Litter dropped by skiers in the Alps is an eyesore once the snow melts. Now, hundreds of volunteers are clearing tons of rubbish from mountain trailsOn a summer hike in certain alpine ski resorts, it’s a sad fact that you’re more likely to spot cigarette butts and discarded drink cans than marmots and ibex. And the evolving nature of that rubbish – discarded by skiers and uncovered when the snow melts in summer – brings new problems for those attempting to clean it up.“Cans of Red Bull are found fairly often now, whereas they used to be rare,” says Olivier Kressmann, project manager for Summit Foundation, a non-profit organisation promoting environmental awareness in Switzerland. “And these days, paper tissues are more and more resistant, so the life-span of tissues on the pistes is increasing. That’s a new problem over the past two or three years.” Continue reading...

Trade minister confirms Clean Energy Finance Corporation will no longer invest in wind projects, but disputes report that Greg Hunt was outmaneuveredThe federal government has ordered the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) not to make any future investments in wind power, instead focussing on “emerging technologies”, trade minister Andrew Robb has confirmed.Fairfax media reported on Sunday that the treasurer, Joe Hockey, and the finance minister, Mathias Cormann, bypassed the environment minister, Greg Hunt, in issuing the CEFC with the directive. Continue reading...

Blacka Moor, Derbyshire Moles are not creatures you get to examine regularly, so I studied this oneForaging for bilberries in the cool of early morning, a blackcap stationed itself in a rowan near the bush I was combing, its muscular, liquid song masking the abstract drone of distant traffic. Thanks to the cold spring and the sudden heat of the week before, the berries were small but sweet and so I moved around the bush to find more.Those paws could dig through loose concrete, but flick them on their long pink noses and they would bleed to death Continue reading...

Conservationists say decision to drop energy-efficiency plans and emissions target is short-sighted and damaging to housebuilding industryThe government’s sweeping review of how to improve productivity across a range of areas, including planning and higher education, has been criticised by campaigners as the death knell for zero-carbon homes.

Dramatic images of refugee smuggling, ivory poaching and floods feature in the shortlist for the sixth global award for photography and sustainability. The finalists and winning image will feature in an exhibition in Paris in November• See last year’s shortlist on the theme of consumption Continue reading...

Two children were injured by coyotes that entered homes on 5 July – unusual behavior for the animals, which tend to be fearful of humansTwo coyote attacks on young children within 24 hours have prompted California to warn residents about the animals.In two separate incidents on 5 July, two children were injured by coyotes that entered their families’ homes, state wildlife officials said. A coyote that entered a family garage in the Irvine area injured a two-year-old boy on his neck and cheek. A second animal entered another family’s home and scratched a seven-year-old girl on the back of her heel. Continue reading...

Last pit in Nottinghamshire closes, with the loss of hundreds of jobs, with owner UK Coal saying final mine in Yorkshire will shut later this year

In light of the recent US Supreme Court decision, it looks like the dirty business of coal mining will continue. To celebrate, here’s a series of postcards from the wilderness that’s ever-vanishing thanks to coal Continue reading...

With the Lib Dems gone, the brake is off. New roads are to be built, fuel duty frozen and green taxes scrapped

Treasury axes plans to make new homes carbon neutral from 2016, drawing widespread criticism from housebuilders and environmentalistsHousebuilders, planners and green groups have condemned the government for scrapping plans to make all new UK homes carbon neutral.The zero carbon homes policy was first announced in 2006 by the then-chancellor Gordon Brown, who said Britain was the first country to make such a commitment. Continue reading...

Have you spotted a wren, willow warbler or a robin? Share your photos and videos with us

Swimming with whales, a giant panda’s birthday celebrations and Spanish horse grappling feature in this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

From the horrible shrieks of a “devil bird” to the great tit which made it’s way onto a Stornoway album, the musician and ornithologist shares the sounds that inspire himBirdsong has long been an inspiration for musicians, from Elbow’s Guy Garvey to Paul McCartney and Jarvis Cocker, and for me through my life. Here are some of my favourite memories.Manx shearwater Continue reading...

‘The age of carbon is over’ and a transition to a greener economy is inevitable, says Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, adviser to the German government and Pope FrancisAn “induced implosion” of the fossil fuel industry must take place for there to be any chance of avoiding dangerous global warming, according to one of the world’s most influential climate scientists.Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, an adviser to the German government and Pope Francis, said on Friday: “In the end it is a moral decision. Do you want to be part of the generation that screwed up the planet for the next 1,000 years? I don’t think we should make that decision.” Continue reading...

