Environment news

• Lovers' memorial beech wins England's Tree of the Year

  17-10-2018 21:00
  Nellie’s Tree - entwined by her husband to form her initial – is among the four winners of this year’s Woodland Trust prizeLovers in Paris have caused havoc and serious damage in recent years by commemorating their relationships with padlocks attached to the city’s famous Pont Neuf bridge.But those seeking a more lasting – and environmentally friendly – symbol might instead consider planting a tree. It worked for a romantic young man from Leeds a century ago,
  
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• 'Your planet needs you': Fracking activists urge public to act after sentences overturned – video

  17-10-2018 18:48
  Three protesters jailed for blocking access to a fracking site walked free on Wednesday after the court of appeal quashed their sentences, calling them manifestly excessive. Simon Blevins, 26, Richard Roberts, 36, and Rich Loizou, 31, were greeted by cheering supporters after judges ruled that they should be freed immediatelyFracking protesters walk free after court quashes 'excessive' sentences Continue reading...
  
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• The fracking protesters did us a public service. Jailing them was wrong | Michael Segalov

  17-10-2018 18:18
  The court of appeal protected the right to protest. If Theresa May persists with this disastrous policy, expect far more direct actionThere were cheers inside court four of the Royal Courts of Justice this afternoon, when after a markedly short recess three appeal court judges returned to give their verdict. Sentenced to lengthy jail sentences last month, three-anti-fracking protesters - Simon Blevins, Richard Roberts, Rich Loizou - had what they had known all along confirmed by the lord chief j
  
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• Everglades: climate change threatens years of work to reverse man-made damage

  17-10-2018 18:08
  Report warns that rising temperatures threaten the Everglades, including changing rainfall patters and accelerating sea-level riseSea water encroaching on the Everglades will hamper decades of work by a government program to reverse manmade damage to the vast, fragile ecosystem at the tip of Florida, according to a new report published on Wednesday.The federal, multi-billion-dollar Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, authorized by Congress in 2000, was designed to redirect fresh water, re
  
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• Fracking protesters walk free after court quashes 'excessive' sentences

  17-10-2018 15:56
  Cheering supporters greet activists at prison gates after sentences are overturnedThree protesters jailed for blocking access to a fracking site walked free on Wednesday after the court of appeal quashed their sentences, calling them “manifestly excessive”.The activists, Simon Blevins, 26, Richard Roberts, 36, and Rich Loizou, 31, had been jailed after a four-week trial led to their convictions for causing a public nuisance for a protest at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site in
  
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• Court quashes fracking protesters' 'excessive' jail sentences

  17-10-2018 15:07
  Simon Blevins, 26, Richard Roberts, 36, and Rich Loizou, 31, to be released immediatelyThe court of appeal has quashed the sentences of three protesters jailed for blocking access to a fracking site, calling them “manifestly excessive”. Related: I was arrested for direct action against fracking. This is too important to stand aside | Esme NorthContinue reading...
  
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• Amazon pledges to install 20MW solar systems across UK fulfilment centres

  17-10-2018 14:17
  Amazon has this week pledged to deploy 20MW of solar panels across its UK fulfilment centres, in a move that will slash its carbon footprint by 6,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.
  
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• UK government backs creation of Antarctic wildlife reserve

  17-10-2018 14:05
  Reserve to cover 1.8m km will protect penguins, leopard seals, orca and blue whalesThe UK government has thrown its weight behind the creation of the world’s biggest environmental sanctuary, covering a huge swathe of the Antarctic ocean.The massive 1.8m sq km reserve – five times the size of Germany – would ban all fishing in a vast area of the Weddell Sea and parts of the Antarctic peninsula, safeguarding species including penguins, killer whales, leopard seals and blue whales
  
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• #GreenGB Week Infographic: Clean Growth in the UK

  17-10-2018 14:01
  The Government's landmark Green GB Week, with edie acting as the official media partner, is taking place this week. To mark the occasion, edie has produced an insightful infographic showcasing the clean growth success stories that are driving the low-carbon revolution in the UK.
  
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• Clean Growth Fund spearheads Government's green finance commitments

  17-10-2018 13:44
  As part of Green GB Week, the UK Government has announced a new £40m venture capital fund to help bring innovative clean technologies to market.
  
