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Claxton, Norfolk: Intense blue spikes have covered half the lawn – but we can claim little credit for this

This spring I’ve been amused by our wild violets, which have spread suddenly across one half of the lawn. For anyone who has never met them, they are an absolute joy. Each flowering spike bears an asymmetrical corolla that comprises five petals of the most intense purple. Down the throat of the central spur is a delicious little nectary that bees apparently find irresistible.

If I crouch to sniff, it also yields this gentle odour, from which I judge them to be sweet violets, Viola odorata, the one common species in the family that has such a scent. It is highly evocative, bringing to mind my childhood when we used to buy those tubes of purplish sugar known as Parma Violets (a Derbyshire speciality, manufactured in New Mills).

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ABB trials “futuristic new design” of electric water taxi on Lake Geneva – a "milestone" in the development of zero emissions transport.

Big retailers may be allowed to pocket carbon credits from rooftop solar systems paid for and installed by households.

Ganawarra solar farm connected to grid, with work to begin on a new Tesla big battery to commence within weeks.

Poorest are hardest hit with many developing countries falling behind on cleaning up toxic air pollution

More than 95% of the world’s population breathe unsafe air and the burden is falling hardest on the poorest communities, with the gap between the most polluted and least polluted countries rising rapidly, a comprehensive study of global air pollution has found.

Cities are home to an increasing majority of the world’s people, exposing billions to unsafe air, particularly in developing countries, but in rural areas the risk of indoor air pollution is often caused by burning solid fuels. One in three people worldwide faces the double whammy of unsafe air both indoors and out.

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We are looking for a North American Environmental Markets Correspondent to help us bolster and expand our coverage of carbon and other environmental markets.

Electric cars might be a quick fix to clean up transport, but the problems with cars go beyond just emissions. Martin Brueckner, Senior Lecturer in Sustainability, Murdoch University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

ARENA awards $289,725 for Canberra company to design, manufacture and test its rapidly redeployable Container Roll Out Solar System.

The future will not only be electric, but green electric, and the transition will happen a lot quicker than most people think.

The Senior Associate reports to the U.S. Climate Alliance Executive Director. The Senior Associate supports and responds to state-led initiatives, and works with the Energy and Climate team at the United Nations Foundation, which houses the Alliance Secretariat.

Energy Security Board has finally got smart about reliability, and dumped plans promised to conservatives that would try and turn wind and solar plants into "base-load" generators. This is a huge development, and a victory for smart economics, and engineering.

Do you seek an experience where you have the ability to contribute to climate change policy and the opportunity to support ongoing integration in the implementation of strategic and operational policy? The Climate Change Policy Branch is seeking two temporary Policy Advisors for a 24-month term who are self-motivated and experienced at policy development, agile in working on critical policy initiatives and creative in resolving complex policy and regulatory problems.

Sulphur dioxide pollution from coal-fired power stations can have bad health effects — but who picks up the bill, and could power stations be doing more?

A senior Nasa engineer has said the first person to set foot on Mars should be a woman.

First exploration fracking expected next year but national parks and conservation areas will be protected

The Northern Territory government has lifted a ban on hydraulic fracturing of onshore gas that will open up more than half of the territory’s land mass to the controversial practice.

The first exploration fracking by petroleum companies is expected to occur early next year after the implementation of a regulatory regime and new laws, which the government insists will be strict.

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It's not as easy to recycle your takeaway coffee cup as people may have thought.

Most people willing to swap to supermarkets trying to improve farming standards, survey finds

Shoppers around the world overwhelmingly support high animal welfare standards for pigs, and most would also be prepared to change their supermarket habits in response, an international survey on pork consumption has found.

Seven out of 10 people questioned said they found the manner in which pigs are reared for slaughter on some factory farms “upsetting”, “wrong” or “shocking”, after being shown photographs of some pig-keeping conditions in the online poll. The survey highlighted practices such as sows kept in small cages, antibiotic use, as well as tail-docking, teeth-grinding and castration, sometimes without pain relief.

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The Ontario government has released a framework for its voluntary offset programme, approving three quantification methodologies under an ‘open architecture’ approach that doesn’t limit project types.

It might be mid-Autumn, but bushfires are still threatening homes and livelihoods across the country.

Blockchain-based carbon credit platform Poseidon has committed to spend its first tranche of cash to buying Peruvian REDD credits from UK-based Ecosphere+, as part of an initiative offering a voluntary carbon credit platform for retailers.