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ScottishPower expects Hagshaw Hill to produce five times as much energy with half the turbines by early 2025

• Hornsea Four offshore windfarm given green light after five-month delay

One of Britain’s oldest onshore windfarms will soon be “repowered” so it can generate five times as much green electricity as it did in 1995 – with almost half as many turbines.

The owner of the Hagshaw Hill windfarm, ScottishPower, began dismantling 26 turbines on its site in rural South Lanarkshire on Wednesday.

Exclusive: Sultan Al Jaber calls on world to up its renewable energy capacity and says oil and gas companies must be involved

The phase down of fossil fuels is “inevitable”, the president of the next UN climate summit has said, but can only happen when the world has ramped up its renewable energy capacity.

Sultan Al Jaber will host crucial climate talks, called Cop28, in the United Arab Emirates in November, while retaining his role as chief of UAE’s national oil company Adnoc, which is increasing its production capacity.

Fourth phase at giant project off Yorkshire coast is expected to have 180 turbines and generate 2.6GW

One of the UK’s largest planned offshore windfarms will move ahead after the government gave the green light to a giant project off the Yorkshire coast after a five-month delay.

The fourth phase of the Hornsea windfarm development is expected to include 180 giant turbines, capable of generating the equivalent of enough green electricity to power 1m homes.

Animals make first return to the county in 400 years as National Trust introduces family of four to Wallington estate

It was a genuinely tense tale of the riverbank as a family of four beavers were released into the Northumberland countryside on Wednesday, the first time in more than 400 years that the animals are making the county their home.

Would they even come out of their cages? Would they be as feisty coming out as they apparently were going in? Would they be happy with their new surroundings?

People will be able to claim back €6-€25 of cost of repairing clothes and shoes in latest environmental measure

A broken heel, a rip in trousers, buttons missing from a shirt? Don’t throw them away if you live in France, where the government will pay a “repair bonus” to have them mended in a new scheme aimed at cutting waste.

An estimated 700,000 tonnes of clothing is thrown away in France every year, two-thirds ending up in landfill.

The sea is becoming greener due to changes in plankton populations, analysis of Nasa images finds

Earth’s oceans are changing colour and climate breakdown is probably to blame, according to research.

The deep blue sea is actually becoming steadily greener over time, according to the study, with areas in the low latitudes near the equator especially affected.

Safe levels exceeded in 13,000km of rivers globally with ingredients potentially degrading into more persistent substances

Agricultural pesticides leach far from their original sources into the world’s waterways, according to new research which finds pesticides exceed safe levels in 13,000km of rivers globally.

Analysing 92 of the most common agricultural pesticides, scientists have estimated that 710 tonnes of pesticide active ingredients leach into the world’s oceans each year.

Longest trial so far of supplement derived from red seaweed produced 28% less of the greenhouse gas – much lower than previous studies

One of the world’s longest commercial trials of a seaweed supplement that the global meat industry hopes could slash methane from beef cattle has recorded much lower reductions in the potent greenhouse gas than previous studies.

Putting the supplement into the diets of 40 wagyu cattle in an Australian feedlot for 300 days cut the methane they produced by 28%.

WA EPA dismisses most grounds of appeal against extension of operation licence for gas processing facility in the Pilbara

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One of Australia’s biggest fossil fuel developments is a step closer to having its life extended for nearly 50 years after Western Australian officials dismissed appeals arguing it should be stopped on climate science and cultural grounds.

More than 750 organisations and individuals last year lodged objections to a WA Environment Protection Authority (EPA) recommendation that oil and gas company Woodside be allowed to operate its gas processing facility in the Pilbara until 2070.

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Volume of debris in the unexplored twilight zone is an ‘emerging threat’ to reefs already stressed by climate crisis, say scientists

No part of the planet is free of plastic waste, and coral reefs are no exception, but scientists have now made the discovery that the deeper the reef, the more plastic debris it is likely to have.

A study published in Nature found that not only is every coral reef encumbered with plastic, but almost three-quarters of the larger items were from “ghost gear” – fishing paraphernalia such as ropes, lines and nets. Food wrappers and plastic bottles were also common. The plastic constitutes an “emerging threat” to reefs already stressed by the climate crisis and overfishing, the researchers said.

A wildfire has consumed more than 4,000 hectares (9,984 acres) of a national park in eastern Bolivia over the weekend, Bolivian authorities said. Drone images showed plumes of smoke coming out of Otuquis national park in the Santa Cruz region, near the border with Brazil and Paraguay.

The fire entered a wet national park area on Tuesday, reducing its intensity but making it difficult for fire crews to fight the blaze

Country’s ministers echo European governments, scientists and environmental organisations in citing need for robust regulation of fledgling sector

Canada has joined a growing list of nations calling for a pause on deep-sea mining in international waters amid fears the nascent, untested industry could cause ecological devastation without further study and clear safeguards.

Three ministers, for the country’s foreign affairs, natural resources, and fisheries and oceans departments, issued a statement on Monday that “in the absence of both a comprehensive understanding of seabed mining’s environmental impacts and a robust regulatory regime”, they supported a moratorium on commercial deep-sea mining.

