The Guardian

Lead researcher says use of machine learning meant over 10,000 cells could be produced and tested in a day

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Flexible, thin solar cells that are lightweight and portable may be a step closer to reality after Australian researchers claimed a new record for the amount of sunlight they can capture and turn into energy.

While traditional solar panels are rigid and heavy, the lightweight solar cells are made by printing ink on to thin plastic films.

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UK, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and Denmark have failed to align oil and gas policies with Paris pledges, say campaigners

None of the big oil and gas producers surrounding the North Sea plan to stop drilling soon enough to meet the 1.5C (2.7F) global heating target, a report has found.

The five countries – the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark – have failed to align their oil and gas policies with their climate promises under the Paris agreement, according to the campaign group Oil Change International.

Re-establishing trust between developed and developing nations is essential if our goals are to be achieved

• Mukhtar Babayev is Azerbaijan’s minister for ecology and natural resources and the president-designate of Cop29
• Newly elected leaders to be held to same climate obligations, says Cop29 chief

Last year was a double first: in 2o23, both electric vehicle usage and worldwide electricity generation from coal reached new heights. Increased electricity demand and energy-disrupting conflicts in Europe and the Middle East played their part. But it is a stark reminder that meeting 1.5C obligations requires clean energy consumption and production to shift together, and that we must find mechanisms to guard against further interruption of both by future geopolitical events.

This can start at Cop29 in Azerbaijan. We must break for good the stop-start of Cop agreements so there is follow-through from one to the next. This began last month with the launch of the Cop Presidencies Troika, ensuring Azerbaijan will be the bridge in decision-making and implementation from the leadership of the 28th summit in UAE through to the 30th in Brazil next year. This rolling mechanism will ensure the summits themselves transition away from staging grand announcements to a platform for continuity through monitoring and implementation.

Mukhtar Babayev is Azerbaijan’s minister for ecology and natural resources and the president-designate of Cop29

Exclusive: Incoming UN summit president calls on governments to stay on track, as majority of global population go to the polls

• At Cop29 bridges must be built between the diverging north and south to keep 1.5C in reach

The governments that assume power after elections around the world this year will be held to the same climate obligations as their predecessors, the chief of this year’s UN climate summit has warned.

Cop29 will be held in Azerbaijan in November, near the end of a crucial year in which most of the global population – from the UK, the EU and the US to India and Russia – will head to the polls. The US presidential election, likely to be a bitter fight with climate a key issue, will be held on 5 November, with Cop29 to take place days later, from 11 to 22 November, in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku.

Coral bleaching is not a conspiracy!

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Mount Donna Buang wingless stonefly could disappear after critical habitat determination rejected, conservationists say

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A critically endangered stonefly, which can outlive most other insects, may become extinct after the Victorian government made an “incredibly disappointing” decision.

That’s the claim from the Victorian National Parks Association, which was frustrated on Monday after the government rejected an application for the Mount Donna Buang wingless stonefly to be granted a critical habitat determination.

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Police and wildlife officials were unable to rescue the animal because of high winds and surf in Gulf of Mexico waters

A sperm whale who became stranded on a Florida beach over the weekend has died, state’s fish and wildlife conservation commission said in a statement on Monday.

The case was an urgent one for animal preservationists because sperm whales are classified as an endangered species.

Review found ongoing ‘mistrust’ among farmers, including many who remain unconvinced by need for pollution regulations

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A review of the Queensland government’s Great Barrier Reef protection regulations has found that almost half the affected farmers still believe there is little or no scientific evidence to support pollution reduction rules.

The laws, passed in 2019, were based on scientific advice that limits on sediment and chemical runoff were needed in the reef catchment, amid concerns about water quality.

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Greta Thunberg accused Sweden of being 'very good at greenwashing' as she staged a protest along with 50 other activists outside her home country's parliament. The activists sat outside Sweden's government building in Stockholm in an attempt to stop politicians from getting to work. She said climate protests had often 'fallen on deaf ears' and 'we're still moving in the wrong direction' globally. The action came on an important day for the Swedish government, with the prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, and a numerous key figures in Brussels for its official flag-raising ceremony outside Nato headquarters after being members last week

• Greta Thunberg joins climate protest blocking Swedish parliament

Activist accuses Sweden of being ‘very good at greenwashing’ as group sits outside building’s main entrance

Greta Thunberg has accused Sweden of being “very good at greenwashing” as she staged a protest along with about 50 other activists outside her home country’s parliament.

The activists – who she said were acting as a group of concerned, largely young individuals rather than representing a particular organisation – sat outside the main entrance to Sweden’s government buildings in Stockholm on Monday morning in an attempt to stop politicians from getting to work.

