Environment news

• Krill fishing firms back Antarctic ocean sanctuary

  09-07-2018 23:00 via theguardian.com
  Creation of the world’s largest marine reserve comes a step closer as major companies add support The creation of the world’s biggest ocean sanctuary, protecting a huge tract of remote seas around Antarctica, has come a step closer after major fishing companies came out in favour of the plan.A global campaign – spearheaded by Greenpeace and backed by 1.7 million people – had put massive pressure on the krill fishing industry and retailers amid fears it was endangering one
  
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• The Guardian view on climate change: a global heatwave | Editorial

  09-07-2018 21:27 via theguardian.com
  The weather in Britain is only a small part of a global pattern and as the Arctic warms, it will make extreme events into the new, and dangerous, normalThe British are parochial about weather. It is our cherished grievance, not to be shared with foreigners. Perhaps it is the fact that our weather tends to come from the west, across the Atlantic, and not from our neighbours in Europe (unless it’s a “beast from the east”) which reinforces the belief that our weather is a uniquely
  
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• Illegal land clearing in NSW may be accelerating, complaints data suggests

  09-07-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Data obtained by the Guardian suggests land clearing may be accelerating under Biodiversity Conservation Act Complaints about suspected illegal land clearing to a government hotline have increased sharply under the New South Wales government’s new Biodiversity Conservation Act, suggesting the rate of land clearing may be accelerating.Data obtained by the Guardian under freedom of information laws after an eight month battle with the Department of Environment shows that reports o
  
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• UK's climate fund to support developing nations reaches £4bn

  09-07-2018 19:37
  The UK has mobilised more than £4bn in public and private funding towards tackling climate-related challenges in developing countries since 2011, reducing or avoiding more than 10 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a result, according to new Government figures.
  
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• Trump’s visit and the souring of a special relationship | Letters

  09-07-2018 18:58 via theguardian.com
  The forthcoming Nato summit and visit of President Trump highlight the UK’s misguided security policy, warns Celia McKeon, while Rae Street voices solidarity with US citizens fighting the Trump administration. Mark Leopold draws parallels with a visit by Idi Amin, and Chris Osman argues that the best way to protest about Trump’s trip, is not to protest at allThe UK government’s approach to both this week’s Nato summit (Report, 7 July), and the visit of President Trump, is
  
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• Majority of products to be low-carbon within a decade, say firms with science-based targets

  09-07-2018 18:14
  The majority of executives at global corporations which are leading the transition to a low-carbon economy believe most of their company's branded products or services will be classed as low-carbon by 2028, new research has revealed.
  
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• Hybrid cars to be exempt from 2040 petrol and diesel ban

  09-07-2018 18:07 via theguardian.com
  Move angers environmental campaigners but is welcomed by automotive industryPetrol and diesel hybrid cars will still be permitted to be sold in 2040, the government has conceded, in a move that has angered environmental campaigners but was welcomed by the car industry. Ministers last year pledged to ban new cars powered by fossil fuels by 2040 but the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, confirmed on Monday that hybrid cars – powered by electricity and diesel or petrol – would be exe
  
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• Banks court buyers for 49% stake in UK nuclear power stations

  09-07-2018 17:43 via theguardian.com
  EDF Energy thought to have piggybacked on plans by Centrica to sell off some of nuclear power stakeThree international banks have begun courting buyers for a 49% stake in Britain’s eight nuclear power stations, starting the process of a major shakeup of the sector’s ownership.UK-listed Centrica said in February it was looking to sell its 20% stake in the nuclear plants, which UBS and Goldman Sachs are understood to be handling. Continue reading...
  
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• Animals farmed update: trade wars, genetics and amputations

  09-07-2018 17:13 via theguardian.com
  Welcome to our monthly roundup of the biggest issues in farming and food production, with must-read reports from around the webIt’s on! US president, Donald Trump, has kicked off his trade war with China and now we’re waiting to see if it will be Smoot-Hawley all over again, or if history will take another unexpected turn and tariffs will turn out to be good for us. Great analysis here of exactly what it means for some US farmers by Mother Jones’ Tom Philpott. And this is a rea
  
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• Road to Zero: Green economy reacts as Government unveils EV strategy

  09-07-2018 16:57
  While the Government's much-awaited Road to Zero strategy has been hailed by some members of the green economy as a "positive first step" towards the 2040 phase-out of diesel and petrol vehicles, critics have voiced disappointment that it did not commit to bringing the ban forward.
  
