The Guardian

Exclusive: Environment minister seeks to expand definition of prime farmland in drive for productivity

Ministers are planning to ban solar farms from most of England’s farmland, the Guardian can reveal.

The new environment secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, is understood to oppose solar panels being placed on agricultural land, arguing that it impedes his programme of growth and boosting food production.

GreenCollar makes submission to government review with Prof Andrew Macintosh, who has described the scheme as ‘largely a sham’

• Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates
• Get our free news app, morning email briefing or daily news podcast

The biggest generator of Australian carbon credits has joined critics in calling for a revamp of the scheme’s governance, saying it has “fundamental problems”.

GreenCollar, which describes itself as the country’s largest environmental markets investor, natural resource manager and conservation-for-profit organisation, has made a joint submission to a government review of the carbon credit system with academics including Prof Andrew Macintosh, who used to be responsible for the scheme’s integrity.

Citizen scientists find high phosphorous levels in the soil could be polluting the river in Herefordshire

Campaigners have revealed the results of farmland testing which provides new evidence of the potential link between intensive poultry units and the decline of the River Wye.

Citizen scientists sampled farmland along public footpaths near a tributary to the river in Herefordshire. They discovered the soil with the highest levels of phosphorus, which can blight a river, were close to intensive poultry units.

An assessment released Friday shows the population is down 38% from its peak in 2015 and 2016

US researchers say the number of gray whales off western North America has continued to dwindle during the last two years, a decline that resembles previous population swings over the past several decades but is still generating worry.

According to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries assessment released Friday, the most recent count put the population at 16,650 whales – down 38% from its peak during the 2015-16 period. The whales also produced the fewest calves since scientists began counting the births in 1994.

The four-bin approach is common in the world’s top recycling countries, but experts say a lot more is needed to create a genuinely circular economy

• Get our free news app, morning email briefing or daily news podcast

In Germany, the most successful recycling nation in the world, there’s a town that has provided services to recycle a dead dog or a deer head.

In South Korea, another champion of the circular economy, a garbage inspector may fossick through your refuse and fine you if you put the wrong thing in the wrong bag.

US imposed ban on British meat during BSE epidemic but restriction was lifted earlier this year

British lamb has been exported to the US for the first time in more than 20 years after a ban put in place during the BSE epidemic was lifted.

US president Joe Biden committed to scrapping the ban on imports of British meat in September 2021.

Proposal aims to reform energy charter treaty that protects multi-billion-pound investments in Europe

The use of secret corporate panels to protect multi-billion-pound fossil fuel investments within Europe could come to an end after a move by the European Commission.

Windfall payouts such as a recent £210m award to the British oil firm Rockhopper would no longer be possible between EU states under a new proposal to reform the energy charter treaty (ECT).

UK’s only large-scale supplier is understood to have suffered multiple outbreaks over the past week

Shoppers could face shortages of British goose this Christmas after the UK’s biggest producer is understood to have been hit by multiple bird flu outbreaks.

The UK has suffered what officials have said is the “largest ever outbreak of avian flu” over the past year, with more than 140 reported outbreaks in England alone.

The situation is particularly acute in Norfolk and Suffolk after 14 outbreaks in the past month alone.

Decision described as a compromise by several European countries who wanted a more ambitious target

A United Nations body has agreed to a long-term aspirational goal for aviation of net-zero emissions by 2050, despite challenges from China and Russia, as countries aligned overwhelmingly with airlines amid pressure to curb pollution from flights.

Nevertheless, environmentalists criticised the non-binding nature of the agreement as toothless.

Duvalius djokovici named after tennis champion for qualities including speed and strength, says researcher

Serbian scientists have named a new species of beetle after the tennis player Novak Djokovic, Serbian media has reported.

The insect, which belongs to the Duvalius genus of ground beetles that are present in Europe, was discovered several years ago in an underground pit in western Serbia.

Supporters of Just Stop Oil displayed banners and glued themselves to roads leading to Vauxhall Bridge

Two dozen environmental protesters have blocked central London roads for a seventh day, continuing a week of disruptive action that has led to at least 150 arrests.

Just after 10am on Friday, several groups of supporters of the Just Stop Oil campaign blocked roads leading to Vauxhall Bridge. They glued themselves to the road and displayed banners.

Large area destroyed in September, as environmental criminals raced to wreck the region before possible change of president

Amazon deforestation has soared ahead of Brazil’s environmentally vital presidential election, with an area almost the size of Greater London lost last month alone.

Government satellites show a 1,455-sq km area of rainforest was destroyed in September, as environmental criminals raced to wreck the region before a possible change of president brought Jair Bolsonaro’s era of destruction to an end.

Reliance on desalination comes with a big environmental cost for the region’s marine environment

As the World Cup approaches, the host Qatar is going to need at least 10,000 litres of water every day for each of its stadium pitches. Based in a region with virtually no access to freshwater, it is going to rely on desalination – the practice of debrining saltwater so it is drinkable.

It seems like an elegant solution – but the problem is that desalination, which is projected to boom by 37% across the Gulf region in the next five years, has huge environmental costs, in terms of the fossils fuels used to carry out the process, and the marine environment. But without it, how can the region possibly quench its thirst?

‘Screamingly high’ levels of PFOS, one of the most dangerous PFAS compounds, found in six out of 10 insecticides tested

Toxic PFAS chemicals have been detected in seven out of 10 insecticides tested in the US, according to new research. Six contained what the study’s lead author characterized as “screamingly high” levels of PFOS, one of the most dangerous PFAS compounds.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has known about the findings for more than 18 months but appears to have not yet investigated the products or taken any action against the manufacturer.

Observers say cabinet rows and PM’s comments so far could undermine global consensus forged at Glasgow

The UK is in danger of ending its presidency of the UN climate talks next month in disunity and disarray, amid cabinet rifts on green policy, and confusion over who will attend the Cop27 summit.

Rows over climate policy threaten to hamper the UK’s ability to hold together the fragile coalition of developed and developing countries it built at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow last year. Failure to do so will not only cast a pall over the UK’s achievements there, but will add further tensions to already troubled global climate talks.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a swimming sea cucumber, flying flamingoes and magpies hitching a ride

We have green, cheap alternatives ready and waiting – but first we have to commit to keeping fossil fuels in the ground

• Support urgent, independent climate journalism today

Hurricane Ian has just swept across the Caribbean and the US east coast. It’s likely to become the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history. The entirety of Cuba lost power for several days; homes have been flattened; and repairing the devastation could cost billions.

Hurricanes are a natural meteorological phenomenon, but one study has already found that the climate emergency directly added 10% more rainfall to Hurricane Ian. Arguably, we are already in the eye of an even bigger, global storm – and with every fraction of a degree of global heating, the damage escalates.

Demonstrations from Falmouth to Whitstable to demand water firms do more to reduce pollution

Protests against sewage discharges blighting English beaches will take place across the country this weekend to highlight what demonstrators say is the failure of water companies to reduce pollution.

From Falmouth in Cornwall, where bathers, lifeguards and synchronised swimmers are demonstrating, to Whitstable in Kent, where protesters will turn a beach into a crime scene, activists say the problem of sewage discharges by water companies has not improved.

We all worry!

• Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published
• Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints

Proposed expansion would cover about 4,000 hectares and involve clearing of habitat for the koala, greater glider and other threatened species

• Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates
• ​​Get our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcast

Activists say a proposal from BHP to extend a metallurgical coalmine in Queensland by up to 93 years is “delusional”.

The company has applied to expand its Peak Downs mine in the Bowen basin, which it operates in a joint venture with Mitsubishi.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning