Not just a food bank … An M&S-filled food bank. Upmarket grocer plans to use social app to supply local charities with its surplus food and help cut wasteMarks & Spencer is to distribute thousands of tonnes of surplus food under a scheme that will use a social networking app to link all 500 of its UK stores to local charities, including food banks.The retailer, which has committed to cutting food waste from stores by a fifth by 2020, has been testing different ways of running the scheme at 45 outlets and opted to work in partnership with the Neighbourly app. Continue reading...

Chernobyl’s wolves, ‘walking fish’ and autumnal woodlands are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Scandals such as the BP oil spill, horsemeat and the recent revelations about VW raise serious questions about how to ensure companies don’t repeat wrongdoing

State insurance director says calculations are still being made but ‘it is bleak’ as residents learn their insurance might not cover devastation to their homesSouth Carolina’s state insurance director has warned of “horrendous losses” as he prepares to release the first official estimate of damage from this week’s deadly flooding that claimed at least 17 lives. And many residents are learning that their insurance may not even cover damage to their homes.Ray Farmer said he expected the preliminary assessment, set to be released as early as Friday afternoon, to be more than $1bn. Continue reading...

Ryedale district council calls for five-year fracking ban in reponse to a consultation on Third Energy’s application to drill for gas in the areaCouncillors in North Yorkshire are facing fresh pressure to reject a fracking bid after a district council called for a five-year moratorium on Thursday.Ryedale district council (RDC) does not have the power to rule on the planning application made by gas firm Third Energy, which wants to frack a well near the village of Kirby Misperton to test if it is commercially viable. Continue reading...

V20 group of 20 countries most at risk from the effects of climate change call on wealthy nations to meet $100bn pledge to help them tackle global warmingFinance ministers from the 20 countries most vulnerable to climate change have formed a group to call for greater access to climate finance for adaptation and mitigation in the face of the most devastating effects of global warming.

How does an individual student in the UK make a meaningful contribution to tackling environmental degradation?Today, I’m proud to be launching Students Organising for Sustainability at the Eden Project. It’s a network of over fifty student organisations across 13 countries and 5 continents, all working to create the sustainable world we need to see.Here in the UK, I represent 7 million students, working through 600 student unions. But we’re still only one country. Continue reading...

Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading...

US state to phase out use of tiny plastic beads found in soap, toothpaste and body washes by 2020, in bid to protect fish and other marine lifeCalifornia governor Jerry Brown signed legislation Thursday requiring California to phase out the use of microscopic exfoliating beads in personal care products sold in the state starting in 2020 to protect fish and wildlife.The tiny plastic beads found in soap, toothpaste and body washes are so small that they are showing up in the bodies of fish and other wildlife after passing through water filtration systems without disintegrating. Continue reading...

Lake Turkana’s fierce winds have plagued villagers for generations, now they have inspired plans for Kenya’s most ambitious infrastructure project in 50 years - a 310MW windfarm, that they said was an impossible dreamWith its spectacular jade waters ringed by ochre red volcanic hills, Lake Turkana, a desert lake in Kenya’s rugged northerly corner provided a wonderful spot for Dutchman Willem Dolleman’s annual fishing expeditions in his adopted homeland.But Dolleman’s trips were always ruined by the difficulty of finding somewhere to stay in a vastly underdeveloped area where tour lodges are located hundreds of miles apart. Continue reading...

The teenage activist and musician who made headlines about climate change when he addressed the UN in June talks about what inspires himXiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez’s long hair marked him out from the middle-aged bureaucrats in the room. So did his age. After all, few 15-year-olds get to address the UN in New York, let alone speak with eloquence and passion on climate change. The speech, delivered in June, went round the world. It was viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube, and secured him press coverage in everything from Rolling Stone to the Guardian.For Xiuhtezcatl (pronounced, roughly, shooTEZcat), however, addressing the UN was business as usual, or close to it. For most of his young life he has been working in climate activism, mainly with his group, Earth Guardians, which uses music and speech to engage young people around the world, and has more than 400 regional groups globally. Continue reading...

Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi’s cars are shown to emit significantly more NOx pollution on the road than in regulatory testsMercedes-Benz, Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi have joined the growing list of manufacturers whose diesel cars are known to emit significantly more pollution on the road than in regulatory tests, according to data obtained by the Guardian.In more realistic on-road tests, some Honda models emitted six times the regulatory limit of NOx pollution while some unnamed 4x4 models had 20 times the NOx limit coming out of their exhaust pipes.

The Lancefield fire, the worst of more than 200 fires in Victoria over the past week, spread from a controlled burn-off that breached containment linesVictoria has to learn painful bushfire lessons every year but the unusual nature of the latest fires that have broken out in the state is providing authorities with much to think about before summer even arrives.More than 200 fires have charred parts of Victoria over the past week, but it’s the circumstances of one of the most destructive fires that has prompted the state government to look for fresh answers in how to prevent future outbreaks. Continue reading...

California Coastal Commission approves a $100 million expansion of tanks SeaWorld uses to hold killer whales in San Diego, but attaches ban on breedingThe California Coastal Commission on Thursday approved a $100 million expansion of the tanks SeaWorld uses to hold killer whales in San Diego — but it banned breeding of the captive orcas that would live in them.Animal rights activists praised the decision as a death blow to the use of killer whales at the California ocean park. Continue reading...

Petworth, West Sussex Dominant bucks had established rutting stands in close proximity to one another, each stationed beneath one of the park’s ancient treesAs we strode across the Mansion Lawn towards the lake, bathed in the golden marmalade light of the setting sun, it felt as though we had stepped into Turner’s painting, Sunset, Fighting Bucks. Surprisingly, the view differs little from the idealised landscape depicted by the artist in the early 19th century. Some 800 fallow deer still roam freely in the park, and we could see that the bucks and does had begun to congregate, having spent most of the year in single-sex herds.During the red deer rut, dominant stags manage large harems and vigorously defend them from rival males. But it was immediately obvious that the fallow deer had a different mating strategy, displaying lekking behaviour. Continue reading...

Wilderness Society report shows spill would likely affect fishing and tourism, and threaten whales, seabirds, sea lions and sea turtles, along the southern coastAn oil spill from BP’s planned drilling in the Great Australian Bight could affect most of Australia’s southern coastline, shutting down fisheries and threatening wildlife including whales, seabirds and sea lions, new modelling has shown.Related: BP would need to bring equipment from Texas to contain South Australia oil spill Continue reading...

State officials announced a plan after several local studies and months of complaints from residents after Flint stopped using the Detroit systemAfter months of resisting complaints from residents in the city of Flint, Michigan, over the discolored and odorous water that was flowing into their homes, city and state officials announced a plan Thursday to change their water source.Michigan governor Rick Snyder said the revelation that a spate of children are experiencing elevated blood-lead levels had become a “public safety issue”, weeks after independent experts first asserted that Flint’s temporary water source had produced a spike in lead across the city of 100,000. Continue reading...

Ten times as many of the jobs lost at Redcar are at risk under the government’s plans to cut solar power subsidies by 87% – and it may be schools that suffer most

The US Congress hearing into the emissions-rigging scandal mixed frustration with incredulity at answers from Volkswagen’s US CEO Michael HornDespite Volkwagen’s congressional hearing lasting more than two hours and the carmaker’s US boss facing almost constant criticism, Congress was only fixated on a pair of questions – who is to blame for the diesel emissions scandal and how are you going to fix it?

Sex, drugs, money, sport, politics or hypocrisy? Sift through your songs to craft a collection of controversy, exposing the wrongs that pretend to be rightsIt’s shocking! It’s upsetting, unacceptable, and immoral! Or is it? What makes a scandal scandalous? Scandal is always on the move. The more there is of it, the less there seems to be, each apparent scandal nullifying another from the past. And in the end the formal dictionary definition may evolve and dissolve into an outmoded anachronism, and what remains may be but a fashion accessory – a form of Nordic summer footwear - the Scandal.But can scandal still exist today? In music or in our broader culture? Let’s try and answer that one, in song, or otherwise. Continue reading...

Yang Feng Glan, kingpin between east African poaching syndicates and Chinese buyers, accused in Tanzania of smuggling ivory worth £1.62mA Chinese woman dubbed the “ivory queen” for her alleged leadership of one of Africa’s biggest ivory smuggling rings has been captured and charged.Yang Feng Glan is accused of smuggling 706 elephant tusks worth £1.62m from Tanzania to the far east. The Elephant Action League, a US-based campaign group, described her as “the most important ivory trafficker ever arrested in the country”. Continue reading...

The key players include the parents of Stephen Lawrence, grieving families, women deceived by undercover police, trade unions and a whistleblowerAt least 140 individuals will have a key role in the public inquiry into the undercover infiltration of political groups, and the total may rise.The list of individuals gives an indication of the scope of the inquiry which is headed by a senior judge, Lord Justice Pitchford. Continue reading...

