Environment news

• EDF secures state-backed finance deal ahead of Hinkley Point decision

  22-04-2016 23:15
  By Geert De Clercq PARIS (Reuters) - French utility EDF has secured a new government-backed multibillion-euro financing package ahead of making the final investment decision on its Hinkley Point nuclear power plant project in Britain. Without mentioning the 18 billion pound British project, EDF said on Friday that following a review of long-term financing requirements, its board had decided to issue 4 billion euros worth of shares "by the closure of the 2016 accounts". The government, as the 85
  
  Read more

• British BP ships U.S. crude to PDVSA's terminal - sources

  22-04-2016 21:46
  British BP has shipped a U.S. crude cargo to PDVSA's terminal in Curacao, the third one that the firm has sent since winning a tender along with China Oil last month to provide the Venezuelan state-run company with some 8 million barrels of light oil, according to sources and Reuters data. The tanker NS Century chartered by BP loaded crude this week at Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, on the U.S. Gulf Coast and set sail to PDVSA's Bullenbay terminal on the Caribbean island of Curacao. Another th
  
  Read more

• 108-Year-Old Message in a Bottle Is Oldest Ever Found

  22-04-2016 20:41
  
  The oldest message in a bottle spent 108 years, 4 months and 18 days at sea. This year, Guinness World Records recognized it as the oldest message in a bottle ever found. One of more than 1,000 bottles thrown into the North Sea by marine biologist George Parker Bidder, the bottle was part of a research project on the patterns of ocean currents.
  
  Read more

• World leaders sign Paris Agreement on climate change – video

  22-04-2016 20:29
  
  More than 170 countries sign the Paris Agreement at the UN on Friday as the landmark deal takes a key step toward entering into force years ahead of schedule. The signing ceremony is expected to set a record for international diplomacy; never have so many countries signed an agreement on the first available day.States that don’t sign Friday have a year to do so
  Why the Paris climate change goals may already be slipping beyond reachContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• US claims success in efforts to save endangered species

  22-04-2016 20:20
  
  Obama administration puffs its chest out over apparent victories in removing animals from endangered species list at accelerated paceThe world may be hurtling to the worst extinction crisis since the dinosaurs were wiped out, but the US is claiming success in its own efforts to prevent species following the path of titanosaurs, dodos and passenger pigeons.A total of 34 species have been removed from federal Endangered Species Act protections since 1978 due to them recovering, rather than becomin
  
  Read more

• World governments vow to end fossil fuel era at UN climate signing ceremony

  22-04-2016 19:52
  
  Representatives of more than 170 countries endorse Paris agreement to cut carbon emissions, with France’s president saying: ‘There is no turning back’More than 170 governments declared an end to the fossil fuel era on Friday, using the signing ceremony for the landmark Paris agreement as an occasion to renew their vows to fight climate change. The outpouring of support – the largest ever single-day turn-out for a signing ceremony – underscored strong international c
  
  Read more

• Nations sign historic Paris climate deal

  22-04-2016 19:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Amid hope and hype, delegates have finished signing the Paris climate agreement at UN headquarters in New York.
  
  Read more

• Nations ink historic Paris climate deal

  22-04-2016 19:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Amid hope and hype, delegates have finished signing the Paris climate agreement at UN headquarters in New York.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• VW agrees to buy back or "fix" 500,000 cars in North America

  22-04-2016 19:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  With only days to go before the deadline, Volkswagen AG (VW) and the U.S. government reached a partial settlement over how to deal with the automaker’s “dieselgate” emissions scandal.Volkswagen agreed to fix or buy back some 500,000 vehicles caught up in the crisis. What wasn’t agreed upon is how much the company should pay in fines and compensation to consumers affected by the crisis. 
  