Right to roam campaigners organise demonstration amid anger at Bathurst Estate’s introduction of £4 fee to visit park

Hundreds of people are expected at a mass trespass of Cirencester Park in protest against the introduction of charges and electronic gates for pedestrians, joggers and cyclists.

Local people are fighting the charges, the first in 329 years since the landscaped parkland, part of the 6,300-hectare (15,500-acre) Bathurst Estate, was established beside the Cotswolds town.

Dangers of wildfires, extreme weather and other factors outgrowing preparedness, European Environment Agency says

Europe is not prepared for the rapidly growing climate risks it faces, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has said in its first risk assessment.

From wildfires burning down homes to violent weather straining public finances, the report says more action is needed to address half of the 36 significant climate risks with potentially severe consequences that it identifies for Europe. Five more risks need urgent action, the report says.

Researchers in Surrey say visible timers can also reduce water usage after installing sensors in 290 showers

Swapping a feeble dribble for a powerful blast might seem like an environmental indulgence when it comes to taking a shower, but researchers say it might actually save water.

Water consumption has become a key area of environmental concern given shortages of the resource, as well as the carbon footprint associated with its collection, treatment, supply and – in the case of most showers – heating.

Proponents of ‘bathing waters’ designation say it would force action on sewage but others worry about impact of more visitors

The waters of the River Cam are an unsettling lurid green on a dull day. The river that flows through Cambridge and has been enjoyed by swimmers including Lord Byron, Charles Darwin, Virginia Woolf and Roger Deakin is increasingly polluted from sewage discharges and phosphates and nitrates from farmland.

Now swimmers hope that the government designating a short stretch of the river at Sheep’s Green as “bathing waters” will provide the impetus to clean it up.

Scientists and vets are urging the president to afford the world’s most traded species better protections

France’s hunger for frogs’ legs is “destructive to nature” and endangering amphibians in Asia and south-east Europe, a group of scientists and vets have warned.

More than 500 experts from research, veterinary and conservation groups have called on Emmanuel Macron, the French president, to “end the overexploitation of frogs” and afford the most traded species better protections.

Research shows industry lobbying against support for solar panels and electric cars while enjoying subsidies itself

The oil industry has fought against government support for clean technologies for more than half a century, the Guardian can reveal, even as vast subsidies have propped up its polluting business model.

It lobbied lawmakers to block support for low-carbon technologies such as solar panels, electric cars and heat pumps as far back as the 1960s, analysis shows. Trade associations in the US and Europe stymied green innovations under the guise of supporting a “technology neutral” approach to avoiding the damage done by burning their fuels.

With mass bleaching events so frequent, the prognosis is bad. Australia must lead with its actions on emissions and phasing out fossil fuel development

What will it take for us to collectively pay attention? Not a new question, but a reasonable one after the official declaration that the Great Barrier Reef is suffering through another mass bleaching event driven by global heating – the fifth since 2016.

There is no clearer visual demonstration of the climate crisis than what is happening to the reef. It’s a globally unique landmark, made up of thousands of individual reefs and islands and an extraordinary and eccentric array of species. It has been growing into its modern form, spread across an area the size of Italy, for about 8,000 years. People travel from across the planet to witness it. And we can literally see the impact of climate change on it as it changes colour and loses life in real time.

Exclusive: Mayor hails ‘remarkable progress’ in improving air quality after report showing much of change is result of Ulez

Sadiq Khan has hailed what he said was remarkable progress in improving London’s air quality under his tenure as mayor, after a study showed roadside pollutant levels falling faster in the city than elsewhere in the UK.

The report, produced by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Transport for London (TfL), said a good proportion of the improvement was the result of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez), which was extended to all London boroughs last summer.

Shadow environment secretary says other countries have same target and it would save billions of pounds

A Labour government would aim for a zero-waste economy by 2050, the shadow environment secretary has said.

Steve Reed said the measure would save billions of pounds and also protect the environment from mining and other negative actions, while speaking at the Restitch conference in Coventry, held by the thinktank Create Streets.

Adelaide region expected to be worst affected with average temperatures forecast to be up by 10C

Southern parts of Australia are expected to suffer a short heatwave starting on Friday and lasting until next Tuesday. The Adelaide region will be worst affected, with highs of about 36C anticipated in the city on Friday, which is 10C above the seasonal norm.

Daytime maximums are then set to remain above 35C until Tuesday, while minimum temperatures are not forecast to drop below 25C. This will be the longest March run of high temperatures in Adelaide in four years, with only one March day above 35C being recorded over this period.