Unusually high winds allowed Denmark to meet all of its electricity needs – with plenty to spare for Germany, Norway and Sweden tooSo much power was produced by Denmark’s windfarms on Thursday that the country was able to meet its domestic electricity demand and export power to Norway, Germany and Sweden.On an unusually windy day, Denmark found itself producing 116% of its national electricity needs from wind turbines yesterday evening. By 3am on Friday, when electricity demand dropped, that figure had risen to 140%. Continue reading...

As Ebola slowly retreats from West Africa, some are calling for a revival of the bushmeat trade, which was blamed for triggering the deadly outbreak.Liberia lost almost 5,000 people to the Ebola outbreak that started in 2013, but now a growing faction of Liberians are calling for the return of bushmeat, the product blamed for triggering the outbreak in the first place. Despite news of recent infections, some market traders have already flouted the bushmeat ban and are beginning to revive the trade, buoyed with optimism about the drastic dip in Ebola deaths.Obviously, this is controversial. Bushmeat—wild bats, pigs, rodents, monkeys, antelope, and occasionally apes—is widely accepted as the source of the recent epidemic, and was banned in countries hardest-hit by the virus after it was traced back to a toddler in Guinea who likely contracted Ebola from an infected straw-coloured fruit bat. Mostly, it’s not consumption that poses a risk (cooking and boiling the meat gets rid of the virus), but contact with an infected animal’s bodily fluids, like its blood. Consequently, the ban was designed to limit hunters and market traders, who face the highest risk of infection when they come into contact with live animals and raw, bloody meat. Some also see the crackdown as a welcome conservation move, believing it will give dwindling forest species room to recover. Continue reading...

What do people in the heart of coal country think about environmentalists? Why do they hang out a place called Powerline Park? And why do some of them wear scary masks? After the US Supreme Court struck down the EPA's regulations restricting power plant pollution last week, we went to Ohio to get answers to all these questions.

Ex-Beatle speaks out against Tories’ Hunting Act amendments, saying the ‘vast majority of us’ are against a reintroduction of the bloodsportPaul McCartney has issued a response to government proposals that could pave the way for the return of fox hunting.On 9 July, the Conservatives published an amendment to the Hunting Act 2004 that – if passed by MPs in a vote on 15 July – would allow foxes to be hunted by packs of dogs in England and Wales, so long as it is “appropriate” for the terrain and done “efficiently” to protect other animals. Continue reading...

Hugues Duval flies one-seater electric plane from Calais to UK and back hours before Didier Esteyne’s journey in Airbus E-Fan aircraftA French pilot has made the first flight in an electric plane across the Channel just hours before a rival Airbus venture also completed the journey.Airbus immediately cried foul, claiming Hugues Duval’s effort should not be counted as the first official electric-powered flight as his Crici plane is believed to have been launched from another aircraft. Continue reading...

Study of past sea level changes shows coastal communities may face rises of at least six metres even if we limit global warming to 2C, reports Climate CentralEven if world manages to limit global warming to 2C — the target number for current climate negotiations — sea levels may still rise at least 6 meters (20 ft) above their current heights, radically reshaping the world’s coastline and affecting millions in the process.That finding comes from a new paper published on Thursday in Science that shows how high sea levels rose the last time carbon dioxide levels were this high. Continue reading...

Call for temporary fishing ban if EU agreement to manage critically low stocks can’t be reachedUrgent action is needed to prevent rapidly declining sea bass stocks from collapsing, conservationists have warned.

Since he was a boy, New England-based naturalist and photographer Samuel Jaffe has been fascinated by caterpillars. From 2008, he has been photographing as many different local types as he can, capturing the survival techniques and defensive adaptations of these remarkable and beautiful creatures.His work and passion has resulted in the Caterpillar Lab, an educational, non-profit organisation promoting the diversity of caterpillars of the American north east.An exhibition of his work, Life on a Leaf Edge, is taking place at Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio, until 27 September, 2015 Continue reading...

