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by Kim Willsher in Paris on (#PC6P)
Vehicle ban, applied to just 30% of French capital, showed encouraging results – but new report says nation has far to goParis’s “day without cars†last week led to such a dramatic drop in both air and noise pollution that the mayor’s office is now planning more vehicle-free days in the French capital.Airparif, which measures city pollution levels, said levels of nitrogen dioxide dropped by up to 40% in parts of the city on Sunday 27 September. Continue reading...
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| Updated | 2026-05-03 11:15 |
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by Jim Powell on (#PB58)
Watery flows on the surface of Mars, Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin in New York, the Rugby World Cup, Rihanna at Paris fashion week – the best photography in news, culture and sport from around the world this week Continue reading...
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by Jim Perrin on (#PANN)
Cenarth, Carmarthenshire My glimpses of these spectacular, shy, tree-hole-nesting ducks have grown more frequent in recent years. May that hopeful trend continueThe woods along Afon Teifi were dappled with autumn’s palette. It was fascinating to match tint to tree, to look forward to fire-tones suggested before realised. Squirrels dipped and scurried for nuts among paling hazel foliage. Before the first frosts, a solitary leaf drifted downwards, presage of pattering quiet tumult through coming weeks.From a riverside path, suddenly I glimpsed a flash of brilliant white, focused the glass in time to see a drake goosander arrowing upriver, low above the surface, its chuckling call carrying through still air, its large wing-patches startlingly white against cloud-reflecting water: “So arrogantly pure a child might think/ It could be murdered with a spot of ink†(as Yeats wrote of a swan). Continue reading...
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by Australian Associated Press on (#PAD8)
Company announces that it will halt sales of some diesel cars following meeting with federal government over the emissions scandalVolkswagen has suspended the sale of some diesel cars in Australia while it addresses its emissions-cheating scam.Following a meeting with government authorities, the company has decided to immediately halt the sale of affected vehicles fitted with 1.6 or 2.0-litre EA189 diesel engines. Continue reading...
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by Press Association on (#P9PA)
Scientists warn that similar event to collapse of volcano on Cape Verdean island of Fogo 73,000 years ago poses major threat to nearby islandsThe sudden collapse of a volcano caused a tsunami that created waves up to 240 metres (800ft) high 73,000 years ago, scientists have discovered.The mega-tsunami took place near the Cape Verde islands off west Africa when the slopes of the volcano gave way – a process known as a “flank collapse†– and some experts fear a similar collapse could present a real threat today, especially around volcanic islands. Continue reading...
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by Alison Moodie on (#P9J6)
Survey of 440 sustainability workers around the world finds companies are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprintsMore companies are making climate change one of their top sustainability priorities, according to a survey released this week by nonprofit Business for Social Responsibility, which counts big brands like consumer goods giant Unilever and food and beverage maker Coca-Cola among its members.The annual survey, which polled 440 sustainability workers from nearly 200 companies around the world, aims to provide a snapshot of what environmental and social issues are important to businesses over the coming year. Continue reading...
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by Arthur Neslen Europe environment correspondent on (#P9AR)
Head of Acea manufacturers’ group calls plan to cap nitrogen oxide emissions for new cars by September 2018 unrealistic in letter seen by the GuardianEuropean carmakers have lobbied behind the scenes in Brussels for a one-year delay to the introduction of planned EU limits on nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, despite public uproar at the VW rigging scandal.NOx pollution, particularly from nitrogen dioxide, is responsible for 23,500 premature deaths in the UK every year and the EU wants to introduce an 80mg per km emissions limit for all new cars and vans from 1 September 2018. Continue reading...
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by Press Association on (#P97S)
Police, fire crews and a specialist animal management team rescue the bird but are clueless as to how it ended up in North BoarhuntA rhea has been rescued by police, fire crews and a specialist animal management team after a householder in Hampshire found the large bird in his garden.Police were called at 12.30pm on Thursday when the man found the rhea in the front garden of his home in North Boarhunt. Continue reading...
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by Environment editor on (#P92V)
The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox Continue reading...
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by Emma Howard on (#P8YN)
Newspaper did not breach press code in report about Prof Peter Wadhams’s claims that British Arctic scientists had been assassinated, regulator saysThe Times did not misrepresent one of the world’s leading Arctic experts in a report on his claim that three British scientists investigating ice thickness may have been assassinated two years ago, the UK’s press regulator has ruled.Peter Wadhams, professor of ocean physics at the university of Cambridge, complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) that he had been inaccurately quoted in an article by the paper’s environment editor, Ben Webster. He said the piece had damaged his scientific reputation. Continue reading...
