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Culture ministry says it will press charges against activists for damage to world heritage site as UN climate talks began in Lima

Greenpeace has apologised to the people of Peru after the government accused the environmentalists of damaging ancient earth markings in the country’s coastal desert by leaving footprints in the ground during a publicity stunt meant to send a message to the UN climate talks delegates in Lima.

A spokesman for Greenpeace said: “Without reservation Greenpeace apologises to the people of Peru for the offence caused by our recent activity laying a message of hope at the site of the historic Nazca lines. We are deeply sorry for this.

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Over five trillion pieces of plastic are floating in our oceans says most comprehensive study to date on plastic pollution around the world

• Microplastic deposits found deep in world’s oceans

More than five trillion pieces of plastic, collectively weighing nearly 269,000 tonnes, are floating in the world’s oceans, causing damage throughout the food chain, new research has found.

Data collected by scientists from the US, France, Chile, Australia and New Zealand suggests a minimum of 5.25tn plastic particles in the oceans, most of them “micro plastics” measuring less than 5mm.

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The Government is proposing a new set of rules to support the operation of the Emissions Reduction Fund: the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Rule 2015 (the Rules). Comments close 19 December.

The Government is proposing a new set of rules to support the operation of the Emissions Reduction Fund: the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Rule 2015 (the Rules). Comments close 19 December.

Vietnamese are protesting plans to build a cable car through remote Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park that could carry 1,000 visitors an hour to Son Doong cave

Plans for a cable car in Vietnam’s Unesco-listed Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park would open up the world’s largest cave to mass tourism. But Vietnamese are protesting the project, and experts warn the environmental impact could be devastating.

Quang Binh province announced in October that resort developer Sun Group would build a $212m (£135m) cable car system through the national park, which occupies a remote, mountainous swathe of central Vietnam. The 10.6km route would connect Son Doong Cave, so large it could house an entire 40-story building, with other caves in the area as part of a planned “tourism, service and resort complex”.

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Global livestock industry produces more greenhouse gas emissions than transport but fear of a consumer backlash is preventing action, says Chatham House report

Curbing the world’s huge and increasing appetite for meat is essential to avoid devastating climate change, according to a new report. But governments and green campaigners are doing nothing to tackle the issue due to fears of a consumer backlash, warns the analysis from the thinktank Chatham House.

The global livestock industry produces more greenhouse gas emissions than all cars, planes, trains and ships combined, but a worldwide survey by Ipsos MORI in the report finds twice as many people think transport is the bigger contributor to global warming.

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Nominations are invited for places for the National Heritage List for the assessment period 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016, nominations close 6 February 2015.

Eradication effort to protect the island’s wildlife from millions of invasive rats, which will feed on the brains of live seabird chicks, starts in 2015

Conservationists are undertaking a final push to wipe out millions of rats from South Georgia once and for all, in a bid to protect the island’s wildlife.

Described as the world’s largest rodent eradication project, the UK-led effort will see three helicopters dropping 95 tonnes of the poison Brodifacoum on the British overseas territory next year.

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Nordic Council calls on EU to ban damaging compounds found in household products that cost millions due to their harmful impact on male reproductive health

The hormone-mimicking chemicals used routinely in toiletries, cosmetics, medicines, plastics and pesticides cause hundreds of millions of euros of damage to EU citizens every year, according to the first estimate of their economic impact.

The endocrine disruptor compounds (EDCs) are thought to be particularly harmful to male reproductive health and can cause testicular cancer, infertility, deformation of the penis and undescended testicles.

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The Department invites your feedback on community awareness of the Emissions Reduction Fund. Responses close 31 December 2014.

Written submissions to the independent review of Commonwealth Marine Reserves open today. The co-Chairs of the Bioregional Advisory Panels, Professor Colin Buxton and Mr Peter Cochrane invite interested parties to provide them with ideas and suggestions on how marine reserves should be managed into the future.

The Australian Government has commenced a water purchase tender for the southern New South Wales catchments of Lower Darling, Murray and Murrumbidgee, closing at 5pm AEST on Friday, 10 April 2015.

Every time you enter the ocean, anywhere on Earth with a temperate or subtropical climate, you cross into the domain of the great white shark. But almost everything the average human thinks he or she knows about these sharks – other than the fact that they are big and dangerous – is wrong. We unpick 10 of the most tenacious myths

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Round Five is now open for applications and will close 4pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time), 19 March 2015.

Nominations are now invited for the assessment period starting 1 October 2015, for any threatened species, threatened ecological communities or key threatening processes to be considered for listing under national environment law. Nominations...

See information on Australia’s emissions compared with the United States and China.

See information on Australia’s emissions compared with the United States and China.

Over 50 companies, including Samsung, Dell, Sky and B&Q, have signed up to UK government-backed plan to refurbish and resell unwanted electrical goods

Consumers will be urged to trade in their unwanted electrical gadgets at retailers in return for cash – with the products to be refurbished and resold – as part of a national initiative unveiled on Tuesday.

The government-backed plan to improve the disposal of electric waste is supported by 51 companies and organisations including Samsung, Dell, Sky, B&Q, and the owner of Argos and Homebase.

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The Collaborative Australian Protected Area Database (CAPAD) is used to provide a national perspective of the conservation of biodiversity in protected areas.

On Tuesday, the Senate will vote to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. With Republicans now in control of both chambers in Congress, here’s a round-up of some of the most prominent climate sceptics (and deniers) in the GOP

It’s much easier to list Republicans in Congress who think climate change is real than it is to list Republicans who don’t, because there are so few members of the former group. Earlier this year, Politifact went looking for congressional Republicans who had not expressed scepticism about climate change and came up with a list of eight (out of 278).

But with the GOP taking over the Senate next year – and with the Senate set to vote on approving the Keystone XL pipeline on Tuesday – the question again arises of what, exactly, prominent Republicans think about the evidence that humans are changing the climate.

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