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China’s efforts to protect the ozone layer | Letters
We noted your report (July 9) on Chinese enterprises’ “production and use” of CFC-11. The Chinese government’s position on ozone layer protection is consistent and clear. We attach great importance to and conscientiously implement relevant international environmental conventions. Production and use of ozone depleting substances (ODSs) that are not permissible in the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer is illegal and subject to legal action as soon as detected.
China’s policy is zero tolerance against illicit conduct involving ODSs, including CFC-11. In line with this policy, the competent government agency in China took the relevant media reports seriously, and launched a joint inspection with local authorities on 19 polyurethane foam producers and a business cluster. In 12 of the enterprises under investigation no sales or use of CFC‑11 has been found. In one enterprise where CFC-11 was detected in its composite polyether materials, the local authorities have taken enforcement measures according to the law; the remaining six are under further investigation.
Continue reading...Welsh river study reveals 'troubling' decline of wildlife
Forty-year study shows loss of invertebrates, with repercussions for larger animals
One of the longest-running studies of streams in the world – the minute study of 14 brooks that tumble through a remote Welsh mountain landscape – has exposed a troubling loss of riverine wildlife.
Ecologists working on the Llyn Brianne Observatory project in mid Wales, which has been in operation for almost 40 years, have flagged up the disappearance and decline of invertebrates from the streams.
Continue reading...Crunch time for Walkers over non-recyclable crisp packets
Petition calls on snacks firm to end use of plastic in the 11 million packets a day produced at Leicester factory
The UK’s biggest crisp brand, Walkers, will come under pressure this week to explain why it is helping to fuel the plastic waste littering the streets and seas by producing more than 7,000 non-recyclable crisp packets every minute.
A new analysis carried out by campaign organisation 38 Degrees has found that Walkers is set to produce an additional 28bn plastic crisp packets by 2025 – the date by which the company has pledged to make its crisp packets 100% recyclable, compostable or biodegradable.
Continue reading...Oceans’ last chance: ‘It's taken years of negotiations to set this up’
Wildlife in most of the lawless high seas faces an existential threat from fishing, shipping and the military. Next month, a landmark UN conference could finally bring hope
The leatherback turtle is one of our planet’s most distinctive creatures. It can live for decades and grow to weigh up to two tonnes. It is the largest living reptile on Earth and its evolutionary roots reach back more than 100 million years.
“Leatherbacks are living fossils,” says oceanographer Professor Callum Roberts, of York University. “But they are not flourishing. In fact, they are being wiped out at an extraordinary rate, particularly in the Pacific Ocean, where their numbers have declined by 97% over the past three decades. They are now critically endangered there.”
Continue reading...'Bad policy': Tony Burke slams $444m Great Barrier Reef grant
Shadow environment minister says researchers would be forced to apply to private foundation for taxpayer funds
The shadow environment minister Tony Burke has slammed the “completely unprecedented” grant of $444m to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation claiming the not-for-profit group “doesn’t yet know what it’s going to do with the money”.
Appearing on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday Burke questioned the appropriateness of conditions on the federal funding, which he said would allow the foundation to lobby the mining industry for sponsorship but force researchers to apply to the private foundation to get taxpayer funds.
Continue reading...Turnbull announces immediate payments for drought-stricken farmers
Lump-sum payments of up to $12,000 just the beginning of long-term response, says PM
Farmers will receive immediate additional financial support to help them and their communities fight one of the worst droughts of the past century.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will return to Trangie in central NSW on Sunday to announce the $190m new package that will also provide mental health services.
Continue reading...Only a third of plastic food packaging can be recycled, councils say
Scrap ‘smorgasbord’ of plastics used in packaging, town hall chiefs tell manufacturers
Only a third of the plastic in packaging pots and trays for food can be recycled, local authorities have said.
Town hall chiefs urged manufacturers to scrap the “smorgasbord” of plastics used to package foods from fruit and vegetables to yoghurt, margarine and microwave meals to help cut waste and increase recycling.
Continue reading...Plastic food pots and trays are often unrecyclable, say councils
Trump administration lifts ban on pesticides linked to declining bee numbers
Environmentalists say lifting the restriction poses a grave threat to pollinating insects
The Trump administration has rescinded an Obama-era ban on the use of pesticides linked to declining bee populations and the cultivation of genetically modified crops in dozens of national wildlife refuges where farming is permitted.
Environmentalists, who had sued to bring about the two-year-old ban, said on Friday that lifting the restriction poses a grave threat to pollinating insects and other sensitive creatures relying on toxic-free habitats afforded by wildlife refuges.
Continue reading...Drought devastation seen from above – video
From ground level, the drought affecting regional Australia looks like a brown dustbowl, but from the air it is transformed into a heartbreaking story of shapes and textures as the land cracks open under a blazing sun
• Australia’s drought crisis and farmers’ stories of anxiety, fear and resilience
Continue reading...Could the NEG bring down power prices? It's hard to be confident that it will
Meet Nasa's commercial flight astronauts
CP Daily: Friday August 3, 2018
A Big Country 4 August 2018
EU Market: EUAs steady near recent highs to hold onto 3.3% weekly gain
Student Project Assistant, Adelphi – Berlin
Nasa names astronauts for first commercial flights
Stonehenge: First people came from west Wales
GHG effects of US vehicle efficiency freeze to rival other Trump rollbacks -report
Electric vehicle chargepoint policy leaning on a lamp-post adaptation | Letters
John Armitt is absolutely right to highlight the growing importance of a national, highly visible electric chargepoint network. As he will know, in the UK there are already around 14,000 public chargepoints, of which at least 1,300 are rapid chargers, forming one of the larger networks of rapid chargepoints in Europe. New legislation will enable further swift growth and ensure the UK’s infrastructure network is easier to use and still more reliable for electric vehicle drivers. And the government’s recently launched Road to Zero strategy envisages a further massive expansion of electric and low emission vehicle charging infrastructure. It includes a consultation on proposals for chargepoints to be installed with all newly built homes in England, where possible. We are also looking at how far new lamp-posts can include on-street charging infrastructure, and will be providing guidance to local authorities to support this.
The move to zero emission vehicles is the biggest automotive technology change since the invention of the combustion engine. I and my colleagues are seeking to ensure the UK is and remains at the forefront of this revolution.
Jesse Norman MP
Minister for electric vehicles
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