Unusual specimens spotted in UK waters may be product of Russian breeding programme in Arctic Ocean, says conservationistBritish anglers have been told to watch out for an alien salmon species that is normally native to the chillier waters of the Pacific and Arctic Oceans.Eight specimens of wild pink salmon have been caught in the rivers Tyne and Wear, and off the coast of South Shields. The fish is native to the north Pacific basin and its surrounding rivers, and is the smallest and most common of the Pacific salmon. Continue reading...

Pontiff says divisive rhetoric is not in ‘the spirit of the American people’ and calls for action to combat ‘human activity’ that has caused climate changeThe first pope from the Americas called on US lawmakers to open their hearts to new generations of immigrants on Thursday in a historic address to Congress that urged them to reject a rising xenophobic tendency in politics.

VW built its reputation by using impactful advertising. Here’s a selection of car adverts that appeared in the Guardian from 1956-1991

Indonesia, one of the world’s biggest CO2 polluters because of deforestation, says it will go further and cut emissions 41% if it gets $6bn in aidIndonesia, one of the world’s biggest carbon polluters, said it would cut greenhouse gas emissions 29% by 2030 compared to what it is currently on course for.

Economic modelling suggests that a global emissions budget and trading scheme could tackle climate change and yield $416bn a year for poor countriesWhat if there were an affordable programme to prevent catastrophic climate change and provide the finance that developing countries need to end poverty by 2030?

We can remedy our planet’s problems, but only if we are willing to redesign wasteful manufacturing processes and give up our throwaway habitsThe world’s mineral and metal reserves are dwindling, but that doesn’t mean it’s time for development to switch into reverse gear. If we could redesign our profligate industrial processes, say circular economists, we could put a stop to our throwaway habits without sacrificing growth.Instead of burning or burying millions of tonnes of waste every year, we could take today’s garbage − even the fragments of plastics that hapless seabirds ingest − and use them as the building blocks to make anything from carpets to laptops.

Shares in company drop 9% as results show BMW X3 xDrive exceeded emission limits on nitrogen oxides 11-foldGerman luxury carmaker BMW has been dragged into the emissions testing scandal that has engulfed Volkswagen, with its shares falling sharply after a report that some of its diesel cars exceeded emissions standards.Shares in BMW lost 9% after the report in German trade magazine Auto Bild. Other European carmakers were also down, with Daimler falling 5.6%, Fiat Chrysler shedding 5.2%, Peugeot 6.7% lower and Renault falling 3.7%. VW shares recovered slightly after steep falls in recent days, trading 1.4% higher. Continue reading...

Which goals are key for businesses? What sectors do they address? Will they make any difference? We read all the 169 SDG targets so you don’t have toAhead of the formal adoption of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the UN’s Sustainable Development Summit this weekend in New York, Guardian Sustainable Business asks: what are the SDGs, what do they mean for business and what impact will they have?

Paul Ehrlich writes in Nature Climate Change that Francis is wrong to fight climate change without also addressing the strain from population growth on resourcesOne of America’s leading scientists has dismissed as “raving nonsense” the pope’s call for action on climate change – so long as the leader of the world’s 1 billion Catholics rejects the need for population control.In a commentary in the journal Nature Climate Change, Paul Ehrlich, a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, argues that Pope Francis is simply wrong in trying to fight climate change without also addressing the additional strain on global resources from population rise. “That’s raving nonsense,” Ehrlich told the Guardian. “He is right on some things but he is just dead wrong on that.” Continue reading...

Australian researchers at the University of Queensland are discovering the secrets to captive echidna breeding. The successful births of 14 short-beaked echidna puggles in the past five years have brought hope that the knowledge can be applied to their long-beaked cousins in Papua New Guinea, which are endangered because of habitat loss and hunting Continue reading...

One of the most emblematic features of East Lothian’s landscape, Cockenzie power station will be blown up on Saturday, its twin towers and turbine hall erased by the shift to clean energy and an unsentimental planning system.

Exclusive: Countries publicly calling for investigations into VW emissions rigging scandal have privately fought to keep loopholes in car tests for carbon emissionsThe UK, France and Germany have been accused of hypocrisy for lobbying behind the scenes to keep outmoded car tests for carbon emissions, but later publicly calling for a European investigation into Volkswagen’s rigging of car air pollution tests.Leaked documents seen by the Guardian show the three countries lobbied the European commission to keep loopholes in car tests that would increase real world carbon dioxide emissions by 14% above those claimed. Continue reading...

Stunned sightseers off the coast of Costa Rica find their small boat surrounded by a ‘superpod’ of dolphins, racing alongside and leaping into the air. Orlando Marin, who posted his footage to Facebook, says they numbered in the thousands. Such a large gathering can be the result of abundant food in the area, or can happen spontaneously Continue reading...

Documents show former PM was briefed on setting up a taskforce into whether the Bureau of Meteorology exaggerated records – as claimed in the AustralianTony Abbott considered asking a taskforce to investigate whether the Bureau of Meteorology was exaggerating temperature data records following the publication of such claims in the Australian newspaper, newly released documents show.Related: Tony Abbott adviser calls for Bureau of Meteorology 'warming' inquiry Continue reading...