  Read more

• Mayoral candidates call for tighter controls on London traffic pollution

  22-04-2016 19:03
  
  Ban on diesel cars and extending ultra-low emission zone mooted after DfT study raises concerns over nitrogen oxide levels Mayoral candidates in London, the city with the worst air quality in Britain, have seized on the Department for Transport’s study of vehicle emissions to call for tighter controls on traffic pollution – including a ban on diesel cars.An ultra-low emission zone in central London from 2020 will levy charges on all but the cleanest vehicles. But the DfT vehicle test
  
  Read more

• Huge coral reef discovered at Amazon river mouth

  22-04-2016 19:00
  
  Scientists astonished to find 600-mile long reef under the muddy water in a site already marked for oil explorationA huge 3,600 sq mile (9,300 sq km) coral reef system has been found below the muddy waters off the mouth of the river Amazon, astonishing scientists, governments and oil companies who have started to explore on top of it.
  The existence of the 600-mile long reef, which ranges from about 30-120m deep and stretches from French Guiana to Brazil’s Maranhão state, was not susp
  
  Read more

• 175 countries sign Paris climate agreement on Earth Day

  22-04-2016 18:50
  
  Political leaders from more than 170 countries - including the China, the US and the UK - came together at the UN headquarters in New York to officially sign the Paris Agreement on Earth Day (22 April).
  
  Read more

• Volkswagen takes 16 billion euro hit over emissions scandal

  22-04-2016 18:37
  By Andreas Cremer and Edward Taylor WOLFSBURG/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VW) said on Friday it would take a 16.2-billion-euro (12.5 billion pounds) hit to its 2015 results and slash its dividend to help pay for its emissions-test cheating scandal. The news came amid growing signs a regulatory clampdown in the wake of VW's cheating is affecting the broader industry, with Germany-based automakers including Mercedes-Benz, and Opel - as well as VW - agreeing to recall a total of 630,000 cars
  
  Read more

• Disgruntled investors flex vote muscle on UK executive pay

  22-04-2016 18:27
  By Sinead Cruise and Simon Jessop LONDON (Reuters) - Change the way you pay or risk losing your jobs, corporate governance watchdogs have warned the boards of Britain's top companies, as investors call for a reality check on salaries. Four years on from 2012's "investor spring" over spiralling executive pay, shareholders are mounting a fresh rebellion against firms they say have lost touch with the real world after a year of falling share prices, lacklustre profits and job cuts. With the season
  
  Read more

• Warwick University calls on BP to open up archive on 'renewables'

  22-04-2016 18:22
  
  Pressure increases to honour promise to allow access to what is believed to be decades of research into ‘green’ technologiesThe University of Warwick has joined calls for BP to honour a promise made by its chairman to open up a company archive containing valuable research on renewable energy.The pressure comes a week after the oil company faced a shareholder revolt over executive pay and days before it expected to report a first-quarter loss of $140m (£97m), compared with a $2.
  
  Read more

• Coral bleaching, Paris climate deal and the Goldman prize – green news roundup

  22-04-2016 17:58
  
  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 Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Will real-world emissions tests clean up diesel cars? | Karl Mathiesen

  22-04-2016 17:50
  
  Ministers say the new tests put the car industry on the ‘right path’ but critics warn they have been weakened and their impact is uncertainMinisters have assured Britons suffering illegally high levels of air pollution that the EU’s new diesel car testing regime will put the motor industry on the “right path”. But do not breathe your sigh of relief too deeply. The new ‘real world’ tests, which will commence next year, have been weakened, delayed and thei
  
  Read more

• Volkswagen takes $18 billion hit over emissions scandal

  22-04-2016 17:50
  By Andreas Cremer and Edward Taylor WOLFSBURG/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VW) said on Friday it would take a 16.2-billion-euro ($18.2 billion) hit to its 2015 results and slash its dividend to help pay for its emissions-test cheating scandal. The news came amid growing signs a regulatory clampdown in the wake of VW's cheating is affecting the broader industry, with Germany-based automakers including Mercedes-Benz, and Opel - as well as VW - agreeing to recall a total of 630,000 cars to fix
  
  Read more

• EU lawmaker seeks bigger clean tech fund, targeted CO2 permits

  22-04-2016 17:23
  By Alissa de Carbonnel BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union should boost its clean technology fund and adopt a more targeted approach to allocating free carbon permits to keep industry from moving abroad to avoid pollution curbs, a leading EU carbon policymaker said on Friday. Fredrick Federley, who is drafting the European Parliament industry committee's proposals for reform of the EU emissions trading system (ETS) to be published next week, said he wants to add 150 million unallocated allow
  
