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

An all-women expedition sets out to gather scientific data on the world's largest accumulation of marine plastic.

Fourteen EU environment ministers on Monday urged the European Commission to include 2050 net zero options in its upcoming long-term climate strategy and for the bloc to signal this year its willingness to up its Paris pledge.

France’s environment ministers are pushing for the EU’s trade policy to be brought into line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, in what many will see as a retaliatory move aimed at the US.

The average Australian feral cat kills 225 reptiles a year, which adds up to 596 million in total, according to a new estimate. Pet cats, meanwhile, kill a further 53 million. John Woinarski, Professor (conservation biology), Charles Darwin University Brett Murphy, Senior Research Fellow, Charles Darwin University Chris Dickman, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, University of Sydney Sarah Legge, Associate Professor, Australian National University Tim Doherty, Research Fellow, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A state-of-the-art telescope is named after Annie Maunder, a Victorian pioneer of space photography.

EU carbon prices drifted lower on Monday but remained above €15 amid a looming increase in supply.

China’s limits on contamination levels have sparked a recycling industry crisis. What are local and state governments doing to solve the problem?

“Did you put the recycling out?”

It’s a phrase regularly recited in millions of households across Australia, followed by a hollow rumble as the yellow-lidded wheelie bin is hauled to the curb. It’s a ritual that, in one form or another, takes place in more than 90% of Australian homes.

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Using greater amounts of carbon tax revenues to stimulate clean energy research and capital investment could bolster company economics and help gain support for carbon pricing, according to new research published on Monday and coming on the heels of the latest US carbon tax push.

Disappearing butterflies | Patriarchy and religion | Protesting Trump | Getaways in a Morris Minor | Ikea

I don’t know whether to be happy or sad. No cabbage white butterfly caterpillars chomping through my veg is great, but where have all the butterflies gone (Letters, passim)? Not only have I not seen a single cabbage white butterfly this year but no red admirals, no peacocks and no tortoiseshells. Very worrying.
Peter Hanson
Exeter

• As she dissected the subtle and not so subtle outrages of patriarchy experienced from Virginia Woolf to “labouring women in Mexico”, I wonder what discretion or inhibition Charlotte Higgins (Patriarchy: the return of a radical idea, 22 June) exercised not to mention the pronounced patriarchy in the Catholic church (the Holy Father for goodness sake), the male-delineated roles in ultra-orthodox Judaism, and in the various iterations (institutional or cultural) of Islam, all elided (that is to say obscured) in the one word reference to “religion”.
Philip Stogdon
London

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Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes as firefighters battle the blazes.

A team of six scientists has descended on Rum, a small island in the Inner Hebrides on the west coast of Scotland, to catch red deer calves. During the month-long initiative, overseen by the Isle of Rum Red Deer Project, newborns will be tagged so data can be gathered on them over the course of their lifetimes. The island is home to hundreds of deer and about only 30 people, all of whom live in Kinloch village on the east coast

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A beautifully preserved fossil bird from 52 million years ago is shaking up the family tree of the birds.

Fast-spreading Xylella fastidiosa is devastating species from citrus to oak trees, but can now be detected from the air

A devastating and fast-spreading infection killing olive trees and grapevines around the world can now be detected from the air, long before symptoms are visible to the human eye.

The new technique offers hope in the battle against one of the world’s most dangerous plant pathogens, which can infect 350 different species, including citrus and almond trees, as well as oaks, elms and sycamores. Special “hyperspectral” cameras provide an early warning system by detecting subtle changes in leaf colour.

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Energy access is critical to deliver on the SDGs and the UNFCCC climate agreement. We are looking for a passionate and committed individual, with a degree in a relevant subject and be fluent in English (with knowledge of French and Spanish an asset).

ISS-Ethix Climate Solutions is seeking a specialist to join its Stockholm-based team immediately. Successful candidates will have a background both in quantitative and qualitative analysis, experience with environmental impact analysis, and exhibit a passion for the responsible investment business with a focus on climate change.

CDP Europe, one of the world’s leading climate change charities, is seeking a highly motivated individual to support CDP’s work on the Science Based Targets Initiative.

Fellow Tory MPs say foreign secretary should resign over opposition to third runway

Boris Johnson is facing growing criticism from fellow Conservative MPs over his decision to miss Monday night’s crunch vote on Heathrow despite his claim that resigning over his opposition to a third runway would achieve “absolutely nothing”.

The foreign secretary, who is on a visit to Afghanistan, said he would continue to oppose the £14bn third runway with his ministerial colleagues behind closed doors.

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The positions of parties and key players before the Commons vote on expansion

On Monday evening MPs will vote on whether or not Heathrow airport should have a third runway. It is a deeply factious issue and, not unexpectedly, the divisions are complex.

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China State Council on Sunday released a raft of environmental policy orders, reaffirming its plans to establish a national emissions trading scheme by 2020 despite recent doubts and giving environmental regulators more power.