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• Cliff jumping: Lucky escape for boys after Llanberis rock fall

  09-07-2018 16:11 via bbc.co.uk
  A boy who jumped off a cliff into water in Llanberis escaped injury when rocks fell in after him.
  
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• Nigel Farage criticised over photo with protected shark

  09-07-2018 15:39 via bbc.co.uk
  "Depressed over Brexit. Went fishing," he posts alongside a photo of himself holding the protected species.
  
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• Stunning coral forests discovered around Sicily's deep sea volcanoes – in pictures

  09-07-2018 14:26 via theguardian.com
  Scientists find a spectacular forest of bamboo coral, rare carnivorous sponges, and species never before seen in the region Continue reading...
  
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• Everything you need to know about the Government's Road to Zero strategy

  09-07-2018 14:20
  The Government has unveiled its much-anticipated Road to Zero strategy, detailing how a £1.5bn investment into electric vehicle (EV) research, development and infrastructure will help phase out petrol and diesel sales by 2040.
  
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• Starbucks to ditch plastic straws globally by 2020 to help environment

  09-07-2018 13:38 via theguardian.com
  Seattle-based company will use other materials for strawsStrawless lids to debut in Seattle and Vancouver this fallStarbucks will eliminate plastic straws from its stores globally by 2020, in a nod to the growing push for businesses to be more environmentally friendly. The Seattle-based company said on Monday it will instead use straws made from other materials, and lids designed not to need straws.Continue reading...
  
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• I rely on plastic straws and baby wipes. I’m disabled – I have no choice | Penny Pepper

  09-07-2018 12:52 via theguardian.com
  I know the environmental damage they cause, but I don’t have the luxury of a plastic-free lifeI remember the dawning of my green consciousness: the sudden, painful realisation that products were tested on animals. This was in the early 1970s. I was about 10 years old. A teacher told me that baby powder was put into the eyes of cats and dogs to make sure it was safe. She also said that the plastic container would pollute the Earth.A few years later, as punk sensibility captured my naturally
  
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• Mayors urge EU to aim for net-zero emissions by 2050

  09-07-2018 12:30
  The mayors of ten major European cities -including Paris, London, Milan and Barcelona - have issued a joint call for the EU to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement.
  
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• London Mayor launches £500m energy efficiency fund for businesses

  09-07-2018 12:28
  The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today (July 9) launched a £500m fund to help SMEs, universities and public-sector organisations across the capital install energy efficiency measures in their buildings as part of his bid for London to become a "zero-carbon" city by 2050.
  
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• There are genuine climate alarmists, but they're not in the same league as deniers | Dana Nuccitelli

  09-07-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Deniers have conservative media outlets and control the Republican Party; climate alarmists are largely ignored
  Those who debunk climate change misinformation often face a dilemma. We’re flooded with such a constant deluge of climate myths, where should we focus our efforts? Climate misinformation is propagated via congressional climate hearings, conservative media outlets, denial blogs, and even from some genuine climate alarmists.Specifically, there has recently been a debate as to wheth
  
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• India's unofficial recycling bin: the city where electronics go to die

  09-07-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  In Moradabad, whole communities subsist by processing waste created by the world’s love affair with electronic goods. In this extract from their book, Assa Doron and Robin Jeffrey investigate the impact of this dangerous tradeFrom the road one could see locals washing the ash from burned e-waste and using sieves to recover fragments of metal. Women and children broke apart and segregated the printed circuit board components, prying open the object and separating the gold, silver and copper
  
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• UK's largest battery storage facility comes online in Hertfordshire

  09-07-2018 10:49
  Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire is to host the largest battery storage facility in the UK, after a 50MW installation was unveiled today (July 9).
  
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• Electric cars: Charge points could be requirement in new build homes

  09-07-2018 10:11 via bbc.co.uk
  Hundreds of thousands more charge points could be installed under plans from the transport secretary.
  
