Green groups criticise ‘ludicrous’ Minerals Council of Australia ad which claims coal creates ‘light and jobs’ and ‘can now reduce its emissions by up to 40%’Australia’s mining industry has launched a new ode to coal in the form of a major advertising campaign that hails the mineral’s ability to “create light and jobs”, as well as claiming that new technology will drastically slash its emissions.

Australia and New Zealand likely to face strong criticism at Pacific Islands Forum as leaders fear global warming will risk the survival of many tiny islandsAustralia and New Zealand are expected to face strong criticism from Pacific Island leaders disappointed the nations are not doing more to combat climate change.The issue will likely dominate this week’s Pacific Islands Forum leaders summit in Port Moresby, ahead of the United Nations climate change conference in Paris later in the year. Continue reading...

Traditional sport is under threat say owners as they back raptor cullFeathers are flying in the bird world. Potential changes to the law, following a campaign by pigeon fanciers to reduce attacks on their pets by raptors, have met with opposition from the RSPB.The Raptor Alliance, a body representing many of the UK’s 42,000 pigeon owners, is writing to MPs warning that an “iconic traditional British sport” is under threat as a result of an increasing number of attacks on their birds. Continue reading...

It’s one set of principles for fracking and another for renewablesHuw Rowlands (Letters) goes too far when he says: “Anyone who has researched the fracking industry is against it.”His assertion ignores a large body of research into fracking that has been and continues to be undertaken by the geological community, including the Earth sciences departments of several of our finest universities. If Mr Rowlands were to discuss the matter with a cross-section of the geophysicists, hydrologists and environmental scientists who work on this subject he would find a wide range of opinions. Continue reading...

You might expect me to hate wasps after this experience in the woods but, against all the odds, I find that I am becoming their staunchest defender

As Community Energy Fortnight beings, investors can check out the renewable schemes offering returns of up to 13%Richard Body is an energy pioneer. The IT consultant is a director of the Torrs Hydro scheme in New Mills, Derbyshire, which was one of the first community-owned hydroelectric schemes to launch in the UK.Sited on the river Goyt, where it tumbles out of the Peak District, the scheme produces enough electricity to power 60 homes. “There was power in the river that nobody was tapping into – in effect it was free money,” Body explains, who was awarded an MBE in 2013 for services to the hydroelectric industry. “Our aim was that by generating electricity, we could also generate a revenue stream for the local community.” Continue reading...

The town’s 7,400 residents are allowed to return to their homes after the four-year-old evacuation order was lifted on SaturdayRelated: Japan restarts first nuclear reactor since Fukushima disasterThe Japanese town of Naraha has lifted a 2011 evacuation order that sent all its 7,400 residents away after the nearby Fukushima nuclear plant was crippled by a tsunami that led to a meltdown and contamination. Continue reading...

Almost a decade after banning the veterinary drug diclofenac, the Indian government has banned large vials of the drug meant for human useThe government of India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare finally issued a directive banning multi-dose vials of the non-steroidal pain-killer diclofenac in the last week of August.

Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire Thunderous and dark, it’s one of those places where the forces of landscape are gathered into fearsome expressionThe lane from Ffarmers descends to the afon Cothi and turns sharply north-east towards Rhandirmwyn. Every verge, every marshy field corner hereabouts billows with creamy blossom of meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). The air is heavy with its honeyed astringency – the defining smell of summer and Wales, lingering into autumn, carrying a powerful synaesthetic charge.Salicylic acid was first identified from meadowsweet root, and synthesised as aspirin in 1897. Far back beyond that date, the plant’s alternative name – meadwort – suggests its old usage. Traces of it have been found at beaker burials, in bronze age tombs. Continue reading...

Taking a cue from pope’s call to action, bishops ask wary legislators to say yes to proposed legislation that would reduce emissions and residents’ energy useCiting Pope Francis’s recent encyclical on the environment, leaders of the Catholic church in California spoke out this week to encourage wavering lawmakers to vote in favor of proposed sweeping climate change legislation that is struggling for passage in the final days of this session of the California legislature.Speaking about SB 350, a bill that would reduce petroleum emissions by 50% in coming years along with restrictions on other kinds of energy use, Bishop Jaime Soto of the Sacramento diocese urged tentative lawmakers “to really think about the future of California and the future of Californians and what is the legacy we want to leave them. Continue reading...

‘I think we should all be concerned’ says special representative for the region Robert Papp amid fears that warming effects will lead to scramble for resourcesClimate change is exerting “really scary” impacts on the Arctic with far-reaching consequences for the rest of the world, Barack Obama’s envoy for the region said on Friday.

