The Guardian

The tax concession scheme specifically excludes ‘prospecting, exploring or drilling activities’ but the company claims new well is clearly for R&D

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The federal government gave a $5m tax incentive to a Liberal-linked gas company exploring the Beetaloo Basin using a scheme that specifically prohibits “prospecting, exploring or drilling activities”.

The Morrison government’s award of a different grant to Empire Energy, a company hoping to frack in the Northern Territory, has been the subject of scrutiny through a Senate inquiry in recent months. Empire received $21m from a $50m grant program that forms part of its gas-led recovery.”

BBC Springwatch presenter says car set alight and gate burned down at New Forest property

The BBC Springwatch presenter Chris Packham has said he will carry on his activism after an arson attack on his home.

Packham said arsonists set fire to a car and burned down the gate to his property, in full view of his CCTV cameras. Hampshire constabulary said it was investigating the fire.

Study shows UK has lost more biodiversity than any G7 country, and is in worst global 10%

Almost half of Britain’s natural biodiversity has disappeared over the centuries, with farming and urban spread triggered by the industrial and agricultural revolutions being blamed as major factors for this loss.

That is the shock finding of a study by scientists at London’s Natural History Museum, which has revealed that the UK is one of the worst-rated nations in the world for the extent to which its ecosystems have retained their natural animals and plants.

Scientist Philip Jones is resigned, but ready for a fresh wave of abuse when drama The Trick tries to put the record straight on accusations that he falsified data on global heating

Twelve years ago, Professor Philip Jones was subject to a barrage of hate mail and death threats that pushed him close to suicide. Emails, hacked from his laboratory, proved climate change research was a fraud, it was claimed.

Now Jones faces a repeat of that grim onslaught when the BBC One film, The Trick, is screened on 18 October. It will tell the story, sympathetically, of his tribulations at the hands of climate change deniers.

Marine photographer Angel Fitor first saw endangered cichlids in a pet shop. Now his award-winning images could help save these fish

Lake Tanganyika is the world’s longest freshwater lake. It stretches for more than 400 miles across central Africa and provides a home for some of the planet’s most extraordinary aquatic creatures. But this remarkable refuge – and its inhabitants – are under threat.

Pesticide runoffs from farms, sewage and overexploitation by collectors for the ornamental fish trade are devastating life in the lake. In particular, these forces are driving many populations of cichlid fish – of which there are more than 240 species in Lake Tanganyika – to extinction.

Demand for G20 to ‘step up’ with tougher emissions reduction targets and financial aid for poorest

Developing countries are calling on the G20 group of advanced economies to come forward urgently with stiffer targets on greenhouse gas emissions, and financial aid, to make this month’s UN Cop26 climate summit a success.

Simon Stiell, climate and environment minister of Grenada, said: “All eyes are now on the G20. They must step up. There is a significant gap between what has been pledged [on cutting emissions] and what is needed – the big question is how we treat that gap.”

Over the last five years, the 100 top law firms in the US represented fossil fuel clients in 358 legal cases and transactions worth $1.36tn

The world’s biggest corporate law firms have been making millions of dollars representing fossil fuel companies but, as the climate crisis intensifies, this work is coming under increasing scrutiny.

Over the last five years, the 100 top ranked law firms in the US facilitated $1.36tn of fossil fuel transactions, represented fossil fuel clients in 358 legal cases and received $35m in compensation for their work to assist fossil fuel industry lobbying, according to a “climate scorecard” published in August.

Only ecodesign stoves can be legally sold from 2022 – but experts say the standard is shockingly weak

New wood burning stoves billed as more environmentally friendly still emit 750 times more tiny particle pollution than a modern HGV truck, a report has shown.

Only stoves that meet the ecodesign standard can be legally sold from the start of 2022 in the UK and EU, but experts said the regulation was shockingly weak.

‘My fear is that we will see fewer delegates from some of the most afflicted countries,’ a Cop26 insider from a developing nation says

Cop26 will be a “conference of the parties” like no other, as this is a year like no other. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way Cop26 will operate, and that has many worrying implications.

Cop26 should have taken place in November 2020, but the decision was taken in May 2020 to delay it by a year, because of Covid. However, the extra time has not meant that the negotiations have advanced more. The negotiators have not been able to meet in person, which has been difficult. We had online discussions and pre-meetings but these were very different from the formal negotiations that would normally have taken place to prepare the ground for Cop26.

Every week we’ll hear from negotiators from a developing country that is involved in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations and will be attending the Cop26 climate conference.

Five fire trucks and two water carriers battle blaze 13 miles south of Oxford that spread ‘significant smoke’ across area

A number of pigs are understood to have died after a large fire broke out at a farm in Oxfordshire.

The Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said five fire trucks and two water carriers were sent to battle the blaze near Wallingford, just off Portway, after being contacted at 4.23pm.

Conservationist will deliver petition to Buckingham Palace and urges royals to set example before Cop26

The conservationist and broadcaster Chris Packham has called on the royal family to “step up” by committing to rewilding their estates before Cop26.

As he prepared to deliver a petition signed by more than 100,000 people to the gates of Buckingham Palace on Saturday, accompanied by more than 100 school strikers, Packham said “the time for talking is finished” and urged the royal family to lead by example by improving the ecological condition of their land.

With their glorious blue plumage, these common urban birds have been a comfort while we’ve been at home during the pandemic

• Australian bird of the year: how they finished
• Download the poster as PDF here or JPEG here
• See all our bird of the year coverage here
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The Guardian/BirdLife Australia 2021 bird of the year poll ended with the superb fairywren coming out on top.

While at first the victory had me crying “beauty contest!”, it speaks to our desire for small moments of joy in our daily life, as we’re restricted to the confines of our own homes.

The Coalition has spent years warning of the costs of action. Now the Liberals are presenting net zero as an opportunity

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Keith Pitt, the resources minister, made headlines this week when he opened the boondoggle bidding on net zero. Pitt told Phil Coorey at the Australian Financial Review if Scott Morrison wanted agreement from the Nationals on a net zero target ahead of the Glasgow climate conference, he should put $250bn on the table.

Yes, that’s “b” for billion.

Restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante represents victory for advocates after protections were slashed

Joe Biden restored environmental protections on Friday to three national monuments and their vast expanse of vital ecosystems and sacred Indigenous spaces, reversing cuts made by Donald Trump.

“These protections provide a bridge to our past, but they also build a bridge to a safer and more sustainable future,” said Biden. “One where we strengthen our economy and pass on a healthy planet to our children and our grandchildren.”

UK firm says windfarm project that could help power British homes could be completed by 2030

The prospect of an energy island in the North Sea surrounded by windfarms with the ability to power British homes has taken a step closer after National Grid, the UK energy company, revealed that it is in talks about helping to build the project – and claimed it could be done before 2030.

“We are in tripartite discussions over an energy island that the UK would likely connect to,” Nicola Medalova, the company’s managing director of interconnectors, told New Scientist. She declined to name the two other parties in the talks.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a rescued sloth, a hidden alligator and a jellyfish swarm

Climate activists superglue themselves to roads as part of 12th disruptive action in four weeks

Members of the environmental protest group Insulate Britain have blocked the M25 motorway and a busy central London roundabout, in the group’s 12th disruptive action in four weeks.

According to the climate activist group, about 40 supporters blocked junction 25 of the M25 just before 8.30am on Friday, in defiance of an injunction obtained by National Highways, as well as the A501 at the Old Street roundabout in Islington.

Beloved small bird known for its polyamory and shared household labour narrowly beats tawny frogmouth and gang-gang cockatoo in Guardian Australia/Birdlife Australia poll

• Australian bird of the year: how they finished
• Download the poster as PDF here or JPEG here
• See all our bird of the year coverage here
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The superb fairywren has been voted bird of the year for 2021, narrowly defeating the tawny frogmouth in a nail-biting finish.

The winner of the Guardian Australia/Birdlife Australia poll was announced on Friday after more than 400,000 votes were cast during the 10-day competition.

The final 10 birds in contention in the Guardian/BirdLife Australia poll were the Australian magpie, gang-gang cockatoo, regent honeyeater, Australian brush turkey, Gouldian finch, superb fairywren, galah, tawny frogmouth, peregrine falcon and laughing kookaburra

• Bird of the year top 10: how the votes were distributed
• ‘Birdwatching doesn’t make me forget Covid, but it helps me see life anew’
• Download the poster as PDF here or JPEG here
• See all our bird of the year coverage here

Our 8th place-getter has some of the most passionate supporters around. With 8152 votes, it’s the Laughing kookaburra!

In 9th place, we have the hero of the Australian backyard and friend of cyclists everywhere, the Australian magpie with 8046 votes.

Emissions reduction minister told to expect more vigorous calls for ambitious targets before Barnaby Joyce declined to endorse findings

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Australian government officials privately advised Angus Taylor that the latest international report on climate science was “balanced and transparent” before Barnaby Joyce later refused to endorse some of the key findings.

Amid government divisions on climate policy in the lead-up to the Glasgow Cop26 conference, Guardian Australia can reveal Taylor’s department also told him to expect intensified calls “for more ambitious climate targets, such as net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier”.