The Guardian

Australian officials have not visited the centre where hundreds of rare and endangered birds were sent

The federal environment department does not know if hundreds of rare and endangered Australian birds exported to a German organisation headed by a convicted kidnapper and extortionist are still at the group’s facility in Brandenburg.

Department officials told Senate estimates on Monday night their wildlife compliance unit was investigating after Guardian Australia reported the government had been warned birds sent to the Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP) could be sold to collectors at a huge profit.

Scheme will match donations to NGO up to £2m to help reduce ocean plastic pollution

A UK government-backed campaign to build recycling bases in Pakistan could raise millions of pounds to help reduce ocean and river plastic pollution.

Related: 'I've never been to school': child waste pickers living on Pakistan's streets | Haroon Janjua

Environment secretary may target drinks of under 750ml in deposit return scheme

Michael Gove has been urged not to water down plans to give people money back for recycling plastic bottles and cans, after consulting on whether to target small drink containers only.

The environment secretary will confirm on Monday that he is pressing ahead with the new “deposit return” scheme for cans and bottles made of plastic and glass, as well as a tax on some plastic packaging.

Marine park authority fear freshwater bleaching after scientists report ‘extensive’ flood plumes and drop in water salinity

Freshwater bleaching of corals could occur this year as a result of flood waters from Queensland’s overflowing rivers pouring into the Great Barrier Reef, the marine park authority has warned.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority told Senate estimates hearings in Canberra on Monday that there is a chance corals hit by mass bleaching in 2016 or 2017 could be damaged again by one of several impacts from the flooding disaster.

Drive to ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and cut waste’ could include plastic tax and deposit scheme

Millions of homes could have their food waste bins collected weekly, if new proposals from the environment secretary are implemented in the wake of a government consultation on the UK’s waste system.

Michael Gove’s proposed measures to ensure consistent recycling collections come after a number of councils cut the frequency of collections, leaving residents with overflowing bins.

• Encouraging sign for the critically endangered species
• Only about 450 North Atlantic right whales remain
  

Seven rare right whale calves have been spotted so far this winter off Florida’s Atlantic coast, an encouraging sign for the critically endangered species but one which one expert said “still isn’t enough”.

Related: No North Atlantic right whales killed in Canadian waters in 2018

Scientists say roast meal can make household air dirtier than in sixth most polluted city

Cooking a Sunday roast can drive indoor air pollution far above the levels found in the most polluted cities on Earth, scientists have said.

Researchers found that roasting meat and vegetables, and using a gas hob, released a surge of fine particles that could make household air dirtier than that in Delhi.

Extinction Rebellion calls for British Fashion Council to declare climate emergency

Protesters from the environmental action group Extinction Rebellion have disrupted London fashion week in an attempt to urge the British Fashion Council to declare a climate emergency.

A group with a banner saying “rebel for life” blocked the road outside Victoria Beckham’s show at Tate Britain for about half an hour on Sunday, holding up Mercedes cars provided for the event.

Experts warn that failure to act risks spike in global temperatures

Dramatic rises in atmospheric methane are threatening to derail plans to hold global temperature rises to 2C, scientists have warned.

In a paper published this month by the American Geophysical Union, researchers say sharp rises in levels of methane – which is a powerful greenhouse gas – have strengthened over the past four years. Urgent action is now required to halt further increases in methane in the atmosphere, to avoid triggering enhanced global warming and temperature rises well beyond 2C.

It is 2040 and Britain’s green and pleasant countryside is populated by robots. We have vertical farms of leafy salads, fruit and vegetables, and livestock is protected by virtual fencing. Changing diets have seen a decline in meat consumption while new biotech production techniques not only help preserve crops but also make them more nutritious.

This is the picture painted in a report from the National Farmers Union which attempts to sketch out what British food and farming will look like in 20 years’ time.

From teachers to traditional owners, local people make the case for resisting coal mining in their ‘beautiful’ and ‘sacred’ valley

We bought our house less than a year ago, having exercised due diligence. We determined that the supposed last appeal by Gloucester Resources, the owners of the proposed Rocky Hill mine, was almost certain to be dismissed. It was. We thought that any lingering worries that we had about the proposed mine were over.

