The Guardian

‘Red wall credentials’ suspected at Westminster as real reason for approval by Michael Gove

Senior steel industry figures have rejected claims that their demand for coal has driven the government’s divisive decision to sanction the first new UK coalmine for 30 years.

Levelling up secretary Michael Gove’s decision to approve the mine at Whitehaven in Cumbria last week has already faced a backlash in the UK and beyond, with John Kerry, Joe Biden’s special envoy for climate, warning he was closely examining the decision.

Every year well-meaning adults tell school students their results don’t matter. I’m taking the longer view …

When I got my VCE results almost one hundred years ago (in 2000), I had two goals: to be imminently drunk, and to do something that would become a “real job”. As the eldest child of university graduates and impressive overachievers, there was no question in my mind of doing anything silly like “something I loved” or “following my dream”.

I wanted to be a writer. Of course I did; I had been writing about my feelings since I was little, and English was the only subject that gave me anything resembling academic pleasure. But writing was, as far as I knew, a pretend job. A good way to spend every month scrounging for coins between couch cushions to put food on the table.

US climate envoy says he will publicly criticise UK’s approval of Cumbrian mine if it adds to emissions

John Kerry, the US climate official, has said he is closely examining the UK government’s approval of a new coalmine, over concerns that it will raise greenhouse gas emissions and send the wrong signal to developing countries.

Kerry, Joe Biden’s special envoy for climate, said he was taking a close interest in the mine, the first to get the go-ahead in the UK for 30 years, and that he would speak out publicly against the approval if it did not meet strict criteria.

High court will rule next week on challenge brought by Alexander Darwall to remove right to wild camp on moor

Wild campers are planning to hold protests against a landowner’s attempts to outlaw sleeping under the stars on Dartmoor.

Rallies attended by those who camp, and those who support the right to, will take place on Dartmoor on Saturday and outside the high court in London on Monday to express fierce public opposition to an attempt to legally overturn the right to camp in Dartmoor national park.

Experts describe it as a ‘beautiful endemic rainforest species’, one of several that have not been seen for decades

• Marine life hit by ‘perfect storm’ as red list reveals species close to extinction
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The mountain mist frog, a species once found across two-thirds of Australia’s wet tropics, has been declared extinct on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list.

The last recorded sighting of the frog, most commonly found near Thornton Peak, north-west of Cairns, was in April 1990. It is believed to have been wiped out by chytrid fungus, a disease that attacks the skin and has destroyed amphibian populations across the globe, though a reduction in its natural habitat due to rising temperatures driven by greenhouse gas emissions may have also played a role.

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Unsustainable human activity putting dugongs, abalone shellfish and pillar coral at risk of disappearing, says latest IUCN update

Illegal and unsustainable fishing, fossil fuel exploration, the climate crisis and disease are pushing marine species to the brink of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, with populations of dugongs, abalone shellfish and pillar coral at risk of disappearing for ever.

Marine life is facing a “perfect storm” of human overconsumption, threatening the survival of some of the world’s most expensive seafood, according to the conservation organisation, which publishes the most up-to-date information on the health of wildlife populations on Earth.

Exclusive: Despite demands from water campaigners, there will be no overall target for river health

Water pollution goals are to be weakened by the government next week, the Guardian can reveal, as Environment Act targets will give farmers three extra years to reduce their waste dumping into waterways.

River campaigners have said the news is proof the government has not dropped its “attack on nature”.

Open Spaces Society secures re-registration of 116 hectares of ‘splendid’ moorland’ for common use

More than 100 hectares of some of the most stunning landscape in west Cornwall has finally been recognised as common land, protecting it for the public 140 years after it was threatened with enclosure.

Lizard Downs was authorised for enclosure – the act of taking ownership of common land – in 1880 but the proposed fencing off never happened.

Female calf named Nessa will help efforts to protect species, of which fewer than 2,500 remain in the wild

An endangered Malayan tapir has been born at a UK zoo, in what the zoo said was an “important moment” for conservation.

The female calf, which zookeepers have named Nessa, was born weighing 9kg on Wednesday at Chester zoo, one of only two places in the country to keep tapirs, a species related to the horse and the rhinoceros.

Culls and compensation have cost hundreds of millions of pounds in the US, UK and Europe, with current outbreak predicted to worsen

More than 140 million birds have died and hundreds of millions of pounds have been spent in the past year in the US, UK and EU in tackling bird flu, as some experts said continual culling was “morally” wrong.

With an international agreement on the use of vaccinations likely to be one or two years away, the situation will probably worsen this winter as outbreaks of bird flu continue to rise.

It’s not just indifference. It’s an active, and deadly, cavalier attitude towards the lives of others: an example other nations follow

There are two extraordinary facts about the convention on biological diversity, whose members are meeting in Montreal now to discuss the global ecological crisis. The first is that, of the world’s 198 states, 196 are party to it. The second is the identity of those that aren’t. Take a guess. North Korea? Russia? Wrong. Both ratified the convention years ago. One is the Holy See (the Vatican). The other is the United States of America.