The third mass coral bleaching event in recorded history is underway, signalling a biodiversity disaster on an unprecedented scale

Republican presidential contender and golf course owner says planned turbines would be ‘monstrous’ blight on Aberdeenshire coastlineDonald Trump, the US presidential contender who has electrified the republican right, has taken his campaign against windfarms to the UK’s supreme court.Despite losing at every stage in the Scottish courts, the billionaire property developer is funding a fresh challenge to prevent offshore turbines being built within sight of his Menie golf resort in Aberdeenshire. Continue reading...

With Mark Group and Climate Energy going into administration this week, what does this mean for households in the process of solar installations?Two solar panel-installing businesses have gone bust this week - where does this leave anyone who has had a system installed?

Thousands expected to take part in ‘red line’ blockades of Paris climate summit, after two weeks of colourful protests that have been dubbed ‘the Climate Games’Thousands of climate change campaigners have promised to blockade a major UN climate summit in Paris with what they say will be non-violent direct action on a scale Europe has not seen before.Grassroots groups from 350.org to Attac France are throwing their weight behind the “Climate Games” event for the landmark climate conference in December. The protests will involve 10 blockades, themed around “red lines” which they fear negotiators for the nearly 200 countries inside the summit may cross. Continue reading...

We asked people at the forefront of the climate movement for simple steps ordinary people can take to make a difference1) Go to Paris this December Continue reading...

A third global bleaching of coral reefs is underway following a massive and persistent underwater heatwaveScientists have confirmed the third-ever global bleaching of coral reefs is under way and warned it could see the biggest coral die-off in history.Since 2014, a massive underwater heatwave, driven by climate change, has caused corals to lose their brilliance and die in every ocean. By the end of this year 38% of the world’s reefs will have been affected. About 5% will have died forever. Continue reading...

Yasmine Phillips had a steady job and a cosy flat – but something was missing. Could she find happiness on a small farm with no electricity or running water?Last year, my boyfriend Laurence and I gave up our jobs to go in search of an alternative way to live. I’m from London but had been living in Stockholm for four years, teaching textiles. I had a permanent job, my place was comfortable and warm, and I lived by the sea. But something about my life was unfulfilling. I felt that working full-time took up too much of my mental energy, and I was eager to discover if I could feel happier with less structure and more freedom.I started to read more on the internet and it seemed that perhaps it wasn’t inevitable that I would have to work 9-5. We saved up for two years and talked about cycling to Ireland where Laurence is from, although we didn’t know what we’d do once we got there. I remember saying constantly: “But where will we live!?” Continue reading...

Geologist, explorer and environmental activist Yang Yong leads an expedition to the source of the Yangtze, to monitor the scale of the damage caused by climate change on the Tibetan plateau and the degradation at the headwaters of Asia’s longest river. The journey, over treacherous terrain at high altitude, and in a region of ongoing political and ethnic tensions, has only been made by a handful of foreigners to date. But this year, Yang invited a handful of disciples, journalists and athletes to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his first downstream navigation of the river in a dinghy Continue reading...

Environmental lawyers have vowed to pursue legal action against directors who fail to protect their investors from climate risksWith Shell announcing its withdrawal from the Arctic, the effects of climate change on business performance are everywhere – and it’s time corporate leaders consider the implications for their organisation, or face the consequences.

Alderney, Channel Islands: From the wartime fortifications, sentries could look down over a cavalry of white horses and sinuous, sinister currentsAs birdwatching hides go, the sea-facing wartime bunkers at the north-west end of Alderney are rotting, indestructible curiosities. They are concrete barnacles bolted on to a solid Victorian fort of granite blocks, which was originally built to guard against a French invasion. A hundred years later, the German army of occupation used slave labour to construct the super-fortified extension they called Stützpunkt Türkenburg – Strongpoint Turk’s Castle.Steadily and incrementally, the elements have attacked these armoured cells in the 70 years since abandonment. In each dank chamber, salt-laden sea spray has bleached wooden shuttering and shrunk the timbers into pieces of fixed driftwood riddled with woodworm. Iron lintels, brackets and other attachments are rust-brown, corroding into flaky layers as if they were puff pastry. But the ugly, metre-thick walls have proved durable and, like a Norman castle, might last for another thousand years. Continue reading...

Craik previously ran the National Farmers Federation, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Murray-Darling Basin Commission