Environment news

• Brexit: Ministers suffer nuclear defeat in Lords

  20-03-2018 22:24 via bbc.co.uk
  Peers vote for the UK to remain in Euratom until a post-Brexit replacement deal is in place.
  
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• ‘Monty Pythonesque’: $80m water buyback was 25% more than asking price

  20-03-2018 21:29 via theguardian.com
  Australia Institute says commonwealth paid far more than initial price for Condamine-Balonne river system buyback“Monty Pythonesque” is how the Australia Institute has described the federal government’s decision to pay $80m for a water buyback in the Condamine-Balonne river system in Queensland last year.The Guardian reported this month that the company selling the water to the commonwealth, Eastern Australian Agriculture, had immediately recorded a $52m gain on the sale of its
  
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• Australian government's water buyback 'displayed Pythonesque haggling skills'

  20-03-2018 21:29 via theguardian.com
  Australia Institute says commonwealth paid 25% more than initial price for Condamine-Balonne river system buyback“Monty Pythonesque” is how the Australia Institute has described the federal government’s decision to pay $80m for a water buyback in the Condamine-Balonne river system in Queensland last year.The Guardian reported earlier this month that the company selling the water to the commonwealth, Eastern Australian Agriculture, had immediately recorded a $52m gain on the sal
  
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• Subsidy-free renewable energy projects set to soar in UK, analysts say

  20-03-2018 19:00 via theguardian.com
  Falling cost of wind and solar will unlock £20bn of investment, Aurora Energy Research saysThe UK is well on the way to a new era of subsidy-free renewable energy projects that will largely kill off prospects for new gas power stations, according to industry analysts.The falling cost of wind and solar projects combined with advances in battery storage technology will unlock about £20bn of investment in the UK between now and 2030, Aurora Energy Research said. Onshore wind and solar w
  
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• Stephen Hawking's ashes to be interred near Sir Isaac Newton's grave

  20-03-2018 18:37 via bbc.co.uk
  The scientist's remains will be also be interred close to Charles Darwin's grave at Westminster Abbey.
  
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• Work in the hospitality & leisure industry? Take edie's 5-minute sustainability survey

  20-03-2018 18:23
  Sustainability professionals, energy managers and CSR experts working for hospitality and leisure businesses are invited to take part in a short survey which will help to inform edie's next insight report into the sustainability challenges and opportunities facing the industry.
  
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• Exclusive: legal concerns over plan to roll over forestry agreements without reviews

  20-03-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Documents reveal government plans to extend RFAs without fresh environmental or scientific reviewsFederal and state ministers have discussed legal concerns that imminent extensions to logging agreements might be invalid as they are based on old scientific assessments. Commonwealth and state concerns about the “legal and political risks” to the RFA extensions that are about to be agreed are highlighted in a collection of 10 documents – including briefing notes and “content
  
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• Last male northern white rhino's death highlights 'huge extinction crisis'

  20-03-2018 17:25 via theguardian.com
  The tragic death of Sudan the rhino should act as a warning of the need to act to prevent mass extinctions around the world, say conservationistsConservationists have warned that the death of the last male northern white rhinoceros in Kenya is a sign that unsustainable human activity is driving a new era of mass extinctions around the globe.Sudan, the “gentle giant” who lived in the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya, was put down on Monday after the pain from a degenerative illness beca
  
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• UK will lead European exoplanet mission

  20-03-2018 16:29 via bbc.co.uk
  A telescope to study planets beyond our Solar System is selected by the European Space Agency.
  
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• Gove tells Tory MPs to 'keep eyes on prize' in row over fishing waters

  20-03-2018 14:50 via theguardian.com
  Environment secretary says UK control of fishing waters delayed, not abandoned, by Brexit dealThe environment secretary, Michael Gove, has issued a coded warning to rebellious Tories to keep their “eyes on the prize” as he said he understood the fishing industry’s grave disappointment at Theresa May’s agreement to keep EU fishing policies during the Brexit transition period. Scottish Conservative MPs are due to meet the prime minister in Downing Street on Tuesday followin
  
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• Spring equinox marks the end of winter – despite the snow

  20-03-2018 13:55 via theguardian.com
  Winter is officially over and the days are now getting longer, although it may not feel like it in many parts of BritainWith patches of snow still covering the ground in parts of Britain, it may not seem like the first day of spring. But as of 4.15am Tuesday morning, winter was officially over for another year.The spring, or vernal, equinox marks the point in space and time when the sun moves across the celestial equator, an imaginary circle projected into the sky above the real equator.Continue
  
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• Sudan, the world's last male northern white rhino, dies – video report

  20-03-2018 13:44 via theguardian.com
  The last male northern white rhino has died, leaving only two females to save the species from total extinction.Sudan, the ‘gentle giant’ who lived on the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya, was put down on Monday after the pain from a degenerative illness became too great. He is survived only by his daughter and granddaughterLast male northern white rhino is put down Continue reading...
  
