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Exclusive: Watchdog’s new report will say agency’s prosecutions and compliance statistics were seriously overstated

The New South Wales ombudsman is investigating whether WaterNSW – the body responsible for compliance with the state’s water laws – has misled it when it provided data last year on the number of prosecutions and enforcement actions it had taken in the 15 months prior.

The ombudsman confirmed a second special report will be tabled in the first week of March, but declined to outline its contents. Special reports are a last resort when the ombudsman deems that a report to the minister is insufficient.

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Climate change and overfishing could push the region’s king penguin populations to the brink of extinction, a new study shows

Rising temperatures and overfishing in the pristine waters around the Antarctic could see king penguin populations pushed to the brink of extinction by the end of the century, according to a new study.

The report, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that as global warming transforms the environment in the world’s last great wilderness 70% of king penguins could either disappear or be forced to find new breeding grounds.

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The new rules will also see car speed limits cut and wood-burning stoves banned in a drive to improve air quality in the city

Brussels has moved to make the city’s public transport and bike share system free on the smoggiest days in a bid to drive down pollution levels and meet EU air quality directives.

After two consecutive days of high particulate matter (PM) levels – defined as surpassing an average of 51-70 micrograms per cubic metre of air – buses, trams and metros would have to open their doors completely free, under new city council rules.

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A deposit return scheme to tackle the billions of bottles not recycled every year is being kicked into the long grass, say MPs

The government is “dragging its feet” on introducing a deposit return scheme to cut the billions of plastic bottles not recycled every year, according to a committee of MPs.

The Environment Audit Committee (EAC) called for a deposit return scheme (DRS) in a report in December, in which a small deposit is paid when purchasing a bottle and then returned when the empty bottle is brought back. Environment secretary Michael Gove called a DRS a “great idea” in September.

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Groups comprised of ranchers, hunters and conservationists say interior secretary Ryan Zinke has stonewalled them

The Trump administration has angered ranchers, hunters, fishermen and conservationists across the US who complain they are being shut out of a federal advisory process designed to steer the management of cherished public lands.

Many of the dozens of public advisory boards have been stonewalled by the department of interior since the president put Ryan Zinke at the helm of the agency.

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Exclusive: 60% of parents want traffic to be diverted away from schools at peak times to protect children’s health, a new study shows

The majority of UK parents back the introduction of “pollution exclusion zones” outside schools amid growing concern that illegal levels of air pollution are doing long term damage to hundreds of thousands of young people.

A new study published on Monday by environmental law organisation ClientEarth reveals that 60% of parents want traffic diverted away from school gates at the beginning and end of the school day, with just 13% opposed.

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The frozen vault storing the world's precious seeds is about to reach the one million mark for donations.

What does it mean to live sustainably in our suburbs?

Everyday, Australians generate a lot of rubbish, and much of it ends up in landfill. Should we be turning that landfill into electricity?

2 March 1918 A lark struck upward, singing a stave or two at each successive plunge and in a few minutes overhead all was music in a thin haze

Surrey, February 28
Soon as dawn began to spread along the southern rim of the sky this morning, the lower down was alive with birds. Larks rose almost from underfoot, others started from the higher ridge, and all played, fleeting about in the air like children let into a fresh meadow in spring. At first there was little song. Then, as by inspiration, one struck upward, singing a stave or two at each successive plunge; another rose; others, distances away; in a few minutes overhead all was music in a thin haze. Southward long, grey clouds reddened and glowed from end to end, great shreds detached, chased northward, and melted to nothing in the lofty blue.

Related: Ascending larks keep the bird-snarer busy: Country diary 100 years ago

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Demand for locally sourced meat may be high but suppliers face uncertain regulatory and economic environment

Locally sourced meat, one of the cornerstones of modern sustainable eating, may soon be out of reach for consumers across the UK as large numbers of small suppliers are forced to close down.

Seeking out local meat, vegetables and other food products is increasingly embraced as part of a healthier diet that reduces environmental impact, allows clear traceability and improves farm welfare.

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Elveden, Suffolk: Dell is a folky term – a word in the minds of Milton and Tolkien, of outlawed church groups gathered for moonlit worship, of children seeking fairies

The word “dell” is pure, earthy English. From it we have acquired dale, a valley. But as grand as it has developed, the meaning of this Old English word remains as it was, a wooded hollow – somehow over time engendering an intimacy and aura benignly Arcadian in feel. Dells have a strange magic through literature, which is where the word lives now. No longer practical, more an alternative to evoke, rather than inform. A folky term – a word in the minds of Milton and Tolkien, of outlawed church groups gathered for moonlit worship, of children seeking fairies, or singing in rhyme. These days the farmer tends to be in his den rather than the dell – although the two words are, in this context, synonymous. As such they could have called this little village on the edge of Thetford Forest Elvedell, but they called it Elveden.

This roadside dell in Elveden has an old story for its old name, Elveden Dell: literally, the dell of the valley of the elves. A little girl who heard beguiling sounds, tinkling, in high boughs. Then, the same half-music luring horses off the road into here – now the magic dell, of course.

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Where South32 has moved to divest from thermal coal, BHP is increasing its exposure – and undermining its climate credentials.

Industry warns NEG too complex, likely to boost prices, cut competition. If it won't reduce emissions either, what exactly is the point?

South Australia's renewables grid is often criticised for relying on "imports" from other states. But no grid relies more on imports than NSW, the grid with the highest percentage of coal generation.

The UK electricity market offers convincing evidence that capacity markets aren’t needed, and we should focus, instead, on supporting technologies – like battery storage.

Students gatecrash Energy Security Board forum on National Energy Guarantee. But the promise to "listen" was only extended to industry participants, and even they warned about reduced competition and higher prices likely caused by an overly complex policy.

Australia set to get a new all-electric luxury SUV on market in October, with launch of Jaguar Land Rover I-Pace.

Meet the catering brigade - the often forgotten volunteers of the RFS; the endangered Mary River cod is making a comeback; Sydney's Vietnamese community picks their own lychees; and the Darkan show is back after 60 years.

Vets and medical staff teaming up to reduce antibiotic use on farms.