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Australia has the highest mammal extinction rate in the world. And of those that do remain, many are in danger of going the same way — including the eastern bettong.

Meat production is central to the debate on climate change and ethical food. But how much is too much – for people and the planet?

The meat on Richard Vines’s Wild Beef stall at Borough Market in London is purple. Puce, really; a cartoonish shade that old men sometimes go when they are really angry. Meat that is an unexpected hue would typically raise an eyebrow, but for Wild Beef’s devoted customers it’s the reason they come here. “The colour comes from the protein that’s been in the ground, the deep-rooted grasses, it gives that flavour of sweetness and that bit of fat taste as well,” explains Vines, who has 40 acres of wild pasture in Devon, on which he keeps Devon cattle and Welsh Blacks. “Dartmoor is mineral-rich country, God-given for cattle farming. Washed by the Gulf Stream, grass grows most of the year and there’s a lot of freedom for the cattle once they are up on the moor.”

For the carnivore, the chilled cabinet at Wild Beef is the promised land. There are all the familiar cuts (steaks, ribs), alongside parts of the cow you don’t see so often (cheeks and a giant, lolling tongue that is practically black). And, if you get there early and ask nicely, Vines will slip you a bag of bones from under the counter. “One thing that’s changed: people don’t sit down for Sunday lunch any more,” he says. “Just doesn’t happen, we don’t sell many joints. But I’m working out ways of making steaks all the time. Last year we did flat iron steaks; I didn’t know what they were but they sell. And 20 years ago, we used to waste buckets of liver and such like, which nobody wanted. Now the offal all goes before the meat.”

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Twenty-five states have attempted to introduce legislation to chill animal rights activism, and six have succeeded, as a string of ‘ag-gag’ laws are overturned in courts

A US governor has signed off legislation to prop up controversial “ag-gag” laws in Iowa, just months after a federal court declared them unconstitutional.

In retaliation, animal rights activists are calling on their supporters to boycott the state as a vacation destination.

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A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

California and Quebec will auction more than 75 million current and future vintage allowances at its May 14 sale, which will not include any California unsold permits for the first time in nearly two years.

A summary of legislative action on carbon pricing and clean energy bills at the US state level taken this week, including the passage of a 100% clean electricity bill in New Mexico, calls for higher GHG targets in Maine, and a carbon sequestration financial package in Washington state.

Concerns that Ontario’s proposed emissions reduction system for large emitters could be weaker than Ottawa’s ‘backstop’ programme may not matter if the provincial government won’t commit to the policy in the long-term amid legal and political uncertainty, stakeholders said at a webinar on Friday.

IEEP has a vacancy for a climate policy intern. The successful internship applicant will support the Climate & Governance Team in contributing to the organisation of a conference for a client on the subject of climate justice in conjunction with the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019, as well as the dissemination of its results.

European carbon prices eased back on Friday in relatively calm trade that remains stifled by uncertainty over how and when Britain might leave the EU carbon market.

Wattle seeds highly sought after by chefs; volunteers clean up Abrolhos islands; award-winning tea growers offer tips on the perfect brew; beekeeper heads into the bush for fresh local honey.

EU member states have handed out a further 57 million free carbon allowances over the past fortnight, with Germany and Italy accounting for the bulk of that.

School and university students in more than 100 countries have gone on strike to demand that politicians take urgent action on climate change. The coordinated protests were organised on social media under the 'Fridays For Future' banner and inspired by the 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who is in her 30th week of striking on Fridays.

• It's our time to rise up': youth climate strikes held in 100 countries
• Think we should be at school? Today’s climate strike is the biggest lesson of all

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A crowd sourced audio zine that celebrates the world outside walls from the perspective of LGBQTIA+ people from all over the world.

Commitments agreed at UN conference in Kenya do not go far enough, say green groups

Environmental groups involved in talks at a United Nations conference in Kenya have accused the US of blocking an ambitious global response to plastic pollution.

Representatives of countries at the UN environment conference in Nairobi this week agreed to significantly reduce single-use plastics over the next decade but the voluntary pledges fell far short of what was required, according to green groups.

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Chris Packham among those challenging Natural England over licence to slaughter certain wild birds

The killing of thousands of “pest” birds each year including crows, rooks, jackdaws, magpies and woodpigeons is to be challenged in court by wildlife campaigners including Chris Packham.

Wild Justice, a group newly created by Packham and fellow conservationists Mark Avery and Ruth Tingay, is launching legal action against Natural England, the government’s conservation watchdog, for issuing a general licence that allows the unlimited slaughter of certain wild birds all year round.

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Young people, inspired by Greta Thunberg, have stepped out of lessons to press politicians to act on climate change

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Italian oil major ENI will invest in forest protection as part of a voluntary pledge to achieve net zero upstream emissions by 2030, it said on Friday, but the firm’s plans to grow fossil fuel output mean its full carbon footprint is still likely to rise.

A starry dwarf frog, blooming poppy fields and a black-winged kite

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The northeast US RGGI cap-and-trade programme’s first auction of 2019 cleared above the secondary market price, results showed Friday, falling well outside of market participants’ expectations prior to the sale.

Peter Rutter’s greatest gift was a profound faith in the goodness of life, which led him to trust others as he expected to be trusted. I knew Peter, who has died aged 95, as a friend and as a Friend (a Quaker) for 25 years and never heard him disparage anyone.

The son of Hester and Farley Rutter, Peter was born in Shaftesbury, Dorset, to a lineage of Quaker lawyers, and was to become a partner in the family firm, Rutter & Rutter where his father was also employed. But at 18 his legal studies were interrupted by the second world war.

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