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• 'Nobody believes Rees-Mogg actually cares about fish': your best comments today

  20-03-2018 13:33 via theguardian.com
  Fisheries were a key talking point in our Brexit coverage on Tuesday, here’s a look at some of the most interesting conversations
  We’re highlighting some of the conversations you are having around our biggest stories, including on fisheries policy, homelessness and continued fallout from reporting on Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.
  To join in the conversation you can click on the links in the comments below to expand and add your thoughts. We’ll continue to highlight more com
  
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• Japanese basket pattern inspires new material

  20-03-2018 13:02 via bbc.co.uk
  Researchers produce a metal with exotic electrical properties by mimicking a pattern from Japanese basket-weaving.
  
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• Northern white rhino: Last male Sudan dies in Kenya

  20-03-2018 12:51 via bbc.co.uk
  Sudan's death at the age of 45 leaves only two females of his subspecies alive in the world.
  
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• Meet the dogs being trained to sniff out looted ancient treasures

  20-03-2018 12:31 via bbc.co.uk
  Dogs are being trained to detect ancient treasures in an attempt to tackle cultural heritage trafficking.
  
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• Last male northern white rhino dies in Kenya

  20-03-2018 12:13 via bbc.co.uk
  Sudan died in a Kenyan conservancy at the age of 45, after months of ill health.
  
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• Toxic task

  20-03-2018 12:12 via bbc.co.uk
  The organisation keeping track of the deadly chemicals held by countries around the world.
  
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• Empty half the Earth of its humans. It's the only way to save the planet | Kim Stanley Robinson

  20-03-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  There are now twice as many people as 50 years ago. But, as EO Wilson has argued, they can all survive – in citiesDiscussing cities is like talking about the knots in a net: they’re crucial, but they’re only one part of the larger story of the net and what it’s supposed to do. It makes little sense to talk about knots in isolation when it’s the net that matters.Related: The 100 million city: is 21st century urbanisation out of control?Continue reading...
  
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• UPS's London delivery fleet powered by 'world-first' smart charging system

  20-03-2018 11:40
  Delivery firm UPS will have its central London delivery fleet powered by a new EV smart charging system, amid a flurry of major milestones for charge point installations.
  
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• Fishermen: tell us what you think of the recent Brexit concessions

  20-03-2018 11:18 via theguardian.com
  If you work in the UK fishing industry we’d like to hear what you think about the latest changes to affect fisheriesAfter pledging to repatriate control of UK fisheries and set quotas as part of core Brexit strategy, the government appears to have backed down in face of EU opposition. Instant return of control after Britain leaves the EU no longer seems possible, with vessels from Europe allowed to have continued access during the transition period after 29 March 2019. Continue reading...
  
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• UK charities and heritage sites saved £7m through onsite renewables in 2017

  20-03-2018 10:50
  More than 100 not-for-profit organisations, including the National Trust, RSPB and Oxfam, have collectively saved almost £7m on energy procurement costs from fossil fuel sources, after generating more than 48GWh on renewable energy to power estates in 2017.
  
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• Putting sustainability on the menu: High-street chains launch One Planet Plate campaign

  20-03-2018 10:22
  High-street restaurants such as Jamie's Italian, Zizzi and Wahaca will participate in a campaign to give customers the power to make sustainable food choices.
  
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• Labor vows to block 'largest removal of marine area from conservation, ever'

  20-03-2018 09:53 via theguardian.com
  Opposition condemns Coalition plan to open more recreational and commercial fishing areasLabor says it will move to disallow new marine park management plans proposed by the Turnbull government, branding the change the “largest removal of marine area from conservation, ever, from any government in the world”.
  The new management plans were uploaded by officials on the federal register of legislation on Tuesday, cutting across a public announcement the Turnbull government had planned t
  
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• Children drawing more women in science

  20-03-2018 09:52 via bbc.co.uk
  A US study shows that more children draw women scientists than they did in the 1960s and 1970s.
  
