The Guardian
Why can’t the EU power ahead with green subsidies like Biden’s? It isn’t just political procrastination | Yanis Varoufakis
Unlike their US counterparts, EU policymakers still face the roadblocks of no money and no common treasury
Inglorious procrastination is one of the European Union’s standard responses to major crises. This is not merely due to the difficulty of getting 27 prime ministers and presidents to agree on something. It is also because of their motivated tendency to ask themselves the wrong questions, and thus head slowly but inexorably to self-harming policy solutions.
After the demise of Lehman Brothers in 2008, a group of policymakers gathered in Washington to ponder the relevant question: “How do we bail out the bankers to stop them consuming us?” In Brussels, meanwhile, a much larger group mused for years over a toxic version of the same question: “Given that EU rules prohibit bailouts, how do we maintain the pretence we are respecting them as we bail out the bankers anyway?” The result was a costly delay, and policy choices which ensured that, whereas in 2008 European total income exceeded the US’s by 10%, by 2022, Americans were earning 26% more than Europeans.
Yanis Varoufakis is the leader of MeRA25 in Greece’s parliament and a former finance minister of Greece. His latest book, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, is published this month
Continue reading...There are so many feral cats in this country right now they outnumber ministerial photo ops! | First Dog on the Moon
A threatened species day press conference with Tiramisu Powerbrunche
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Stunning aurora australis captured from Mawson station in Antarctica – video
When wild weather made travel unsafe, the team at Mawson station in Antartica were forced to stay indoors for the better part of a week. Their troubles weren't for nothing, as when the weather cleared, the horizon erupted into a brilliant aurora australis. Despite the –30C temperature, the team managed to capture some incredible footage of the display
Australian government backflips on cancellation of Antarctica penguin surveys
Antarctica warming much faster than models predicted in ‘deeply concerning’ sign for sea levels
Barbara Wienecke: I have studied emperor penguins for 30 years. We may witness their demise in our lifetime
Small island nations take high-emitting countries to court to protect the ocean
Countries threatened by rising sea levels are asking a tribunal to decide on responsibility for pollution of the marine environment
In a landmark hearing, small island nations disproportionately affected by the climate crisis will take on high-emitting countries in a court in Hamburg, Germany, on 11 September, in what is being seen as the first climate justice case aimed at protecting the ocean.
During the two-day hearing, the nations – including the Bahamas, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Antigua and Barbuda among others – will ask the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos) to determine whether greenhouse gas emissions absorbed by the marine environment should be considered pollution.
Continue reading...Investors and unions press Labor to invest $100bn to compete in global green economy
Exclusive: Stakeholders hope to influence Albanese government before decisions are taken on clean energy investments in mid-year update
The Albanese government is being pushed to provide an extra $100bn over 10 years to boost jobs and reduce emissions including through investments in clean industries and manufacturing of renewable energy components.
At the Australian Renewables Industry summit in Canberra on Monday unions, the renewable energy sector, community and investor groups willcall for the package to respond to massive investment overseas including the US’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Continue reading...UK’s net zero ambitions at risk after ‘disastrous’ offshore wind auction
Industry figures and the TUC warn of missed carbon reduction targets and lost jobs unless government boosts green investment
Fears are growing that existing offshore wind projects could be shelved, after industry insiders warned that “disastrous” handling by the government had created a big shortfall in future renewable energy.
Ministers revealed last week that no additional offshore windfarms will go ahead in the UK after the latest government auction. No bids were made in the auction, after the government ignored warnings that offshore schemes were no longer economically viable under the current system.
Continue reading...Queensland man in 60s dies from snake bite after removing animal from friend’s leg
Ambulance service uncertain of the species that bit the man but says symptoms point to a brown snake
A man in his 60s has died from a snake bite in central Queensland, after helping to remove a snake which had coiled around his friend’s leg.
Two men were treated by the Queensland Ambulance Service in Koumala, a town 60km south of Mackay, shortly after 6.30pm on Saturday evening.
Continue reading...Tanya Plibersek announced swift parrot plan without showing recovery team who helped develop it
Conservation groups say plan contains no meaningful action to address bird’s key threat of native forest logging
The swift parrot recovery plan announced by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, to mark threatened species day was not actually finalised and had not been shared with the experts who helped to develop it.
Once they had seen it, conservation groups and scientists said the recovery plan released on Thursday contained no meaningful action to address the key threat to the survival of the species: the logging of native forests.
Continue reading...Instead of tilting at turbines we should see them for what they are: beautiful | Rowan Moore
Growing up in the countryside, it was a feature of drives with my parents that electricity pylons would be deplored. So I am familiar with the instinct to oppose wind turbines, which like pylons are large, energy-providing infrastructure, among some country dwellers, leading David Cameron to tighten up rules in 2015 in a way that led to a 97% reduction in the numbers granted planning permission.