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by Jason Saenz on (#P8Q1)
When more water is being found on Mars than in California, you know the drought is bad. Comedian Jason Saenz created and posted his own signs about the drought around Los Angeles Continue reading...
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by Fiona Harvey on (#P8NZ)
India’s announcement means all the world’s biggest economies are now publicly in favour of a deal, but there are still challenges aheadWith India’s plan for curbing carbon emissions now in, most of the major developing economies have responded to the UN’s requests for the commitments on climate change that will form the keystone of an agreement to be signed in Paris this December.Those commitments – to make absolute cuts in future emissions levels, in the case of developed countries; to curb future emissions growth, in the case of less industrialised nations – will not add up to the cuts that scientists say are needed to avoid more than 2C of warming above pre-industrial levels. This is significant, because the 2C threshold is regarded as the limit of safety, beyond which the changes in the climate are likely to become catastrophic and irreversible. Continue reading...
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by Mafalda Duarte on (#P8NH)
Funding geothermal and solar energy projects can help to provide clean, reliable, renewable power to people, boosting green growth and reducing povertySteam billows from an energy plant in a stretch of Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, about 180km north of the capital, Nairobi. But the white clouds rising from the tidy grid of pipes aren’t a sign of polluting greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change. They are a signal that the country of more than 44 million, where some 65% of the population does not have access to electricity, is one giant step closer to delivering clean, reliable, renewable power to its people.The first phase of the $746m Menengai geothermal development project is well under way, with already proven steam resources capable of generating 130 megawatts of electricity and working toward commissioning the first power plants in 2016. Continue reading...
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by Eric Hilaire on (#P8J0)
Masai Mara’s annual migration, deer rutting season, manatees and curious macaques are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...
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by Tom Stevens on (#P8E4)
With autumn arriving in the northern hemisphere, we’d like you to share your seasonal signs and colours of fall wherever you are
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by John Gilbey on (#P8CN)
Abermaw/Barmouth, Gwynedd As I turned north again, I looked over the parapet into the blue, opalescent water that the ebb tide was swirling seawardsI have used the bridge across the mouth of the Afon Mawddach many times, but probably haven’t given it the attention it deserves. Usually, arriving here marks the end of the long walk down the estuary from Dolgellau and I have been pushing for a feast of vinegar-soaked chips while waiting for my train home, or to seek a pint and a warm fire, depending on the weather. This time, I made the bridge itself my destination.This venerable structure was built mostly from heavy baulks of timber, but has an arched iron span at the northern end, which once swung open to allow the passage of shipping. It carries both the single track of the Cambrian Coast railway line and a wooden deck that provides a short cut for walkers or cyclists who wish to avoid the much longer journey via Penmaenpool. Continue reading...
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by Steven Morris on (#P89N)
Initiative inspired by reflective reindeer antlers in Scandinavia is aimed at making animals more visible to drivers at nightThere has long been talk of mysterious beasts haunting the great moors of south-west England. But night-time travellers on Dartmoor should now look out for a very odd creature indeed – a glow-in-the dark pony.The horses will be daubed with reflective paint to make them more visible to drivers after a rise in livestock being killed on the roads. About 60 animals have died on the Devon moor’s roads this year, an increase on previous years. Continue reading...
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by Hilary Osborne on (#P889)
The new charges come into force in England on Monday, but what will it mean for shoppers?From Monday 5 October shoppers in England will face a charge of at least 5p for some of the carrier bags they use to take home their purchases. The move follows the introduction of similar charges in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.Which bags will I be charged for?
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by James Walsh and Guardian readers on (#P86W)
What do you think of the latest attempts at cycling infrastructure in your town or city? Share your photos and stories with us
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by Terry Macalister Energy editor on (#P812)
Government negotiations over financing means project may not produce power until 2021, a year later than originally plannedThe proposed scheme to build the world’s first tidal lagoon at Swansea Bay in south Wales has been put back at least a year following delays over the government agreeing the size of any subsidy.The £1bn project is also subject to an ongoing investigation into whether a major contract to a Chinese state company to build a breakwater was properly awarded. Continue reading...
