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Coastguard expresses shock after decades-old piece of debris ends up on UK beach

A plastic washing-up bottle that is at least 47 years old has been found washed up on a beach in the UK with its lettering and messaging still clear, prompting warnings about the enduring problem of plastic waste.

The item, found by a coastguard warden at a beach in Somerset, “still looks almost new”, said the organisation. “We were staggered yesterday by how much debris has washed up on the beach,” wrote the Burnham Coastguard on Facebook. “It’s shocking how long … rubbish can survive and ultimately harm nature.”

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The Australian prime minister Scott Morrison says the Coalition will look carefully at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report which was released on Monday. The report shows even half a degree of extra warming will affect hundreds of millions of people and urges governments around the world to phase out coal power by 2050. Morrison says, 'Let's not forget Australia accounts for just over 1% of global emissions. There are a lot bigger players than us out there. ... Emissions per capita in Australia are at their lowest level in a decade.'

But environment department figures show emissions increased 1.3% in the year to March 2018 and that Australia is likely to miss the target.

• Australian government backs coal in defiance of IPCC climate warning

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Northern Territory’s largest solar PV project seals a solar off-take deal with NT-owned utility Jacana Energy.

The post Northern Territory signs PPA with 25MW solar farm, as grid reforms take shape appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The 50-year-old was bitten on the shoulder near Yeppoon on Tuesday and was taken to Rockhampton hospital

A shark has mauled a man off the central Queensland coast – the state’s third shark attack in as many weeks.

A boat carrying the victim, aged in his 50s, reached the mainland near Yeppoon early on Tuesday but it’s understood he was bitten on the shoulder on Monday, paramedics said.

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

White Rock solar farm begins producing electricity to the main grid, becoming the second wind-solar hybrid facility in the NEM.

The post White Rock solar farm begins production, completing latest wind-solar hybrid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

For 17 years, the charity FareShare has been gathering food that's about to become waste, and turning it into healthy meals for Victorians facing hunger.

European carbon prices topped €22.50 for the first time in two weeks on Monday, but ended in the red after news was published suggesting the UK is unlikely to stay in the EU ETS post-Brexit.

RGGI compliance entities are increasing their long positions in the market as prices continue to rise above the $5.00 level, according to data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Why it's vital we take steps to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees

Here's five things we can do to help prevent global temperatures rising more than 1.5 degrees C.

The UK is "unlikely" to remain in the EU ETS after it leaves the bloc but its strong preference is to design a domestic approach that is "highly aligned" with the continental carbon market, a senior British government official said.

The Western Climate Initiative (WCI) is set to commission a report this week to help it better account for cross-border compliance instrument transfers in the North American carbon market and demonstrate progress toward climate goals, including those outlined in the Paris Agreement.

The test could help explain why people with apparently no risk factors can still have a heart attack.

Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) prices under the US Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) slid back to near single digits Monday as reports suggested President Donald Trump will announce year-round sales of 15% ethanol blends (E15) at a Tuesday rally.

Mary Fawcett and Geoff Walmsley look for and offer solutions to the problem of recycling the bag that the newspaper’s Saturday supplements come in

Having just read “Crunch time for forests and plastic pollution” (Letters, 6 October), I wonder if anyone can help me? For about a year I’ve been collecting the plastic film wrappers from the Guardian’s Weekend magazine and other Saturday sections. I’ve now filled a very large sack. Does anyone know of a firm that will recycle this material? Our local authority waste collection does not.
Mary Fawcett
Bath

• My wife is a Women’s Institute member and we were impressed to note that its magazine, WI Life, has switched from polythene wrapping to a compostable potato-starch alternative. It would be good to see the Guardian burnish its green credentials and adopt the same method for the Weekend magazine.
Geoff Walmsley
Wirral, Cheshire

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Even half degree of extra warming will affect hundreds of millions of people, decimate corals and intensify heat extremes, report shows

• Full report: We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN

World leaders have been told they have moral obligation to ramp up their action on the climate crisis in the wake of a new UN report that shows even half a degree of extra warming will affect hundreds of millions of people, decimate corals and intensify heat extremes.

But the muted response by Britain, Australia and other governments highlights the immense political challenges facing adoption of pathways to the relatively safe limit of 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures outlined on Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

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“I’d like to taste the freedom that nature holds so high, to wander round a global dream before I have to die.” That was the prophetic verse of a 17-year-old Richard Northcote, who ultimately lived in many countries and travelled extensively. His dream was the creation of a sustainable world.

As chief sustainability officer for Covestro, a manufacturer of high-tech polymer materials, my father, Richard, who has died suddenly aged 58, found an organisation that shared his passion. Thanks to his enthusiastic advocacy, Covestro embraced the UN sustainable development goals, helping to launch innovative products and technologies that reduce environmental impact.

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IPCC authors suggest there is high agreement that injection of chemicals into stratosphere could help limit rises

• Full report: We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN
  

The world may increasingly look to geoengineering in the wake of the latest UN climate report, which says it could be adopted as a temporary “remedial measure” if the world heads towards dangerous levels of warming.

The authors of the new 1.5C study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say there is high agreement that the injection of millions of tonnes of sulphur dioxide or nitrous oxide into the stratosphere could help limit temperature rises to the most ambitious target of the Paris accord.

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Captive-bred birds spend most of their lives under close scrutiny. Until suddenly, they are fending for themselves in the wild.