The Guardian

An industry conference this week is talking up gas expansion as a key to solving the climate crisis, but the reality is gas power is undeniably in decline

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You don’t see many government ministers turning up at coal conferences these days. The industry will continue for a while – thermal coal power still provides about 60% of electricity on the east coast, and exports this year top $60bn – but it is broadly agreed it’s on the way out.

The same cannot be said for gas, the other fossil fuel that Australia excels at digging up and selling overseas.

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Under-fire bosses announce ‘unprecedented plan’ to reduce last year’s 300,000 incidents of sewage pollution

Water companies have apologised for repeated sewage spills and pledged to invest £10bn this decade in an attempt to quell public anger over pollution in seas and rivers.

The companies will triple their existing investment plans to plough funds into the biggest modernisation of sewers “since the Victorian era” to reduce spills of overflowing sewage into England’s waterways.

Just Stop Oil protesters disrupted a parliamentary committee hearing on the coronation's policing. As Matt Twist, the Met's temporary assistant commissioner, was addressing questions from MPs, activists behind Twist got up and began their demonstration. The feed was momentarily discontinued until the committee was resumed

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People trapped in a flat shouted for help as flood water engulfed entire houses in some parts of Italy.

At least five people have died and thousands were evacuated from their homes after rainwater formed devastating floods in northern and central Italy.

Fourteen rivers broke their banks in Emilia-Romagna and firefighters rescued citizens with helicopters or rubber dinghies from their roofs.

The torrential rains followed months of drought that dried out the land, reducing its capacity to absorb water, worsening the impact of the floods, meteorologists have said

UN agency says El Niño and human-induced climate breakdown could combine to push temperatures into ‘uncharted territory’

The world is almost certain to experience new record temperatures in the next five years, and temperatures are likely to rise by more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, scientists have warned.

The breaching of the crucial 1.5C threshold, which scientists have warned could have dire consequences, should be only temporary, according to research from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

Campaigners say development of huge Rosebank field in North Sea would drive climate breakdown

The Norwegian government is facing growing pressure to scale back its huge global fossil fuel expansion plans – including the development of a controversial new oilfield in the North Sea.

Climate activists from around the world descended on Stavanger in Norway last week to attend the AGM of the state-owned oil and gas giant Equinor. They warned that its plans to develop the huge Rosebank field in the North Sea, as well as other mega-projects in Canada, Brazil and Suriname, would drive climate breakdown with devastating consequences for humanity.

Taking on vested interests and mandating housing energy ratings and minimum standards are far more important steps

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In the recent federal budget it was announced $1bn would be allocated to provide discounted loans to households to upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes and replace gas appliances with electric ones. A further $300m was provided for states to upgrade the energy efficiency of social housing.

This was intended to deliver on a promise the Albanese Labor government gave in exchange for the Greens party agreeing to caps on the price of gas – in effect subsidising its cost below international prices.

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Government has rowed back on plans to ditch 4,000 laws but key pollution legislation still slated to go

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Laws to ensure the government is transparent about reducing air pollution are among those to be scrapped in the EU retained law bill, along with laws ensuring it commits to a pathway to cut carbon emissions.

A climbdown by ministers over the bill has reduced the number of EU regulations to be automatically removed from the statute books from 4,000 to 600, but key rules on air pollution are among those still expected to be removed.

We have the tools to prepare, but post-Covid fatigue and a lack of political will mean they aren’t being used

Last month a pet dog in Canada died of H5N1, also known as bird flu, after eating a wild goose. Worryingly this follows a pattern, with an increasing number of bird flu cases appearing in mammals who come into contact with an infected bird, dead or alive.

When you see a wild bird such as a duck or seagull, think bird flu. Because it’s actually more likely than not they’re infected with the virus. And many species of wild birds are asymptomatic, meaning that they don’t show any symptoms. The risk of transmission to pets is low, but they can get sick from chewing or eating an infected bird, whether it’s dead or alive.

Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

There is still a disturbing chemical odor three months later – yet we’re fighting for accountability from Norfolk Southern, the Ohio governor and the CDC

When a Norfolk Southern train derailed – spilling over 116,000 gallons of toxic petrochemicals, much of which ignited, less than a mile from my home in East Palestine – I was terrified. I knew this would disrupt life for me, my family, and our neighbors, likely for years to come.

