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Endangered animal caught by ZSL camera intended for hedgehogs in woodland in south-west of capital

A pine marten has been spotted in London for the first time in more than a century after being pictured on a camera trap installed to monitor hedgehogs.

The endangered mustelid was driven to extinction in England a hundred years ago and was only sighted again for the first time in the Shropshire hills in 2015, remaining an extremely rare animal.

Eggs from chickens kept indoors due to bird flu outbreaks could still be labelled free range, raising concerns among UK producers

Eggs produced in the EU could continue to be labelled as “free range”, even if the birds are not allowed outside, under new proposals.

The European Commission has put forward plans for scrapping the time limit on the marketing of eggs as free range if chickens are forced to be housed to reduce the risk of outbreaks of bird flu.

The 1m lines from pots used to catch the crustaceans are one of the two main threats to the whales, of which fewer than 340 remain

Lobster nets and pots have become such a threat to the survival of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales that the crustaceans have been “red-listed” as seafood to avoid by a major fish sustainability guide.

Fewer than 340 of these whales exist today, including only 80 breeding females. The population is estimated to have dwindled by 28% over the past decade.

Communities secretary also defends decision not to extend windfall tax as Liz Truss unveils support package

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Plans to increase shale gas supplies by ending the moratorium on fracking are not a “miracle solution”, the communities secretary has conceded before plans to curb spiralling energy bills this winter are announced.

Simon Clarke said the government had to be “pragmatic” but added that “community consent” would “lie at the heart of our energy policy”.

BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies spend $750m a year burnishing climate credentials but only 12% of capital on low-carbon development

Big oil and gas companies are spending tens of millions on adverts publicising their environmental work, while only about a 10th of their investment goes into low-carbon development, a report claims.

A comprehensive study of public communications from five oil and gas firms by InfluenceMap, a climate finance thinktank, found that 60% of the ads made at least one claim highlighting the companies’ positive climate actions. But on average, the five companies devoted only 12% of capital expenditure to low-carbon activities – and this included some gas projects.

A new term – renewable gas – has emerged. But to claim the industry is ‘well on the way to decarbonising’ is questionable

Australia’s gas industry and the owners of all the pipes and infrastructure are on a public relations splurge to convince customers to stick with it in the face of the grand decarbonisation challenge.

A new term – renewable gas – has emerged, with the industry talking the talk about replacing its fossil fuel gas with alternatives such as hydrogen and gas generated from waste.

This ocean warming controls the rate of climate change, and the effects such as sea level rise are irreversible on human timescales

Over the last 50 years, the oceans have been working in overdrive to slow global warming, absorbing about 40% of our carbon dioxide emissions, and more than 90% of the excess heat trapped in the atmosphere.

But as our research published today in Nature Communications has found, some oceans work harder than others.

Chris Skidmore urges new PM to ignore ‘tiny vocal minority in Westminster’ arguing against climate target

Top green Conservative Chris Skidmore is to embark on a net zero tour to show that “normal people are getting on with” decarbonisation, and urge the new prime minister to ignore the “Westminster bubble” that is pouring scorn on the climate target.

Skidmore, a former energy minister, will on Thursday visit green schemes across north-west England, including a home insulation demonstration in Salford and a peat restoration project in Oldham.

It needs a roadmap to net zero, to secure the Climate Change Authority, and measures for a proper national conversation

Labor’s climate change bill is poised to pass the Senate after the government agreed to amendments proposed by independent senator David Pocock to improve accountability and transparency.

The bill would set a national emissions target for 2030 and define a process to ratchet it up over time, as well as enshrining the goal of net zero emissions by 2050. The independent Climate Change Authority will recommend future targets. These are sound and useful elements and will serve Australia’s climate policymaking well.

Yet three important elements are not in the bill: a long-term roadmap to net zero, securing the future of the Climate Change Authority, and measures for a proper national conversation on our journey to net zero emissions. And the 43% emissions reduction target should be considered only a starting point.

What will the shift to net zero emissions mean for our economy?

Environmentalists assess cabinet appointments and say it is ‘a mixed bag’ and there is no clear direction

The spotlight on energy should be the UK’s opportunity to finally adopt a green agenda that sets a clear path to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But Truss’s own pronouncements – more oil drilling, more gas fracking – and many of her cabinet appointments suggest action on net zero could be undermined rather than boosted by her government. As the makeup of her government comes into focus, will it head in the direction environmentalists say the UK urgently needs to travel?