Although the current government has just announced an easing of these rules, they still give plenty of power to objectors. But I would ask country dwellers still inclined to block them to see that they are in fact beautiful. They are prettier than power stations, less destructive than fracking, certainly lovelier than floods, fires, droughts and other effects of climate change. They enrich the nation with the help of its abundant wind, and make us less dependent on fossil-fuel despots. Wind turbines are in a long rural tradition of robust practical structures that also includes barns, mills, viaducts, canals and others that have become beloved and protected. On those same drives I was always happy to see an old windmill. It shouldn’t be too hard to love their modern equivalents.
Continue reading...Global push for commitment to phase out fossil fuels gathers pace ahead of Cop28
UN hopes to galvanise summit talks by persuading world leaders to commit to stop burning coal, oil and gas, despite industry lobbying
A global push to commit to phasing out fossil fuels is gathering new momentum before a crucial UN climate conference this autumn, despite stiff opposition from oil-producing countries.
Campaigners are ramping up efforts to put an undertaking to stop burning not just coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, but also oil and gas on the UN agenda ahead of the Cop28 summit in Dubai in late November, the Observer has learned.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak avoiding UN climate summit over potential rejection
Exclusive: PM risked embarrassment of downgraded status if UN deemed UK’s climate policies lacking ambition
Rishi Sunak was warned that he faced exclusion from key discussions on the climate among world leaders at the UN before he decided to snub a global summit later this month.
It was announced last month that Sunak would be the first prime minister in a decade to avoid attending the annual UN general assembly gathering of world leaders. The reason given was his busy schedule, but the Guardian has learned that turning up risked severe embarrassment for the prime minister.
Continue reading...Conservationists call for help to save London’s glowworms
London Wildlife Trust asks volunteers to seek out endangered beetles’ strongholds
They were celebrated as “ye country comets” by the poet Andrew Marvell but glowworms are defying light pollution to still shine their lights in the city of London.
Now volunteers and enthusiasts are being sought to count and save the much-celebrated but declining beetles, whose females emit a remarkable bright green bioluminescent beam to attract males.
Continue reading...Deadly humid heatwaves to spread rapidly as climate warms – study
Small rise in global temperatures would affect hundreds of millions of people and could cause a sharp rise in deaths
Life-threatening periods of high heat and humidity will spread rapidly across the world with only a small increase in global temperatures, a study has found, which could cause a sharp acceleration in the number of deaths resulting from the climate crisis.
The extremes, which can be fatal to healthy people within six hours, could affect hundreds of millions of people unused to such conditions. As a result, heat deaths could rise quickly unless serious efforts to prepare populations were undertaken urgently, the researcher said.
Continue reading...‘A critical moment’: UN warns world will miss climate targets unless fossil fuels phased out
Governments failing to cut emissions fast enough to meet Paris agreement goals and avoid disaster, major report says
Governments are failing to cut greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to meet the goals of the Paris agreement and to stave off climate disaster, a major report by the UN has found.
Meeting the goals will require “phasing out all unabated fossil fuels”, the report says, in an acknowledgment that some oil-producing countries may find hard to take.
Continue reading...What’s worse than Burning Man? A burning planet | Fiona Katauskas
We are burning a lot more than just effigies
Continue reading...Shell signals retreat from carbon offsetting
Oil company is latest firm to act amid indications that carbon credits do nothing to mitigate global heating
Shell has become the latest large company to pull back from carbon offsets amid concerns many have no environmental impact, it has emerged, as the Carbon Trust discontinues its “carbon neutral” labelling scheme based on offsetting.
The FTSE 100 oil company, one of the leading proponents of carbon offsetting, abandoned targets to invest up to $100m a year in carbon credit schemes and purchase 120m nature offsets a year by 2030 as part of a broader watering down of its climate ambitions in June, the oil major has confirmed.
Continue reading...US Open semi-final interrupted as climate protester glues feet to floor in stands – video
The US Open semi-final between Coco Gauff and Karolína Muchová was interrupted by climate protesters early in the second set, with one of the protesters glueing their feet to the floor of the stands at Arthur Ashe stadium. Gauff was a set up and holding serve to open the second when a disturbance broke out in the upper reaches of the stadium and shouting disrupted play. As the players looked into the stands, security staff went into the section around the disturbance. More than a dozen law enforcement officers arrived on the scene and three protesters were removed. Another, who had been handcuffed by police but was affixed to the floor, caused further delay to the resumption of the match as medics attempted to extricate the protester safely
Continue reading...‘We’re not victims, we’re part of the solution’: the first Africa Climate Summit – in pictures
The inaugural Africa Climate Summit was held in Nairobi, Kenya, this week, drawing delegates from across the continent, Europe and the US as well as climate campaigners, who filled the streets outside the convention centre
Continue reading...Weather tracker: Omega block brings torrential rain to Greece and Spain
Europe-wide formation is partly responsible for Storm Daniel, while the north of the continent has high temperatures
An Omega block has been in place over Europe this week, leading to some extreme weather for many. An Omega block is a synoptic setup consisting of a high-pressure region sandwiched between two low-pressure regions, creating a shape resembling the Greek letter omega.
Storm Daniel developed over the Ionian Sea partly due to this setup, causing devastating flooding across central and eastern Greece. The region’s warm seas at this time of year also helped produce the moisture needed for this storm.
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including wild horses, a tired falcon and a hungry snake
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