Langstone, Hampshire: The egg-yolk moon illuminated a vulpine figure pacing the threshold of my driveway – a small fox with dainty features, a vixenI opened the hedgehog feeding station to discover that not only had every last morsel of food been consumed and the dishes licked clean, but a ceramic bowl had gone missing. I searched the flower borders and shrubbery, but the bowl was nowhere to be found. In order to make off with their takeaway dinner the thief had managed to navigate the enclosed feeding station’s internal predator baffle and then jumped my two-metre fence.Though I had heard a fence panel bang the previous evening as an animal vaulted over, I had failed to catch sight of the intruder slinking through the impenetrable shadow of my semi-wild garden. However, a musky fug reminiscent of boiled onions and violets lingering in the side passage, and the twisted, taper-ended faeces deposited on the path, left me in no doubt as to the thief’s identity – a fox. Continue reading...

No, no, no! Enough is enough! Personal or political, polite or angry, subtle or shouty, name your songs all about saying you can’t or won’t take it anymoreHow to decline a verb that seeks to politely – or otherwise - decline? This week it ironically starts with a star’s tragic decline. The new feature-length documentary about Amy Winehouse, directed by Asif Kapadia, manages, in compelling fashion, to reveal a phenomenal songwriting talent who begins her career as a refreshingly funny, articulate, mischievous and sassy singer. It then follows her fall, via a bad relationship and the pressures of fame and touring, into extreme vulnerability, a woman with bulimia who simply could not refuse the attentions of the wrong kinds of people and the allure and addiction of drink and drugs.At heart Amy seemed like someone who just wanted to sing in intimate jazz clubs, someone who was screaming “No!” to herself and others around her, and found an outlet only in highly personal songwriting. Yet commercial pressure to play huge venues, and particularly appalling media scrutiny gave her no escape. Her huge hit song, Rehab, makes a famous refusal, but in life she could not refuse things that ultimately killed her. Continue reading...

As renewable energy producers have pointed out, the removal of their exemption from the climate change levy in Wednesday’s budget is likely to drive them from profit into loss, and thus put many of them out of business (Cuts for renewable producers, help for polluters, Budget supplement, 9 July).But isn’t that exactly the hidden policy intention? George Osborne is an enthusiastic supporter of fracking, and wants to restart nuclear power construction in the United Kingdom. How else can he force energy consumers – us, the public – to choose the more expensive fracking and nuclear energy options over cheaper wind and solar unless he first destroys the renewable energy sector?

Scientists shocked at bees’ failure to relocate north to cooler areas as southern climes in Europe and North America become too hot for the species to surviveClimate change caused by emissions from cars, factories and power plants is squeezing the habitats suitable for bumblebees to live in across Europe and North America, scientists have discovered.As temperatures have risen over the past 110 years, the bees are being killed off by increased heat in their southern habitats. But to the surprise of researchers, they are failing to move north to cooler climes, unlike other species. Continue reading...

German bank’s huge financing of global coal projects prompts environmentalists to question UN fund’s integrity, reports RTCC A UN piggy bank to help poor countries deal with climate change partnered with a leading coal funder, sparking an outcry from green groups. Continue reading...

Install a nesting box camera, sit back and watch the wonder of birds raising their young in your gardenThere’s never anything good on the telly, is there? So why not set up your own entertainment, courtesy of the nesting birds in your garden? “There’s been a big increase in the sale of nest camera boxes over the past couple of years, thanks to programmes like Springwatch,” says Scott Oestler of the RSPB.You can buy cameras on their own, starting from around £40, or buy a nesting box that comes with an inbuilt camera system. The more expensive models should have higher definition, gradual infra-red (which means a better coloured picture than on/off infra-red), and, most importantly, no flashing lights, which would disturb the birds. Continue reading...

Readers shared their photos and stories of productive community gardens and projects in cities from Boston to BelfastAs our cities become increasingly privatised, some people are choosing an alternative: participating in “urban commons” – spaces, places and services owned and run by communities for the local neighbourhood.Allotments, gardens and urban farms are popular forms of this, as people come together to both build communities and grow local food to help enhance sustainable food production. Our readers shared photos and stories of community gardens and food-growing projects around the world, from Copenhagen to Detroit to Salford. We’ve rounded up a selection below, city by city. Continue reading...

Energy companies are making a ‘strategic mistake’ and could waste billions of dollars of investment by thinking they are immune to climate policy, says IEA chief economist Fatih BirolThe world’s fossil fuel companies risk wasting billions of dollars of investment by not taking global action to fight climate change seriously, according to the chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA).Fatih Birol, who will take the top job at the IEA in September and is one of the world’s most influential voices on energy, warned that companies making this mistake would also miss out on investment opportunities in clean energy. Continue reading...

