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Extinction Rebellion activists spill black paint in front of Michael Gove's office – video
Extinction Rebellion activists have chained themselves together at the entrance of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in London to protest against a new coalmine in Cumbria approved by the department's secretary, Michael Gove.
'I find it completely unacceptable that at a time like this the government is still making these decisions, so we are here to say cut the ties to fossil fuels,' said Sarah Hart, from Farnborough, Hampshire, one of the protesters who lay on the ground outside the main entrance.
The estimated £165m project is expected to produce 2.8m tonnes of coking coal a year, largely for steelmaking.
The protest comes weeks after Extinction Rebellion issued a press release declaring: 'We quit', which some interpreted as an admission of defeat. Activists clarified the message applied only to actions disrupting the public, and only temporarily, as the group tries to build support beyond its radical base for mass protests in April
- Extinction Rebellion activists pour black paint outside Gove’s office
- Extinction Rebellion announces move away from disruptive tactics
ANALYSIS: Macro, policy uncertainty driving big changes in EU carbon positioning
Biodiversity-related litigation expected to be on the rise -experts
Global consultancy launches supply chain emissions training push
Extreme heat could put 40% of land vertebrates in peril by end of century
Study shows ‘disastrous consequences for wildlife’ if human-caused emissions push global temperatures up 4.4C
More than 40% of land vertebrates will be threatened by extreme heat by the end of the century under a high emissions scenario, with freak temperatures once regarded as rare likely to become the norm, new research warns.
Reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals are being exposed to extreme heat events of increasing frequency, duration and intensity, as a result of human-driven global heating. This poses a substantial threat to the planet’s biodiversity, a new study warns.
Continue reading...Senior Carbon Market Strategist, Accountability Unit, European Climate Foundation – EU (flexible location)
Extinction Rebellion activists pour black paint outside Gove’s office
Protest held over levelling up secretary’s decision to approve new coalmine in Cumbria
Extinction Rebellion activists have chained themselves together at the entrance of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in London to protest against a new coalmine in Cumbria approved by its secretary, Michael Gove.
As police hurried to block access to the doors, protesters lit smoke bombs and poured black water-soluble paint designed to resemble oil across the floor, while others danced around dressed in canary costumes outside the building on Marsham Street in Westminster on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows
Investigation into Verra carbon standard finds most are ‘phantom credits’ and may worsen global heating
- ‘Nowhere else to go’: Alto Mayo, Peru, at centre of conservation row
- Greenwashing or a net zero necessity? Scientists on carbon offsetting
- Carbon offsets flawed but we are in a climate emergency
The forest carbon offsets approved by the world’s leading provider and used by Disney, Shell, Gucci and other big corporations are largely worthless and could make global heating worse, according to a new investigation.
The research into Verra, the world’s leading carbon standard for the rapidly growing $2bn (£1.6bn) voluntary offsets market, has found that, based on analysis of a significant percentage of the projects, more than 90% of their rainforest offset credits – among the most commonly used by companies – are likely to be “phantom credits” and do not represent genuine carbon reductions.
Only a handful of Verra’s rainforest projects showed evidence of deforestation reductions, according to two studies, with further analysis indicating that 94% of the credits had no benefit to the climate.
The threat to forests had been overstated by about 400% on average for Verra projects, according to analysis of a 2022 University of Cambridge study.
Gucci, Salesforce, BHP, Shell, easyJet, Leon and the band Pearl Jam were among dozens of companies and organisations that have bought rainforest offsets approved by Verra for environmental claims.
Human rights issues are a serious concern in at least one of the offsetting projects. The Guardian visited a flagship project in Peru, and was shown videos that residents said showed their homes being cut down with chainsaws and ropes by park guards and police. They spoke of forced evictions and tensions with park authorities.
