The Guardian

Despite large poultry units being a key driver of river pollution, their number has soared near the Wye and Severn

• ‘The sores on the fish are nasty’: what’s behind the changes in the Severn river?

More than 51 million chickens are being industrially farmed in the river valleys of the Severn and Wye – the equivalent of 79 chickens for every person in the region, according to new figures.

The exponential rise in large intensive poultry units (IPUs) in the valleys is a key driver of river pollution. Chicken dropping contains more phosphates – which starve fish and river plants of oxygen – than any other animal manure.

Small island states must continue to be protected by special circumstances and need access to sufficient climate-based finance, Palau’s president writes

A week into Cop29 negotiations, we’re not moving fast enough – or anywhere for that matter – on some key issues.

Climate finance, or more specifically the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) to replace the current $100bn a year goal, and the work to operationalise the loss and damage fund, are key expected outcomes here in Baku.

Marine scientists say one area around Cooktown and Lizard Island had lost more than a third of its live hard coral after bleaching event

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

Reefs across the north of the Great Barrier Reef have seen “substantial losses” of coral cover after a summer of extreme heat, two cyclones and major flooding, according to the first results of surveys from government marine scientists.

After the most widespread coral bleaching event seen on the world’s biggest reef system, the Australian Institute of Marine Science said one area around Cooktown and Lizard Island had lost more than a third of its live hard coral – the biggest annual drop in 39 years of monitoring.

When the heat is on, the onus should be on the Coalition to explain why they don’t support measures to ensure their newly discovered battlers have access to rooftop solar

• Guardian Essential poll: almost half of Australian voters want Aukus reviewed after Donald Trump’s election win
• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Australia is facing the extreme risk of dangerous concentrations of high pressure and hot air this summer. There is also a strong likelihood of heatwaves.

The return of the performatively anti-climate Donald Trump will see the world’s biggest per capita carbon polluter pull out of global targets, emboldening energy incumbents and their mouthpieces to amp up their attacks on renewables.

Sherry Rehman says rich nations should pay ‘internationally determined contributions’ to help poorer and worst-affected countries

Amid the endless politicking and inscrutable arguments at the UN climate negotiations in Baku, Azerbaijan, this month, it can be hard to remember what is at stake. That’s why Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s former climate change minister, is calling on global leaders to “keep an eye on the big picture”.

“We’re here for life and death reasons,” Rehman said.

UN climate chief addresses climate summit with no agreement in sight on how to help developing countries

Countries meeting in Azerbaijan to discuss a new global financial settlement for tackling the climate crisis must “cut the theatrics” and get down to serious business, the UN has said.

The UK and Brazil have been drafted in to try to break a logjam at the Cop29 climate summit, which entered its second week on Monday with no agreement in sight on the key issue of how to channel at least $1tn a year to developing countries.

By relying on natural carbon sinks such as forests and peatlands to offset emissions, governments can appear closer to goals than they actually are

Relying on natural carbon sinks such as forests and oceans to offset continued fossil fuel emissions will not stop global heating, the scientists who developed net zero have warned.

Each year, the planet’s oceans, forests, soils and other natural carbon sinks absorb about half of all human emissions, forming part of government plans to limit global heating to below 2C under the Paris agreement.

US climate envoy says Trump won’t derail progress as GOP argues for increasing oil and gas production at UN talks

Throughout the UN climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, in recent days, US officials have maintained a studiously sunny disposition, saying that the Republican president-elect, Donald Trump, will not derail climate progress.

The US climate envoy, John Podesta, said the fight “for a cleaner, safer” planet will not stop under a re-elected Trump even if some progress is reversed. The energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, said: “The absence of leadership in the White House does not mean that this energy transition is stopped.” And Joe Biden’s climate and energy assistant, Jacob Levine, told reporters that the president’s climate policies had sparked an unstoppable clean energy “revolution”.

A kingfisher with a long, dagger-shaped beak. Soft white feathers on its belly, iridescent blue opal spots on its wings

I walked out of my kitchen on an overcast morning last week, feeling depressed, trying to think my way around the US election result somehow towards acceptance – or a totally different reality.

I walked to the garden, carrying a load of laundry. And perched on the top edge of a chair was a fat, fluffy laughing kookaburra. It looked at me, I looked at it. A large kingfisher with a long, dagger-shaped beak. The corners of its beak turn upwards so that it looks as though it is smiling slightly. Soft white feathers on its belly, iridescent blue opal spots on its brown wings.

Residents claim contamination from Angus Fire factory has left them trapped and unable to sell their homes

Residents in the UK town with the country’s highest identified concentration of “forever chemicals” have instructed lawyers to investigate the possibility of a first-of-its-kind legal claim against the firefighting foam manufacturer located in the centre of Bentham.

In May this year, an investigation by the Ends Report and the Guardian revealed that the rural North Yorkshire town is the most PFAS-polluted place known to exist in the UK. The town is home to the firefighting foam manufacturer Angus Fire.

Scientists say goal to keep world’s temperature rise below 1.5C is not going to happen despite talks at Cop29 in Baku

The internationally agreed goal to keep the world’s temperature rise below 1.5C is now “deader than a doornail”, with 2024 almost certain to be the first individual year above this threshold, climate scientists have gloomily concluded – even as world leaders gather for climate talks on how to remain within this boundary.

