Environment news

• With incentives, industry could tackle Australia's waste crisis | Veena Sahajwalla

  27-06-2018 22:00
  If waste is burned for energy, recyclable material is lost forever. There are better solutionsThe vast recycling problem facing communities right around Australia has been a ticking time bomb.
  With China’s restriction of imports of foreign waste now in place and responsible for increased stockpiling around the nation, prices for waste streams such as glass are at a low point. It is now cheaper to import than recycle glass. Continue reading...
  
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• Flamingo that escaped a zoo in 2005 spotted in Texas

  27-06-2018 21:51 via bbc.co.uk
  The bird, tagged as number 492, is seen near Lavaca Bay, Texas, after fleeing a Kansas zoo in 2005.
  
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• Thames Water drains chief's bonus over missed leak targets

  27-06-2018 20:29
  Steve Robertson’s bonus stopped for two years after firm hit with £55m Ofwat fineThames Water will not pay its chief executive a bonus for the next two years and after that will link it to leak and pollution targets being met.Britain’s biggest water company was recently fined £55m by the watchdog Ofwat and ordered to pay £65m to customers for failing to adequately tackle leaks in 2017. It has warned it will miss its leak targets again this year.Continue reading...
  
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• Adani coal port under threat of stop order amid concern for sacred sites

  27-06-2018 20:00
  Juru traditional owners say Adani has ignored demands to inspect “unauthorised” cultural assessmentsIndigenous traditional owners from north Queensland have threatened to try to pursue an order that could shut down Adani’s Abbot Point coal terminal, amid concern that sacred sites in the area have not been properly protected.Guardian Australia can reveal Adani has ignored repeated demands by Juru traditional owners to inspect “unauthorised” cultural assessments condu
  
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• Anti-pipeline activists are fighting to stop Line 3. Will they succeed? | Bill McKibben

  27-06-2018 19:59
  The oil industry is building yet another pipeline - but Native American groups and progressive activists are fighting back
  American democracy appears to have had at least a little success this week: steadily mounting pressure - including everything from marches to tweets to phone calls to Congress - seems to have convinced President Trump that his approval ratings were in danger unless he back-pedaled on his administration’s abusive immigration policies on the US-Mexican border. So now we
  
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• Interstellar visitor's identity solved

  27-06-2018 19:11 via bbc.co.uk
  'Oumuamua's shifting identity may reveal details about other solar systems.
  
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• Saturn moon a step closer to hosting life

  27-06-2018 19:02 via bbc.co.uk
  Researchers have found complex molecules in the ocean of Enceladus, only previously known on Earth and in meteorites.
  
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• JWST: Launch of Hubble's successor pushed back to 2021

  27-06-2018 18:56 via bbc.co.uk
  The space telescope that will take over from the Hubble observatory suffers a further delay.
  
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• British Museum given more than 500 'exquisite' ivory figures

  27-06-2018 18:52
  Decision to accept objects from private collection not endorsement of ivory trade, director saysThe British Museum has defended its decision to accept a donation of more than 500 “exquisite” Chinese ivory figures, saying it did not mean it condoned the ivory trade.The museum revealed on Wednesday that it had accepted the gift of 556 ivory items acquired in the early 20th century by Sir Victor Sassoon, a Shanghai-based businessman and hotelier. Continue reading...
  
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• Galapagos' Sierra Negra volcano eruption triggers evacuation

  27-06-2018 18:17 via bbc.co.uk
  The volcano on Isabela Island is spewing lava from fissures which opened after two strong earthquakes.
  
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• UK home solar power faces cloudy outlook as subsidies are axed

  27-06-2018 18:09
  Lower costs and battery technology offer hope – but industry says it needs support“I’m 87% self-powered today. Yesterday I was 100%,” said Howard Richmond, using an app telling him how much of his London home’s electricity consumption is from his solar panels and Tesla battery. The retired solicitor lives in one of the 840,000-plus homes in the UK with solar panels, and an even more exclusive club of up to 10,000 with battery storage. Continue reading...
  