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• Shoestring expedition returns with wild photos of Sumatra

  20-03-2018 09:50 via theguardian.com
  A shoestring expedition to one of the remotest places in Sumatra has returned with stunning photos of tigers, tapirs, clouded leopards among other rare species, large and small. Will they find orangutans next?Last year a motley crew of conservationists, adventurers and locals trekked into one of the last unexplored regions of Sumatra. They did so with a mission: check camera traps and see what they could find. The team – organized by the small NGO, Habitat ID – came back with biologi
  
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• McDonald's to reduce emissions by a third under approved science-based targets

  20-03-2018 09:43
  McDonald's has today (20 March) become the first global restaurant company to have an emissions reduction target approved by the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTI), as the fast food giant outlines plans to reduce carbon emissions by 150 million tonnes.
  
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• Last male white rhino is put down

  20-03-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Hopes for species rest on IVF with two females after death of Sudan, the ‘gentle giant’The last male white rhino has died, leaving only two females to save the species from total extinction.Sudan, the “gentle giant” who lived on the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, was put down on Monday after the pain from a degenerative illness became too great. He is survived only by his daughter and granddaughter.Continue reading...
  
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• Last male northern white rhino is put down

  20-03-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Hopes for species rest on IVF with two females after death of Sudan, the ‘gentle giant’The last male northern white rhinoceros has died, leaving only two females with which conservationists hope to save the species from extinction.Sudan, the “gentle giant” who lived in the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya, was put down on Monday after the pain from a degenerative illness became too great. He is survived by his daughter and granddaughter.Continue reading...
  
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• Survey reveals which Easter eggs use the most packaging

  20-03-2018 08:01 via theguardian.com
  Plastic and cardboard packaging makes up more than a quarter of product weight in some of the UK’s best-selling chocolate eggs
  Packaging alone accounts for up to a quarter, on average, of the total weight of the most popular Easter eggs on sale on the High Street, new research by a consumer group has revealed. Continue reading...
  
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• Fish and chips to curry: UK's favourite dishes at risk from climate change, research shows

  20-03-2018 07:30 via theguardian.com
  Earth Hour campaign aims to raise awareness of the impact global warming could have on food supplies, from cod stocks to the rice and tomatoes used to make chicken tikka masala
  Some of the UK’s best-loved dishes – including fish and chips and chicken tikka masala – could be under threat as a result of climate change, environmentalists warn in a new report on Tuesday.Continue reading...
  
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• Can climate litigation save the world?

  20-03-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Courts are a new front line of climate action with cases against governments and oil firms spiralling, and while victories have so far been rare the pressure for change is growing
  Global moves to tackle climate change through lawsuits are poised to break new ground this week, as groups and individuals seek to hold governments and companies accountable for the damage they are causing. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: a landscape coming in from the cold

  20-03-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Claxton, Norfolk: A lone blackbird offers hope of spring in the snowstorm’s Arctic silence Even now there are several roadside heaps of it where the snowdrifts had been so high that we were entirely cut off for three days. These vestiges hardly conjure the power of that extraordinary storm, but it has been fascinating to track the whole system as a single organism. Continue reading...
  
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• Marine heatwave set off 'carbon bomb' in world's largest seagrass meadow

  20-03-2018 06:08 via theguardian.com
  22% of seagrass in Western Australia’s Shark Bay was lost after 2010-11 heatwave, causing release of up to 9m tonnes of carbonA marine heatwave in Western Australia in 2010 set off a massive “carbon bomb”, damaging the world’s largest seagrass meadow, releasing millions of tonnes of carbon that had been collected for thousands of years below the surface.Although Australia doesn’t currently count carbon released from damaged seagrass meadows in its official greenhous
  
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• 'Bilby blitz': Indigenous rangers use bilingual tracking app to preserve species

  20-03-2018 04:16 via theguardian.com
  Surveys across millions of hectares of central Australia will be used to inform threatened species recovery planAboriginal rangers will use a new bilingual tracking app to record sightings of signs of bilby habitation in a new “bilby blitz” program.Twenty ranger groups from organisations in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, including the Central Land Council, Kimberley Land Council, Central Desert Native Title Services, Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa and the Ngaanyatjarra Council,
  
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• Does a new government in South Australia spell doom for renewables?

  20-03-2018 03:42 via theguardian.com
  Premier Steven Marshall has vowed to end Labor’s energy ‘experiments’, but a sector full of momentum is just one obstacle he facesThe new Liberal government in South Australia has pledged to end Labor’s taxpayer-funded “experiments” in energy, but faces a renewables sector full of momentum and a potentially difficult upper house.Under 16 years of Labor government, South Australia became a world leader in adopting the renewable energy technologies necessary to
  
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• Taking place TODAY: edie's webinar on delivering 'smart grid of the future'

  20-03-2018 01:01
  Taking place today 20 March at 11am (BST), the hour-long webinar will explore how clean technologies and innovations such as battery storage and demand response can drive efficiency, cut costs and enhance energy strategies.
  
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