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Thousands were evacuated on the New South Wales south coast and Victoria’s East Gippsland region on New Year’s Eve as multiple bushfires threatened towns and cut off highways. Many were forced to seek shelter on jetties or in lakes or the ocean as their escape routes were cut off. Two men were confirmed to have died at Cobargo in NSW and another was reported missing.

• ‘We’ve lost our beautiful town’: Mogo residents flee as bushfire rages up NSW south coast

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UK Wildlife Trusts report says 2019 saw sea change in public attitudes to marine conservation

Seals, dolphins and seabirds in British coastal waters are increasingly being disturbed by people using drones, kayaks and jetskis, according to a new report.

Plastics, ocean waste and discarded fishing equipment have continued to devastate marine species in the UK’s coastal waters, while warming seas driven by the climate crisis have caused a boom in the non-native Pacific oyster, according to the Wildlife Trusts.

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Scottish Salmon Company wants to build 20-cage site close to tourist destination

Islanders on Arran are protesting against plans to install one of the UK’s largest fish farms close to one of the island’s most treasured holiday destinations.

The Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) wants to build a fish farm near Lochranza on the northern tip of Arran, which will be more than twice the size of most other salmon farms.

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Bees innocuously buzzing 'round the birdbath may be a barometer for burgeoning bee invasions. Manu Saunders, Research fellow, University of New England Callum McKercher, PhD Student, University of New England Mark Hall, Research fellow, Western Sydney University Tanya Latty, Associate professor, University of Sydney Tobias Smith, Ecologist, bee researcher and stingless bee keeper, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

• Swedish activist and president attended UN climate summit
• ‘He’s not listening to experts … why would he listen to me?’

Greta Thunberg has said she wouldn’t have wasted her time talking to Donald Trump about climate change at the UN climate change summit in New York earlier this year – the same event she was pictured glaring at the one of the world’s leading climate-change deniers.

Related: Vladimir Putin thanks Donald Trump for tip that foiled Russian terror plot

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Mark Carney said the financial sector had begun to curb investment in fossil fuels. but slowly.

Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough thanked each other for their climate activism when they spoke for the first time in a Skype call. The discussion was part of the Swedish activist's guest-editing slot on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Attenborough praised the teenager for raising awareness of the climate crisis, to which Greta said nature documentaries inspired her to take on the cause

• Greta Thunberg: climate activism has made her 'very happy', says father
  

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Greta Thunberg's father has spoken about how activism helped his daughter out of depression. Speaking to the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Svante Thunberg says he had thought it was 'a bad idea' for his daughter to take to the frontline of the battle against climate change but adds that her activism helped her battle depression. 'You think she's not ordinary now because she's special, and she's very famous, and all these things. But to me she's now an ordinary child,' he says. As part of Greta’s guest editorship of the programme, she also talks to Sir David Attenborough for the first time.

• Greta Thunberg: climate activism has made her 'very happy', says father
  

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The teenage activist and veteran naturalist talk to each other for the first time (via Skype).

Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China's regional pilot carbon markets this week.

Svante Thunberg says he was concerned about his daughter’s school strike but that her campaigning had helped her beat depression

Greta Thunberg’s father has opened up about how activism helped his daughter out of depression but still worries about how she will deal with the impact of her international fame.

Speaking to the BBC to mark his daughter’s guest-editing slot on the Today programme, Svante Thunberg revealed he thought it was a “bad idea” for Greta to stage the school strike that catapulted her into the public eye.

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The Queensland state government has launched the first proper call for projects through its Land Restoration Fund, which aims to invest A$100 million ($70 mln) in new carbon offset projects in 2020.

Unless we focus on shared solutions, violent storms and devastating blazes could be the least of the world’s troubles. Civilisation itself will be at risk

‘Good morning. Here is the shipping forecast for midday, 21 June, 2050. Seas will be rough, with violent storms and visibility ranging from poor to very poor for the next 24 hours. The outlook for tomorrow is less fair.”

All being well, this could be a weather bulletin released by the Met Office and broadcast by the BBC in the middle of this century. Destructive gales may not sound like good news, but they will be among the least of the world’s problems in the coming era of peak climate turbulence. With social collapse a very real threat in the next 30 years, it will be an achievement in 2050 if there are still institutions to make weather predictions, radio transmitters to share them and seafarers willing to listen to the archaic content.

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Environment minister Sussan Ley says consultation with states and industry will look at ‘innovative’ ways for dealing with the issue

Environment minister Sussan Ley has announced the nation’s first plastics summit to be held next year in an attempt to address the problem with Australia’s growing rubbish problem.

With Australia no longer able to send its mixed plastic waste overseas from 2021, and plastic use predicted to double once again in the next two decades, Ley said the summit will bring together retailers, researchers, school children, and governments to work out how to tackle the crisis.

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The world will face irreversible heating unless financial firms shift priorities, Mark Carney tells the BBC.

The activist's father says he thought her skipping school to fight climate change was a "bad idea".

With some blockbuster space missions underway, 2019 saw some amazing images beamed back to Earth.

Hydrogen-powered drones have several advantages to lithium ion-powered ones, says Dr Enass Abo-Hamed.

Market including food, drinks, clothing and energy has risen almost fourfold in past 20 years

Ethical consumer spending has hit record levels in the UK, according to a new report that reveals the total market – including food, drinks, clothing, energy and eco-travel – has swelled to over £41bn.

Total ethical spending has risen almost fourfold in the past 20 years and outgrown all UK household expenditure, which has been broadly flat, according to the new study from Co-op.

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Beloved family pets have all the qualities we need in the next generation of puppies, so maybe you shouldn't rush to desex them all right away. Jessica Dawson, PhD Student in Anthrozoology, La Trobe University Pauleen Bennett, Professor and Head of Department, Psychology and Counselling, College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University Paul McGreevy, Professor of Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare Science, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.