The Guardian
Just one new onshore windfarm started under current UK policies in 2019
Rollout of new turbines is in decline amid Tory subsidy cuts, jeopardising climate targets
The government’s current energy policies led to just one new onshore windfarm last year, raising fears that the UK may fall short of the renewable energy it needs to generate to meet its climate targets.
Industry figures show the rollout of new onshore windfarms has fallen into sharp decline after the government scrapped subsidy schemes four years ago.
Continue reading...Sex superstar: how Diego the horny tortoise saved his species
There were just 14 of his kind surviving in the wild – until Diego arrived, drove the lady tortoises wild and fathered 800 babies
Name: Diego the horny tortoise.
Age: About 100.
Continue reading...UN draft plan sets 2030 target to avert Earth's sixth mass extinction
Paris-style proposal to counter loss of ecosystems and wildlife vital to the future of humanity will go before October summit
Almost a third of the world’s oceans and land should be protected by the end of the decade to stop and reverse biodiversity decline that risks the survival of humanity, according to a draft Paris-style UN agreement on nature.
To combat what scientists have described as the sixth mass extinction event in Earth’s history, the proposal sets a 2030 deadline for the conservation and restoration of ecosystems and wildlife that perform crucial services for humans.
Continue reading...Revealed: US listed climate activist group as ‘extremists’ alongside mass killers
DHS listed activists engaged in non-violent civil disobedience targeting oil industry alongside white supremacists in documents
A group of US environmental activists engaged in non-violent civil disobedience targeting the oil industry have been listed in internal Department of Homeland Security documents as “extremists” and some of its members listed alongside white nationalists and mass killers, documents obtained by the Guardian reveal.
The group have been dubbed the Valve Turners, after closing the valves on pipelines in four states carrying crude oil from Canada’s tar sands on 11 October, 2016, which accounted for about 15% of US daily consumption. It was described as the largest coordinated action of its kind and for a few hours the oil stopped flowing.
Continue reading...Priti Patel defends inclusion of Extinction Rebellion on UK terror list
Home secretary accepts XR is not terror group but says assessment has to be based on ‘security risks’
The home secretary, Priti Patel, has defended anti-terror police for putting the Extinction Rebellion environmental protest group on a list of extremist ideologies, saying it was important to look at “a range of security risks”.
While accepting that XR was not a terrorist organisation, Patel told LBC radio that such assessment had to be “based in terms of risk to the public, security risks, security threats”.
Continue reading...Half of UK universities have committed to divest from fossil fuel
78 out of 154 universities joined campaign in blow to big oil’s ‘social licence’, campaigners say
Half of UK universities have signed up to divest from fossil fuels in what campaigners say is a significant blow to the “social licence” of big oil.
Seventy-eight of the UK’s 154 public universities have joined the divestment campaign, either divesting or pledging to divest hundreds of millions from the fossil fuel industry.
Continue reading...'Like a bomb going off': why Brazil's largest reserve is facing destruction
Gold prospectors are ravaging the Yanomami indigenous reserve. So why does President Bolsonaro want to make them legal?
Deep in the Yanomami indigenous reserve on the northern reaches of the Brazilian Amazon, the ruins of an illegal goldminers’ camp emerge after an hour in a small plane and two in a boat. No roads reach here.
Wooden frames alongside the Uraricoera River that once supported shops, bars, restaurants, a pharmacy, an evangelical church and even brothels are all that is left of the small town. The army burned and trashed it as part of an operation aimed at stamping out wildcat mining on the reserve.
Continue reading...Air pollution could kill 160,000 in next decade – report
British Heart Foundation predicts current total of 11,000 particulate-related deaths per year will continue to rise
More than 160,000 people could die over the next decade from strokes and heart attacks caused by air pollution, a charity has warned. That is the equivalent of more than 40 heart and circulatory disease deaths related to air pollution every day.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF), which compiled the figures, said there are an estimated 11,000 deaths per year at the moment, but that this will rise as the population continues to age. It wants the UK to adopt World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on air pollution and meet them by 2030.
Continue reading...Community-generated green electricity to be offered to all in UK
Power provided on new tariff to come exclusively from small-scale wind and solar farms
UK homes will soon be able to plug into community wind and solar farms from anywhere in the country through the first energy tariff to offer clean electricity exclusively from community projects.
The deal from Co-op Energy comes as green energy suppliers race to prove their sustainability credentials amid rising competition for eco-conscious customers and “greenwashing” in the market.
Continue reading...There’s no extremism in Extinction Rebellion | Letters
The Guardian’s recent revelation that Extinction Rebellion (XR) had been classed as an extremist ideology in now hastily withdrawn advice issued by counter-terrorism police (Anti-terror police target school climate strikes, 11 January) is the latest example of a wider campaign seeking to undermine public support for our non-violent movement. In July, we saw the release of a report on XR by the former head of the Met’s counter-terrorism command, Richard Walton, done for the rightwing thinktank Policy Exchange. His report makes a series of overinflated and discredited claims about XR, and it was subsequently revealed that Policy Exchange itself has taken funding from big energy companies.