The Conservative government’s fortress-style border policies at home and its wars abroad are a lethal contribution to a global refugee crisisUndeserving people exploiting the generosity of a benevolent government. Cheating an application process. Taking advantage of welfare. Stealing our jobs. That is the image of “bogus refugees” that Canada’s Conservative government has spent years carefully cultivating. But a single photo of a drowned child has shattered all the stories meant to harden Canadians. 3-year old Alan Kurdi’s fate off Turkey’s shore has seared the reality of a refugee crisis into our consciousness and left Canadians stunned about our complicity in the death of a child.Those now putting Canada’s refugee policies under scrutiny will realize that this much else is clear: the Harper government has more than one refugee’s death on its hands. It is not simply that Alan Kurdi’s family’s attempt to reach Canada was dismissed by the government. Nor that Canada’s Immigration Minister ignored a hand-delivered plea. Under the Harper government’s overhaul of the immigration and refugee system, those fleeing war, poverty or persecution arrive not to a haven but a hazard. Never has this country been more unkind and unwelcoming. Continue reading...

Solar trade body chief claims energy secretary Amber Rudd told him the impact on jobs was not part of the consultationThe potential loss of thousands of jobs will not be a factor when the government decides whether to implement its proposed heavy cuts to solar power subsidies, according to the chairman of a solar trade body who met energy secretary Amber Rudd on Wednesday.By contrast, recent government announcements on North Sea gas field development and the fast-tracking of shale gas exploration have highlighted the potential jobs created. Continue reading...

Fishing leopards of Botswana, brown bears of Belarus and wildbeests of Masai Mara are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

Act now to remove roadblocks and lay the groundwork for Paris climate deal, say experts including Kofi Anan as Bonn talks stumbleWorld leaders must step into the ongoing UN climate change negotiations, to remove roadblocks and ensure their negotiating teams can lay the groundwork for an agreement at landmark talk in December, an influential group of former leaders has urged.

Tory supporters more in favour of wind than shale, despite Conservatives moving to curb onshore windfarms and encourage fracking for shale gasPeople would much rather have wind turbines near their house than fracking wells, a survey suggests.

Experts say ineffective and inhumane culling could increase TB infections in cattle as setts are disrupted and badgers roam more widelyThe controversial badger cull in England is underway for the first time in Dorset and has restarted for the third year in Gloucestershire and Somerset, the government has confirmed.The cull, intended to curb tuberculosis in cattle, aims to kill 1,000-2,000 badgers over six weeks. Over 32,000 TB-infected cattle were slaughtered in 2014 and farmers welcomed the cull. Continue reading...

Looking for a beachfront home with a beautiful deck boasting killer ocean views? Why not check out this dream property in the Hamptons. Just ignore the rising tides, the increasingly severe hurricanes and the swallowing up of the east coast by the Atlantic Ocean. You’d be out of your mind to overlook this steal! Continue reading...

Mark Boyle chose to go without money for three years. Now he has begun a community smallholding that is as cash-free as possible – and is opening the world’s first free pubMark Boyle proved how, in a world dominated by money, he could live in Britain surviving entirely without cash – by bartering, swapping and connecting with local communities. And after three years, what was his first cash purchase? A £4 pair of trainers from a charity shop.“It was such a weird moment. Living without money had eventually become completely normal for me, and there I was standing in a charity shop handing over a piece of paper and walking out with this really useful pair of runners. It felt as strange as giving it up in the first place had,” he says. Continue reading...

A conservationist case against the coalmine was dismissed in the supreme court on Friday on the grounds blocking it would have no effect on carbon emissions

Almost three-quarters of consumers say they support the 5p charge that has raised millions for charities, report saysThe number of single-use plastic bags has declined by more than 70% since charges were introduced in Wales, a report reveals on Friday, weeks before a similar scheme is launched in England.According to the report, which was commissioned by the Labour-led Welsh government, almost three-quarters of consumers say they are supportive of a charge. Continue reading...

Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk Two slow worms were also making their escape, living up to their name by doing so in an altogether more sedate mannerI had promised they would be safe: “No snakes will bite your legs, they’re just not interested in you.” Then a bramble slashed back against my son’s shin. Blackberry red beads of blood decorated his skin. “Are you sure we’ll be OK?” he asked, fighting back tears.Safely through the undergrowth, we carefully raised the corrugated iron sheet and peered underneath. A grass snake, fluid as quicksilver, exited left. The children jumped instinctively, yet all we’d seen was an electric flash of green and yellow. Continue reading...

Environmental defenders office challenged former Queensland government approval of Alpha mine, based on groundwater and climate change impactsQueensland’s supreme court has rejected a bid by conservationists to have Gina Rinehart’s Galilee Basin coal joint venture with GVK stripped of environmental approval.Related: Australia: The new coal frontier Continue reading...

Indian government cancels license allowing Greenpeace to collect money from overseas, claiming NGO violated funding rules and withheld informationIndia has cancelled a license allowing Greenpeace’s Indian arm to collect money from overseas, the organisation and Indian media said on Thursday, the latest move in a battle between the environmental group and prime minister Narendra Modi’s government.India’s government claims the NGO violated rules governing foreign funding and withheld information on transactions. The government also accuses it of damaging the country’s economic interests by campaigning against mining and nuclear projects. Continue reading...

Zoologists report that just 2,000 identified individuals of the species remain after a dramatic decline in the past 15 years

Meeting ends with no move to save endangered fish as campaigners warn bluefin tuna stocks will continue to plunge unless urgent action is takenCampaigners have warned that global stocks of bluefin tuna will continue their dramatic decline after Japan– by far the fish’s biggest consumer – and other countries failed to agree on new conservation measures.