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by Mark Harris in Silicon Valley on (#P814)
More than 130,000 robots are predicted to be sold by 2017 as hotels and retail outlets start trialling automated staff. Mark Harris meets two of them
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by Adam Vaughan on (#P7JK)
World’s third biggest greenhouse gas emitter says it will source 40% of its electricity from non-fossil fuel sources, ahead of Paris climate summitIndia, the world’s third biggest greenhouse gas emitter, has pledged to source 40% of its electricity from renewable and other low-carbon sources by 2030.It is the last major economy, following 140 other countries including China, the US and the EU, to submit a climate change plan to the UN before international talks to reach a deal on tackling global warming in Paris this December. Continue reading...
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by Oliver Balch on (#P7DC)
The community energy sector needs to look to more innovative models to survive the loss of government support and cuts to subsidiesOn paper, the Sretton Sugwas solar project just outside Hereford looks a dead cert. Pitched as the UK’s first community-owned photovoltaic installation on a former landfill site, the project promises to provide clean electricity for 250 homes as well as local jobs and financial returns for residents.But getting small-scale community energy projects off the ground has never been easy. Following a raft of policy revisions over recent months, it just got a lot harder. Continue reading...
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by Guardian Staff on (#P70M)
Are shark numbers off the northern coast of New South Wales really increasing, as frequently reported? Even if they are, is killing them any sort of an answer? Humans have dastardly short memories, writes shark author James WoodfordThere is a simple populist action that would quickly see a reduction in the numbers of sharks, including great whites, off the north coast of New South Wales.
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by Joanna Walters in New York on (#P6G6)
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by Patrick Barkham on (#P6BC)
Three brimstones were the first butterflies I saw this year in March when I was gardening with my dad. And we were gardening again in this lovely high-pressure weather when a female brimstone flew into view.In bright sunshine, it swooped into a thicket of ivy and vanished. Butterflies don’t usually avoid sunshine, so I took a look. There it sat, deep in the ivy, on the underside of a leaf, hidden from the sun – and rain, frost and snow to come. Continue reading...
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by Lenore Taylor Political editor on (#P6A4)
Thanks to a deal done with landfill operators, the environment minister is set to receive a ‘free’ gift of at least 16m tonnes of greenhouse emissions cutsThe environment minister, Greg Hunt, is set to receive a free “gift†of at least 16m tonnes of greenhouse emission cuts, bringing him closer to Australia’s 2020 emissions reduction target and helping to explain his supreme confidence that Australia can meet it.In August Hunt announced a deal he had done with landfill operators who had charged upfront gate fees for their expected liability under the former government’s carbon tax and were left with a windfall gain upon its repeal. Continue reading...
by Marc Gunther on (#P67S)
Despite Trump’s position, a new survey has found that most Republicans believe mankind plays some role in climate change. Food industry executives say it’s past time their congressmen listenedIf the US Congress is to take meaningful action to curb climate change, the support of corporate America and Republicans will be required. This is why a meeting of food industry executives and politicians – joined by a lone Republican congressman – on Capitol Hill on Thursday may be the first glimmer of a bipartisan approach to climate action.US senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, and US representative Chris Gibson, a New York Republican, chaired the briefing. Bucking party orthodoxy, Gibson recently drew attention by organizing 11 moderate Republicans to support a resolution acknowledging the reality of climate change and asking Congress to act. Continue reading...
by Editorial on (#P61Z)
The VW scandal was not a surprise but it must lead to effective action – even though the cost will be highNext year marks the 60th anniversary of the Clean Air Act, marking the end of the worst urban pollution that, at the peak of the 1952 London smog, killed nearly 1,000 people a day. It probably did more to improve the health of Britons than any other public health measure until the ban on smoking in public places. Last month, the department of the environment finally published a paper on how it planned to meet EU air pollution limits. It acknowledged, for the first time, that as many as 50,000 people a year in the UK were dying because of air pollution. Nearly half of those deaths were caused by diesel emissions. The VW emissions scandal has only confirmed something that was apparent to anyone who has bought a new car in the digital age. A quick scan of the websites reviewing performance data showed that gaming the targets by which consumers made their judgments was more or less assumed. There was complicity not only between regulators and the major manufacturers, but between the major manufacturers and the people who bought their cars, whose preferences were shaped at least as much by government incentives to buy diesel as they were by the smallprint of the producer-generated emission measurements.Encouraged by tax breaks to buy diesels to help cut carbon emissions, European sales soared from 15% of new cars in 1990 to more than half in 2008, the rate of purchase accelerating rapidly after the manufacturers developed a new, quieter engine to meet growing demand. The danger to public health from nitrogen oxides and sooty particulates was acknowledged. Regulation of stringent emissions targets was presumed to be the answer. Only now has it become clear, thanks to organisations like the ICCT, the International Council on Clean Transportation, that in the past 15 years actual emissions from many different diesel cars have been anywhere between twice and seven times above the legal limit. Continue reading...
