Environment news

• South Australia says states could go it alone after Turnbull rules out carbon tax

  07-12-2016 23:25
  
  Jay Weatherill says he will discusss emissions trading with premiers before meeting with prime ministerStates could go it alone on a carbon scheme for the electricity sector after the federal government ruled one out, South Australia’s premier says.A report by the chief scientist, Alan Finkel, to be presented at Friday’s Council of Australian Governments meeting in Canberra, is expected to recommend an emissions intensity scheme. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Kremlin says Glencore, Qatari fund to buy 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft

  07-12-2016 23:03
  By Polina Devitt and Darya Korsunskaya MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday it sold a stake in oil giant Rosneft for 10.5 billion euros (£8.9 billion) to Qatar and commodities trader Glencore , confounding expectations that the Kremlin's standoff with the West would scare off major investors. The deal, to acquire a 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft from the Russian state, suggests the lure of taking a share in one of the world's biggest oil companies outweighs the risks that come with W
  
  Read more

• EU takes action against UK, Germany over VW emissions scandal - sources

  07-12-2016 22:57
  By Alissa de Carbonnel BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will take action on Thursday against seven nations including Germany and Britain for failing to police car emissions rules, EU sources said, after the Volkswagen cheating scandal showed suspicious behaviour in the industry. Amid frustration in Brussels over nations' responses to diesel vehicles flouting pollution limits, the European Commission is resorting to the strongest legal action it can take against members of the 28-nation bl
  
  Read more

• DNA clue to how humans evolved big brains

  07-12-2016 22:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Humans may in part owe their big brains to a DNA "typo" in their genetic code, research suggests.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• The severe Baltic winter that made thousands of birds flee

  07-12-2016 22:30
  
  December 1978, on the Dutch polders and in the Baltic, was so cold large flocks of waterfowl and raptors left for the UKWe seem, nowadays, to have forgotten what a “proper” winter is like. A series of mild seasons, punctuated only by the freeze-ups of 2009-10 and 2010-11, have perhaps made us complacent. Related: Small birds suffered during Britain's big chill, RSPB survey revealsContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Severe winter that made thousands of birds flee

  07-12-2016 22:30
  
  December 1978, on the Dutch polders and in the Baltic, was so cold large flocks of waterfowl and raptors left for the UKWe seem, nowadays, to have forgotten what a “proper” winter is like. A series of mild seasons, punctuated only by the freeze-ups of 2009-10 and 2010-11, have perhaps made us complacent. Related: Small birds suffered during Britain's big chill, RSPB survey revealsContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Glencore says to inject only small equity into Rosneft deal

  07-12-2016 22:09
  Glencore said on Wednesday it would enter a new deal to buy oil from Rosneft as part of a broader move by the Russian government to sell a stake in its major oil firm with Glencore injecting limited equity into the transaction. The Swiss-based firm confirmed it was in final-stage negotiations to buy, as part of a consortium with the Qatar Investment Authority, a 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft for 10.2 billion euros. It said that under the proposed arrangements, Glencore would commit 300 million e
  
  Read more

• Oil slips on bearish U.S. inventory report, doubts over OPEC cut

  07-12-2016 21:07
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices slid on Wednesday on bearish U.S. petroleum inventory data and doubts that production cuts promised by OPEC and Russia would be deep enough to end a supply overhang that has weighed on markets for more than two years. Brent futures fell 93 cents, or 1.7 percent, to settle at $53.00 a barrel, while U.S. crude lost $1.16, or 2.3 percent, to settle at $49.77. The U.S. Energy Information Administration EIA said crude inventories fell 2.4 million barr
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Capgemini unveils 'industry-leading' science-based targets

  07-12-2016 20:57
  
  IT services and consultancy firm Capgemini's UK operations have become the first in the sector to publish approved science-based targets (SBTs).
  
