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Conversation can be turned into conservation, says Phil Brown. Plus Rob Yorke on the need for honesty about trade-offs between land use and diet choices

Chris Packham is wrong to propose banning dogs from nature reserves (Two hundred ways to save British wildlife, Opinion, 19 September). In fact, the enactment of such a measure would actually exacerbate the problem of dogs and nature by depriving the largest single group of green-space users in Britain, namely dog walkers, from access to countryside awareness.

Instead of a knee-jerk ban, he should consider an effective alternative that balances access with conservation. If he were to visit Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Carlton Marshes nature reserve on the edge of Lowestoft, he would learn how – with its dog ambassador scheme – it has managed to turn conversation into conservation. Through the scheme, Carlton’s dog owners have learned to access the reserve in a considerate fashion that supports the trust’s wildlife conservation objectives.

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Men who stopped lorries to become first campaigners to be jailed for a protest in UK since 1932

Four anti-fracking activists face being the first environmental campaigners to be jailed for a protest in the UK since 1932.

Simon Roscoe Blevins, 26, Richard Loizou, 31 and Richard Roberts, 36, were told by a judge to expect custodial sentences after being convicted of causing a public nuisance by a jury at Preston crown court in August. Another defendant, Julian Brock, 47, pleaded guilty so did not face trial.

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A beluga whale has been spotted off Gravesend in Kent. The cetacean is more than 1,000 miles from its usual Arctic habitat. Experts say it appears lost but is swimming strongly

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The UK opposition left-wing Labour party said on Tuesday that it would set a net zero 2050 emissions target should it win the country’s next election.

European carbon slid by more than euro on Tuesday on technical selling, weaker energy prices, and as another weak auction failed to inspire confidence that buyers would emerge to push EUAs back to their recent 10-year high.

Lawsuit argues that customers are being misled after tests found traces of glyphosate in bread products

Two lawsuits have been filed against the sandwich company Pret a Manger in the US, claiming it deceptively labelled and marketed breads as “natural” when they contained glyphosate.

The “false and misleading” practice suits come after it emerged that a teenager who was severely allergic to sesame died at London’s Heathrow airport in 2016, after eating an unlabelled Pret sandwich that contained the ingredient.

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Europe's workhorse rocket reaches for a milestone as it battles American competition.

Two countries have frozen funding after a draft internal UN audit raised concerns over Erik Solheim’s frequent flying and expenses

Two countries have halted their funding to the UN Environment programme following sharp criticism of its leader’s frequent flying in a draft internal audit.

The audit also said Erik Solheim, a former Norwegian environment minister, had “no regard for abiding by the set regulations and rules” and had claimed unjustified expenses. Now, Denmark and Sweden have frozen their funding until the audit is finalised.

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Conservationists have welcomed the decision by Maxim’s, one of Hong Kong’s biggest restaurant chains, to ban shark fin at all of its outlets from January 2020

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Experts say animal may have been forced 1,000 miles south of its usual habitat by storms

A beluga whale has been sighted off Gravesend in the Thames estuary, more than 1,000 miles from its usual habitat in the Arctic.

The ghostly white whale was videoed and photographed coming up for air on Tuesday lunchtime.

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An increasing number of people are choosing the plant-based diet.

NZ flags new policies to encourage EVs, including a penalty for buyers of high emissions vehicles and a rebate for low or zero emission cars.

The post NZ to offer more EV incentives, as registrations reach 10,000 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Park lands have warmed twice as fast as the rest of the country

America’s national parks have warmed twice as fast as the US average and could see some of the worst effects of climate change, according to a new study.

Most of Joshua Tree national park could become uninhabitable for its eponymous trees, glaciers will continue to melt away at Glacier national park, and many other of America’s most treasured beauty spots could be rendered virtually unrecognizable by climate change, Patrick Gonzalez, the lead author of the study, writes in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

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A 400-year-old-shipwreck has been found off the coast of Portugal.

A cotton farm in regional NSW has halved its annual diesel fuel consumption, with "Australia’s largest" solar hybrid irrigation pump.

The post Solar hybrid pump cuts NSW irrigator’s fuel bill in half appeared first on RenewEconomy.

India's Maruti Suzuki will soon begin testing of its first EV prototype as it gears up to release 50 electric cars onto the Indian market.

The post Suzuki prepares to test first electric vehicles in massive India market appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Ruling cancels indefinitely a controversial sport hunt of grizzlies in Wyoming and Idaho

In a ruling hailed as historic for wildlife conservation in America, a US judge on Monday ordered that the world-famous grizzly bears living in and around Yellowstone national park be returned to the endangered species list.

The move means that a controversial sport hunt of grizzlies in Wyoming and Idaho – outside the boundaries of the park – will be canceled indefinitely, extending protections against hunting that have lasted 44 years.

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Mosses are the only plants that can withstand life in East Antarctica's frozen landscape. But a new study shows that life is getting even harder, as ozone loss and climate change make conditions even drier. Melinda Waterman, Associate lecturer, University of Wollongong Johanna Turnbull, Associate Lecturer in Biology, University of Wollongong Sharon Robinson, Professor, University of Wollongong Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

PRESS RELEASE Tuesday 25 September, 2018: Responding to the news that Standard Chartered has ruled out finance for “any new coal-fired power plant projects, including expansions, in any location“, Market Forces Executive Director Julien Vincent said:“This is what leadership on coal and climate change looks like. Decisions about how the world sources its future energy...

The post Standard Chartered offers leadership on coal and climate change in key energy markets appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Coal baron Trevor St Baker's team says wind is curtailed 60 per cent of the time. AEMO data suggests that is not even in the same postcode as the truth.

The post Coal baron Trevor St Baker and his nonsense about wind curtailment appeared first on RenewEconomy.