The Guardian

NSW premier Chris Minns says ruling on electric vehicle charge is ‘complex’ as governments scramble to understand its impact

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A potential revenue hit worth “billions” has been flagged by the New South Wales government as a result of the high court ruling striking down Victoria’s electric vehicle tax, as state and territories scramble to understand its full impact.

On Wednesday a majority of the high court ruled Victoria’s road-user charge for EV drivers was unconstitutional because the states did not have the power to impose excise taxes on consumption.

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Court rules in favour of two drivers who argued that states do no have the power to impose such fees

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Victoria’s electric vehicle tax has been struck down by the high court in a landmark case likely to bar all state-level road user charges.

On Wednesday a majority of the high court ruled in favour of two electric car drivers who argued that the imposition of a tax by the Victorian government per kilometre ​driven was unconstitutional because the states do not have the power to impose such fees.

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Advisers say government should cover cost of replacing gas boilers with pumps in more than 2m homes

More than 2 million low-income households should be given a free electric heat pump to replace their gas boiler if the UK hopes to meet its legally binding climate targets, according to the government’s advisers.

Britain’s official infrastructure tsars have called on the government to spend up to £4bn every year for the next 12 years to cover the full cost of heat pump installations, and support energy efficiency improvements, for 1.5 million households on lower incomes in England.

The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested in London after joining hundreds of protesters who gathered at a five-star hotel to denounce a meeting described as 'the Oscars of oil'. The demonstration, organised by Fossil Free London, blocked the entrance to the InterContinental Park Lane, the venue for the Energy Intelligence Forum, which brings together fossil fuel executives and government ministers. The Metropolitan police say five people were arrested

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Andrew Mitchell, the development minister, said ‘clarifications’ would more accurately reflect spending

The UK is making a series of changes to definitions as a way to meet its target to spend £11.6bn over five years in the developing world to help combat the climate crisis, Andrew Mitchell, the development minister, has said.

Rich countries have long promised to provide finance – in the form of loans or cash – to help poor countries cut greenhouse gas emissions and cope with the impacts of the climate crisis. However, leaks in the summer showed UK ministers were warned they were massively off track to meet their targets and could only do so by raiding the aid budget.

Climate activist taken away by Met police after protesters denounce meeting of fossil fuel executives and ministers

Greta Thunberg was arrested after joining hundreds of protesters who gathered at a five-star hotel in London on Tuesday morning to denounce a meeting branded “the Oscars of oil”.

Footage showed the Swedish climate activist being bundled into the back of a van by police after taking part in protests blocking the entrances of the InterContinental Park Lane, the venue for the Energy Intelligence Forum (EIF), which brings together fossil fuel executives and government ministers.

Exclusive: Plans to plant 202 new trees and create ‘play village’ for children in salvaged city centre scheme

The more than 100 trees in the centre of Plymouth, whose overnight felling helped bring down the Conservative council, are to be replaced with almost double the number.

Council leaders are releasing plans to regenerate Armada Way in the city centre, planting 202 new trees and creating a large children’s play area the size of five tennis courts.

Investment needs to double to more than $600bn a year by 2030 after ‘decade of stagnation’, says agency

Ministers have been urged to “open their eyes” to the need to build a vast network of new electricity grids to allow countries to hit climate goals, the chief of the world’s energy watchdog has said.

Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), has warned that the equivalent of the entire global electricity grid – 80m km of grid – needs to be added or refurbished by 2040 to hit climate targets and ensure reliable power supplies.

The European Commission aims to cut plastic pellet pollution by 74% by the end of the decade

The EU has announced further plans to crack down on microplastics after its ban on glitter came into force.

The proposal, which tackles tiny pellets used in nearly all plastic products, aims to cut plastic pellet pollution by 74% by the end of the decade. Overall, it would lead to a 7% reduction in Europe’s microplastic pollution, according to the European Commission.

Exclusive: Plan to outlaw all but the most vital of harmful chemicals is not included in leaked policy proposals

The EU has abandoned a promise to ban all but the most vital of toxic chemicals used in everyday consumer products, leaked documents show.

Other legislation to be dropped includes a ban on the export of outlawed chemicals from Europe to the rest of the world, a ban on caged farming and a sustainable food systems framework that the European Commission once described as “a flagship” of its farm to fork strategy.