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by Associated Press in Fresno, California on (#P5PK)
In the midst of wildfires and a drought, Californians used nearly 27% less water in August than the same month in 2013, passing a goal set by the governorState officials say Californians have surpassed a mandate to save water for a third consecutive month, using nearly 27% less in August than the same month in 2013.The state water resources control board on Thursday released the statewide conservation figures. Continue reading...
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by Anna Leach on (#P5CE)
Join an expert panel on Thursday 8 October, 1-3pm BST, to discuss how to encourage innovation to improve energy access and sustainability“I was told it could be a little better than an incandescent bulb, but that was about it,†said General Electric engineer Ed Hammer, who invented the spiral compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) in the mid-70s. In fact, his invention uses just 25% of the power of an old-fashioned, incandescent bulb and lasts around ten times longer.Today CFLs are standard in homes and offices around the world and many countries have phased out incandescent bulbs, including an out-right legal ban in Argentina. If the electricity that lights the bulb is created from coal, then the invention has saved 500 pounds (227kg) of coal per bulb.
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by Emma Howard on (#P59A)
Solar farm wins planning permission, clearing way for Sussex village that staged major anti-fracking protests to be powered entirely by clean energyBalcombe, the Sussex village that saw the UK’s biggest anti-fracking protests so far, is set to be powered entirely by the sun, after residents won planning permission on Thursday to build a nearby solar farm.But campaigners said they are now racing government subsidy cuts to solar power to get the project underway. Continue reading...
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by Alison Moodie on (#P580)
The USDA and EPA want to reduce the 133bn pounds of food tossed in the garbage each year by 50% by 2030, and companies seem to be onboardIn September, the US government announced the first ever national goal to reduce America’s food waste, giving an extra push to a movement on the part of big brands to cut down on waste.
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by Reuters on (#P555)
Analysis of nations’ carbon emissions pledges ahead of Paris climate summit shows they would see 2.7C warming by 2100, breaching 2C ‘safety’ thresholdPlans submitted by 140 nations to limit their greenhouse gases would go some way towards tackling climate change, but not enough to prevent the planet from warming by well over 2C compared to pre-industrial times, experts say.
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by Ken Conca on (#P562)
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals summit failed to introduce the idea of a right to a clean environment. We must fix that
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by Guardian Staff on (#P4ZE)
Watch a series of aerial shots of some of the UK’s natural beauty spots released by the National Trust. The charity says in a new report published on Thursday that some of the UK’s most cherished landscapes are under threat because local planners misapply the law when working on development applications. It names areas of outstanding natural beauty from across the UK that are in danger through poorly placed developments Continue reading...
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by Debasish Ghosh on (#P4XC)
IT professional Debasish Ghosh has been documenting toxic foam in the Indian city’s polluted lake system. The snowy froth, a cocktail of chemicals and sewage, has a pungent odour and causes irritation on contact with the skin Continue reading...
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by Mark Harris on (#P4S1)
From permeable roads to rooftop gardens, cities are investing in ways to harvest rainwaterTrillions of litres of free, fresh water drop from the sky onto the world’s cities each year – yet most of it is channelled straight into gutters, drains and rivers. At best, this represents a waste of a valuable natural resource. At worst, it can lead to devastating urban floods like the one in the Japanese city of Joso this month that killed eight and destroyed hundreds of homes.With cities getting bigger and climate change threatening to bring more extreme weather, some scientists and politicians are proposing “sponge citiesâ€, a reimagination of the urban environment where almost every raindrop is captured, controlled and reused. Continue reading...
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by Guardian readers and Tom Stevens on (#P4QZ)
We asked you to share your September pictures of the wildlife around the world. Here’s a selection of our favourites Continue reading...
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by Tom Stevens on (#P4PM)
It’s October already and the northern hemisphere is preparing itself for more autumn signs and colours, while the southern hemisphere is basking in spring weather. We’d like to see your photos of the October wildlife near you
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by Claudia Cahalane on (#P4KQ)
While retailers are still deciding how to distribute a windfall from the levy, environmental charities are set to benefitEnvironmental charities are likely to get the biggest share of an expected £70m windfall from the new plastic bag levy being introduced at larger English retailers next week.A number of shops are still deciding how to allocate the money from 5 October, however Tesco, which is expected to collect up to £30m, will donate the money to environmental improvement projects. Continue reading...