The 41-year-old man, who was surfing at Belongil Beach, was airlifted to Gold Coast University hospital

A man has been bitten on the leg by a shark on the New South Wales north coast, which has led to the closure of the beach.

Forty-one-year-old Sam Edwardes was surfing at Belongil Beach near Byron Bay about 6.40am on Sunday when he was bitten on the leg.

As a vocal vegan, I might be expected to support the abattoir protests by the Save movement. But I’m not convinced they benefit the animals

Of all the people you would expect to be waiting outside a slaughterhouse, animal lovers might seem the least likely candidates. Yet outside abattoirs around the world, vegan activists from the Save Movement are doing just that.

Save is a global network that holds vigils outside abattoirs to show love and compassion to the animals as they arrive for slaughter. The protesters stop the trucks for a few minutes, offer soothing words to the animals and take photos and videos to record their conditions. The movement first hit the headlines in 2015 when an activist in Canada was taken to court for giving water to thirsty pigs in a slaughter truck. She was threatened with 10 years in prison; eventually, a judge dismissed the case. Last week, the group made headlines after its Leicestershire chapter struck a deal with Foyle Food Group to allow them to perform last rites ceremonies.

Pupils from schools, colleges and universities walk out in protest against lack of climate action

Activists say ‘post-apocalyptic’ scenes in Kuzbass highlight manmade ecological disaster

Residents of a coalmining region in Siberia have been posting videos online showing entire streets and districts covered in toxic black snow that critics say highlight a manmade ecological catastrophe.

In one video, filmed in Kiselyovsk, a town in the Kuzbass region, a woman drives past mounds of coal-coloured snow stretching to the horizon, covering a children’s playground and the courtyards of residential buildings. The scenes in the footage were described as “post-apocalyptic” by Russian media.

Hungry polar bears, the oldest known breeding bird and a new frog species in this week’s gallery

Thousands of children walk out of class in protest at environmental crisis. Follow the latest updates

• Are you taking part? Share your experiences
  

2.18pm GMT

The former higher education minister Sam Gyimah has joined the surprising number of Conservative MPs who have offered tacit support for pupils joining the school strike today

Best to see this as an applied citizenship lesson on one day of the year. Climate Change is one of the big issues facing mankind, and we all benefit from having informed, active and engaged citizens. https://t.co/tHS50qIBnv

2.16pm GMT

Amy Walker has been talking to more of the students taking part in the strikes in Brighton:

Joe Paulger, Otis Berey and Alfie Morgan are all 16-year-old Year 11s at Varndean School. They left at breaktime to join the protest - this is the first any of them have ever been to. #strike4climate #Brighton pic.twitter.com/dfo9XlPj75

Hettie Ainsworth, 10, is here with her parents despite not being given an authorised absence from school. She’s here to protest because: “the government isn’t doing enough about it.” She adds: “It’s our future, and if we don’t start paying attention there may not be one.” pic.twitter.com/DhHdh7lywp

Thousands of school and university students in the UK have walked out of lessons as part of a global movement calling for action on climate change

• Climate strike: UK school pupils take part in call for urgent action
  
• 'The beginning of great change': Greta Thunberg hails school climate strikes
  

People tend to respond to immediate threats and financial consequences – and Florida’s coastal real estate may be on the cusp of delivering that harsh wake-up call

I stood behind a worn shopping center outside of Crystal Springs, Florida, looking for the refuge where a hundred manatees were gathered for winter. I found them clustered in the emerald-colored spring, trying to enjoy a wedge of sunlight and avoid the hordes of people like me, boxing them in on kayaks and tour boats, leering over wooden decks. The nearby canals were lined with expensive homes and docks with jetskis. One manatee breached the water for a breath, and I could see the propeller scar on its back.

Related: Why people in the US south stay put in the face of climate change

Thousands of schoolchildren and young people are to join nationwide call for action

• Taking part? Share your stories
  

Thousands of schoolchildren and young people are expected to join climate strikes across the UK in a demonstration of growing concern about the escalating environmental crisis.

Organisers said strikes were planned in at least 60 towns and cities from Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands in an attempt to force politicians to take urgent action.