We wake up and look outside, practising cloud divination

Clouds have so much to do with how the day feels, with what the day seems like. Clouds, more than any other weather that touches your skin – the snow, the cold, the rain, the sun, the wind – talk to your insides. As though somewhere in your chest (or is it your head?) vapour is forming, changing shape, dissipating and forming again. It’s why people need water: to feed their interior cumulus.

A cloud below the clear blue of your head, and above your gloomy heart. Thunder and lightning in your mind, and the rest of you soaked through. Something wispy and white happening in your stomach – delight, nervousness.

Minister Tanya Plibersek should strengthen ‘trigger’ protection to ensure projects are assessed for impact on water resources

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The Greens say the Albanese government has indicated it could be a year before promised environment laws are passed, a delay that potentially pushes the revamp close to the next federal election.

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said last year she planned to introduce legislation in 2023 to reform the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act after major reviews found the law was failing and Australian nature was in poor and deteriorating health.

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The Stella Terra was designed by students at Eindhoven University of Technology and completed trip without recharging

A solar-powered car said to be the first in the world capable of driving off-road over long distances without recharging has completed a 620-mile (1,000km) test drive across Morocco and the Sahara.

The two-seat Stella Terra, designed by students at the Eindhoven University of Technology, completed the journey across a variety of challenging landscapes as part of a final test of its lightweight frame and aerodynamic profile.

More deprived areas have fewer parks and public places protected by official local green space designation

Green spaces in poorer parts of England are less likely to be protected against being bulldozed and developed than those in more affluent areas, according to a new study.

Overall the number of designated local green spaces has increased by more than 700 in the past 12 months. But today’s report, by rural charity the CPRE, reveals that parks, public spaces and small areas of trees in more deprived areas are less likely to be officially protected.

Singer talks about ‘lost’ song, a collaboration with Rosalía, and how artists pick up on the environmental emergency

• Thousands of salmon escaped an Icelandic fish farm. The impact could be deadly

Iceland’s fish farming industry is “a couple of wild guys who want to make money quick and sacrifice nature”, the Icelandic singer Björk has said before the release of a “lost” song to help fight the increasingly controversial practice.

She said artists were often the “canaries in the coalmine” of environmental emergencies because it was their job to be sensitive.

Exclusive: UK climate campaign group Possible calls for ‘polluter pays’ tax based on vehicle size

The increasing popularity of ultra-heavy SUVs in England means a conventional-engined car bought in 2013 will, on average, have lower carbon emissions than one bought new today, new research has found.

The study by the climate campaign group Possible said there was a strong correlation between income and owning a large SUV, which meant there was a sound argument for “polluter pays” taxes for vehicle emissions based on size.

Exclusive: expert panel will tell government there is no other way to manage higher demand as stress on supplies intensifies

Water metering should be made compulsory for all households in England, the government is likely to be told this week, as water supplies come under pressure from increased demand and more frequent droughts and floods.

Strain on the UK’s water networks is increasing under the more extreme weather conditions generated by the climate crisis and, under increasing demand, investment by water companies has not kept up.

Ecological calamity on the Caribbean island demonstrates how quickly wildlife can be destroyed, scientists say

They were once so numerous they were cooked as the national dish of Dominica. Every year, thousands of mountain chicken frogs, roasted with garlic and pepper, were eaten by islanders and tourists.

Two decades later, the animal – one of the world’s largest species of frog – has in effect disappeared from the Caribbean island. A series of ecological disasters has reduced its former healthy, stable population of hundreds of thousands of animals to a total of 21 frogs, according to scientists’ most recent survey.

As a new series promises breathtaking footage obtained by groundbreaking technology, children are the new target audience

A detachable “whalecam”, remote underwater cameras operated from a director’s bedroom and a “drone ballet” are among the innovations that will be featured for the first time on David Attenborough’s Planet Earth III.

Following the global success of 2016’s BBC’s Planet Earth II and its famous “snakes v iguanas” scene, the corporation’s natural history unit has spent five years pushing the boundaries of technology to deliver an equally jaw-dropping series.

Voracious, furry-clawed crustaceans are being controlled ‘to protect the environment’

It is classified by conservationists as one of the 100 worst invasive alien species in the world. Now, a group of scientists are hoping they have found a way to deplete the UK’s rapidly growing Chinese mitten crab population and prevent the crustaceans, which can grow bigger than a 10-inch dinner plate and have distinctive furry claws, from “eating us out of house and home”.

The group has constructed and installed the UK’s first Chinese mitten crab trap at Pode Hole in Lincolnshire, to catch the voracious predators as they migrate downstream to mate.