This is one of several major international treaties the US has refused to ratify. Among the others are crucial instruments such as the Rome statute on international crimes, the treaties banning cluster bombs and landmines, the convention on discrimination against women, the Basel convention on hazardous waste, the convention on the law of the sea, the nuclear test ban treaty, the employment policy convention and the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.

Experts call for schemes to help fruit growers keep trees and preserve habitats vital for biodiversity

Farmers are ripping up orchards because they are unable to afford to keep them, the president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said, in a major blow for biodiversity.

The increasing cost of labour and spiralling energy costs have meant fruit growers are removing trees from their land, Minette Batters said.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a released snow leopard, a rescued bear and a very large flower

Agency aims to double the number of schemes it supports after success of £15m pilot projects

Low-tech “natural” flood management such as using natural materials to slow river flow and storing flood water on meadows will play a key role in preventing future floods, according to the chief executive of the Environment Agency.

Sixty pilot natural flood management projects have helped protect 15,000 homes and create storage for up to 1.6m cubic metres of flood water, while also helping nature recovery on 380 miles (610km) of river and on 4,000 hectares of wetlands and woodlands.

Everything has been real hard so let’s enjoy whatever we can whenever we can

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I know what it is like to live in a country where there is no way to voice opposition

The case of climate protester Violet Coco, who was sentenced to 15 months in prison for briefly blocking a lane of traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, is a frightening development. This was a peaceful protest, but the court refusing her bail until March is a condition usually imposed on violent criminals, according to her lawyer. A researcher from Human Rights Watch has called the sentence “outrageous”.

The escalation of this case to such a completely disproportionate punishment is a part of a trend of shrinking civic space that is being mirrored in other democratic societies. In the UK, new legislation is set to give the police unprecedented powers to shut down protests and punish protesters. New laws in New South Wales that Violet was convicted under were supported by both the Liberal government and Labor opposition, both of which take donations from the fossil fuel companies. These new laws mean that peaceful climate activists face far higher jail terms than serious criminals.

Putting water companies on the naughty step and doling out tame financial penalties in not enough

Here’s the short piece of good news from regulator Ofwat’s annual assessment of the performance of the English and Welsh water companies: overall leakage stands at its lowest level since privatisation. That, unfortunately, was about it – and, note, progress on leaks came with the important qualification that there is a very long way to go to meet 2050 targets. The rest of the annual review was as bleak as any in recent years, especially on the most troubled issue of all – pollution.

Six of the 10 major firms found themselves on the regulator’s naughty step – the ones labelled laggards in terms of operational performance. They are Northumbrian Water, Southern Water, South West Water, Thames Water, Welsh Water and Yorkshire Water. Only Severn Trent of the big water and wastewater beasts got a “leading” rating and it was joined by water-only operators South Staffs and Bristol. The skew towards underperformance was marked and depressing.

As the Conservatives squabble over planning and housing targets, England’s countryside is being destroyed

The English countryside is sick. It can feel as though a day never passes without its green and pleasant land falling victim to the threat of windfarms, coalmines, solar arrays and housing estates. Boris Johnson seemed to want a turbine in every field. Liz Truss wanted “investment zones” even in protected areas. Rishi Sunak called for 300,000 new houses a year – until he didn’t.

This week the new environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, could not enlighten a Commons committee on her policy for farms, given the shambles of Brexit. Meanwhile, the environment secretary, Michael Gove, found himself capitulating to onshore windfarms one minute and a coalmine in Whitehaven the next. As for Labour’s Keir Starmer, he savaged Sunak for abandoning housing targets the same week as he said he would stop telling local councils what to do.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

As ministers proved again they’ve lost the plot, Keir Starmer sought to show business bigwigs his is the party to back

Back to the future. A Tory government in its extended death throes. Any number of sex and sleaze scandals. Disengaged backbench MPs planning for life outside Westminster. A weak prime minister totally out of ideas. Just reacting to the latest rebellion. No discernible coherent policies. Sound familiar?

Take Thursday. One MP has the whip withdrawn after a police complaint. Michelle Mone swears blind there was nothing wrong with her for trousering £29m for recommending a startup company that specialised in useless PPE. Headless gowns for headless chickens.

Ed Miliband vows party will seek to prevent ‘climate-destroying’ plan and if elected would deliver green jobs

Labour would stop the new coalmine in Cumbria from going ahead if elected, and will seek to prevent it progressing before then, the party has said.

Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change secretary, said: “A Labour government will leave no stone unturned in seeking to prevent the opening of this climate-destroying coalmine, and instead ensure we deliver the green jobs that people in Cumbria deserve.”