Greenpeace accuses George Osborne’s budget of taxing clean-power schemes as if they were fossil fuel producersGeorge Osborne has infuriated green energy producers and campaigners with a £910m-a-year raid on the renewable energy sector by changing a climate change levy (CCL) at the same time as providing more fiscal help for North Sea oilfields.RenewableUK, the lobby group, said the changes would cost green energy producers around £450m in the current financial year, and up to £1bn by 2020-2021. Continue reading...

Barnaby Joyce blames Labor when asked about the Shenhua Watermark mine by the Greens' Adam Bandt in February. The environment minister, Greg Hunt, has given the go-ahead for the Chinese-owned coalmine on the NSW Liverpool Plains, but Joyce points out it was NSW Labor, under Ian Macdonald, who initially granted the exploration licence. The Independent Commission Against Corruption found Macdonald acted corruptly in granting the Doyles Creek mining licence. There is no suggestion of illegal activity in the granting of the Watermark mine licence to Shenhua Continue reading...

Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire: Pollen beetles swarmed over the flower heads as if every minute were the start of a Boxing Day saleOn the formal lawns of a National Trust country house, I elected to walk “informally” barefooted. Down an avenue with evenly spaced lime trees on either side, the alternations between sun and shade were felt on sleeveless arms; they were experienced by naked soles, cooled by rain-damp grass, warmed by the underfloor heating of sun-baked turf. On open ground with lush green vegetation laced with purple sprigs of self-heal, my toes curled as if the surface below were a medium-pile carpet. Under conifers that had shed brittle husks, foot arches drew up instinctively, rather as they might do when touching down on shingle after a blissful stretch on soft sand. My soles flexed and shaped to suit ground that was more uneven than it looked from a casual view. They felt the unyielding hardness beneath cracked, droughty patches of bare soil and sparse grass.I was be-sandalled again when I entered the rose garden, a parlour of odours, a riot of pink, peach, primrose yellow, crimson and white. Elderly visitors threaded between the rectangular flowerbeds, leaning decorously over for a sniff. Perhaps more supple and certainly less inhibited, I dropped on all fours to drink from the lowest-hanging blooms, a sampler of scents, tripping from one flowerbed to the next. There were maybe 30 varieties of rose here, each one intensely, uniquely perfumed, but each noseful of fragrance could only be inhaled with ecstasy a nose-length away. Continue reading...

A newly unearthed missive from Lenny Bernstein, a climate expert with the oil firm for 30 years, shows concerns over high presence of carbon dioxide in enormous gas field in south-east Asia factored into decision not to tap itExxonMobil, the world’s biggest oil company, knew as early as 1981 of climate change – seven years before it became a public issue, according to a newly discovered email from one of the firm’s own scientists. Despite this the firm spent millions over the next 27 years to promote climate denial.The email from Exxon’s in-house climate expert provides evidence the company was aware of the connection between fossil fuels and climate change, and the potential for carbon-cutting regulations that could hurt its bottom line, over a generation ago – factoring that knowledge into its decision about an enormous gas field in south-east Asia. The field, off the coast of Indonesia, would have been the single largest source of global warming pollution at the time. Continue reading...

Tory government dismisses proposals for binding new EU goals to cut waste and improve recycling, setting it on a collision course with BrusselsThe UK has rubbished the idea of Europe setting new targets for recycling, despite warnings from the EU’s environment commissioner that such measures should be non-negotiable.Goals for recycling household waste are expected to give teeth to an upcoming EU ‘circular economy’ package, but a paper on the UK’s position, seen by the Guardian, argues that any new targets should be put on ice.

University commits to moving all oil, coal and gas investments out of its 14m endowment, following two-year student-led campaignThe University of Warwick in Coventry has committed to divest from fossil fuels, saying it will move the £1m of its investments in coal, oil and gas from its £14m endowment as soon as possible.Dan Goss, one of more than 100 student campaigners who have spent two years calling on the university to divest, said: “We are all delighted that Warwick has brought its investments in line with its professed values, and heeded the call of the democratic majority. Continue reading...

From competition to communication, there are numerous challenges to sustainable business. Here’s what the experts say about overcoming them

Emergency budget confirms that the government is out of step with the rest of the world in its lack of credible policy for a secure and sustainable energy systemThe government says that it wants a sustainable, secure and affordable energy system. Unfortunately, week-by-week since the general election, and now with the budget, it has made statements or policy changes that take us further away from that goal, and put us increasingly out of step with the rest of the world.