  Read more

• 2017 Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal Winner: Ing. César A. Portocarrero Rodríguez

  07-12-2016 20:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  Nepalese NGO Mountain Legacy has just announced that Peruvian engineer César Augusto Portocarrero Rodríguez will receive the Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal in a public ceremony at Hotel Tibet International in Kathmandu on December 11 (International Mountain Day). César Portocarrero has directed projects to mitigate the danger of outburst floods from numerous glacial lakes in the Andes, saving thousands of lives and many millions of dollars, and he is
  
  Read more

• Trump to pick foe of Obama climate agenda to run EPA - source

  07-12-2016 20:39
  By Valerie Volcovici and Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump will pick an ardent opponent of President Barack Obama's measures to stem climate change to head the Environmental Protection Agency, a Trump transition team source said on Wednesday. Trump's choice, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has enraged environmental activists, but he fits with the Republican president-elect's promise to cut the agency back and eliminate regulation that he says is sti
  
  Read more

• Voters near proposed Adani mine oppose public loan for rail line, poll finds

  07-12-2016 20:02
  
  Two-thirds of those polled in the state seat of Dalrymple think the government should not lend to the Indian mining giantTwo-thirds of voters in the Queensland region that would host Adani’s Carmichael mine think the miner should not be eligible for commonwealth funding, according a new poll.The ReachTel poll of 544 voters in the state seat of Dalrymple found 66% were against the idea of “an Indian mining company worth over $12bn being eligible for this taxpayer funding towards their
  
  Read more

• 'Mythical' Sea Blob Finally Spotted a Century After Its Discovery

  07-12-2016 19:32
  
  The translucent, sea-dwelling invertebrate, called Bathochordaeus charon, was identified recently off the coast of Monterey, California, by scientists using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). B. charon belongs to a group of sea creatures known as larvaceans — normally teensy, millimeter-size creatures whose bodies resemble a tadpole's, with a large "head" (actually a trunk) and a tail, Sherlock said.
  
  Read more

• EU nations agree to let European Commission vet gas, oil deals

  07-12-2016 18:28
  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU nations agreed on Wednesday to allow the European Commission to vet their oil and gas deals with third countries like Russia to guard against anti-competitive practices and supply disruptions. Overcoming resistance from member states wary of ceding sovereignty, the EU executive welcomed the deal with the bloc's 28 nations and the European Parliament as a boost in its drive for a single EU energy market and to curb reliance on Russian gas. ...
  
  Read more

• Potential Export-Import Bank deals pose grave environmental threat, experts say

  07-12-2016 18:03
  
  Congress declines to revive agency’s authority to pursue $20bn in delayed deals, putting fate of several ecosystems around the world in the hands of TrumpCongress quashed the hopes late Tuesday of reviving the United States’ export credit agency, which had been aiming for a stopgap lifeline allowing them to approve more than $20bn in new deals, many of which pose imminent harms to the environment.Now, the fate of a pristine coral reef, an east African mangrove forest, and the livelih
  
  Read more

• Sea ice hit record lows in November

  07-12-2016 17:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  Unusually high air temperatures and a warm ocean have led to a record low Arctic sea ice extent for November, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder. In the Southern Hemisphere, Antarctic sea ice extent also hit a record low for the month, caused by moderately warm temperatures and a rapid shift in circumpolar winds.“It looks like a triple whammy—a warm ocean, a warm atmosphere, and a wind pattern all working aga
  
  Read more

• Oil eases on bearish U.S. inventory report, doubts over OPEC cut

  07-12-2016 17:34
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices eased on Wednesday on bearish U.S. petroleum inventory data and doubts that production cuts promised by OPEC and Russia would be deep enough to end a supply overhang that has weighed on markets for more than two years. Brent futures were down 46 cents, or 0.9 percent, at $53.47 a barrel by 11:19 a.m. EST (1619 GMT). U.S. crude fell 59 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $50.34 per barrel. The U.S. Energy Information Administration EIA said crude inventorie
  
  Read more

• Conservationists declare victory for wildlife as EU saves nature directives

  07-12-2016 17:32
  
  EU president abandons plan to overhaul flagship birds and habitats directives following a huge public campaignThe European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, has been forced to abandon an overhaul of flagship nature laws after an unprecedented campaign that mobilised over half a million people in protest. The popular birds and habitats directives protect almost a fifth of Europe’s landmass, about 200 wetlands, meadows and marine habitats, and more than a thousand animal and plant s
  
  Read more

• Siberia sky lit up by meteor

  07-12-2016 17:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  People in west Siberia have captured footage of what is believed to be a small meteorite.
  
  Read more

• Jumping robot inspired by bush babies

  07-12-2016 17:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists in the US have unveiled an athletic robot which takes its inspiration from bush babies.
  