During a brief respite from the bank holiday rains, the garden of the small cottage where I was staying on the north Norfolk coast was suddenly filled with pristine red admirals.This big, handsome red, black and white insect really is the quintessential September butterfly. Continue reading...

Reptile experts urged local residents not to panic but deadly snake – who escaped from owner’s cage – has the venom to kill 20 humansChildren at a Florida school were locked indoors on Thursday as wildlife officials scoured the grounds for a venomous 8ft-long king cobra that broke free from a cage and slithered away from its owner’s home.

Former minister Ed Davey says chancellor is pursuing ideologically driven campaign against renewable energyEd Davey, the former energy and climate change secretary, has accused George Osborne of putting tens of billions of pounds’ worth of private sector investment at risk with an assault on the green agenda he pioneered.The Liberal Democrat said the chancellor was pursuing “bonkers economics” and an ill-advised and ideologically driven campaign against renewable energy that risked leaving the UK hopelessly dependent in the longer term on fossil fuels such as gas. Continue reading...

France’s EDF gives no definite schedule for construction of £24.5bn plant, which still awaits firm’s final investment decisionThe planned new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset has been hit by another setback, with its developer EDF admitting the project may be further delayed.The news came as the French energy group said a more advanced sister project at Flamanville in Normandy would now not start operating until 2018, at a cost of €10bn (£7.3bn). It was originally slated to open in 2005 and cost €3bn. Continue reading...

Art Not Oil coalition to use stunts and flashmob to shine spotlight on £10m BP sponsorship deal with arts organisationsCampaigners against oil firms sponsoring UK arts groups are to stage an all-day protest festival at the British Museum in what they claim will be their most ambitious intervention to date.More than a dozen campaign groups are expected to converge on the museum on 13 September for “stunts, performances and creative interventions”. Continue reading...

Barack Obama warns that Alaska’s warming climate is a wake-up call to America and the rest of the world. Speaking at a school in Kotzebue, a small town north of the Arctic Circle, Obama said the US would not sit idly by if its livelihood were threatened by a hostile nation, and argued that a warming climate requires the same level of action Continue reading...

Two seriously ill young melon-headed whales – a species not seen in the area for 40 years – are being tended at the Institute for Marine Mammal StudiesMarine experts in Mississippi are working around the clock as a mysterious pair of whales, their species unseen in south Mississippi for 40 years, fight for survival.Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, said a fisherman on Tuesday reported what he thought were two dead dolphins on the beach in Waveland. Continue reading...

Friends of the Earth says cuts to feed-in tariff payments for people with solar panels could stop more than 1GW of solar power being installed each yearGovernment plans to slash subsidies for solar panels on homes could cost more than 20,000 jobs, green campaigners have claimed.

President’s three-day tour of the state gave everyone something to talk about, regardless of their politics: ‘This is the president and this is exciting. Period’In this state of only 700,000 people that American presidents tend to visit most often only to refuel, the three-day tour by Barack Obama this week gave everybody something to talk about.Alaska is conservative and backed Obama’s opponents in 2008 and 2012, but the president’s celebrity appeal overshadowed the political misgivings of many as he traveled the vast state. Everywhere he went, residents made signs, crowded into restaurants and pulled over on roadsides to catch a glimpse. Social networks were ablaze with reports of security helicopters overhead, and observations about Obama’s gelato preferences (coffee and coconut), his treadmill routine (he runs “slow and smooth”, according to someone a few machines down), and his opinion of fish jerky in the rural community of Dillingham (“Outstanding!”). Videos of the passing motorcade were an epidemic. Continue reading...

It is not easy to look in the mirror and value your reflection if you are not absolutely horrified by the images of a dead, innocent Syrian boy face down on a beach (The shocking cruel reality of Europe’s refugee crisis, 3 September). That boy was someone’s son, someone’s grandson – he was one of us. To state that we should all be ashamed to bear witness is an understatement. To state that we have every right to expect our leaders to stand up and lead, to show leadership, statesmanship even, is almost trite now. The image crystallises the time we live in. Rather a dead child than the humanity and leadership required to afford people, just like us, a home. Today, I am ashamed to be British.

It may be time for oil and gas firms to take a hard look at their compensation practices, whether to save the environment or themselvesAnyone who watched the shenanigans on Wall Street in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis couldn’t have been left with much doubt: poorly designed compensation policies that encouraged greed and discouraged fear were partly responsible for the near-collapse of the entire financial system.Can similar compensation policies in the oil and gas sector be held responsible for climate change? It’s a provocative question, especially as Barack Obama wraps up his three-day trip to Alaska. Continue reading...

Controversial six-month hunting season begins in Taiji with a minke whale hunt due to start at the weekendA small Japanese town kicked off its controversial dolphin hunt on Thursday after bad weather delayed the start, according to a local fisheries official, while a separate whaling hunt was due to start at the weekend.