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Call for Australia to show Unesco it's 'walking the walk' on Great Barrier Reef
Conservationists say climate change threat must be addressed to avoid reef’s inclusion on ‘in-danger’ list
Conservationists say an official government report to the UN’s world heritage committee to be released next week must show Australia has fresh plans to attack the Great Barrier Reef’s two key threats – climate change and water quality.
At a forum earlier this month environment ministers signed-off on the “state of conservation” report for the reef,which was then sent to Unesco’s world heritage committee.
Continue reading...Campaigners call for sheep saved from capsized ship to be put out to pasture
‘They survived all this, they deserve a nice old age,’ says head of rescue team
A comfortable retirement to an all-you-can-eat grassy field seems the least that the 250 surviving sheep from the Queen Hind disaster in the Black Sea deserve. But there is still some debate over their fate, according to animal campaign groups working in Romania.
More than 14,600 sheep were on the ship, heading to Saudi Arabia on a busy animal export route, when it overturned coming out of the harbour on Sunday afternoon. All of the crew got away safely, but most of the animals are now believed to be dead.
Continue reading...Amazon fires intensify Andes glacier melt
Siberia: 18,000-year-old frozen 'dog' stumps scientists
How the climate and nature crisis is changing the UK – photo essay
The climate crisis is affecting people and wildlife across the UK, and WWF is urging political parties to respond
The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. More than 1,000 British species are at risk of extinction. Polls have repeatedly shown that while the British public may be divided on Brexit, we are united by our love of nature and concern about climate. The charity WWF is urging UK political parties to respond to the nature and climate crisis by committing to bold policies and investment to make the UK the first major economy to halt its contribution to climate change, put nature on a path to recovery and stop deforestation in food supply chains. It says the UK must pioneer an economic and financial system that works for people and planet and drive global ambition to respond to the climate emergency.
Continue reading...Cut the wrap! UK dairy farm aims to be first to go single-use plastic-free
Staff at Mossgiel farm hope to promote a more sustainable model of dairy farming, including delivering milk in reusable glass bottles
Lying in a field of grass among his herd of dairy cows, Ayrshire farmer Bryce Cunningham picks up and pretends to throw away a plastic carton of milk. This is what we want to get rid of on our farm, he says in a promotional video, as he explains his quest to become the UK’s first single-use plastic-free milk producer.
After raising more than £10,000 from a crowdfunding campaign, he’s managed to replace single-use plastic cartons with 32,000 glass bottles adorned with the face of Robert Burns – who’s said to have once worked on the farmland – which he is able to wash and reuse.
There are, of course, other farms selling milk in glass bottles, but Bryce is now also eliminating single-use plastics from feed, chemicals and other inputs bought onto the farm, as well as finding alternatives to plastic silage wraps used to store fodder for feeding the cows over the winter.
As well as buying glass bottles, he refurbished a milk bottling machine dating back to the 1960s from a local dairy farm that had been left unused after the owner had left dairying.
The milk from Bryce’s 55-cow herd, along with milk from two other organic farms that supply him, goes out to around 8–10,000 people in glass bottles across Scotland.
Jeremy Corbyn announces plan for 10 new parks and 2bn trees – video
Jeremy Corbyn announced plans to create 10 national parks under a Labour government and plant 2bn trees by 2040 to help tackle the climate crisis.
Speaking in Southampton to a crowd that included climate strikers, the party leader said: ‘We are living in the jaws of a climate and environment emergency. We cannot afford more wasted years of Conservative inaction from a government bought and paid for by the big polluters and the billionaires'
Continue reading...New generation of hydroelectric dams 'threaten Europe's rivers'
Dams have fuelled decline in fish populations, says chief executive of RiverWatch
Europe’s last free-flowing rivers could be fatally disrupted if a new generation of hydroelectric dams are built, experts have warned.
More than a quarter (28%) of new hydropower plants are to be constructed in nature reserves, with many planned in the Balkans, home to some of Europe’s last free-flowing rivers.
Continue reading...NZ Market: NZUs slide to 3-mth low amid lukewarm demand
Australian offset issuance remains below average levels
GM could help cut livestock methane emissions, say scientists
Genetic modification, banned in Europe, could have ‘great potential promise’
Gene-modifying techniques could reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, helping to feed the world while combating the climate emergency, scientists have said.
“Conventional [genetic] selection is extremely powerful,” said Mike Coffey, a professor of livestock informatics at Scotland’s Rural College. “At this point in time, GM [genetic modification] is not allowed in Europe, but some of these technologies could have great potential promise.”
Continue reading...'Bags for life' making plastic problem worse, say campaigners
Calls for ban or higher prices as sales jump to 1.5bn, equivalent to 54 bags per household
Plastic “bags for life” should be banned or raised in price, campaigners say, as new figures reveal a surge in the bags is fuelling a rise in the plastic packaging footprint of leading supermarkets.
Despite high profile promises by the country’s best known supermarkets to tackle the amount of plastic waste they create, their plastic footprint continues to rise, according to research from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Greenpeace.
Continue reading...Want to talk climate with your family at Thanksgiving? Read these tips
The crisis is in the spotlight now more than ever, so we consulted experts on how they navigate climate discussions those who see the world differently
The climate crisis is in the spotlight more than ever before. And that means it will probably come up at family events over the holidays.
The daily stream of climate news is unavoidable. Scientists are issuing warnings about the dangerous trajectory of rising temperatures. Weather disasters are increasingly being linked to human-caused changes to the climate. And national-level Democrats are making the climate disruption a top campaign issue.
Continue reading...More than 16,000 cans and bottles found in four days on UK beaches
Charity says findings underline need for deposit return scheme for plastic and glass bottles
Findings from a national beach cleanup underline the urgent need for a comprehensive deposit return scheme to stem the tide of plastic and glass bottles and cans littering the UK’s coastlines, a marine charity has said.
During four days of beach cleaning in September, volunteers logged more than 16,000 drinks containers of various kinds, the Marine Conservation Society said.
Continue reading...Other states should follow NSW demand reduction scheme with PERCs and DREDs
NSW's demand reduction scheme offers sensible and practical policies to deal with rising peak demand – an approach that should be embraced by other state governments.
The post Other states should follow NSW demand reduction scheme with PERCs and DREDs appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Tilt Renewables 300MW wind farm gets all clear from S.A. Supreme Court
A Supreme Court bid to block development of 300MW Palmer wind farm – due to potential impact on health of nearby residents – has been defeated.
The post Tilt Renewables 300MW wind farm gets all clear from S.A. Supreme Court appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Meridian Energy announces new Chief Executive of Meridian Australia
Meridian Energy today announced that Jason Stein has been appointed as Chief Executive for Meridian Energy Australia and Powershop Australia.
The post Meridian Energy announces new Chief Executive of Meridian Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Re-test of €30 a distant prospect for EU carbon prices, say analysts
Rio Tinto looking at renewables and storage as part of $1 billion mine upgrade
Rio Tinto may add renewables and battery storage to Tom Price iron ore project as part of $1 billion expansion.
The post Rio Tinto looking at renewables and storage as part of $1 billion mine upgrade appeared first on RenewEconomy.
UNEP says global emissions must be cut by 7.6% every year for next decade
UNEP singles out Australia as major problem in report that says global greenhouse gas emissions must fall by at least 7.6% each year risk missing 1.5°C Paris target.
The post UNEP says global emissions must be cut by 7.6% every year for next decade appeared first on RenewEconomy.
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