Three of the five leading research groups monitoring global temperatures consider 2024 on track to be at least 1.5C (2.7F) hotter than pre-industrial times, underlining it as the warmest year on record, beating a mark set just last year. The past 10 consecutive years have already been the hottest 10 years ever recorded.

António Guterres says succesful outcome at Cop29 is still ‘within reach’ but only with ‘leadership’ from world’s most powerful countries

• Climate crisis to blame for dozens of ‘impossible’ heatwaves, studies reveal

Looks as if Trump WILL keep his promise to Drill baby, drill. On Saturday he appointed Chris Wright, an oil and gas industry executive and a staunch defender of fossil fuel use, to lead the US Department of Energy.

Wright is the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, an oilfield services firm based in Denver, Colorado. He is expected to support Trump’s plan to maximize production of oil and gas and to seek ways to boost generation of electricity, demand for which is rising for the first time in decades.

We call on you to agree to:

An NCQG that ensures that we can keep below the 1.5°C survival limit of the Paris Agreement.

An NCQG based on the needs and priorities of developing countries and with public funds provided by developed countries exclusively for all developing countries, one that does not deviate from Article 9 of the Paris Agreement.

An NCQG that delivers at least USD 1.3 trillion a year for mitigation, adaptation and Loss and Damage provided as grants and highly concessional finance.

Loved by tourists, elephants are, however, often loathed by farmers. Elephant conservation has been a been a success in Tsavo in Kenya, with their number increasing by about 6,000 in the mid-1990s to almost 15,000 in 2021. The human population has also grown, encroaching on grazing and migration routes for the herds, with resulting clashes becoming the No 1 cause of elephant deaths. But a long-running project by the charity Save the Elephants offered an unlikely solution: deterring some of nature’s biggest animals with some of its smallest: African honeybees

City of Port Adelaide Enfield’s mayor says she hadn’t received correspondence about storage or disposal before or after bill passed federal parliament

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

Plans to dispose of low-level nuclear waste from Aukus submarines at an Adelaide naval facility have been unanimously opposed by the local council for the area, who say they weren’t consulted.

The Osborne naval shipyard, 25km north of Adelaide CBD, and HMAS Stirling at Garden Island 50km south of Perth in Western Australia, have both been designated as “radioactive waste management facilities” for nuclear waste from Aukus submarines under the Australian naval nuclear power safety bill, which passed parliament in October.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Exclusive: Analyses are stark evidence of how global heating is already supercharging deadly weather beyond anything ever experienced by humanity

• How do we know that the climate crisis is to blame for extreme weather?

At least 24 previously impossible heatwaves have struck communities across the planet, a new assessment has shown, providing stark evidence of how severely human-caused global heating is supercharging extreme weather.

The impossible heatwaves have taken lives across North America, Europe and Asia, with scientific analyses showing that they would have had virtually zero chance of happening without the extra heat trapped by fossil fuel emissions.

PM ‘absolutely confident’ that ‘vast majority’ of farms will be exempt as union prepares protests in London

Keir Starmer has vehemently defended the imposition of inheritance tax on farms, as a new analysis suggested farmers are being increasingly squeezed out of the market for agricultural land by wealthy investors.

Amid an battle between the government and the National Farmer’s Union (NFU) over what proportion of farms could be affected by the change, announced in last month’s budget, Starmer said he was “absolutely confident” that the overwhelming majority of farmers would be exempt.

Carmakers want ministers to ease mandate to make more electric vehicles, which would mean energy firms losing out

Major UK businesses including Ovo, SSE and BT Openreach are urging the government to stick to current electric car targets, as struggling carmakers pile pressure on ministers to relax the rules before industry talks.

The businesses said the zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which forces carmakers to sell greater numbers of electric cars each year, is an essential part of the plan to reduce the carbon and air pollution emissions caused by vehicles on Britain’s roads.

Extremists including Tommy Robinson associates latch on to event but organisers say they want it to be nonpolitical

Far-right groups are seeking to hijack a farmers’ protest in London against tax changes introduced by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves.

Extremists, including close associates of Tommy Robinson, have been using social media to urge supporters to turn up at the protest on Tuesday, as farming leaders sought to remind those attending of their responsibilities.

Jochen Flasbarth called on Cop29 delegates to press on as world faces increasing crises and drop in solidarity

Governments meeting to forge a global settlement on climate finance must get over their differences this week and come to a deal – because if talks carry on until next year they stand little chance with Donald Trump in the White House, the German development minister has said.

Jochen Flasbarth, one of the most influential ministers at the UN Cop29 summit, said that if the final days of the summit did not produce a breakthrough countries would face a much tougher prospect.

Union leader says anger is unprecedented, but does not condone any plan to stop food reaching supermarkets

The president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said that farmers in England and Wales feel “betrayed” by changes to inheritance tax rules, while saying his organisation does not condone mooted plans to stop food reaching supermarket shelves.

Tom Bradshaw, the NFU president, said anger among farmers about the changes announced in last month’s budget over inheritance tax and farms was unprecedented, and that he understood why many members wanted to take action.