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Background Briefing has uncovered evidence about the NSW Ambulance officers stealing fentanyl.

Australian Academy of Science launches 10-year plan to document hundreds of thousands of unknown species

With an estimated 70% of Australian organisms still undocumented and funding for species discovery declining, the national science academy will head to parliament on Friday to argue that a rapid reversal is needed to avoid extinctions and reveal unimagined health and biosecurity solutions.

The Australian Academy of Science and its New Zealand counterpart, the Royal Society Te Apārangi, are launching a 10-year plan to study and name unknown species, warning that a sound understanding of biodiversity is critical in the face of a global extinction crisis.

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Ammonia from farms mixes with factory emissions and traffic exhaust to create high levels of air pollution

Runners in this year’s London Marathon escaped breathing badly polluted air as westerly winds cleared springtime smog just before the race start. Images of spring include blossom and fresh green growth, but it is often our most polluted time of year, and air pollution frequently reaches the top level on the UK government’s 10-point scale.

In spring 2014 Paris instigated odd/even number plate bans and David Cameron memorably tweeted that he was cancelling his run due to air pollution. That year, spring particle pollution caused an estimated 600 early deaths across England and Wales.

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Aerial footage supplied by the Lock the Gate Alliance shows the site of the former Ebenezer coalmine near Ipswich – which will remain a cratered landscape after the Queensland government accepted a rehabilitation plan from the site's current owner

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Scientists have been naming species after well-known people since the 18th century, often in a bid for publicity. But the issue deserves attention – 400,000 Australian species are yet to be described. Kevin Thiele, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, University of Western Australia Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

China new cleanliness standards for the recyclable materials it imports are so stringent that they are tantamount to a total ban. Australian councils are now in crisis mode as the rubbish piles up. Jenni Downes, Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Finnish utility Fortum emitted 1.1 million tonnes of CO2 from its EU ETS-regulated facilities over the first quarter, up 22% year-on-year, it said in financial results on Thursday.

EPA administrator blames media and his job’s learning curve as lawmakers grill him over lavish spending and ethical controversies

Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has blamed the media and the “learning process” of his job for the flurry of ethical controversies that have engulfed his tenure, during a lacerating congressional hearing.

Pruitt said opponents of Donald Trump, and the media, had sought to “derail the president’s agenda and priorities” by highlighting the questionable use of taxpayer funds for first-class flights, office furniture and 24-hour personal security, as well as his use of a Washington apartment owned by an energy lobbyist’s wife.

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Site of former Ebenezer coalmine near Ipswich will remain a cratered landscape after authorities apparently lose key environmental documents

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The Queensland government accepted a “bare minimum” rehabilitation plan for a decommissioned coalmine near Ipswich after apparently losing key documents relating to the site’s environmental conditions.

The site of the former Ebenezer mine will remain scarred by massive voids and a waste dam. Rather than fill them – a course of action demanded by environmentalists and local community groups – the owner wants to keep the cratered landscape in the hope of selling the site as a readymade garbage dump.

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The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) expects to start earning revenue from RGGI allowance auctions in fiscal year 2020, consistent with the department’s thinking outlined at a presentation last month.

EU carbon prices could dip back to as low as €11, some 22% below recent highs, if investors cool their recent interest or opt to take profits from selling EUAs bought at much lower prices, ICIS analysts said on Thursday.

New Zealand’s Productivity Commission on Friday urged the government to bring agriculture into the emissions trading scheme, and pave the way for carbon prices to grow almost tenfold over the next three decades in case new technologies are slow to emerge.

Nasa and Esa sign a letter of intent that could lead to the first "round trip" to the Red Planet.

Reporting to the Section Manager, Refurbishment Environment, the role of Environmental Advisor offers a unique opportunity to provide strategic environmental direction. This role is responsible for delivering technical and consultative services on environmental related matters to nuclear facilities.

We should account for the costs of disease and death from fossil fuel pollution in climate change policies

While the climate policy world is littered with numbers, three of them have dominated recent discourse: 2, 1000, and 66.

At the 2015 U.N. climate summit in Paris, world leaders agreed to limit global warming below 2°C to avoid catastrophic impacts of human-caused climate change. The science consequently dictates that, for a 50% chance of staying below 2°C, around 1,000 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (or 300 billion tonnes of carbon) can be emitted between now and 2050, and close to zero thereafter. We’re currently emitting 36 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. However, the potential greenhouse gas emissions contained in known, extractable fossil fuel reserves are around three times higher than this carbon budget, meaning that 66% must be kept in the ground.

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Senators say Koch-linked figures are driving environmental policy, as résumés obtained by the Guardian and Documented show ties between staffers and network

Democratic senators are demanding information about what they call the Koch brothers’ “infiltration” of the Trump administration, charging that Koch-linked personnel have secured key federal jobs and are determining US environmental and public health policy.

The senators – including Sheldon Whitehouse, Edward Markey, Catherine Cortez Masto, Tom Udall, Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren – sent letters to eight government bodies and the White House requesting “information related to efforts by Charles and David Koch, Koch Industries, and the numerous groups they fund to influence decisions”.

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Sources within EPA tell Guardian that proposals are threadbare and muddled – ‘they’re are just making it up as they go along’

Donald Trump has overseen an onslaught against environmental regulations while insisting, in the wake of the Flint lead crisis, that he would ensure “crystal-clean water” for Americans.

The federal government says it is currently drawing up a new plan to tackle lead contamination, which the Environmental Protection Agency says will be unveiled in June.

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EU carbon prices jumped to a one-week high on Thursday after the day’s auction cleared at the largest premium to the secondary market in nine months.

Six conservationists have been recognised for their work with local communities to protect threatened wildlife and habitat around the world. The prestigious awards, known as the ‘green Oscars’, are made annually by the Whitley Fund for Nature, and provide winners with funding to scale up their projects

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An increasing number of Australian small and medium businesses are using solar and battery storage to go off-grid. But is it worth it? Here's what one Queensland company has found.