Environment news

• Butterflywatch: the orange tip is the true herald of spring

  27-04-2018 22:30 via theguardian.com
  A couple of weeks later than usual, the first species to emerge from the chrysalis, is on the wingMost of us have a favourite first that signifies the true beginning of spring. For me, it’s the first orange tip. While butterflies that hibernate as adults have been flying for a while, the orange tip is usually the first species to emerge from a chrysalis.Last spring I complained that I didn’t see my first in Norfolk until 2 April. This year it was 19 April. Other spring butterflies, f
  
  Read more

• Co-create your sustainable future: Mission Possible Workshops introduced to edie Live 2018

  27-04-2018 21:40
  Whether it's unlocking the value of energy storage, getting to grips with the SDGs, or solving the behaviour change challenge - edie Live 2018 visitors are being given have a unique opportunity to to solve key energy and sustainability challenges in a series of free workshops at edie Live 2018.
  
  Read more

• Al Gore warns worst of climate change will be felt by black and poor people

  27-04-2018 21:33 via theguardian.com
  Speaking at a memorial to the victims of lynching, the former vice-president warned of the disproportionate impacts of global warmingAl Gore, the former US vice-president turned climate change advocate, has warned that the deepening crisis of global temperature and sea level rise – and the consequent spate of natural disasters in America – will increasingly affect black and poor people more than others.
  Speaking at the opening of a new national memorial and museum chronicling America
  
  Read more

• Meat is crucial to balanced diet, Michael Gove tells farmers

  27-04-2018 19:40 via theguardian.com
  Environment secretary’s vision for UK agriculture post-Brexit sees farmers playing a vital role in improving public healthMeat is a crucial part of a balanced diet, the environment secretary has said, as he told farmers about his “health and harmony” vision for food.Michael Gove’s new vision for British agriculture post-Brexit envisages farmers playing a critical role in improving public health.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Ethics debate as pig brains kept alive without a body

  27-04-2018 19:35 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists raise ethical concerns as the brain cells of decapitated pigs are kept alive for 36 hours.
  
  Read more

• Sustainability leadership, in action: edie's Mission Possible webinar takes place on THURSDAY

  27-04-2018 18:10
  Sustainability figureheads from home improvement retailer Kingfisher and food manufacturer William Jackson Food Group will discuss how they are scaling-up effort and innovation to achieve their 'Mission Possible' in edie's next live webinar, taking place this Thursday (3 May).
  
  Read more

• Who will stand up for Homer Simpson? | Brief letters

  27-04-2018 17:42 via theguardian.com
  Business schools | Homer Simpson | Country rock | Childish tantrums | SwallowsMartin Parker’s analysis of the capitalist ideology promoted by business schools (G2, 27 April) is cogently argued. More flippantly, my experience in several universities of business lecturers was that they were frequently inefficient and unreliable. To adapt the old adage about teachers, those that can’t do business teach business.
  Sheila Cross
  Northallerton, North Yorkshire• I note that there are cal
  
  Read more

• Sentinel tracks ships' dirty emissions from orbit

  27-04-2018 16:55 via bbc.co.uk
  The EU's new satellite pollution-tracker will be a powerful tool to monitor vessels' emissions.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• The hills are alive with the signs of plastic: even Swiss mountains are polluted

  27-04-2018 14:16 via theguardian.com
  Major study finds microplastics in soil across Switzerland and scientists warn urgent research is needed into impacts on food safety as other countries may be worse affectedMicroplastic pollution contaminates soil across Switzerland, even in remote mountains, new research reveals. The scientists said the problem could be worse in other nations with poorer waste management and that research was urgently needed to see if microplastics get into food.In the first major study of microplastics in soil
  
  Read more

• Is the world's toughest plastic bag ban working?

  27-04-2018 14:11 via theguardian.com
  This week’s Upside also looks at creative ways to slow climate change and meets the South African women who stopped an international nuclear dealThis week, The Upside has been focused on hopeful news about the environment, which will be a welcome reprieve for anyone who read Mayer Hillman’s interview in the Guardian in which he concluded that climate change meant “we’re doomed”.As part of the Arctic Dispatches series, reporting from Alaska, Oliver Milman asked wheth
  
  Read more

• Can we stop the Arctic meltdown?

  27-04-2018 14:11 via theguardian.com
  This week’s Upside series focused in on efforts to rescue the environment, from the polar caps to the tropics - and the ocean depthsThis week, The Upside has been focused on hopeful news about the environment, which will be a welcome reprieve for anyone who read Mayer Hillman’s interview in the Guardian in which he concluded that climate change meant “we’re doomed”.As part of the Arctic Dispatches series, reporting from Alaska, Oliver Milman asked whether the catast
  
  Read more

• Report: EU carbon prices could hit €55 by 2030

  27-04-2018 12:33
  EU carbon prices could quadruple to €55 a tonne by 2030 if policymakers align the bloc's emissions targets with the Paris Agreement.
  
  Read more

• Premier League partners with Sky to eliminate single-use plastics by 2020

  27-04-2018 12:25
  Sky has teamed with the Premier League to eliminate single-use plastics from the organisation by 2020, while encouraging football clubs and fans to stop using certain plastics.
  
  Read more

• Reusable cup use climbs 156% at Starbucks during 5p charge trials

  27-04-2018 12:17
  The number of consumers using a reusable cup in Starbucks stores located across London has shot up by 156% in just six weeks, following the introduction of a 5p paper cup charge.
  
  Read more

• Wild animals are dying off rapidly. A new law could halt this destruction | Ben Caldecott

  27-04-2018 11:50 via theguardian.com
  A UK version of the Magnitsky Act would curb illegal wildlife trade and habitat annihilation, leaving perpetrators with nowhere to hideThe Magnitsky Act allows the US to sanction individuals implicated in human rights abuses anywhere in the world. It is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in suspicious circumstances in a Moscow prison after identifying corruption by Russian tax officials on a massive scale.Foreign secretary Boris Johnson and home secretary Amber Rudd have agr
  
  Read more

• Our planet is losing wild animals rapidly. Here’s how to combat this | Ben Caldecott

  27-04-2018 11:50 via theguardian.com
  A UK version of the Magnitsky Act would curb illegal wildlife trade and habitat annihilation, leaving perpetrators with nowhere to hideThe Magnitsky Act allows the US to sanction individuals implicated in human rights abuses anywhere in the world. It is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in suspicious circumstances in a Moscow prison after identifying corruption by Russian tax officials on a massive scale.Foreign secretary Boris Johnson and home secretary Amber Rudd have agr
  
  Read more

• EU agrees total ban on bee-harming pesticides

  27-04-2018 11:47 via theguardian.com
  The world’s most widely used insecticides will be banned from all fields within six months, to protect both wild and honeybees that are vital to crop pollinationThe European Union will ban the world’s most widely used insecticides from all fields due to the serious danger they pose to bees.The ban on neonicotinoids, approved by member nations on Friday, is expected to come into force by the end of 2018 and will mean they can only be used in closed greenhouses. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Dutch rewilding experiment sparks backlash as thousands of animals starve

  27-04-2018 11:41 via theguardian.com
  A scheme to rewild marshland east of Amsterdam has been savaged by an official report and sparked public protest after deer, horses and cattle died over the winter It is known as the Dutch Serengeti, a bold project to rewild a vast tract of land east of Amsterdam. But a unique nature reserve where red deer, horses and cattle roam free on low-lying marsh reclaimed from the sea has been savaged by an official report after thousands of animals starved.In a blow to the rewilding vision of renowned e
  
  Read more

• EU member states support near-total neonicotinoids ban

  27-04-2018 11:22 via bbc.co.uk
  Member states vote in favour of an almost complete ban on the use of chemicals linked to harming bees.
  