The joint chief executive of Thames Water has refused to apologise for allowing water companies to increase their debt during her time as chief of Ofwat, the water regulator. Cathryn Ross's comments came during a parliamentary committee session with Thames Water bosses as concerns mount over the financial viability of the company. Thames Water has secured £750m of emergency funding from its shareholders but the debt-ridden company warned it would need further funding in the years ahead

• Thames Water secures extra £750m from shareholders to help stave off nationalisation

Even train delays and waits for buses felt worth it for the space to think and environmental benefits. Our public transport is full of untapped potential

The water was clear enough to notice the sun’s rays touch the seabed. Seconds later, the scene was repeated in light piercing the canopy of a beech tree, spotlighting patches of dry earth below. I stared through the salt-smeared window of the train as it raced north on Devon’s famous Riviera line. In the carriage my skin felt weathered and dry. I hadn’t washed my hair for days. Anyone might think I had been to a festival; but having spent the best part of the week on a boat doing research for a project, I felt like the sea, and preferred it. One arm was stretched across my 65-litre rucksack as I faced the window, its bulky weight my temporary home, my office, my explanation.

When I challenged myself to travel by low-carbon routes during the writing of my book on species in Britain affected by climate change, I experienced the best and worst of our lethargic – yet still often charming – transit network. When public transport works, it really works. As a woman in my 20s, travelling long-distance, especially solo by train and bike, is empowering. Personal space, silence and time are street sweepers on the brain. A stillness descends in the wake of a slower pace, and you’ve forgotten how much you needed it. Yes, you tire, but it’s a tiredness that tells me I’ve gone and done something. I’m not in traffic. I don’t need help with my bag. No, I am not lonely. Nothing is wrong.

Sophie Pavelle is the author of Forget me Not: Finding the forgotten species of climate-change Britain

As climate pledges become reality, opposition to the green agenda is growing. And the populist right is latching on to it

When floods swept Europe in July 2021, killing more than 200 people in Germany, Belgium and neighbouring countries, it was a disaster that came as the climate crisis was moving to the top of Europe’s political agenda. All of a sudden, climate was no longer an abstract threat that could be batted into a distant future; it was already here, causing shocking weather events, destroying lives and leaving people homeless.

In northern Europe especially, spurred by the Fridays for Future school strikes, the climate crisis had already spilled into politics, pushing policy into action. But in 2021, measurable progress towards the goal of net zero emissions by 2050 began to be made. The EU didn’t just limit itself to ambitious targets, enshrined in laws and regulations. It also put its money where its mouth was.

Plutonium spike in Canadian lake sediments marks dawn of new epoch in which humanity dominates planet

The site to represent the start of the Anthropocene epoch on Earth has been selected by scientists. It will mark the end of 11,700 years of a stable global environment in which the whole of human civilisation developed and the start of a new age, dominated by human activities.

The site is a sinkhole lake in Canada. It hosts annual sediments showing clear spikes due to the colossal impact of humanity on the planet from 1950 onwards, from plutonium from hydrogen bomb tests to the particles from fossil fuel burning that have showered the globe.

Environment Victoria calls for Andrews government to end opposition to commonwealth water purchases in order to save river

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The recovery of 140 threatened species in Victoria depends on the restoration of environmental flows in the Murray-Darling basin, according to new research commissioned by Environment Victoria.

The report found the Australasian bittern, Australian painted snipe, Sloane’s froglet and Murray cod were among the species at very high risk of extinction and called on the Andrews government to end its opposition to commonwealth water purchases when ministerial talks about the Murray-Darling basin plan resume in coming months.

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Binybara, also known as Lee Point, is sacred. Traditional owners, bird watchers, ecologists, activists and lawyers were standing shoulder to shoulder as bulldozers neared

The Gouldian finch is a pint-sized bird with a rainbow presence – the life of the party when it’s able to live and fly freely. Like all else belonging to this continent and its adjacent islands, it has endured displacement and dispossession. It is now the unnecessary collateral damage of the extinction economy, as scientists continue to warn against sleepwalking across a threshold of no return.

Last week, in the middle of NAIDOC Week and during the hottest week ever recorded, bulldozers began ploughing through the sacred grounds of Binybara, colloquially known as Lee Point. With the Northern Territory’s rapidly expanding military presence, Binybara is being sacrificed for defence housing.

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Catastrophic floods around the world are triggering warnings of the climate crisis intensifying, with communities feeling the effects of July's extreme weather. Torrential rain has flooded homes and caused extensive damage in New York's Hudson valley while in China, thousands of people have been displaced. In Spain, people could be seen clinging to their cars and climbing nearby trees to escape the flood water and in India's northern state of Himachal Pradesh, where fatal landslides blocked about 700 roads, flash floods destroyed a bridge and filled streets with debris

Charity urges government to act amid fears mental health of young people ‘is at breaking point’

Play campaigners in the UK are calling for urgent action at the highest level of government to reduce the danger children face from traffic on residential roads.

Playing Out, a national charity set up to help parents close roads for play, has reported a rise in temporary road closures on residential streets as parents try to help children play outside safely.