When we were forced to evacuate, I wouldn’t have imagined that three long months later my family and I would still be displaced and living in a hotel. Nor could I have imagined that we would be fighting tooth and nail for accountability from Norfolk Southern, pushing to get Mike DeWine, the Ohio Governor, to declare a state of emergency and desperately trying to get the CDC to provide clear guidelines for testing and monitoring.

Changes needed are major but also practical and affordable, report says, and would bring trillions of dollars in benefits

Global plastic pollution could be slashed by 80% by 2040, according to a report from the UN Environment Programme (Unep). The changes needed are major, but are also practical and affordable, the agency said.

The first step is to eliminate unnecessary plastics, such as excessive packaging, the report said. Then next steps are to increase the reuse of plastics, such as refillable bottles, boosting recycling and replace plastics with greener alternatives.

Poland has a deep and historic relationship with coal, importing huge amounts despite producing yet more locally. With the energy crisis biting, fuelled by the war in Ukraine, the country’s government withdrew restrictions on burning materials and subsidised coal, creating huge air quality issues, particularly in the industrial south – reversing 10 years of hard work by air pollution campaigners in the process.

The Guardian visits southern Poland to witness first hand the impact of this decision on affected communities, meeting the ostracised miners at the front of the culture wars, and joining climate activists visiting towns in the region that are fighting back against fossil fuels and air pollution

Christiana Figueres says focus on carbon capture is direct threat to the survival of vulnerable countries

The United Arab Emirates’ approach to the Cop28 climate summit it will preside over in November is “very dangerous” and a “direct threat to the survival of vulnerable nations”, according to the UN’s former climate chief.

Christiana Figueres, who was pivotal to the delivery of the landmark Paris climate agreement in 2015, also said the country holding the presidency of the UN summit could not put forward its own position and had to be neutral.

A slew of anti-pollution, from toxic water to planet-heating emissions has been issued by an agency belatedly flexing its muscles

The sleeping giant of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stirred.

In the past month, an avalanche of anti-pollution rules, targeting everything from toxic drinking water to planet-heating gases in the atmosphere, have been issued by the agency. Belatedly, the sizable weight of the US federal government is being thrown at longstanding environmental crises, including the climate emergency.

Invasive Burmese pythons are devastating wildlife but one firm believes turning snake leather into accessories could be a win-win

The fight to eradicate Burmese pythons from the Florida Everglades has intertwined with New York’s haute fashion scene in a project launched by a group of environmental activists who have already experienced success working with the skins of other invasive species.

The Tampa-based team, founded by a group of former college friends with a passion for scuba diving, cut their teeth transforming the skins of non-native lionfish off the US south-east coast and Caribbean Sea into high-end sneakers in partnership with the Italian shoemaker P448.

These beautiful black and white images of the shallowest Great Lake remind us of what we have done to the environment – and each other

One of the big opportunities missed in the climate wars was the chance for agriculture to lay out its case separate from fossil fuels

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For farmers, growing food and fibre is no longer enough in an age of global heating.

This week our local Landcare group is running a workshop on environmental accounting where farmers learn to measure their “natural capital”, such as native vegetation, fauna and soil.

Rejection of key legislation on pesticides and restoration of wildlife ‘would send a dangerous, negative signal to the world’

A flagship law to restore nature across Europe must be agreed by member states or risk sending “a dangerous, negative signal to the world”, the EU’s environment commissioner has warned, amid growing opposition to the legislation.

Last June, the European Commission revealed proposals for legally binding targets for all member states to restore wildlife on land, rivers and the sea. The nature restoration law was announced alongside a separate law proposing a crackdown on chemical pesticides, and both were welcomed as a milestone by environmentalists ahead of the Cop15 biodiversity summit in Montreal.

Researchers warn rapid action needed to prevent the extinction of an ancient fish species found only in Macquarie Harbour

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Scientists have warned an ancient fish species that has survived since the time of the dinosaurs could be one extreme weather event from extinction after its population crashed by nearly half in seven years.

The Maugean skate, described by marine scientists as a “thylacine of the sea”, is found only in Macquarie Harbour, a vast body of water on Tasmania’s remote west coast.