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• Government got its sums wrong on Swansea Bay tidal lagoon | Letters

  27-06-2018 18:07
  The rejected Welsh tidal power scheme is a missed opportunity on many fronts, says the chair of the planning inspectors who studied the proposalThe rejection by ministers of the proposed Swansea Bay tidal lagoon (Report, 26 June) must be the final nail in the coffin of what was once claimed would be “the greenest government ever”.When I and my fellow planning inspectors spent the best part of a year examining and reporting on both the principle and the detail of the project in Swanse
  
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• Why going to Wales gives you butterflies | Brief letters

  27-06-2018 18:04
  Israel | Butterflies | Doughnuts at the cricket | Bra sizes | Morris MinorsTony Greaves asks for Israel to be treated like other states (Letters, 26 June) on the very day that Britain, after a wait of 70 years, treats Israel like other states with a first royal visit.
  Mark Drukker
  Reading, Berkshire• If Peter Hanson (Letters, 26 June) just crossed the Bristol Channel, he would find that, very sensibly, his butterflies have decamped to the Gower peninsula. Walking on the cliffs over the
  
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• Clearing moors for grouse shooting creates a tinderbox | George Monbiot

  27-06-2018 17:18
  The Saddleworth fire could prove another reason to ban this disgusting ‘sport’, which turns the land into a monocultureWhat caused the Saddleworth Moor fire? The immediate reason, of course, is the peculiarly hot and dry conditions of the past few weeks. But that may not be the end of the story. Some types of vegetation are much more susceptible to fire than others, and the kind that prevails on Saddleworth Moor was an accident waiting to happen, a human-made tinderbox.As the environ
  
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• 'The war goes on’: one tribe caught up in Colombia’s armed conflict

  27-06-2018 16:33
  Part 1 of a report on the indigenous Siona people in the Putumayo region in the AmazonPlacido Yaiguaje Payaguaje, an indigenous Siona man, was standing right where his 80-something mother was blown apart by a land-mine. There was a crater about the size of a beach ball. Surrounding foliage had been shredded, and on some of the leaves and fronds you could still see the dynamite.This was a 20 metre, steepish climb down to the banks of the River Piñuña Blanco, deep in the Colombian Am
  
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• Would you eat whale or dolphin meat after visiting a marine sanctuary?

  27-06-2018 16:30
  After visiting a whale sanctuary in Iceland there is also the chance to eat whale at a nearby restaurant. It seems like a bizarre idea, but what are the ethical and culinary implications?Should you eat whale meat? Reports on Iceland’s new retirement home for beluga whales note that, after viewing the animals – rescued from a Shanghai marine park – tourists can then visit a harbourside restaurant where they can dine on whale meat. Last week, Iceland resumed whaling after a three
  
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• China lifts ban on British beef

  27-06-2018 16:21
  £250m deal allows official market access negotiations to begin, 20 years after beef was banned following the BSE outbreakBritish beef will be back on the menu in China for the first time in more than 20 years, after it officially lifted the longstanding ban on exports from the UK. More than two decades since the Chinese government first banned British beef after the BSE outbreak, the milestone is the culmination of several years of site inspections in the UK and negotiations between govern
  
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• Cheap bacon: how shops and shoppers let down our pigs

  27-06-2018 14:19
  With Brexit looming our animal welfare standards are vulnerable. We’ve got welfare reform wrong in the past - how can we get it right in the future?“When it came to the crunch the retailers let us down,” says Ian Campbell. When he took over the running of a Norfolk farm in the early 1990s, pig farming was a successful, relatively healthy British sector.But within a few years a government ban on the use of gestation crates, combined with a rise in the value of the pound and a pi
  
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• Sustainable Business Covered podcast: In the green room with Whitbread's James Pitcher

  27-06-2018 13:44
  Welcome back to the green room - edie's exclusive interview hub for sustainability leaders, brought to you as part of the Sustainable Business Covered podcast. Up next to provide the insights of a leading sustainable business: Whitbread's director of sustainability James Pitcher.
  
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• Plastic waste: edie report explores 10 gamechangers tackling the issue

  27-06-2018 13:40
  With Britain's plastics revolution continuing to gather pace, edie has today (27 June) published a new insight report which investigates some of the game-changing developments and sustainable solutions to the global plastics problem.
  
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• Wake up, Britain. We’ve been betrayed over Heathrow | Roger Hallam

  27-06-2018 12:15
  MPs need to understand the whirlwind they will reap if they keep backing commercial interests over humanity’s survivalSome things are, to use Caroline Lucas’s word, “unforgivable”. The decision by MPs to put commercial interests ahead of the needs of our planet when it came to vote on the third runway at Heathrow represents a final, catastrophic betrayal. I had just finished a 14-day hunger strike, along with other Vote No Heathrow campaigners, to try to get across our ob
  
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• Trump should inspire us all, but not in the way you might guess | John Abraham

  27-06-2018 12:00
  Joe Romm’s new book details the sticky messaging tactics successfully employed by Trump and others
  Scientists like me – and really, everyone – can learn from President Donald Trump’s mastery of viral messaging. True, he has turned the United States into a pariah nation, one reviled for ripping immigrant children from their parents and from withdrawing from our only real chance at stabilizing the climate, the Paris Accord. Continue reading...
  