BEIS has been sitting on report delivered in early July into possible effect of fracking in UK

Liz Truss must publish a recently completed review on fracking in the UK, green campaigners have urged, amid speculation the new prime minister plans a U-turn that would lift the moratorium on shale gas drilling.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been sitting on a report delivered in early July by the British Geological Survey into the possible effects of fracking in the UK, including the danger of Earth tremors.

Group says ‘climate disaster’ vehicles targeted in nine countries including the UK, France and Canada

The climate activist group the Tyre Extinguishers has claimed its largest night of action yet against SUVs, with more than 600 vehicles “disarmed” across nine countries.

Over the night marking six months since the launch of the campaign, which encourages people to covertly deflate the tyres of SUVs, activists took action in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Canada.

Victory for couple shows continuing role of European nature conservation laws in post-Brexit Britain

The high court has ordered the Environment Agency to reduce water abstraction and protect England’s rare wetland habitats in a landmark case that confirms that European nature conservation laws remain enforceable despite Britain having left the EU.

The victory for Tim and Geli Harris means that the Environment Agency will be forced to tackle the damage caused by the removal of water from the internationally important wetlands of the Norfolk Broads, home to rare species including the Norfolk Hawker dragonfly and the swallowtail butterfly.

Measures unlikely to include incentives for people to install devices, which cut bills and emissions

Heat pumps need to be at the heart of any new energy strategy, to keep Britain’s homes warm and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but so far there is little sign of the policy measures needed, one of the UK’s leading heating experts has warned.

Liz Truss, who was officially installed as prime minister on Tuesday, has pledged help for households with the cost of living crisis with details to be announced in full this week. Measures are likely to include a cap on energy prices and increased gas production.

Exclusive: 29 MPs and peers urge new PM to recommit to target after her campaign promised to expand oil and gas production

Liz Truss must hold to the legally binding target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, parliamentarians from all of the UK’s major parties have urged in a letter to the incoming prime minister.

Truss has pledged to keep the target, but her campaign promises to expand oil and gas production in the North Sea, voices support for fracking, and her opposition to onshore wind and solar farms have led to fears that she could renege on actions needed to meet the target.

As those most responsible for the crisis recede into history, our energy is better spent responding to the world we have created

After years of robust campaigning for climate preservation, writing books on climate change, scores of articles and hundreds of public talks – not to mention serving on the Climate Change Authority, helping set up an international taskforce and running for parliament – I couldn’t take it any more.

I became so despairing about where we were heading and the unwillingness of most to face up to reality that I stopped working on climate change altogether.

Researchers say their prototype produces hydrogen with greater than 99% purity and works in air as dry as 4% relative humidity

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Researchers have created a solar-powered device that produces hydrogen fuel directly from moisture in the air.

According to its inventors, the prototype produces hydrogen with greater than 99% purity and can work in air that is as dry as 4% relative humidity. The device would allow hydrogen to be produced without carbon emissions even in regions where water on land is scarce, they say.

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Environment secretary responds to criticism of plan to stop ‘literal shit being pumped into rivers and seas’

The environment secretary, George Eustice, insisted the government was tackling the millions of hours of raw sewage discharges into rivers and seas in England as MPs demanded answers to a summer of water companies dumping effluent into holiday swimming spots.

Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “Literal shit is being pumped into our rivers and seas. The state of our water network is a national scandal and the government has utterly failed to take action.”

A flawed government plan for workers adds to problems as growers apply to pull down 60 hectares of greenhouses

Huge areas of one of Britain’s biggest salad growing hubs will be replaced with housing estates, as growers give up in despair, and cash in their land.

The Lea Valley, also known as the cucumber capital and Britain’s salad bowl, is one of the diamonds of the UK’s embattled horticultural sector. The Lea Valley Growers Association (LVGA), seeded through an area running across Greater London, Essex and Hertfordshire, comprises more than 180 hectares (450 acres) of glasshouses, run by 80 growers. The valley should be a jewel in the crown for a country concerned with homegrown industry and food security.

Milder winters could threaten crop yields as plant-eating insects spread northwards and become more voracious, researchers say

Agricultural pests that devour key food crops are advancing northwards in the US and becoming more widespread as the climate hots up, new research warns.

The corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea) is considered to be among the most common farm pests in the US, ravaging crops such as maize, cotton, soya and other vegetables. It spends winter underground and is not known to survive in states beyond a latitude of 40 degrees north (which runs from northern California through the midwest to New Jersey), but that is changing as soils warm and it spreads to new areas, according to research led by North Carolina State University.