The Guardian

Government has no credible plan for effects of extreme weather, says Committee on Climate Change

The UK’s plans for adapting to the effects of the climate crisis “fall far short” of what is required, the government’s statutory adviser has said.

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has examined the national adaptation programme published by ministers last July, intended to set out how people, buildings and vital national infrastructure such as water, transport, energy and telecommunications networks could be protected from the increasing severity of storms, floods, heatwaves and droughts that are afflicting the UK as a result of global heating.

Playing sounds from healthy coral reefs at degraded ones encourages coral larvae to settle, a study has found.

Scientists recorded audio from thriving reefs and then played it back at reefs in decline. Their work suggests that coral larvae respond to sounds in the ocean to work out where best to settle and grow

Record Western Australian rainfall has closed the Eyre Highway that links Perth to the eastern states and flooded outback stations, including Australia’s largest operating sheep station Rawlinna. Parts of WA experienced more than half a year's rain in 24 hours over the weekend, with more than 155mm of rain recorded at Rawlinna

• WA floods: ‘serious welfare concerns’ for seven people, including four children, missing amid heavy rain

The sewage treatment works at Horley seem to be crumbling, much like owner Thames Water itself

• Come clean on rescue plans for Thames Water, MP demands

The brochure boasts of a family-friendly community located in tranquil green space within easy reach of high-speed links to London.

However, the residents of a new development of 1,500 homes in Horley, Surrey, have recently set up a WhatsApp group, whose title illustrates a less attractive feature of the community: Stop the Poo.

Clean Energy Council report details ‘particularly poor’ investment in large-scale plants but says roof-top solar and batteries are ‘storming ahead’

• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

Investments in renewable energy plants showed an “alarming” slowdown in 2023, with financial approvals for new solar farms shrinking more than a third while no new windfarms won backing, the Clean Energy Council said in its annual report.

The yearly results come as separate data revealed fossil fuel power stations expanded generation in the first two months of 2024 as heatwaves in the east of Australia sent demand soaring.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Swedish police have forcibly removed Greta Thunberg and other climate activists after they blocked the entrance to the Swedish parliament for a second day. Two officers lifted Thunberg and dragged her away before putting her down on the ground about 20 metres away from the door she had been obstructing. Thunberg and dozens of other environmental campaigners started blocking the main entrances to Sweden’s parliament on Monday in a sit-down protest against the effects of the climate crisis and what they said was political inaction

• Swedish police forcibly remove Greta Thunberg from parliament entrance

Intent to sue federal regulators charges they have failed to address dangerous levels of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ known to be in sludge

New legal action could put an end to the practice of spreading toxic sewage sludge on US cropland as a cheap alternative to fertilizer, and force America to rethink how it disposes of its industrial and human waste.

A notice of intent to sue federal regulators charges they have failed to address dangerous levels of PFAS “forever chemicals” known to be in virtually all sludge.

Lead researcher says use of machine learning meant over 10,000 cells could be produced and tested in a day

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

Flexible, thin solar cells that are lightweight and portable may be a step closer to reality after Australian researchers claimed a new record for the amount of sunlight they can capture and turn into energy.

While traditional solar panels are rigid and heavy, the lightweight solar cells are made by printing ink on to thin plastic films.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

UK, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and Denmark have failed to align oil and gas policies with Paris pledges, say campaigners

None of the big oil and gas producers surrounding the North Sea plan to stop drilling soon enough to meet the 1.5C (2.7F) global heating target, a report has found.

The five countries – the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark – have failed to align their oil and gas policies with their climate promises under the Paris agreement, according to the campaign group Oil Change International.

Re-establishing trust between developed and developing nations is essential if our goals are to be achieved

• Mukhtar Babayev is Azerbaijan’s minister for ecology and natural resources and the president-designate of Cop29
• Newly elected leaders to be held to same climate obligations, says Cop29 chief

Last year was a double first: in 2o23, both electric vehicle usage and worldwide electricity generation from coal reached new heights. Increased electricity demand and energy-disrupting conflicts in Europe and the Middle East played their part. But it is a stark reminder that meeting 1.5C obligations requires clean energy consumption and production to shift together, and that we must find mechanisms to guard against further interruption of both by future geopolitical events.