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• Caterers save $6 for every $1 invested in food waste measures

  27-06-2018 11:58
  Catering firms can save $6 for every $1 they spend on action to tackle food waste, according to new research.
  
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• edie to host free 30-minute masterclass on sustainability leadership

  27-06-2018 11:45
  Sustainability and CSR professionals are invited to tune into a 30-minute online masterclass focused on how to lead a sustainability strategy for your business, taking place on Thursday 12 July at 1pm.
  
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• edie and Cranfield University launch new Sustainability Leadership Programme

  27-06-2018 11:30
  edie has renewed its partnership with Cranfield University to develop a world-class education programme which will equip sustainability professionals with concrete ideas and new abilities to effectively embed sustainability into core business strategy.
  
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• UK environment policies in tatters, warn green groups

  27-06-2018 10:59
  ‘Disastrous decisions’ such as Heathrow expansion and rejection of Swansea tidal lagoon spark concern over government directionEnvironmental campaigners and clean air groups have warned that the government’s green credentials are in tatters after a flurry of “disastrous decisions” that they say will be condemned by future generations.
  The government’s plan to expand Heathrow won overwhelming backing in the Commons on Monday – with more than 100 Labour MP
  
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• Tony Abbott complains about 'secret deals' with crossbenchers – as it happened

  27-06-2018 10:02
  Former prime minister says government should take ‘their own backbench’ into confidence before anyone else. All the day’s events, live 9.02am BST We made it! Well, almost. We made it through the second last day, meaning we have one more day of crazy to go until the winter recess.I am not game to make any predictions of what tomorrow can bring. That’s like predicting how many more positions Pauline Hanson will have on company tax before that issue is truly put to bed. 8.56
  
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• Cannabis growth is killing one of the cutest (and fiercest) creatures in the US

  27-06-2018 10:00
  The Humboldt marten could soon be an endangered species in California as the weed industry threatens its habitatFierce yet adorable, Humboldt martens have been described as the west coast’s own Tasmanian devils. The biologist Tierra Curry compares the red-chested mammal to another small, tenacious creature: “It’s a kitten that thinks it’s a honey badger,” she said. “It will crawl right into a bee nest and eat the honeycomb and larvae, getting its face stung th
  
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• Wetherspoon and FareShare partner up to tackle food waste

  27-06-2018 09:14
  Pub chain J D Wetherspoon has teamed up with food redistribution platform FareShare in a bid to divert more of its food waste from landfill.
  
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• 'There is no oak left': Are Britain's trees disappearing?

  27-06-2018 09:00
  Can the first national ‘tree champion’ reverse the fortunes of the country’s woodlands and beleaguered urban treesEngland is running out of oak. The last of the trees planted by the Victorians are now being harvested, and in the intervening century so few have been grown – and fewer still grown in the right conditions for making timber – that imports, mostly from the US and Europe, are the only answer.“We are now using the oaks our ancestors planted, and there
  
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• One football pitch of forest lost every second in 2017, data reveals

  27-06-2018 09:00
  Global deforestation is on an upward trend, jeopardising efforts to tackle climate change and the massive decline in wildlifeThe world lost more than one football pitch of forest every second in 2017, according to new data from a global satellite survey, adding up to an area equivalent to the whole of Italy over the year. Continue reading...
  
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• Senate launches inquiry into threatened species 'extinction crisis'

  27-06-2018 07:59
  Inquiry initiated by Greens follows Guardian investigation exposing funding and management failingsThe Senate has launched an inquiry into Australia’s threatened species crisis after an investigation of national threatened species management by Guardian Australia revealed problems including poor monitoring and a lack of funding.The inquiry, initiated by Greens senator Janet Rice and supported by Labor and crossbenchers on Wednesday, will examine issues including the country’s alarmin
  
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• Coalition and Labor trade blows over company tax – politics live

  27-06-2018 07:47
  Government eyes crossbench support for cuts. Meanwhile, Huawei boss pushes case for Chinese firm to build 5G network. All the day’s events, live 6.45am BST Looks like the Liberals are rattling the can for the byelections - an email has just gone out to supporters:Next month, our party faces byelections in Braddon, Mayo and Longman.Our candidates, Brett Whiteley, Georgina Downer and Trevor Ruthenberg are campaigning with passion and energy. 6.36am BST Here’s something for tomorrow.The
  
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• Consumers 'need more protection from energy firms' poor service'

  27-06-2018 07:01
  Citizens Advice urges action after small supplier generates record complaintsRecord levels of complaints against a small energy supplier have prompted the consumer watchdog to call for stronger regulation to protect households from poor customer service.The plea by Citizens Advice came as the group published a customer service league table of energy companies that ranked Iresa, which was the cheapest on the market, as the UK’s worst. Continue reading...
  