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by Rosie Spinks on (#P4D5)
Far from being an unnecessary extravagance, a mobile phone can help connect vulnerable people with vital support and combat social exclusion
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by Eric Hilaire and Emma Howard on (#P4BS)
Only 1% of families recognise the UK’s most common trees, according to new research by Unilever. How many can you identify?Can you identify the UK’s most common trees?1Which tree is this?AshElmOak2Which tree is this?SycamoreYewBirch3Which tree is this?Giant redwoodOakElm4Which tree is this?HazelHawthornElder5Which tree is this?OakBeechSycamore6Which tree is this?OakYewSycamore7Which tree is this?HawthornElderBirch8Which tree is this?YewSycamoreHorse chestnut9Which tree is this?ElderBirchBeech10Which tree is this?SycamoreHorse chestnutYew Continue reading...
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by Arthur Neslen on (#P463)
EU may ban ‘defeat devices’ after laboratory tests raise questions over whether some TVs could be set up to game efficiency testsIndependent lab tests have found that some Samsung TVs in Europe appear to use less energy during official testing conditions than they do during real-world use, raising questions about whether they are set up to game energy efficiency tests.The European commission says it will investigate any allegations of cheating the tests and has pledged to tighten energy efficiency regulations to outlaw the use of so-called “defeat devices†in TVs or other consumer products, after several EU states raised similar concerns. Continue reading...
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by Adrian Mourby on (#P3X8)
From the Maldives to Mauritania, some cities are engaged in a constant battle for survival against nature’s relentless forces. But which of these metropolises is closest to being overwhelmed by sea, sand or other natural threat?Setting aside epic disaster-movie moments such as volcanoes, hurricanes and earthquakes, there are two key natural factors that can make a city vulnerable to gradual disintegration, or even total disappearance – water and sand.Were climate change making the planet colder rather than hotter, we could add ice to the list – for nothing obliterates a city like a billion-tonne glacier grinding its way down a valley. The impact of a rare “ice tsunami†in 2013 on the Canadian municipality of Ochre Beach was just a taster: a wall of melting iceberg on Dauphin Lake was blown by winds on to the shore, splintering every house in its path. Continue reading...
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by Susanne Schmitt on (#P3VA)
Many investors are unaware of their exposure to companies with concessions overlapping world heritage sites. It’s time they opened their eyes – and lobbiedShell has seen sense. Or at least, that’s what green NGOs like us want to believe. In fact, Shell says it’s more about the bottom line than environmental imperative or the groundswell of public opinion – although the company seems to be privately admitting it was surprised at the scale of public opposition to drilling in the Arctic.Whatever the real reason Shell changed course, we shouldn’t relax. There are still many threats of exploration and extraction not only hanging over the Arctic but, as new research by WWF shows, nearly a third of natural world heritage sites around the world. Continue reading...
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by Laura Laker on (#P3VQ)
Laura Laker takes to two wheels around the Scottish capital to see how the council’s money is being spent and whether it is making a differenceI’m chasing Kim Harding down a hill. We’re heading from the Royal Mile to Princes Street on the kind of descent one rarely encounters, living as I do in a very flat part of the country.“I love that hill,†he says as we regroup at the traffic lights.Like Athens and Rome, Edinburgh is built on seven hills, but perhaps more akin to a “lumpy†city like Bristol, those hills don’t deter people from cycling in relatively high numbers by UK standards - 6% of journeys to work and school are by bike, or 2% of all journeys. Continue reading...
by Helen Davidson on (#P3S6)
Group demands answers on the future and rehabilitation of sacred sites at the McArthur river mine, which mines one of the world’s largest zinc depositsTraditional owners have trespassed on to a mine to visit their own sacred sites and draw attention to ongoing fears mining giant Glencore could avoid financial liability for pollution and cleanup costs.The McArthur river operation near Borroloola in the Gulf region of the Northern Territory mines one of the world’s largest zinc deposits. Government documents recently revealed elevated lead levels in fish and cattle near the site, as well as inconsistencies in the information given to the public about contamination. Continue reading...
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by Steven Morris on (#P3QJ)
Conservation organisation claims that local planners are not always applying law correctly in AONBs, citing example of solar farm in Dorset
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by Australian Associated Press on (#P3E5)
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says presence of pollution-cheating software would violate consumer law and risk fines of $1.1m per breachVolkswagen faces being hauled before a court and fined by the consumer watchdog if pollution-cheating software is found in its Australian cars.In an update on its investigation into the local impact of the car giant’s emissions fraud, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said a discovery of “defeat devices†would violate consumer law.
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