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Despite their high prevalence in many towns, experts warn that gull numbers are rapidly declining.

Greenpeace UK and Uplift are seeking a judicial review in the Scottish courts to stop opening of huge new oilfield

Climate campaigners have launched two separate legal challenges to government plans to open a massive new oilfield in the North Sea.

Greenpeace and the campaign group Uplift argue that the decision to press ahead with the Rosebank development – the UK’s biggest untapped oilfield – is incompatible with the UK’s legally binding climate commitments, and say ministers’ original analysis ignored the devastating impact of burning oil from the site.

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Researchers have determined what they believe is the optical forest management approach to balance logging needs and maximise carbon sequestration.

Energy Trends 2024 looks at how some markets have taken action to further expand the flexibility available from the demand side to support the grid during peak periods.

The post Flexibility is key to reach a more sustainable future GridBeyond’s energy report says appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The three hostages were mistakenly killed in Gaza on Friday by Israeli troops.

Legally binding deals struck with landholders can help protect and restore the environment over the long term. Benjamin J. Richardson, Professor of Environmental Law, University of Tasmania Afshin Akhtar-Khavari, Professor of International Law, Queensland University of Technology James Fitzsimons, Adjunct Professor in Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Phillipa C. McCormack, Future Making Fellow, Environment Institute, University of Adelaide Sarah Brugler, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Law, University of Tasmania Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

SaxaVord Spaceport on the island of Unst has been given approval from the Civil Aviation Authority.

Footage emerging from far north Queensland shows flooded homes, bridges and roads – and an animal being rescued from the Barron River, north of Cairns. One resident, Bazz Goes, documents his walk across the Barron Bridge in Karunda, noting that the water is at the level of the bridge, normally high above the river. 'The police and SES [state emergency service] are over here, and people are actually doing a cow rescue,' Goes says. Authorities on Sunday afternoon warned residents to expect continuous heavy rainfall for at least another day in what they called a 'life-threatening event'

• Cairns airport closed as Queensland premier declares ‘serious weather emergency’ amid record flood fears

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In an exclusive interview, the ex-Tory peer says she and her husband were made "scapegoats" for PPE failings.

The Waratah Super Battery project, designed to help fill the gap left by the closure of Eraring by creating a type of giant "shock absorber", will receive more than $700m.

The post Giant Waratah Super Battery project to receive more than $700m to help fill Eraring gap appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Rooftop PV sends brown coal output inVictoria to record low, while NSW hits new demand and renewable output records

The post Energy shift in action: Brown coal hits new low in Victoria, renewables hit new high in NSW appeared first on RenewEconomy.

From Eurovision super fans to solar eclipses and star celebrities, here is a selection of the finest work by our photographers

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Alex Batty, who was missing for six years, has returned to the UK, Greater Manchester Police says.

Three hostages were mistakenly killed in Gaza on Friday by Israeli troops in an area of intense fighting.

The UN summit’s deal heralds the end of coal, oil and gas. The real test is whether producers back it up with action

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From the start, Cop28 appeared beyond the reach of satire. About 100,000 politicians, diplomats, lobbyists, business people, investors, activists, scientists, policy wonks and journalists from across the globe registered for a two-week climate summit hosted by an authoritarian oil state in a city, Dubai, known for skyscrapers and extravagant, energy-hungry consumerism.

The president of the summit, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, is the chief executive of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, which is planning a US$150bn oil and gas expansion. The United Arab Emirates is also investing in renewables – its Noor Energy 1 concentrated solar thermal plant is bigger than 6,000 football fields – but a more prominent sight in central Dubai is the world’s biggest gas-fired power plant.

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Roy Scholten has been interested in birds ever since he can remember. In his 50 Birds series, the Netherlands-based artist and printmaker has created handmade prints of local species including pied flycatchers, skylarks and blue-headed wagtails. Each print is made using Lego letterpress, combining individual building blocks into stamps to recreate the birds’ shapes and patterns, a technique perfected over the past decade by his frequent collaborator, the artist Martijn van der Blom. “Birds are daily reminders of the richness of our natural surroundings. They can fly! How cool is that!” says Scholten. “Sadly most species are in decline, which makes it all the more worthwhile to really look and appreciate them.”

• Works from Scholten and Van der Blom’s book Print & Play are on show at Grafisch Atelier Hilversum in the Netherlands until 4 February 2024

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From emissions to road deaths, the trend for ever-bigger SUVs is a disaster. We need regulation to turn the car industry back to smaller vehicles

The United States is in the midst of a full-blown size crisis. No, I’m not talking about the mad rush for Wegovy, which is selling so swiftly that Denmark has to remove data relating to manufacturers Novo Nordisk to measure (the rest of) its economy properly. And no, I’m not talking about … something else. I’m talking about the enormous monstrosities filling up its roads. (Yeah, I see you on the streets of downtown Cleveland alone in your $85,000, 7,000lb Dodge Ram and I can tell you’re not a farmer … maybe that actually says something about the “something else”.)

There are lots of trends, ideas, music and films that cross the Atlantic. Some of them are good. This is not one of them. Neither are the 500 Krispy Kreme “points of access” the American chain is planning to open across France over the next year. (One, OK, fine, for the novelty, but 500 in the next year? In a country that exists in a completely different universe when it comes to pastries?)

Alexander Hurst is a Guardian Europe columnist

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Another big solar farm gets planning approval in NSW, despite some strong objections, after agreeing to widen the gap between rows of modules to allow more sheep on the property.

The post Big solar farm in NSW approved after widening gaps in solar rows to allow more sheep appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

The Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) is advising regional policymakers and regulators on how to embed a high-integrity voluntary carbon market within national strategies and frameworks.