This can start at Cop29 in Azerbaijan. We must break for good the stop-start of Cop agreements so there is follow-through from one to the next. This began last month with the launch of the Cop Presidencies Troika, ensuring Azerbaijan will be the bridge in decision-making and implementation from the leadership of the 28th summit in UAE through to the 30th in Brazil next year. This rolling mechanism will ensure the summits themselves transition away from staging grand announcements to a platform for continuity through monitoring and implementation.

Mukhtar Babayev is Azerbaijan’s minister for ecology and natural resources and the president-designate of Cop29

Exclusive: Incoming UN summit president calls on governments to stay on track, as majority of global population go to the polls

• At Cop29 bridges must be built between the diverging north and south to keep 1.5C in reach

The governments that assume power after elections around the world this year will be held to the same climate obligations as their predecessors, the chief of this year’s UN climate summit has warned.

Cop29 will be held in Azerbaijan in November, near the end of a crucial year in which most of the global population – from the UK, the EU and the US to India and Russia – will head to the polls. The US presidential election, likely to be a bitter fight with climate a key issue, will be held on 5 November, with Cop29 to take place days later, from 11 to 22 November, in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku.

Coral bleaching is not a conspiracy!

• See more of Fiona Katauskas’s cartoons here

Mount Donna Buang wingless stonefly could disappear after critical habitat determination rejected, conservationists say

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

A critically endangered stonefly, which can outlive most other insects, may become extinct after the Victorian government made an “incredibly disappointing” decision.

That’s the claim from the Victorian National Parks Association, which was frustrated on Monday after the government rejected an application for the Mount Donna Buang wingless stonefly to be granted a critical habitat determination.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Police and wildlife officials were unable to rescue the animal because of high winds and surf in Gulf of Mexico waters

A sperm whale who became stranded on a Florida beach over the weekend has died, state’s fish and wildlife conservation commission said in a statement on Monday.

The case was an urgent one for animal preservationists because sperm whales are classified as an endangered species.

Review found ongoing ‘mistrust’ among farmers, including many who remain unconvinced by need for pollution regulations

• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

A review of the Queensland government’s Great Barrier Reef protection regulations has found that almost half the affected farmers still believe there is little or no scientific evidence to support pollution reduction rules.

The laws, passed in 2019, were based on scientific advice that limits on sediment and chemical runoff were needed in the reef catchment, amid concerns about water quality.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Greta Thunberg accused Sweden of being 'very good at greenwashing' as she staged a protest along with 50 other activists outside her home country's parliament. The activists sat outside Sweden's government building in Stockholm in an attempt to stop politicians from getting to work. She said climate protests had often 'fallen on deaf ears' and 'we're still moving in the wrong direction' globally. The action came on an important day for the Swedish government, with the prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, and a numerous key figures in Brussels for its official flag-raising ceremony outside Nato headquarters after being members last week

• Greta Thunberg joins climate protest blocking Swedish parliament

Activist accuses Sweden of being ‘very good at greenwashing’ as group sits outside building’s main entrance

Greta Thunberg has accused Sweden of being “very good at greenwashing” as she staged a protest along with about 50 other activists outside her home country’s parliament.

The activists – who she said were acting as a group of concerned, largely young individuals rather than representing a particular organisation – sat outside the main entrance to Sweden’s government buildings in Stockholm on Monday morning in an attempt to stop politicians from getting to work.

Right to roam campaigners organise demonstration amid anger at Bathurst Estate’s introduction of £4 fee to visit park

Hundreds of people are expected at a mass trespass of Cirencester Park in protest against the introduction of charges and electronic gates for pedestrians, joggers and cyclists.

Local people are fighting the charges, the first in 329 years since the landscaped parkland, part of the 6,300-hectare (15,500-acre) Bathurst Estate, was established beside the Cotswolds town.

Dangers of wildfires, extreme weather and other factors outgrowing preparedness, European Environment Agency says

Europe is not prepared for the rapidly growing climate risks it faces, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has said in its first risk assessment.

From wildfires burning down homes to violent weather straining public finances, the report says more action is needed to address half of the 36 significant climate risks with potentially severe consequences that it identifies for Europe. Five more risks need urgent action, the report says.

Researchers in Surrey say visible timers can also reduce water usage after installing sensors in 290 showers

Swapping a feeble dribble for a powerful blast might seem like an environmental indulgence when it comes to taking a shower, but researchers say it might actually save water.

Water consumption has become a key area of environmental concern given shortages of the resource, as well as the carbon footprint associated with its collection, treatment, supply and – in the case of most showers – heating.