The Guardian

From fisheries collapse to dead rivers, official body urges government to urgently turn ambition into action

Environmental tipping points are fast approaching in the UK, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has said.

Potential tipping points – where gradual decline suddenly becomes catastrophic – include loss of wildlife, fisheries collapse and dead, polluted rivers, the watchdog said. The OEP is a new official body set up after Brexit to hold the government to account. Its first report, published on Thursday, says ministers have shown ambition but that action is too slow.

Custodians of petroglyphs in remote north-west say Woodside’s $12bn ‘carbon bomb’ spells disaster for culture and climate

As the last of the sun’s rays curl away from the coast in Australia’s remote north-west, Josie Alec opens her arms and sings in traditional language to a mass of ochre-coloured rocks along Hearson’s Cove. But her voice competes with the low rumble of a gas production plant less than a kilometre away, its flared emissions lightly hazing the sky above the beach.

This is the duality of what First Nations people refer to as Murujuga country, home to one of the world’s largest and oldest collections of rock carvings as well as one of the largest new fossil fuel developments in Australia in a decade.

UN climate envoy says world cannot afford to derail progress because of energy crisis linked to invasion

The UN climate envoy Mark Carney has warned against deferring emissions reduction targets in reaction to the energy crisis linked to the war in Ukraine, saying it will only require more “radical” action in the future.

The former Bank of England governor said he recognised the impact sanctions on Russia were having on global energy supplies and the cost of living, but added that governments could not afford to derail climate progress that could help achieve the 1.5C limit on global heating.

The partnership of Chris Martin’s band with biofuel producer Neste has raised eyebrows about the green credentials of their new tour

Coldplay had a head full of dreams this week when they announced the details of a low-emission world tour driven by concerns for sustainability. Some of the green interventions are well-meaning, others are just gimmicks, such as a kinetic dance floor that generates electricity from the movement of fans. However, the detail of some of the proposed climate measures would appal even the mildly eco-minded.

Perhaps worst of all is the partnership with Neste – a Finnish oil refining and marketing corporation that will provide the band with “sustainable aviation fuels” for flights and “renewable diesel” for tour transportation and stage power generation.

Eleanor Salter writes about climate, culture and politics

Wales only UK nation to exceed 50% as households in England recycle less in 2020 than 2019

Recycling rates in England are falling and the government has failed to meet its target to recycle 50% of waste from households by 2020. But Wales has become a world leader, with the country recycling 56.5% of its household waste.

Household recycling rates in England went down from 46% in 2019 to 44% in 2020. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the Covid pandemic had disrupted collections in some areas.

After more than a decade of debate, the coastal commission is set to vote on the proposed $1.4bn project near Los Angeles

California officials are poised to decide the fate of a controversial desalination plant planned along its southern coast, in a vote that comes as the American west battles an increasingly perilous drought.

California water use leapt 19% in March, amid one of the driest months on record. After more than a decade of debate, the California coastal commission on Thursday will finally vote on a proposal for a $1.4 bn desalination plant in Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles.

Our author spots four of these striking birds as they pause their migration at the Somerset Levels

Sporting the splendid feathery collars that give the ruff its name, they reminded me of the foppish, preening courtiers of Tudor times.

This trio of male ruffs, along with a much smaller female (known as a reeve) were frantically feeding at the RSPB’s Ham Wall reserve. This is one of their favoured stopover points on their long journey north, from Africa to the Arctic tundra.

The Transport and Environment campaign group says Neste is cynically using the band

Coldplay have been branded “useful idiots for greenwashing” after announcing a partnership with the Finnish oil company Neste to halve their touring emissions last week.

Neste claims to be the world’s largest producer of sustainable biofuels, but the firm’s palm oil suppliers cleared at least 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of forest in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia between 2019 and 2020, according a study by Friends of the Earth.

Exclusive: US presidential envoy says limiting global heating to 1.5C could be made harder by conflict

The longer the war in Ukraine carries on, the worse the consequences will be for the climate, the US presidential envoy John Kerry has warned.

Many countries are struggling with an energy crisis while also urgently needing to cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit global heating to 1.5C, he said.

Report reveals extent of sixth mass bleaching event with worst-affected reefs between Cape Tribulation and Whitsundays

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Coral bleaching affected more than 90% of reefs surveyed along the Great Barrier Reef this year, according to a report by government scientists that confirms the natural landmark has suffered its sixth mass bleaching event on record.

The Reef snapshot: summer 2021-22, quietly published by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority on Tuesday night after weeks of delay, said above-average water temperatures in late summer had caused coral bleaching throughout the 2,300km reef system, but particularly in the central region between Cape Tribulation and the Whitsundays.