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• Farmers' groups withhold data from $9m Great Barrier Reef water quality program

  27-06-2018 06:43
  The government-funded program was designed to reduce polluted run-off to the reefAgriculture industry groups have refused to show the Queensland government the results of a government-funded program that aims to improve Great Barrier Reef water quality.The Queensland Audit Office, in a report to parliament, said the farming industry groups had withheld data about the best management practices program due to “privacy concerns” and that its effectiveness might be “overstated&rdqu
  
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• Country diary: take me to the river where Cambria looks like Cumbria

  27-06-2018 06:30
  Dolgellau, Gwynedd: The similarity of this corner of Wales to the landscape of the southern Lake District is striking The path by the Afon Wnion was liberally scattered with small branches and twigs still carrying tattered leaves, the debris of the storm the previous night. The wind had moderated slightly but the flag on St Mary’s church still stood out strongly from the pole on the tower. Beyond it, the severe northern flanks of Cadair Idris slid in and out of focus as clouds swept across
  
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• Japan's Hayabusa 2 spacecraft reaches cosmic 'diamond'

  27-06-2018 05:34 via bbc.co.uk
  A Japanese spacecraft has arrived at a diamond-shaped asteroid on a key fact-finding mission.
  
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• Could seaweed solve Indonesia's plastic crisis?

  27-06-2018 05:00
  In a country of more than 17000 islands, seaweed might be the ideal raw material for a bio-plastics revolution.
  Indonesia produces more marine plastic pollution than any other country except China. This is perhaps unsurprising: the world’s biggest archipelago is also its fourth most populous. Limited income and cash flow means that poorer communities rely on cheap single-use plastics like bags, water cups and shampoo sachets. Waste management systems are rudimentary and each year millions
  
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• Plastic coffee cup waste is being cut by a simple change

  27-06-2018 03:51 via bbc.co.uk
  A university campus has cut the use of disposable cups with a simple change.
  
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• Hanson on Shorten: 'I don’t warm to him, I don’t trust him' – politics live

  27-06-2018 03:40
  One Nation leader says she would work with a Labor government but will not support the Coalition’s company tax cuts. All the day’s events, live 2.36am BST Labor’s Doug Cameron stopped by doors this morning:It’s just nonsense. Yesterday we see this $80bn tax cut to the big end of town being pushed by Mathias Cormann, just machine gun mouth, on he goes, on and on about rubbish.He can’t answer any of the questions, didn’t deal with the issue that Marco Rubio in t
  
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• Government vies for crossbench support on company tax cuts – politics live

  27-06-2018 02:17
  The Coalition is still hoping for a deal before the end of the week as Bill Shorten makes waves. All the day’s events, live 1.13am BST In a heartbreaking and detailed report, Amnesty International has named 13 officials in the Myanmar military it says have had a “key role in murder, rape and deportation” of the Rohingya population in the northern Rakhine state.It is pretty unusual for Amnesty to name people in its reports, but in “We Will Destroy Everything”: Milita
  
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• One week left to register for edie's electric vehicles webinar

  27-06-2018 02:01
  Individuals and organisations looking to reap the maximum benefits from the electric vehicle transition are encouraged to tune into a free webinar next week, featuring expert insight from UPS, the Cross River Partnership and UK Power Network Services.
  
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• Manchester makes a Beeline for new Dutch-style cycling network

  27-06-2018 01:01
  £500m is being spent to fund cycling networks in Greater Manchester A thousand miles of safe cycling and walking routes are to be created in Greater Manchester after an Olympic gold medallist persuaded town hall bosses to spend as much on cyclists and pedestrians as Amsterdam and other cycling nirvanas.The network – named Beelines, in homage to Manchester’s civic symbol of the worker bee – includes 75 miles of Dutch-style segregated lanes and will be the largest joined-up
  
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• Bumblebees thrive in towns more than countryside

  27-06-2018 01:01
  Urban bumblebees have better access to food, allowing them to produce more offspring Bumblebee colonies fare better in villages and cities than in fields, research has revealed.Bumblebees are important pollinators, but face threats including habitat loss, climate change, pesticide and fungicide use and parasites. Now researchers say that bumblebee colonies in urban areas not only produce more offspring than those on agricultural land, but have more food stores, fewer invasions from parasitic &ld
  
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