  Read more

• Snow Data from Satellites Improves Temperature Predictions, UT Researchers Show

  07-12-2016 17:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers with The University of Texas at Austin have found that incorporating snow data collected from space into computer climate models can significantly improve seasonal temperature predictions.The findings, published in November in Geophysical Research Letters, a publication of the American Geophysical Union, could help farmers, water providers, power companies and others that use seasonal climate predictions – forecasts of conditions months in the future – to make decisi
  
  Read more

• Shell, Iran agree on future oil and gas development

  07-12-2016 16:52
  By Rania El Gamal DUBAI (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell signed a provisional agreement on Wednesday to develop Iranian oil and gas fields, an Iranian official said, the first deal by the world's second biggest listed oil firm in Iran since sanctions were lifted. The Anglo-Dutch company confirmed it had signed a memorandum of understanding with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on Wednesday "to further explore areas of potential cooperation", declining to give further details. Analysts said the a
  
  Read more

• OPEC, U.S. begin 'cat and mouse' oil game as producers pounce on hedges

  07-12-2016 16:21
  By Amanda Cooper and Catherine Ngai LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - As far as one of the world’s biggest commodities traders, Glencore’s chief Ivan Glasenberg, is concerned, the oil market will be at the mercy of "a cat and mouse game" between OPEC and its U.S. shale rivals in the coming year.     A 16 percent price rally over the past week has delivered U.S. frackers a golden opportunity to hedge - or sell forward - their production for 2017 and beyond, to shore up their
  
  Read more

• UK brussels sprout harvest hit by 'super-pest' moths

  07-12-2016 16:11
  
  Supermarkets say they are pulling out all the stops to ensure there are no empty shelves in the run-up to ChristmasLove them or loathe them, they are a staple part of the Christmas dinner. However, consumers shopping for sprouts this year could have less choice than usual after some British-grown crops were ravaged by “super-pest” moths during the summer. Supermarkets said they were pulling out all the stops to ensure there were no empty shelves in the run-up to the crucial festive s
  
  Read more

• Paris bans cars for second day running as pollution strikes

  07-12-2016 16:09
  
  Vehicles with odd-number plates were banned on Tuesday and, on Wednesday, it was the even numbers’ turnParis authorities restricted traffic in the city for a second day after a “lid of pollution” sealed the capital, causing concern over public health.Photographs showed a grey veil of dirty air trapped over the city, masking the horizon and, at times, landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower. Experts said it was the longest most intense spike in pollution for at least 10 years and was
  
  Read more

• Paris bans cars for second day running as pollution chokes city

  07-12-2016 16:09
  
  Vehicles with odd-number plates were banned on Tuesday and, on Wednesday, it was the even numbers’ turnParis authorities restricted traffic in the city for a second day after a “lid of pollution” sealed the capital, causing concern over public health.Photographs showed a grey veil of dirty air trapped over the city, masking the horizon and, at times, landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower. Experts said it was the longest most intense spike in pollution for at least 10 years and was
  
  Read more

• Ghana votes as president Mahama seeks a final term

  07-12-2016 16:09
  By Kwasi Kpodo TEMA, Ghana (Reuters) - Ghana voted on Wednesday in what looks set to be a tight race as President John Mahama seeks a second and final term against the backdrop of a West African economy that has slowed since he took power. Lower global prices for Ghana's gold, oil and cocoa exports and a fiscal crisis caused the slowdown and it has made Mahama's government vulnerable to the challenge from the main opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo. ...
  
  Read more

• Britain plans to deepen security cooperation with Gulf

  07-12-2016 15:56
  DUBAI (Reuters) - Britain plans to deepen security cooperation with Gulf Arab countries and work with them to counter Iranian actions in the region, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday. Addressing a meeting on the sidelines of the Gulf Cooperation Summit in Bahrain, May said Britain would invest more than 3 billion pounds in defence spending in the region over the next decade. "Gulf security is our security," May said. Britain is trying to build on traditionally strong ties with conserv
  
  Read more

• Oil falls on doubts output cut will end global glut

  07-12-2016 15:42
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Wednesday on doubts production cuts promised by OPEC and Russia would be deep enough to end a supply overhang that has weighed on markets for more than two years. North Sea Brent crude was down 65 cents a barrel at $53.28 by 1430 GMT. U.S. light crude was down 70 cents at $50.23 a barrel. Oil prices surged almost 20 percent after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia announced last week that they would cut
  
  Read more

• East Libyan security forces say attack on oil ports averted

  07-12-2016 14:30
  Eastern Libyan forces averted an attempted attack on some of Libya's major oil ports on Wednesday and rival fighters withdrew from a nearby town, security officials said. Spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said eastern forces had arrested leaders of the rival faction, which briefly took control of the town of Ben Jawad. Earlier, security officials said they had launched air strikes to defend the oil ports, which eastern forces had seized three months earlier.
  