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We do what we do because it is right, not because it is legal. The Queen’s speech has only strengthened our resolve

If your house was burning down and the emergency services were not answering your call, what would you do? Would you try to put out the fire yourself? This is what climate activists are currently doing, and what they will continue to do, whatever changes the government makes to legislation to curb protest.

Despite politicians across the world committing to net zero, action is yet to follow rhetoric. Instead, nations continue to extract fossil fuels from the ground and burn them, releasing more carbon into the atmosphere contributing to extreme weather that will displace millions. Here in the UK, the government has approved new oil- and gasfields in the North Sea, despite hosting Cop26 just a few months ago and committing to decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy to meet its net zero target by 2050.

Measures in Queen’s speech would have outlawed protests that won votes for women and legalisation of unions, say critics

Environmental campaign groups have hit out at the “draconian” protest crackdown bill announced in the Queen’s speech.

The new law appears to be targeted at groups such as Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain who have used disruptive methods to draw attention to the climate crisis.

Damien Gayle, a Guardian environment correspondent, follows a group of climate activists as they try to paralyse the UK's fossil fuel distribution network. We film with him as the protesters break into oil terminals, glue themselves to the road, climb onboard oil tankers and let down their tyres. The campaign, called Just Stop Oil, argues the UK has three years to slash its carbon emissions. They have been met with arrests, injunctions and condemnation from politicians – with the government using the Queen’s speech to announce curbs on disruptive protests. But with deep-pocketed supporters, and claims they are signing new volunteers every day, they are vowing to continue

Turkey has recorded rise in strandings across its Black Sea coast since beginning of Russian invasion

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A recent rise in dolphin deaths in the Black Sea may have been caused by the war in Ukraine, scientists have said.

Researchers believe heightened noise pollution in the northern Black Sea, caused by about 20 Russian navy vessels and ongoing military activities, may have been driving cetaceans south to Turkish and Bulgarian shores, where they are being stranded or caught in fishing nets in unusually high numbers.

Conglomerates have bought out several smaller companies as the meat substitute market is predicted to grow rapidly

Big meat and food conglomerates threaten to push out smaller producers of meat alternatives in the same way they have affected other food industries, according to two recent reports.

Meat companies such as JBS and Cargill have invested heavily in plant-based proteins and laboratory-grown meats in recent years and bought out several smaller companies, according to a report published Tuesday by the non-profit Food & Water Watch and a March report from IPES-Food, a coalition of food systems experts.

Exclusive: RHS says queries about diseases down 45% in good sign for May blooms such as lupins and iris

Plant diseases are at their lowest levels in the UK for years because of a cold, dry spring, meaning it could be a bumper year for apples, and popular blooms such as iris are likely to be spectacular.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said years like this may be few and far between in the future, as the climate becomes warmer and wetter, creating ideal conditions for pests. But this year, spring favourites such as quince and hawthorn are doing well, with gardener queries to the charity about plant diseases on their plots down 45% on last year.

Beautiful floral arrangements that last, made from dried, paper and preserved leaves, grasses and blooms

Charity’s report says nearly all targets set since 2000 have been missed, revised or quietly ignored

The international aviation industry has failed to meet all but one of 50 of its own climate targets in the past two decades, environment campaigners say.

A report commissioned by the climate charity Possible assessed every target set by the industry since 2000 and found that nearly all had been missed, revised or quietly ignored. The charity says the findings undermine a UK government plan to leave airlines to reduce their emissions through self-regulation.

Analysis says countries can save money by switching from coal straight to renewable energies

Countries should move from coal to renewable energy without shifting to gas as a “transition” fuel to save money, as high gas prices and market volatility have made the fossil fuel an expensive option, analysis has found.

Natural gas has long been touted as a “transition” fuel for economies dependent on coal for their power needs, as it has lower carbon dioxide emissions than coal but requires similar centralised infrastructure, and gas-fired power stations take only a couple of years to build. Earlier this year, before Russia invaded Ukraine, the European Commission angered green campaigners by including gas as a “bridge” to clean energy in its guidebook for green investment.

The probability of one of the next five years surpassing the limit is now 50%, up from 20% in 2020

The year the world breaches for the first time the 1.5C global heating limit set by international governments is fast approaching, a new forecast shows.

The probability of one of the next five years surpassing the limit is now 50%, scientists led by the UK Met Office found. As recently as 2015, there was zero chance of this happening in the following five years. But this surged to 20% in 2020 and 40% in 2021. The global average temperature was 1.1C above pre-industrial levels in 2021.