Walton’s report came out in the context of a persistent media campaign that sought to paint XR in the worst possible light, and it appears to have been the basis of the foolish action by counter-terrorism police. Yet despite all this, XR is as strong as ever. Our group remains resolutely committed to non-violence in our use of direct action, and 2020 promises an escalation in our campaign for action on the ecological and climate and emergencies.
Continue reading...Explainer: what are the underlying causes of Australia's shocking bushfire season?
Despite the political smokescreen, scientists are in no doubt that global heating has contributed to Australia’s fire emergency
As Australia’s unprecedented bushfire season continues to unfold, competing arguments have been made about the principal causes of the human and environmental tragedy – particularly around the role of climate change.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has acknowledged that climate change has had an influence on the fires and has defended his government’s climate record.
Continue reading...Elegantly ethical: the best of sustainable design – in pictures
Products that reuse materials and support local communities can both do good and look good
Continue reading...See a show and help save the planet as the West End turns green
After Extinction Rebellion’s call for urgent action on the streets of London last year, the issue of climate change is to stage another major London takeover. From 23 March, the wider environmental debate will dominate proceedings inside a West End theatre for eight weeks.
Performers including Alistair McGowan, Rob Brydon, Gaby Roslin and Jason Manford are to join experts in the field at the Charing Cross theatre, alongside the double Olivier award-winner and West End leading lady, Janie Dee, for the inaugural London Climate Change festival.
Continue reading...Extinction Rebellion could sue police over extremist ideology listing
Group threatens action after being named in guide designed to help prevent terrorism
Extinction Rebellion is threatening legal action against counter-terrorism police for what it said was the illegal listing of the group an extremist ideology in a guide designed to help stop terrorist violence.
The Guardian revealed on Friday that counter-terrorism police placed the non-violent protest group on a list of extremist ideologies that should be reported to the authorities running the Prevent anti-radicalisation programme. Police now say that was an error.
Continue reading...Mushrooms and orange peel: could biotech clean up the building industry?
A biotech startup is researching building materials that could revolutionise construction. Not only are they biodegradable – some also absorb toxins
Cocoa husks, dried orange peel, ground blue pea flowers: the ingredients read like a tasting menu. They are, in fact, waste products that are used to make Orb – a sustainable building material that is carbon neutral. It’s versatile enough to be used for furniture or as a substitute for a wood-based sheet material
Orb is produced by Biohm, a startup founded in 2016 by Ehab Sayed. Sayed grew up in Doha, Qatar, and says his home town is one of the “biggest motivators” for him to inspire change. “Although it is the richest country in the world, it is likely one of the least sustainable and a contributor to the climate crisis,” he says. “Growing up in this environment resulted in a resentment towards the impact we are having on our planet.”
Continue reading...Bushfires crisis: world rallies to demand climate action as Australia burns – in pictures
The ferocity and tragedy of Australia’s bushfires, which have claimed 26 lives and razed more than 2,000 homes, have shocked the nation, with many demanding those in power do much more to address the effects of climate change. Tens of thousands turned out at rallies across Australia on Friday night, with many calling for the prime minister, Scott Morrison, to be sacked. Globally, Australia’s plight was recognised too, as activists from London to Lima – many dressed as Australian fauna – protested the government’s policies
• Australia bushfires live: NSW and Victoria survey damage as fires merge to form new ‘megablaze’ – latest updates
Factcheck: are national parks 'locked up' and more vulnerable to bushfires?
The myth that not enough has been done to manage bushland to mitigate bushfire risk has persisted
As disastrous bushfires continue to grip much of the country, causing loss of lives and homes, claims persist that not enough has been done to manage bushland to mitigate fire risk.
One frequent claim is that the “locking up” of national parks has somehow contributed to the increased bushfire risk this season, rather than prolonged dry and hot weather and the influence of climate change.
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
The pick of the best flora and fauna photos from around the world, including long-eared owls and an injured koala
Continue reading...Greta Thunberg tells world leaders to end fossil fuel ‘madness’
Failure to end investment ‘would be a betrayal against life itself’, say climate activists
- Greta Thunberg and others: ‘At Davos, we will tell the tycoons to dismantle the fossil fuel economy’
Greta Thunberg and fellow youth climate campaigners are demanding that global leaders immediately end the “madness” of huge ongoing investments in fossil fuel exploration and enormous subsidies for coal, oil and gas use.
The 21 young activists are also calling on the political and business leaders who will be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos to ensure investment funds dump their holdings in fossil fuel companies.
Continue reading...Woodland at risk as Harrogate Spring Water plans expansion
Company wants to build on 1.6-hectare area of Rotary Wood in Pinewoods forest
One of Britain’s best-known bottled water companies is proposing to extend its bottling plant, which would lead to the loss of huge areas of woodland in a Yorkshire spa town.
Harrogate Spring Water wants to expand its operations and build on a 1.6-hectare (four-acre) area of woodland.
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