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• One in three fish caught never makes it to the plate – UN report

  09-07-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Global fish production is at record levels thanks to fish farming, says the UN FAO, but much is wasted and many species are worryingly overfishedOne in three fish caught around the world never makes it to the plate, either being thrown back overboard or rotting before it can be eaten, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.Its biannual report on the state of the world’s fisheries, released on Monday, also shows that total fish production has reached a record high thanks to m
  
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• Country diary: wilding calls to the turtle dove

  09-07-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Knepp, West Sussex: A 3,500-acre estate has been transformed from intensively farmed land to a rich natural environment, luring back a bird we are close to losingIt’s 4.30am and the sky is already light above Knepp, the Sussex estate whose 3,500 acres have been transformed from intensively farmed agricultural land to one of the richest natural environments in the country. I’m with Penny Green, the estate’s resident ecologist, and here to see turtle doves, birds whose mellifluou
  
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• The man who paves India's roads with old plastic

  09-07-2018 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Indian chemistry professor shows that repurposed plastic can be good for the environment
  At 73, Dr Rajagopalan Vasudevan is roughly as old as the mass production of plastic. But that is not the reason why the chemistry professor has a soft spot for the much-maligned material.“Plastic isn’t the problem,” the venerable scientist says in his office in the southern Indian city of Madurai. “We are. Plastic wouldn’t clog our oceans or our landfills if we didn’t thro
  
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• Withdrawing from the Paris agreement makes no economic sense | Peter Castellas

  09-07-2018 05:48 via theguardian.com
  Those who advocate for leaving Paris are economically, environmentally and socially irresponsible
  Withdrawing from the Paris agreement is not an option for Australia, unless we want to suffer severe economic consequences as a result.Australia is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and it is in our national interest to support effective global action. The Paris agreement sets a common multilateral platform that allows for domestic flexibility to make contributions to emissions redu
  
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• Ozone hole mystery: China insulating chemical said to be source of rise

  09-07-2018 05:43 via bbc.co.uk
  A banned chemical used to make household insulation is implicated in damage to the ozone layer.
  
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• Electric cars: New-build homes could be fitted with charge points

  09-07-2018 03:05 via bbc.co.uk
  Hundreds of thousands more charge points could be installed under plans from the transport secretary.
  
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• I see my garden as a barometer of climate change | Catriona Sandilands

  09-07-2018 03:03 via theguardian.com
  I worry about my beautiful, compromised plants, exposed to unseasonable ice storms and heatwavesThe clematis is in full bloom right now: a riot of purple flowers up the side of the deck, aiming for the wall.Being a vine, a clematis will twine around anything that crosses its path, including itself, at all available opportunities. The result is often, even with a short period of gardener inattention, a snarly mess; the leafstalks curl, and curl, in on themselves in order to find some – any
  
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• Mysterious source of illegal ozone-killing emissions revealed, say investigators

  09-07-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  On-the-ground investigation finds use of banned CFC-11 is rife in China’s plastic foam industryA mysterious surge in emissions of an illegal ozone-destroying chemical has been tracked down to plastic foam manufacturers in China, according to an on-the-ground investigation published on Monday.The chemical, trichlorofluoromethane or CFC-11, has been banned around the world since 2010 and is a potent destroyer of ozone, which protects life on Earth from UV radiation, and strong greenhouse gas
  
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• Lost rivers could heat London to cut capital's emissions

  09-07-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Campaigners propose using buried rivers as source of fossil fuel-free heatBoris Johnson’s team wanted to uncover them for Londoners. The Environment Agency explored turning them into wildlife paradises. Now campaigners are targeting London’s lost rivers, water courses that have been gradually buried over the centuries, as a source of fossil fuel-free heat. Continue reading...
  
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• Electric avenues: UK streets to get more car charging points

  09-07-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Chris Grayling to unveil plans to increase take-up of ultra-low emission vehiclesPlans to install hundreds of thousands of additional charging points for electric vehicles are to be announced by the transport secretary.Chris Grayling will unveil proposals aimed at making it easier to recharge electric vehicles than refuel those running on petrol or diesel, in an attempt to increase the take-up of ultra-low emission vehicles. Continue reading...
  
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