Martin Winterkorn steps down despite denying wrongdoing, as legal claims and further senior departures loom

Travel enthusiast Michelle Feis meets a set of more than 20 killer whales while she was out kayaking with a friend at the end of August. The video was uploaded onto social media on September 1 and shows Feis and her friend in their kayaks near the shore when a group of killer whales swim up to them. In the video, Feis can be heard screaming with glee as the whales swim right up to and underneath the kayaks Continue reading...

George Osborne is signing IOUs for megastructure projects on behalf of future British taxpayers – and yet no one dares call him to accountIt is the costliest white elephant in history. No power station, perhaps no building, so expensive has ever been built anywhere. In a modest meadow overlooking the Bristol Channel is to rise a structure that will outstrip in extravagance the Three Gorges dam, St Peter’s Basilica, the Taj Mahal and probably the pyramid of Cheops. It is to be built – you guessed it – by the British taxpayer. You can accuse George Osborne of many things but not of austerity. Hinkley Point C marks a new high watermark in public sector extravagance.Anyone brave enough to inquire into Britain’s proposed £24bn new power station can only reel back in horror. This week every comment on Osborne’s £2bn guarantee for a Chinese share in the project has been baffled. Not a penny of British risk capital is going into it. The finance comes from French and Chinese parastatals, but gold-plated with Treasury price contracts and guarantees. The only two versions of the EDF pressurised water reactor under construction, in Finland and France, are way behind schedule with doubled budgets. For £24bn you can read anything you like. It is the auto-da-fé of Treasury control. Continue reading...

Judge rules that the material – used for egg cartons, take-out food and to-go cups – can be recycled in a cost-effective wayA judge has overturned New York City’s ban on polystyrene foam containers, finding that the material – used for egg cartons, take-out food and to-go cups – can be recycled in a cost-effective way.New York became the biggest US city to ban the containers in January after the city’s sanitation department determined that the material was non-recyclable. Continue reading...

Amid adoring crowds, the pope addresses climate change and touches on immigration as president reflects: ‘You shake our conscience from slumber’How many divisions has the pope? Stalin once sneered – but that was before the world’s superpower swooned over Pope Francis. Rapturous crowds, a reverential White House welcome, a trumpet fanfare, TV networks hanging on his every word: the United States isn’t merciful with his desire to be humble.The pontiff’s journey through the centres of US power and history began on Wednesday with an elaborate arrival ceremony and balmy sunshine at the White House’s south lawn. “What a beautiful day the Lord has made,” President Barack Obama beamed. Continue reading...

The chief executive has quit after the firm admitted diesel cars were designed to cheat in tests. How did the ‘defeat device’ work and what damage was done? Continue reading...

Winterkorn, chief executive since 2007, to leave embattled carmaker after company admits ‘we totally screwed up’Volkswagen has announced the resignation of its chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, and said the fallout from the diesel emissions test scandal would result in further executive scalps and a likely criminal investigation in Germany.Related: Volkswagen crisis: chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigns - live Continue reading...

Cases are up 30% since 2010 in country where decline in air quality is shifting from acute to chronic in more than just DelhiA sharp rise in cases of chest and throat disease in India is being blamed by doctors on worsening air pollution in the country, which is now home to 13 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world.According to India’s National Health Profile 2015, there were almost 3.5m reported cases of acute respiratory infection (ARI) last year, a 140,000 increase on the previous year and a 30% increase since 2010. Continue reading...

It seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation, Pope Francis tells White House audiencePresident Obama welcomed Pope Francis to the White House Wednesday morning to loud cheers from thousands gathered to greet the leader of the Catholic church — in a city that has virtually shut down for the historic event. The ceremony marks the first time that Pope Francis has visited the United States and kicks off a much anticipated three-city tour that includes Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York City.During his first address in the United States, Francis pulled no punches when talking about one of the defining issues of his leadership, calling on Americans to protect our “common home” and act on climate change with a sense of urgency —an issue that many Republicans have criticized. Continue reading...

Addressing a crowd of nearly 15,000 on the south lawn, pope invokes Martin Luther King Jr in speaking of the moral need to protect our ‘common home’Pope Francis enlisted the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr to help bolster his call for urgent action on climate change on Wednesday in a welcoming ceremony at the White House that Barack Obama said would “shake our conscience from slumber”.Speaking in front of crowd of nearly 15,000 guests that had begun packing into the south lawn before dawn, the pope wasted no time in striking an unashamedly political tone during his first public event of a six-day visit to the US. Continue reading...

As the leaves begin to turn golden and the days get chillier, here are some of the best pictures from around the country on the autumnal equinox Continue reading...

