Environment news

• Diver mauled by shark near Great Barrier Reef

  21-01-2017 23:18 via theguardian.com
  
  55-year-old in a stable condition after suffering significant abdominal injuries in attack east of Murray Island in the Torres StraitA scuba driver endured a four-hour boat ride to a medical facility after being mauled by a shark while scuba diving in Queensland’s far north near the Great Barrier Reef.The 55-year-old man suffered significant abdominal injuries in the attack while diving east of Murray Island in the Torres Strait on Saturday. Emergency services were notified around 12.40pm
  
  Read more

• Not even the tennis can distract us from how badly this government is doing | Greg Jericho

  21-01-2017 22:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Most political garbage gets taken out just before Christmas but a new report slipped through the net – and it deserves noticeWhen the news is bad, governments love distractions, and this week the Australian Open has been excellent for diverting voters’ attention from more examples of how badly this government is at governing. To be fair to Nick Kyrgios and Novak Djokovic, it’s not all their doing. This government – like many others before – has purposefully used the
  
  Read more

• Abu Dhabi creates $125 billion fund by merging Mubadala, IPIC

  21-01-2017 19:16
  By Stanley Carvalho ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi's government merged two of its top investment funds on Saturday to strengthen their financial clout in an era of low oil prices, creating a company with assets totalling about $125 billion (101.03 billion pounds). The new fund, Mubadala Investment Co, was formed by merging Mubadala Development Co and International Petroleum Investment Co, which own corporate stakes in the energy industry and other sectors across the world. ...
  
  Read more

• Project aims to grow a 'city of trees'

  21-01-2017 15:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A project aims to plant three million trees - one for every man, woman and child - in Greater Manchester over the next 25 years.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Russia may start building up Reserve Fund in second-half of 2017 - Finance Minister

  21-01-2017 13:34
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia may start building up its Reserve Fund in the second half of 2017, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Saturday. He added that if oil prices average $50 per barrel and rouble rate remains at current levels, the budget could get additional 1 trillion roubles (£13.5 billion) in oil and gas revenues, resulting in a budget deficit of around 2 percent of gross domestic product in 2017. (Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya and Polina Nikolskaya; writing by Katya Golubkov
  
  Read more

• Batteries included: Yorkshire village seeks to solve riddle of too much sun

  21-01-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Powervault trial at Oxspring to see if UK-made home batteries can store and use local solar power for longer, bypass National Grid and cut energy billsThe bungalows of Oxspring may look an unlikely testing ground for a new technology billed as a way to help renewable power, stymie energy price rises and aid the local power grid.But later this month, dozens of homes in this South Yorkshire village will have a home battery installed as part of a £250,000 trial to see if they can make solar p
  
  Read more

• A place in the country: meet the new woodlanders

  21-01-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  If you go down to the woods today... you might find a school, a photographer’s studio, or a carpenter’s workshop. Britain’s forests are getting a new lease of lifeIn the stillness of autumn, the only sound on the old Saxon road is the gentle tapping of beech nuts falling on a carpet of terracotta-coloured leaves. “You must meet Robert Cunningham – he’s tremendous,” says Kathy Harris, pausing to touch the huge trunk of a venerable beech tree. Harris knows
  
  Read more

• Can credit unions finally provide a truly ethical current account?

  21-01-2017 07:59 via theguardian.com
  
  The Engage account is for those who want their money to be used to do good. Plus, we look at the alternativesBillions of pounds of taxpayer cash pumped in, PPI mis-selling, investing in fossil fuels or dodgy regimes, money laundering, Libor rigging, tax avoidance, excessive executive pay… the list of scandals involving banks goes on and on. So it’s no wonder that many people would like a more ethical home for their current account cash. But one problem is that there aren’t man
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• New life radiates from a fallen oak

  21-01-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Blashford Lakes, Hampshire Dead trees don’t get much of a press. For each one remembered, a million will be forgottenOn a dry, dull-grey day, we have come to this popular local nature reserve for a gentle recuperative ramble and some birdwatching. The info board states that we may see bittern, water rail, great egret, and widgeon aplenty. It says nothing about the host of visitors like us who have congested the Blashford Lakes car park, and with whom we exchange pleasantries as our paths c
  
  Read more

• Roger Harrabin: World v Trump on climate deal?

  21-01-2017 01:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  As the new president settles in, much of the world reaffirms its commitment to the Paris agreement.
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!