  Read more

• German automakers to recall 630,000 cars to fix emissions

  22-04-2016 16:26
  By Markus Wacket and Edward Taylor BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen's emissions-test cheating scandal spilled over to the wider car industry on Friday as Germany's top manufacturers agreed to recall 630,000 vehicles to tweak diesel engine software technology blamed for causing high pollution. As part of a widening clampdown on health-threatening nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, Porsche, Volkswagen, Opel, Audi and Mercedes diesel cars will be recalled to fix engine management systems, a Ger
  
  Read more

• Why the Paris climate change goals may already be slipping beyond reach

  22-04-2016 16:11
  
  World leaders convened at the UN this week in support of the historic deal, but epic challenges lie ahead if the promises of Paris are going to be put into actionWorld leaders have failed to come to grips with the epic challenge of phasing out fossil fuels and running the entire global economy almost entirely on clean energy by the middle of this century, experts said this week.While more than 170 countries converged at the United Nations on Friday to demonstrate their support for the landmark d
  
  Read more

• Ethical consumers are unattractive and boring, aren’t they? | Oliver Burkeman

  22-04-2016 16:00
  
  It’d be nice to think that making ethical choices inspired others to do the sameI’m on thin ice telling Guardian readers that being an ethical consumer makes you irritating, but you can’t argue with science. In a recent study, US researchers offered people various information before buying jeans, but said they could only know two of the following: price, style, colour, and whether child labour was involved. Those who chose not to learn about child labour were asked to assess th
  
  Read more

• German minister says carmakers will recall 630,000 vehicles

  22-04-2016 15:31
  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Friday that carmakers would recall around 630,000 vehicles to change diesel emissions management software. He said the affected car brands included Audi, Mercedes, Opel, Porsche and Volkswagen. He added that some foreign manufacturers like Renault had made similar recall offers. (Reporting by Michelle Martin and Michael Nienaber; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
  
  Read more

• Venezuela runs up $1 billion debt for late shipping containers

  22-04-2016 15:04
  By Corina Pons and Jonathan Saul PUERTO CABELLO, Venezuela/LONDON (Reuters) - Venezuelan state agencies have run up close to $1 billion (695 million pounds) in debts with shipping firms due to delays in returning containers, potentially boosting the cost of importing staple goods as the country struggles with product shortages and an economic crisis. The agencies have held containers for months or simply never returned them, at times leaving the truck-sized steel boxes for years in oil industry
  
  Read more

• How ISO 50001 has reduced energy use and sparked behaviour change at npower

  22-04-2016 14:48
  
  EXCLUSIVE: UK gas and electricity supplier npower has revealed that compliance with ISO 50001 has played a crucial part of the company's energy and carbon reduction efforts, igniting behaviour change among staff as a result.
  
  Read more

• Sainsbury's takes "seismic leap" with naturally refrigerated trucks

  22-04-2016 14:20
  
  British supermarket chain Sainsbury's has ramped up its attempts to curb transport emissions after becoming the first company in the world to incorporate "closed-loop" natural refrigerant trailer units for its delivery vehicles.
  
  Read more

• German recall of 630,000 vehicles mainly in summer 2016, government official says

  22-04-2016 13:58
  BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's recall action for 630,000 vehicles will take place this year, mainly over the summer months, a government official said in Berlin on Friday. The recall, which is widening a clampdown on pollution in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal, is to ensure that a legal loophole which allows manufacturers to throttle back emissions treatment systems under certain circumstances is tightened, the government official said earlier. (Reporting by Markus Wacket; Writing by Michael N
  
  Read more

• Earth Day 2016: what happened to Cameron's green Conservative dream? – video

  22-04-2016 13:51
  
  On Earth Day 2016, cast your mind back to 2006, when fresh-faced new Tory leader David Cameron hugged a husky and promised Britain a greener future to combat climate change. So how did it all pan out? Is Cameron’s government the greenest government ever?Ten years after ‘hug a husky’, what is David Cameron’s green legacy? Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Bulgaria anti-monopoly watchdog raids more oil firms in fuel inquiry

  22-04-2016 13:37
  Bulgaria's anti-monopoly watchdog said it had raided the offices of Eco Petroleum, part of Hellenic Petroleum , and Shell Bulgaria, owned by Royal Dutch Shell , in an investigation into possible cartel agreements. Bulgarians complain of high fuel costs despite a plunge in global oil prices and a call by Prime Minister Boiko Borisov for the competition authority to speed up checks on the fuel sector. "Employees of the Commission for Protection of Competition are carrying out surprise checks on si
  
