Environment news

• Josh Frydenberg flags two-stage talks to get energy guarantee over the line

  29-07-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Minister floats proposal to win states’ sign-off on Neg mechanism before a second meeting to discuss emissions targetsJosh Frydenberg has flagged a two-stage process with state and territory ministers in an attempt to maximise the government’s chances of achieving sign-off for the national energy guarantee in August.State sources have told Guardian Australia the commonwealth has floated a proposal where ministers would sign off on the detailed design of the Neg mechanism a
  
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• Bulk of timber exports from Papua New Guinea won’t pass legal test

  29-07-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Millions of tonnes sent to China, and from there to other countries as finished wood products, should be considered ‘high risk’Millions of tonnes of illegally logged timber, felled from forests across Papua New Guinea, are being exported to China and from there to the world as finished wood products, a new report from Global Witness has revealed.Global Witness’s investigation has found that the majority of logging operations in PNG are underpinned by government-issued permits,
  
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• Beware China’s role in UK nuclear industry | Letters

  29-07-2018 18:50 via theguardian.com
  Jeffrey Henderson warns against Chinese state-owned firms playing a decisive part in one of our most strategically important industriesWhile we need to be concerned about China’s growing presence in Britain’s electricity generation (Nuclear power: China’s move into UK hints at scale of its wider ambitions, July 27), we should be asking searching questions of our government. They seem not to understand (or don’t care about) the nature of the companies they are dealing
  
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• Your call may be secretly recorded | Letters

  29-07-2018 18:49 via theguardian.com
  Crossed lines | Minor condensation | Bath not beach | Hanging out the washing | Santa ClausI had the same “crossed line” experience (Letters, 26 July) in 1977, during the run-up to the ABC official secrets trial. I was on the phone to my MP (another of his constituents was Crispin Aubrey, the A of ABC) when we heard an echoey recording of what had just been said. “Don’t worry,” he said. “It’s only the secret services; they’re not very good at it.&r
  
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• Arctic cruise ship guard shoots polar bear dead for injuring colleague

  29-07-2018 18:10 via theguardian.com
  Firm operating MS Bremen in Svalbard claims ‘self defence’ as critics online condemn killing and wildlife tourismA polar bear has been shot dead after injuring a guard working for cruise ship tourists visiting an Arctic archipelago in Norway. The bear was shot dead by another employee, the cruise company said after the incident on Saturday. Continue reading...
  
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• Thomas Cook to end trips to parks with captive killer whales

  29-07-2018 15:50 via theguardian.com
  Customer feedback and animal welfare evidence informed decision, says tour operatorThomas Cook is to stop selling trips to animal parks that keep killer whales in captivity, following, it said, customer feedback and evidence from animal welfare specialists.“This was not a decision we took lightly,” Peter Fankhauser, CEO of Thomas Cook Group, said in a blog posted on Sunday. Continue reading...
  
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• Fate of new Moorside nuclear power station in Cumbria in doubt

  29-07-2018 14:41 via theguardian.com
  Delay in sale of consortium behind plant leads Toshiba to lay off 100 UK project staffDoubts have been raised over the fate of a new nuclear power station planned for Cumbria after it emerged that most of the project’s 100 UK staff had been laid off.Toshiba has been trying to sell the NuGeneration consortium behind the Moorside plant since it had to write off billions of dollars because of problems with its US nuclear business last year. Continue reading...
  
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• New Zealand removes ivory keys from imported antique piano

  29-07-2018 13:17 via theguardian.com
  British man says he is ‘horrified at the bureaucracy’ that led to ‘vandalism’ of family heirloomNew Zealand authorities have been accused of vandalism for stripping the ivory key tops from an antique piano shipped into the country by its British owner.
  The 123-year-old upright piano should have been exempt from strict rules aimed at cracking down on the ivory trade because it was built before 1914.Continue reading...
  
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• Olympic EVs and compostable coffee pods: This week's top 5 sustainability success stories

  29-07-2018 10:30
  As part of our Mission Possible campaign, edie brings you this weekly round-up of five of the best sustainability success stories of the week from across the globe.
  
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• Our scorched Earth needs voters to put more heat on their politicians | Andrew Rawnsley

  29-07-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Britain won’t be unscathed by global warming. You can’t run from climate change and you can’t hideOver the course of Britain’s sweltering summer, the landlord of the building inhabited by the Observer periodically informs us that our air conditioning is undergoing an “automated controlled shutdown” because the weather has become so hot and humid that the system is at risk of damaging itself. So just when you really need cooling air, you can’t have it. On
  
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• Can you spot dead coral? – in pictures

  29-07-2018 02:54 via theguardian.com
  Coral bleaching is affecting the world’s largest coral reef system, the Great Barrier Reef, but what does a dying reef look like? These images from the Climate Council and Great Barrier Reef Legacy show the difference in what they should look like and what happens as they move from bleached to dead Continue reading...
  
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• UK heatwave: All you need to know about snakes

  29-07-2018 01:05 via bbc.co.uk
  Prof Tim Cockerill of the University of South Wales explains where you can find snakes in the summer.
  
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• All you need to know about snakes this summer

  29-07-2018 01:05 via bbc.co.uk
  Professor Tim Cockerill from the University of South Wales explains where we might encounter snakes in the hot weather
  
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