  Read more

• Shell confirms it signed MoU with Iran's NIOC

  07-12-2016 14:22
  DUBAI (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) "to further explore areas of potential cooperation," a Shell spokesman confirmed on Wednesday. "Details of specific opportunities are confidential," the spokesman said. Shell was due to sign three MoUs in Tehran to develop the South Azadegan and Yadavaran oil fields and the Kish gas field, an Iranian Oil Ministry official told Reuters earlier on Wednesday. (Reporting by Ran
  
  Read more

• 'Keep poultry inside' amid bird flu risk, keepers told

  07-12-2016 14:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Poultry keepers have been told to keep their birds inside to protect them from avian flu in Europe.
  
  Read more

• Archaeology sheds light on Mongolia’s uncertain nomadic future

  07-12-2016 14:00
  
  As a herding lifestyle practiced for millennia is threatened by contemporary climate change, archaeology offers a long-term perspective Around the world, traditional subsistence practices provide a resilient source of ecological knowledge that improves humanity’s ability to respond to environmental crises. In Central Asia, a herding lifestyle practiced for millennia is increasingly threatened by the speed and magnitude of climate change.
  Although the global mean temperature is predicted to
  
  Read more

• First photos from Cassini Saturn probe's new orbit

  07-12-2016 13:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Cassini spacecraft has sent back the first views from its new orbit around Saturn.
  
  Read more

• UK slashes number of Foreign Office climate change staff

  07-12-2016 13:14
  
  Cuts made to workforce at home and overseas despite ministers saying climate diplomacy should be a top priorityThe UK has cut the number of Foreign Office staff working on climate change, despite ministers arguing the issue should be a top foreign policy priority.The Liberal Democrats said it was “appalling” and sent “the wrong signals” to the world, after a minister revealed the figures in a recent parliamentary answer. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Shell to sign initial Iran oil and gas development deals - Iran

  07-12-2016 12:50
  Royal Dutch Shell will sign initial agreements on Wednesday to develop Iranian oil and gas fields, an Iranian official said, the first deal by the world's second biggest listed oil firm in Iran since sanctions were lifted. Analysts said the deals showed major oil companies were prepared to keep doing business with Iran despite the risk that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could scrap the nuclear deal that ended the sanctions earlier this year. Shell will sign three memoranda of understanding (
  
  Read more

• EAC chair trials food waste app with Sainsbury's

  07-12-2016 12:00
  
  Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) chair Mary Creagh is among give British MPs that have volunteered to take part in a trial for an innovative new food waste app launched by supermarket giant Sainsbury's
  
  Read more

• Shipping and aviation set to reverse half of Europe's transport carbon savings

  07-12-2016 11:22
  
  Almost half of the carbon savings made by Europe's land-based transport by 2030 will be effectively cancelled out by continued emissions growth in the shipping and aviation sectors, according to new research commissioned by green group Transport & Environment (T&E).
  
  Read more

• Shell to sign three deals to develop Iran oil and gas fields - Iran oil ministry

  07-12-2016 11:15
  Royal Dutch Shell will sign three initial agreements on Wednesday to develop Iranian oil and gas fields, an Iranian oil ministry official said. Shell will sign the agreements in Tehran to develop the South Azadegan, Yadavaran oilfields and the Kish gas field, the Iranian official said. Total will start negotiations for new oil and gas projects but was not signing any deals on Wednesday, the official said.
  
  Read more

• Oil steadies on doubts output cut will end global glut

  07-12-2016 11:13
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Wednesday as investors waited to see if OPEC and Russia would deliver promised production cuts designed to end a supply overhang that has weighed on the market for more than two years. North Sea Brent crude oil was up 10 cents a barrel at $54.03 by 0950 GMT. Oil prices surged as much as 19 percent after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia announced last week that they would cut production next year in a
  
  Read more

• Shell to develop major oil field in Iran - WSJ

  07-12-2016 10:53
  (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc will agree on Wednesday to develop a major Iranian oil field, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an Iranian oil ministry spokeswoman. Total SA of France is also planning another investment in the energy sector in Iran, the Journal reported. http://on.wsj.com/2gBu0zg The agreements are for developing the South Azadegan and Yadavaran oil fields, the Journal said. Shell and Total declined to comment. (Reporting by Vishal Sridhar and Sangameswaran S in Bengalu
  