  Read more

• All Australian packaging to be sustainable by 2025, COAG agrees

  27-04-2018 11:02 via theguardian.com
  The agreement was triggered by the Chinese ban on imported plastic waste but critics say it is too little too late• Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morningThe Turnbull government and states have agreed that all Australian packaging should be reusable, compostable or recyclable by 2025 at the latest, but face accusations they are not moving quickly enough to fix a recycling industry crisis triggered by a Chinese ban on imported plastic waste.
  The 2025 target
  
  Read more

• Stolen succulents: California hipster plants at center of smuggling crisis

  27-04-2018 11:00 via theguardian.com
  Demand in China and Korea has led to thousands of dudleya being stolen from California as officials lament ‘plant poaching’In China, they are prized for their chubby limbs and cute shapes. In Korea, they are a treasured hobby for housewives. But on the coastal cliffs of California, the dudleya succulent plants are vanishing, snatched up by international smugglers and shipped to an Asian middle-class market hungry for California native flora.California department of fish and wildlife
  
  Read more

• Wildlife photo competition disqualifies 'stuffed anteater' image

  27-04-2018 10:02 via bbc.co.uk
  Wildlife Photographer of the Year excludes a winning image for featuring a taxidermy specimen.
  
  Read more

• Will we stand by and watch the privatisation of our forests? | Simon Jenkins

  27-04-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  The Forestry Commission is party to semi-commercial development that could be devastating for our countryside. It should know betterThere is something murky down in the forest. In 2010, the Cameron government was so shocked at the reaction to its planned privatisation of the Forestry Commission that it backed off. It said it had abandoned the whole idea. It lied. It just privatised in secret.Plans have emerged of the commission’s proposals for Mortimer Forest outside Ludlow, an exquisite s
  
  Read more

• Paris to decide fate of 'mega' gold mine in forests of French Guiana

  27-04-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Controversial plans for an open-pit gold mine have split the French overseas territory in South America. Opponents warn of pollution and biodiversity loss, while local officials point to its potential economic benefits. But ultimately the decision will be made thousands of miles across the AtlanticThrough the window of the small propeller plane leaving the capital Cayenne, the jungle’s canopy stretches out as far as the eye can see.
  More than 90% covered by luxuriant rainforest, French Gui
  
  Read more

• Country diary: on the trail of elusive wood anemones

  27-04-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Abbeydale, South Yorkshire: Years ago, I stumbled across a large patch of the bone-white flowers. Could I find it again?When our children were young, we’d take them on voyages of exploration to an extensive patch near our home of what is sometimes called the unofficial countryside, and by unofficial I mean of course forbidden. Trespassing wasn’t mentioned, but children know when parents are being shifty. The subterfuge only added to their excitement, and having to ford a river to rea
  
  Read more

• Collapsible straws and air-absorbing t-shirts: the best green innovations of the week

  27-04-2018 02:01
  A number of eye-catching and potentially transformational innovations have emerged that could help businesses and nations deliver on resource efficiency, low-carbon transitions and combat climate change. Here, edie rounds-up six of the best.
  
  Read more

• RBS and Tesco extend employee engagement programmes

  27-04-2018 01:40
  EXCLUSIVE: RBS and Tesco have both confirmed that their respective behaviour change initiatives are being rolled out across the wider workforce after successful trial periods saw increased efficiencies and reduced costs.
  
  Read more

• Fracking may have caused South Korean earthquake – study

  27-04-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Researchers analysed data from November quake and found main shock occurred near fracking siteOne of South Korea’s largest earthquakes on record may have been caused by hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – according to a study published on Friday in the journal Science.
  A magnitude-5.5 earthquake hit the south-eastern city of Pohang on 15 November, injuring at least 70 people, temporarily displacing hundreds, and causing millions of dollars of damage. In the aftermath, resident
  
  Read more

• Recycling crisis: federal government to push states for solution

  27-04-2018 00:00 via theguardian.com
  Josh Frydenberg will seek agreement at meeting of environment ministers for a national stocktake of recycling• Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morningThe Turnbull government will ask the states to work towards a national fix on recycling in the wake of an import ban imposed by China on recycled waste, which has triggered a crisis in Australia.Environment ministers will meet on Friday to discuss practical responses to the Chinese ban, with the commonwealth se
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!