  Read more

• EDF threatened with possible legal challenge over Hinkley C subsidies

  22-04-2016 13:33
  Greenpeace and renewable energy supplier Ecotricity on Friday threatened to take legal action against the Hinkley C nuclear power plant in Britain if the French government offers financial support for the project. The 18 billion pound project was announced in October 2013 but developer Electricite de France has stalled on making a final investment decision while it secures partners and financing. "Ecotricity and Greenpeace have today written to the UK and French governments and EDF Energy, warni
  
  Read more

• Ecotricity snaps up solar business from struggling SunEdison

  22-04-2016 13:20
  
  Ecotricity has taken its first step into the UK domestic solar market, with the acquisition of the home rooftop solar business of flailing US company SunEdison.
  
  Read more

• Britain's diesel car emissions 'five times over EU limits', Government tests reveal

  22-04-2016 13:12
  
  Recent claims by the UK Government that it is "leading the push" for greater emissions testing in diesel cars have been branded as "misleading", after a Department for Transport (DfT) investigation revealed that some vehicles are still producing up to 12 times the EU maximum limit for road-tested emissions.
  
  Read more

• Rajendra Pachauri to face Delhi court on sexual harassment charges

  22-04-2016 12:44
  
  Former head of world climate change body faces raft of accusations in case that will be closely watched in India and abroadCourtroom 506, in the south-east wing of Delhi’s purpose-built Saket district court, does not often sit centre stage in criminal cases of international interest.Its last appearance in the spotlight was three years ago, as journalists from around the world arrived in India’s capital for the trial of suspects in the gang-rape of Jyoti Singh. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Eyewitness: Sony World Photography Award

  22-04-2016 12:13
  
  Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Constant watch on mighty polar glaciers

  22-04-2016 12:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The EU’s Sentinel satellite system has begun monitoring six of the biggest glaciers on Earth in near real-time, to check for any changes in behaviour.
  
  Read more

• Zero-waste bloggers: the millennials who can fit a year's worth of trash in a jar

  22-04-2016 12:00
  
  These bloggers treasure taking a sleek, modern approach to reducing waste in their efforts to save the planet – but they face their fair share of criticism, tooKathryn Kellogg, a 25-year-old print shop employee, spends four hours a day on her lifestyle blog Going Zero Waste. She posts on Instagram, engages with Facebook followers, and writes about homemade eyeliner and lip balm, worm composting, and shopping bulk bins – anything to avoid unnecessary waste. Her trash for the past year
  
  Read more

• How to produce nearly zero trash in a year – in pictures

  22-04-2016 12:00
  
  Kathryn Kellogg aims to reduce the amount of waste she produces to almost nothing. She buys secondhand, uses cloth bags and glass jars for shopping, composts leftovers, and views recycling as a last resort. It takes great determination, but being vegetarian and lactose-intolerant helps Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• 'Betty' the ash tree offers hope against deadly dieback disease

  22-04-2016 11:31
  
  Scientists identify first tree to show strong tolerance to the disease raising hopes of developing a resistant strainA mature ash nicknamed Betty is offering new hope against ash dieback disease after the tree in an ancient woodland was the first to be identified as possessing a strong tolerance to the disease.
  Scientists from a government-backed consortium of universities and research centres made the breakthrough after comparing the genetics of infected and uninfected trees with different leve
  
  Read more

• Daimler shares slide on U.S. emissions investigation

  22-04-2016 11:12
  By Edward Taylor and David Shepardson FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Daimler shares fell more than five percent on Friday, hit by news that the United States Department of Justice had asked the carmaker to investigate its emissions certification process for vehicles including its Mercedes brand. The investigation comes six months after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would review diesel vehicles following an admission from Volkswagen that it installed software in cars allowing
  
  Read more

• Paris climate deal set to be signed by record number of states

  22-04-2016 10:56
  
  More than 165 countries are expected to sign today in a move the UN hopes will ensure early ratification of the dealA Paris deal to slow climate change is set to be signed by more than 165 countries at the United Nations on Friday, the most states to endorse an international agreement on day one – a record backers hope will inspire swift implementation. Many states still need a parliamentary vote to formally approve the agreement. It will only enter into force when ratified by at least 55
  
  Read more

• Earth Day & Paris Agreement signing ceremony: Live

  22-04-2016 10:00
  
  This is it. Earth Day 2016 looks set to be one of the most important days for the future of our plant, with more than 150 political leaders expected to sign the Paris climate change agreement. Follow edie's live green business blog for instant updates and reaction throughout the day.
  
