before they are released further out at seaRelated: Australian surfers stay out of the sea as great whites torment townBeaches in northern NSW will have “smart” drum lines installed off the coast this summer, which will be used to hook and tag sharks before releasing them further out to sea. Continue reading...

Alberta’s climate plan falls far short of what’s possible: unleashing a green economy that creates hundreds of thousands of jobs and transitions off the tar sandsAlberta’s new climate plan is drawing praise from sources that have rarely got on with the oil-exporter – Al Gore, labour unions and some of North America’s biggest green groups. At first glance, it’s not hard to see why: Alberta is promising an accelerated phase-out of coal, increased funds for renewable energy and impacted workers, and a price on carbon. It’s a major step hard to imagine scarcely a year ago, when the province was still under a multi-decade Conservative reign.

My stepfather, Bruce Watkin, who has died aged 98, was one of the founder members of Mass Observation, the social research organisation set up to record everyday life in Britain.Bruce was in at the beginning of Mass Observation in 1937, listening anonymously to ordinary conversations and watching people at work while keeping detailed diaries of what he saw and heard. He served with an eclectic bunch of talented colleagues that included the larger-than-life anthropologist Tom Harrisson, the film-maker Humphrey Jennings, and the poets Charles Madge and Kathleen Raine. Continue reading...

The plucky nonprofit, whose founder’s once dismissed warnings about offshore drilling foretold the BP oil spill, enlists help from Google and Oceana to create a website for tracking illegal fishingNo one knows how much illegal fishing goes on in the oceans. They’re too vast to patrol. But a small nonprofit is helping governments track down seafood pirates by using powerful software, digital maps and publicly available data.That nonprofit, SkyTruth, is led by a 52-year-old geologist named John Amos. It has fewer than a dozen employees and operates out of rural Shepherdstown, West Virginia – population: 2,140. Yet last spring, SkyTruth used its data to help the government of the Pacific island nation Palau track down a Taiwanese fishing ship whose holds were filled with illegally caught tuna and shark fins. Continue reading...

Drought and cyclones hit Somaliland; Kenya mobilises money to tackle changing weather; and the secrecy around cutting girls among Colombia’s EmberáIf you are viewing this on the web and would prefer to get it in your inbox every two weeks, register for the email editionWhen politicians meet in Paris next week to negotiate a global climate deal, their commitments will have far-reaching consequences. Pastoralist communities in Somaliland are among those who have a vital stake in the talks, as a changing climate continues to have a devastating impact. Clár Ní Chonghaile visited Somaliland and met people reeling from drought and cyclones in a region that “could be considered the canary in the mine of a world that is getting hotter, and where extreme weather is becoming more common”.Meanwhile in Kenya, climate funds have been mobilised to create programmes to help farmers become more resilient in the face of changing weather patterns. Read about the projects helping women regenerate trees, harvest rainwater and grow more diverse crops. Continue reading...

Government to give generous export credit to Brazilian oil giant involved in a multibillion-dollar bribery and money-laundering scandalThe UK government will provide hundreds of millions of pounds worth of financial support to Brazil’s national oil company despite it facing corruption investigations in multiple countries.

Small island nations are at the mercy of climate change and rising water levels. Leaders at COP 21 must fight for the emissions cuts that will allow our survivalIn the Caribbean island of Grenada, people know the ocean is rising. Water is about to reach houses in the coastal villages of Soubise and Marquis. Climate change is happening and it is affecting us, and in particular our female farmers. Will world leaders in Paris be able to do what it takes to protect our communities and our world?Climate change is finally on everybody’s agenda, a global renewable energy revolution is under way, and influential religious leaders like Pope Francis have called on governments to consider their impact on the environment. But sometimes, momentum is not enough to break through all obstacles. Continue reading...

Industry looks to the UK to develop factory-built reactors ready to provide affordable, low-carbon energy wherever it is needed – but issues around security and waste disposal remainMini nuclear power plants could be trucked into a town near you to provide your hot water, or shipped to any country that wants to plug them into their electricity grid from the dock. That is the aim of those developing “small modular reactors” and, from the US to China to Poland, they want the UK to be at the centre of the nascent industry. The UK government says it is “fully enthused” about the technology.

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...