The Guardian
Air, Land & Sea: the 50 greatest wildlife photographs – in pictures
National Geographic has created the 50 greatest wildlife photographs exhibition. A pop-up, which starts its global debut in Melbourne zoo’s historic Carousel Park, the Air, Land & Sea exhibition showcases the world’s best wildlife photography from the likes of Paul Nicklen, Beverly Joubert and Steve Winter
Continue reading...Climate poll shows Morrison politically vulnerable as more voters back action
Number of Australians concerned about impact of climate change and wanting coal phased out rises
A growing number of Australians are concerned about the impact of climate change, and more than half of a survey of 1,756 voters believe the Morrison government needs to stay in the Paris agreement, despite Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US.
A study tracking voter sentiment for more than a decade, funded first by the Climate Institute and now by the Australia Institute, finds 73% (up from 66% in 2017) of respondents concerned about climate change, and a clear majority, 68%, believes the government should set domestic targets to comply with our Paris commitments.
Continue reading...Fossil fuel dependence poses 'direct existential threat', warns UN chief
A rapid global shift to clean energy is needed to prevent runaway climate change, says António Guterres
United Nations secretary general António Guterres has warned that the world is facing “a direct existential threat” and must rapidly shift from dependence on fossil fuels by 2020 to prevent “runaway climate change”.
Guterres called the crisis urgent and decried the lack of global leadership to address global warming.
Continue reading...Global hunger levels rising due to extreme weather, UN warns
Progress made in the past decade has been reversed, with climate extremes such as droughts and floods identified as a main cause
Global hunger has reverted to levels last seen a decade ago, wiping out progress on improving people’s access to food and leaving one in nine people undernourished last year, with extreme weather a leading cause, the UN has warned.
Hunger afflicted 821 million people last year, the third annual rise since 2015, with most regions of Africa and much of South America showing worsening signs of food shortages and malnutrition. More than half a billion of the world’s hungry live in Asia.
Continue reading...Air pollution is 'biggest environmental health risk' in Europe
Governments are failing to tackle the crisis that causes 1,000 early deaths a day, says damning EU report
Air pollution is now “the biggest environmental risk” to public health in Europe but governments are failing to adequately deal with the crisis, the EU Court of Auditors has found.
Europe’s air pollution limits are “much weaker” than WHO guidelines – and most EU countries do not comply with them anyway, according to the damning new report.
Continue reading...Western Australia warns of funding crisis for threatened species protection
WA government says federal nature conservation funding fell from $8m in 2009 to $1m in 2016
The premier of Western Australia has expressed concerns about the lack of federal funding for threatened species protection and government inaction on recovery planning. And the Northern Territory government has said it may have just one threatened species with an adequate monitoring program.
In a letter to a Senate inquiry into Australia’s high rate of fauna extinctions, the WA premier, Mark McGowan, writes that conservation work by the state, including control of predators, had enabled the WA government to downgrade the threatened status of some species, but protecting the country’s endemic wildlife was becoming more challenging because of reduced federal spending.
Continue reading...Leaked Queensland report shows state has no overall strategy to save native species
Exclusive: Conservation staff say 955 species face extinction across the state
The entire state of Queensland has no overarching conservation strategy to save its native species, according to a leaked internal review that criticises a lack of funding, planning and management of threatened wildlife.
The damning report obtained by Guardian Australia is an evaluation by staff in the conservation and sustainability services division of the Queensland Department of Environment and Science, the lead agency responsible for protecting native wildlife in the state.
Continue reading...Water voles returning to national park in west country after 30 years
150 ‘Ratty’ river creatures to be released in Somerset estate where they had become extinct
One of the most beloved and endangered riverine creatures is returning to a west country national park where it has been extinct for more than three decades.
Over the next few days 150 water voles will be released at six locations in the Aller river on the Holnicote Estate on Exmoor in Somerset.
Continue reading...Fossil fuel divestment funds rise to $6tn
Insurance companies lead the sell-off of coal, oil and gas stocks over climate change and financial fears – oil majors now cite divestment as a risk to them
The funds committed to fossil fuel divestment now total more than $6tn (£4.6tn), with almost 1,000 institutional investors having made the pledge, according to a new report.
The sell-off of coal, oil and gas investments is led by the insurance industry, with $3tn of funds. But it also now includes the first nation to divest, Ireland, major cities including New York and key medical organisations. Major oil companies such as Shell have this year cited divestment as a material risk to its business.
Continue reading...'Limited' progress at Bangkok climate talks
Executive secretary says ‘progress was made, but nothing was finalised’. Nations will meet again in Poland in December
An international meeting in Bangkok fell short of its aim of completing fruitful preparations to help an agreement be reached in December on guidelines for implementing the 2015 Paris climate change agreement.
The six-day meeting, which ended on Sunday, was scheduled to step up progress in the battle against rising global carbon emissions by adopting a completed text that could be presented at the COP24 conference in Katowice, Poland, three months from now.
Continue reading...Kavanaugh’s views on EPA’s climate authority are dangerous and wrong | Dana Nuccitelli
Kavanaugh thinks Congress should address climate change. That’s true, but it doesn’t lessen EPA’s authority
Donald Trump’s latest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh accepts that humans are causing global warming and we need to take action to stop it. The problem is that he doesn’t trust the experts at EPA to do so and wants to erode their authority to regulate carbon pollution.
Continue reading...Plastic waste set to beat price as UK shoppers' top concern – study
In the next decade, reduced packaging and increased recyclability will become the main issues for consumers, research shows
The number one issue for British shoppers in the next decade will be to reduce packaging and use more recyclable materials, according to new research.
For perhaps the first time, the public puts environmental considerations around plastic waste above the price of goods when shopping.
Continue reading...London councils accused of holding up rollout of electric car charging points
Energy company SSE claims thousands of new points are in bureaucratic limbo
Britain has thousands fewer electric car charging points than required because councils are frustrating their rollout, according to one of the country’s biggest energy companies.
Big six energy firm SSE said that when it started work three years ago, it had hoped to install 6,000 charging points in London by now, but had fitted just 762 because of delays by local authorities.
Continue reading...Green number plates ‘could boost sales of electric cars’ in UK
Electric and other ultra-low emission cars, vans and taxis could be given special green number plates to boost awareness and increase the use of environmentally “clean” driving.
Green plates are already used in Norway, Canada and China on green vehicles including electric and hydrogen cars, making them both distinct and visible to other road others.
Continue reading...Rise for Climate: thousands to march across US to protest environment crisis
Protests will be spearheaded by march in San Francisco on Saturday ahead of a climate change summit in the city next week
Tens of thousands of people are set to take part in marches and other events across the US on Saturday, to call for a swift transition to renewable energy in order to stave off the various perils of climate change.
The Rise for Climate protests will be spearheaded by a march in San Francisco, ahead of a climate change summit in the city next week that will gather mayors and business leaders from around the world.
Continue reading...Scientists get ready to begin Great Pacific Garbage Patch cleanup
Ambitious project will involve a massive floating barrier that aims to collect up to five tonnes of plastics every month
A team of scientists and engineers will on Saturday begin an ambitious cleanup of plastics in the Pacific Ocean targeting a stretch of water three times the size of France known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
A 600m-long floating barrier will be launched off the coast of San Francisco and, powered by currents, waves and wind, will aim to collect five tonnes of plastic debris each month.
Continue reading...'Insult to every voter': Australia criticised as Japan attempts to resume commercial whaling
Australia to send a junior minister for only a brief visit to key meeting of International Whaling Commission
Australia’s commitment to ocean conservation is being questioned after the government chose to send a junior minister for only a brief visit to a key meeting of the International Whaling Commission, where Japan will attempt to lift a 30-year ban on commercial whaling.
Senator Anne Ruston, the assistant minister for international development and the Pacific, is due to arrive in Florianópolis, Brazil, on 8 September but will leave on 10 September, four days before the conclusion of the meeting.
Continue reading...Climate marches, hedgehogs and the challenge of one-planet living – green news roundup
The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox
BBC admits ‘we get climate change coverage wrong too often’
Hundreds of thousands expected to join global climate marches this weekend
Most of countryside now devoid of hedgehogs, study finds
Global soft drink firms back plan to eliminate packaging waste
World’s largest offshore windfarm opens off Cumbrian coast
Eight bird species are first confirmed avian extinctions this decade
London fashion week vows to be fur-free
Groundbreaking 'spinning' wind turbine wins UK Dyson award
Japan killed 50 whales in Antarctic protected area, data shows
Botswana poaching spree sees 90 elephants killed in two months
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands expected to join global climate marches this weekend
Protests against politicians’ failure to tackle the environmental crisis will take place in more than 90 countries
Hundreds of thousand of people in more than 90 countries are expected to take part in demonstrations this weekend to protest about the failure of politicians to tackle the global environmental crisis.
Organisers say more than 800 events – from marches to street theatre, acts of civil disobedience to mini festivals – will take place in towns and cities amid growing frustration at the lack of meaningful political action over the emerging climate breakdown.
Continue reading...BBC admits ‘we get climate change coverage wrong too often’
Briefing sent to editorial staff says ‘you do not need a denier to balance the debate’
The BBC has accepted it gets coverage of climate change “wrong too often” and has offered all editorial staff a training course on how to report on global warming.
A briefing note sent to all staff warns them to be aware of false balance, stating: “You do not need a ‘denier’ to balance the debate.” The move follows a series of apologies and censures for failing to challenge climate sceptics during interviews, including Lord Lawson.
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