Clinton has taken a stance on Keystone XL, but in the meantime, TransCanada has moved on and new tar sands projects are being prepped at the border

Nine leading companies join the likes of Ikea and M&S as part of RE100 global campaign for low-carbon business, reports BusinessGreenSome of the world’s largest businesses have today announced plans to fully transition to using renewable electricity, providing a further boost to the global renewables market.Nine well-known firms – Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Goldman Sachs, Nike, Starbucks, Salesforce, Steelcase, Voya Financial and Walmart – will today used the annual Climate Week in New York to announce they have joined the global campaign RE100, which encourages businesses to source 100% renewable power. Continue reading...

From misty mornings to crisp sunsets, our readers share their autumnal photos and ponder the changing of the seasons Continue reading...

Autumn: most melancholy season or a time to gleefully batten down the hatches? Share your autumnal photos and stories as the nights draw in

A man fights off a hammerhead shark using only his kayak paddle off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. Mark McCracken was fishing from his kayak on Saturday when the shark approached and began circling him. The standoff went on for some time but McCracken seems to take it in his stride, saying: ‘Pretty sure I just kicked a hammerhead’s ass’ Continue reading...

A rock climber has photographed two of the notoriously shy black-flanked rock wallabies in the Kalbarri National Park, the first sighting since 1995Rare black-flanked rock wallabies have been spotted in Kalbarri National Park, 580km north of Perth for the first time in 20 years.Two of the 45cm high marsupials, also knowns as warru or black-footed rock-wallaby, were photographed in a gorge by rock climber Remi Vignals in August. The sighting was made in the promenade, reckoned to be one of the best rock-climbing areas in WA. Continue reading...

Hillary Clinton breaks her longstanding silence over the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, telling voters at a campaign stop in Iowa that she opposes the project and that it is ‘a distraction from the important work we have to do to combat climate change’. The former secretary of state had previously said she shouldn’t take a position on the issue Continue reading...

Tuesday’s announcement that Hillary Clinton opposes Keystone XL might not be a miracle, but it’s a step in the right directionI’m not a Catholic, but credit where credit is due: at the very least Tuesday’s arrival in America of the people’s Pope coincided with a small brace of minor miracles on the climate front.Early on Tuesday morning, Divest-Invest announced at press conference in New York that the new total of assets in endowments and portfolios divesting from fossil fuels has topped $2.6t. That’s a 50-fold increase on last year’s number – and the year before that, we had precisely one college on board, with an endowment of $13 million. Continue reading...

Republicans manage expectations on political nature of Pope Francis’s address to Congress as moderates slowly break with party leadership on climate stancePope Francis’s arrival in Washington on Tuesday has reinforced hopes that one of the last great bastions of climate change denial – the US Congress – may be on the verge of crumbling.As the pope touched down in the US from Cuba, Democratic leaders in Congress and environmental campaigners were optimistic that Francis would keep the focus on his core themes of the global economic order, poverty and environmental degradation over the next six days, and so widen the emerging fractures in the Republican wall of denial. Continue reading...

Presidential candidate says the controversial project is a ‘distraction’ and not in the best interests of ‘what we need to do to combat climate change’Hillary Clinton completed the biggest environmental conversion of her presidential campaign to date on Tuesday, pronouncing herself opposed to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline as a “distraction” in the fight against climate change. Continue reading...

The carmaker is not the only company poisoning the air. Yet still our government blocks effective legislationThe latest figures suggest it now kills more people in London than smoking. Worldwide, a new study estimates, it causes more deaths than malaria and HIV-Aids together. I’m talking about the neglected health crisis of this age that we seldom discuss or even acknowledge: air pollution.

Theo Bronkhorst has been re-arrested and stands accused of ‘conspiracy to smuggle’ and ‘unlawful movement of animals’The professional hunter who helped an American dentist kill Zimbabwe’s popular lion Cecil has appeared in court on new charges of planning to smuggle sable antelope out of the country.Theo Bronkhorst, 52, was initially arrested on Monday last week in Zimbabwe’s second largest city of Bulawayo, after he was linked to a plot to smuggle 29 sable into neighbouring South Africa. Continue reading...

Your leader (Overcomplicated, overpriced and overdue. Think again, 22 September) presents a misleading impression of the alternatives to Hinkley Point C while ignoring the strengths of the project.Germany is not, as you suggest, a model that Britain should follow. It is true the country generates more electricity from renewables. But German consumers pay higher bills and the country produces more CO emissions as it continues to burn lignite, the most polluting fossil fuel of all. It is also forced to dump surplus electricity it can’t use. Continue reading...

Six oil companies are calling for a global carbon pricing system. You may be skeptical, but here’s why the idea is no joke

In a bid to reduce CO2 emissions in the 90s, Europe backed a major switch from petrol to diesel cars but the result was a rise in deadly air pollutionVolkswagen’s rigging of emissions tests for diesel cars comes after nearly 20 years of the technology being incentivised in Europe in the knowledge that its adoption would reduce global warming emissions but lead to thousands of extra deaths from increased levels of toxic gases.Diesel was a niche market in Europe until the mid-1990s, making up less than 10% of the car fleet. Diesels produce 15% less CO2 than petrol, but emit four times more nitrogen dioxide pollution (NO2) and 22 times more particulates - the tiny particles that penetrate the lungs, brain and heart. Continue reading...