  Read more

• Earth Day & Paris Agreement signing ceremony: As it happened

  22-04-2016 10:00
  
  Earth Day 2016 was one of the most important days for the future of our planet, with more than 170 political leaders signing the Paris climate change agreement. Re-live all of the action and reaction as it happened in edie's live green business blog.
  
  Read more

• Shell sidesteps electric bandwagon with petrol-powered concept car

  22-04-2016 09:23
  By Jake Spring BEIJING (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell PLC unveiled a high-efficiency petrol-burning concept car in China on Friday, to show the world's biggest electric vehicle (EV) market that there is a lot of mileage left in conventional internal combustion engines. Shell, one of the largest producers of automotive fuel, said it could take decades before EVs help arrest a rise in exhaust emissions, and that its concept car - which it has no intention of mass producing - demonstrates what can b
  
  Read more

• Scottish elections: What would each party do to improve cycling?

  22-04-2016 09:00
  
  We asked candidates for their views on investment, infrastructure and safety to assess how far they would transform Scotland for active travelAs well as the much publicised London mayoral election, in just under two weeks the Scots also go to the polls, to select their next government. As transport policy is largely devolved, the vote could make a big difference to anyone who cycles or walks.Campaign group We Walk, We Cycle, We Vote – which is supported by over two dozen organisations and
  
  Read more

• Another 'toxic school' case leads to closure of Chinese chemical works

  22-04-2016 08:54
  
  Industrial park told to cease production after 20 students fell ill in Hai’an, on the heels of poisoning scare involving 500 pupils in another part of same provinceAuthorities have ordered the closure of a chemical industrial complex in eastern China after children at a local primary school came down with mysterious nosebleeds and skin complaints that their parents blamed on pollution.The case comes just days after hundreds of students in the same region were revealed to have fallen ill, s
  
  Read more

• Gas suppliers used market restructure to hike prices, watchdog says

  22-04-2016 08:38
  
  Australian Competition and Consumer Commission finds evidence gas pipeline operators engaging in monopoly pricing Gas suppliers on the east coast of Australia have used a market restructure to hike prices on domestic consumers and there is evidence pipeline operators have set monopoly prices, the competition watchdog has said.The lack of competition in gas supply even warrants consideration of whether joint marketing by one of the largest suppliers, the Gippsland Basin joint venture between Esso
  
  Read more

• What coalmine? Adani's tweet ridiculed for jumping on Earth Day bandwagon

  22-04-2016 08:31
  
  Invitation from the company that wants to transport coal through the Great Barrier Reef to ‘do our bit’ for the environment does not go down too well onlineWorld Earth Day – it’s a day about protecting the environment. So Australians got a bit hot under their collars when Adani Group tried to get in on the action.Adani, remember, is trying its darnedest to build one of the world’s biggest coalmines in Queensland and transport the coal to India via the Great Barrier
  
  Read more

• Zac Goldsmith backs fossil fuel divestment movement

  22-04-2016 08:00
  
  Tory London mayoral candidate supports pulling City Hall’s fund out of oil, coal and gas companies if electedZac Goldsmith has backed the fossil fuel divestment movement and said he would pursue efforts to pull London City Hall’s pension fund out of investments in oil, coal and gas if he was elected mayor.The Conservative mayoral candidate’s support for moving the £4.8bn London Pension Authority Fund (LPFA) out of fossil fuel investments is at odds with Boris Johnson, who
  
  Read more

• Leonardo DiCaprio and Fred Krupp: Five ways we can deliver on the promise of Paris climate talks

  22-04-2016 08:00
  
  Leonardo DiCaprio and Fred Krupp: The Paris agreement was a breakthrough, but it is up to all of us to act as guardians of these new standards – and of our futureLast December, world leaders convened in Paris in an extraordinary effort to find a global solution for reducing destructive carbon emissions – the indisputable driver of climate change – and to prevent our planet from a destructive 2C increase in global temperatures. Today, leaders gather again – this time at th
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!