  Read more

• OPEC deal will go ahead even if only Russia commits - Nigeria oil min

  07-12-2016 10:48
  By Maha El Dahan and Stanley Carvalho ABU DHABI (Reuters) - OPEC's deal to cut oil production will go ahead even if Russia becomes the only non-OPEC country to commit to reduce output at a meeting this week, Nigeria said on Wednesday, while the UAE voiced optimism that other producers would participate. OPEC agreed last week to slash output by around 1.2 million barrels per day beginning in January in an effort to reduce global oversupply and prop up oil prices. It hopes non-OPEC countries will
  
  Read more

• How BMW is revving up for for an electric vehicle circular economy

  07-12-2016 10:11
  
  EXCLUSIVE: The ongoing electrification of the transport sector looks set to open up new avenues for improved resource management and closed-loop practices for carmakers looking to push beyond regulatory compliance, BMW's environmental programmes manager has said.
  
  Read more

• OPEC wants oil price to be moderate, not too high - TASS quotes Venezuela's Del Pino

  07-12-2016 10:02
  OPEC is aiming for a moderate but not too high oil price, Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino told Russia's TASS news agency in Caracas. Del Pino added that he expected oil prices to stabilise at around $60-70 per barrel following a global oil pact reached last week. Del Pino told TASS he expected the market to rebalance in six to nine months following the deal, adding that Russia had played a "fundamental" role in reaching the agreement on Nov. 30 in the Austrian capital.
  
  Read more

• London mayor to double funding to tackle air pollution

  07-12-2016 10:00
  
  Campaigners hail announcement that funding for air quality measures will rise to £875m over the next five years Campaigners, health charities and neighbourhood groups have welcomed plans by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, to more than double funding to clean up the capital’s dirty air.London is one of the most polluted of dozens of cities in the UK that breach EU standards on nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a toxic gas caused by diesel vehicles. Air pollution has been linked to nearly 9,500 pr
  
  Read more

• Oil slips on doubts output cut will end global glut

  07-12-2016 09:54
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Wednesday on doubts that promised production cuts by OPEC and Russia would be deep enough to end a supply overhang that has weighed on the markets for more than two years. North Sea Brent crude was down 30 cents a barrel at $53.63 by 0840 GMT. Oil prices surged as much as 19 percent after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia announced last week that they would cut production next year in an effort to prop
  
  Read more

• Emissions trading backflip a recipe for price rises, say business groups

  07-12-2016 09:20
  
  Lobbyists dismayed by Coalition ruling out carbon trading, warning those fighting it ‘are going to get almost exactly the outcome they’re trying to prevent’Business and environment groups have expressed dismay at the federal government for scrapping consideration of an emissions intensity trading scheme in the electricity sector as part of its 2017 review of climate change policies, just a day after floating the possibility.On Wednesday a range of experts said the abrupt backfl
  
  Read more

• OPEC deal will go ahead even if only Russia commits - Nigeria oil minister

  07-12-2016 09:16
  OPEC's deal to cut production will go ahead even if only non-OPEC Russia commits to reduce output at a meeting later this week, Nigerian oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said on Wednesday. "Yes we will go ahead, but we will continue to work on the rest to come onboard." OPEC agreed last week to reduce output by around 1.2 million barrels per day beginning in January in a bid to reduce global oversupply and prop up oil prices. It hopes non-OPEC countries will contribute a further 600,000 bpd of
  
  Read more

• Oil slips on doubts output cut will be deep enough to end glut

  07-12-2016 09:08
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Wednesday on persistent doubts whether a planned crude production cut led by OPEC and Russia would be deep enough to end a supply overhang that has dogged markets for over two years. International Brent crude futures were at $53.78 per barrel at 0759 GMT, down 15 cents, or 0.28 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 20 cents, or 0.39 percent, at 50.73 per barrel.
  
  Read more

• Outages brighten European refineries' year-end profit prospects

  07-12-2016 08:13
  Refining was a lifeline for energy companies when oil prices started falling sharply in the second-half of 2014. While global refining margins this year have tightened from 2015, Europe's fourth-quarter margins have held strong, a boost to earnings for energy majors Total , BP and Royal Dutch Shell as the oil price languishes at less than half those of 2014 peaks. "Margins were supported by turnarounds worldwide but the sizeable drop in Latin American refinery runs this year was probably the dec
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!