Continue reading...Euro Markets: Midday Update
Ahead of carbon market entry, business groups urge EU to double down on buildings
Biodiversity experts “cautiously optimistic” for progress on finance in wake of global framework
How did gas stoves ignite a culture war in the US? | Jill Filipovic
I recently moved from a gas stove to an induction range, and I love it. Other Americans probably will, too
Of all the political issues I assumed would come to the fore in 2023, gas stoves were not on my bingo card. And yet Americans’ right to cook on an open gas flame has turned into a red-hot culture war issue. Conservatives are gearing up for a War of the Cooktops – and unfortunately, some Democrats aren’t helping.
Some five decades’ worth of studies have found that gas stoves are hazardous to human health, with a recent one suggesting that gas stoves in US homes may be to blame for nearly 13% of childhood asthma cases. Gas stoves are bad for the environment, too, powered as they are by fossil fuels.
Continue reading...Cabbage-growing experiment shows human waste can be good to use as fertiliser
Scientists say yields from crops fertilised with recycled human waste rival those produced by organic methods
Using fertilisers derived from human faeces and urine can be as productive as conventional organic ones, with no risk of transmitting disease, according to new research.
It may seem unappetising, but humans have been using human waste as a fertiliser for thousands of years because it contains the key nutrients that plants need to grow, including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Ploughing human excrement – conventionally flushed down our toilets and into the sewage system – back into the soil creates a more sustainable farming system without significant drops in yield, the researchers found.
Continue reading...This government knows it’s on borrowed time – that’s why it’s tearing up our freedoms | George Monbiot
In relationships, controlling and coercive behaviour is now a criminal offence. In British politics, it is glorified
Don’t let them talk to you about freedom. This government is stripping out fundamental liberties with the speed and determination you would expect in the aftermath of a military coup. Knowing that their days in office are numbered, the Conservatives seem to be snuffing out democracy as quickly as they can.
Even before the latest amendment, the public order bill was the most repressive legislation of the modern era, potentially criminalising all meaningful protest. If Rishi Sunak’s new proposal is passed, protests can be stopped before they begin on the grounds that they might be “disruptive”. Disruptive protest was redefined by last year’s Police Act to include noise. Now the definition is being further extended to incorporate “slow marching”. This Minority Report amendment puts us on the wrong side of the law before we even raise our hands in objection.
Continue reading...Flood alert systems automated as Environment Agency workers go on strike
Automatic warning system activated to issue flood alerts during industrial action by staff on Wednesday
Flood-prone areas in England will be relying on automated back-up systems for flood alerts and warnings on Wednesday, as Environment Agency (EA) workers strike over pay.
Systems that would normally be monitored by experienced staff, some of whom have been left relying on food banks as a result of the cost of living crisis, will be put on autopilot during the industrial action, after weeks of working to rule failed to bring the government to the negotiating table.
Continue reading...ADNOC signs CO2 mineralisation, low carbon ammonia deals
Fukushima: court upholds acquittals of three Tepco executives over disaster
High court in Japan agreed defendants could not have predicted the massive tsunami that crippled the power plant and triggered a nuclear meltdown
Three former executives from the company that operates the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have had their not-guilty verdicts upheld by a court in Japan, dealing a blow to campaigners demanding the firm take legal responsibility for the disaster in March 2011.
The Tokyo high court on Wednesday cleared Tsunehisa Katsumata, the former chairman of Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), along with former vice-presidents Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Muto, of professional negligence resulting in death.
Continue reading...Freshwater fish more contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’ than in oceans
Study also says eating one serving of fish with PFAS could be equivalent to drinking contaminated water every day for a month
Wild caught, freshwater fish in the United States are far more contaminated with toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” than those commercially caught in oceans, and the highest levels are found in fish from the Great Lakes, a new analysis of federal data suggests.
The peer-reviewed study by public health advocate Environmental Working Group (EWG) also found eating one serving of US freshwater fish contaminated with median PFAS levels could be equivalent to drinking highly contaminated water every day for a month.
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