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• How to cook the perfect piri piri chicken – recipe

  17-10-2018 12:59
  Preparing the nation’s favourite dish at home begins with tracking down that all-important chilliA Portuguese dish with its roots in Angola and Mozambique, popularised in the UK by a Johannesburg-based restaurant chain, piri piri chicken may have a complicated past, but its present is crystal clear: we absolutely love it. That “cheeky” chain, Nando’s, has been described as “one of the most successful cults in Britain”, having carved itself an unlikely, but und
  
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• Republican lawmakers react to the IPCC report – ‘we have scientists’ too! | Dana Nuccitelli

  17-10-2018 12:00
  Journalists grilled GOP politicians on climate change. It didn’t go wellMajor climate science reports usually pass by largely unnoticed, but in the wake of the latest IPCC report a number of journalists laudably grilled Republican lawmakers about its findings. While their responses were predictably terrible, it’s nevertheless crucial for journalists to hold GOP politicians accountable for their climate denial and policy inaction. Donald Trump’s answers were particularly ignoran
  
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• Could carbon-capture technology be a silver bullet to stop climate change?

  17-10-2018 12:00
  Few companies specialize in carbon removal and the tools they produce are currently still expensivePeter Fiekowsky, a physicist and entrepreneur, hates silver bullets.But at a climate summit in California last month he found himself pitching one. In partnership with the company Blue Planet, he was demonstrating a low-tech-looking machine that can pull carbon dioxide from the air and store it in construction materials. Continue reading...
  
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• Anti-fracking activists appeal against prison terms amid protests

  17-10-2018 11:59
  Hundreds gather outside high court in London as jailed trio challenge sentencesSeveral hundred supporters of the three protesters jailed for blocking access to the Preston New Road fracking site in Lancashire have gathered outside the high court in London before their appeal against their sentences. Related: Fracking in the UK: what is it and why is it controversial?Continue reading...
  
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• Government launches £320m scheme to help decarbonise UK's heat networks

  17-10-2018 11:49
  The Government has launched a £320m scheme to help accelerate the adoption of low-carbon heat technologies across the UK's public, private and domestic sectors, on the same week that further tweaks to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) were criticised.
  
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• Bahrain applies to Green Climate Fund to help clean up waste from fossil fuels

  17-10-2018 11:47
  Oil-rich kingdom says money is needed to protect against water scarcity but request sparks strong criticism and fears over the fitness of the public fundBahrain – one of the world’s most oil-rich nations – has applied to the international Green Climate Fund for $9.8m for its National Oil and Gas Authority, raising questions over whether taxpayer-funded assistance for poor countries is reaching its intended targets.The kingdom has requested the funding to clean up wastewater fro
  
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• Thom Yorke releases Greenpeace single Hands Off the Antarctic

  17-10-2018 11:32
  The Radiohead star’s new track is accompanied by footage shot by Greenpeace’s research ship Arctic Sunrise
  Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has released a new single in support of Greenpeace’s mission to protect the Antarctic Ocean from the effects of climate change, commercial fishing and human interference.The ominous instrumental electronic track is titled Hands Off the Antarctic. The video features footage shot by Greenpeace’s research ship Arctic Sunrise, and was premie
  
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• Climate watchdog 'surprised' by carbon budget review restrictions

  17-10-2018 10:51
  Claire Perry's instruction that the upcoming review of the UK's carbon emissions reduction framework should not cover pre-2032 targets was a "surprise" to the climate change watchdog, its chief executive has admitted.
  
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• Big-name retailers collaborate to spur uptake of clean domestic fuels

  17-10-2018 10:32
  Several big-name retail brands including B&Q, Asda and Wickes have this week unveiled fresh measures to help consumers make the switch to low-carbon, smoke-free and energy-efficient home fuels.
  
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• Global investors call on pension funds to address climate-related risks

  17-10-2018 09:01
  A group of 161 investment firms with more than €21trn in collective assets under management have called on pension fund managers to factor climate-related risks into their planning processes.
  
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• Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018 – the winners

  17-10-2018 08:00
  Dutch photographer Marsel van Oosten’s stunning portrait of two endangered golden snub-nosed monkeys in China’s Qinling mountains has won this year’s prestigious prize. The winners were announced on Tuesday at London’s Natural History Museum.Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: walkers admire the long views from the stony summit

  17-10-2018 06:30
  Linkinhorne, Bodmin Moor: People ponder the origin, alignments and earlier uses of this imposing placeOn this balmy autumn day voices carry through calm air on the eastern edge of Bodmin Moor. Two walkers stand out as silhouettes on the stony summit of Sharp Tor; others clamber across the squared-off top of Stowe’s Hill, where a prehistoric rampart encloses ancient hut platforms and natural rock formations like precarious cheese or cider presses. Nearby, in the Rillaton barrow, a corrugate
  
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• Open coalmine near Africa's first nature reserve divides community

  17-10-2018 06:00
  Poverty, conservation and industry are at loggerheads in the eastern town of SomkheleDrive for an hour into the hills that lie behind South Africa’s wild eastern coast, and you will find a game park full of rhino and big cats, a sprawling town spread over dozens of summits and dry valleys, and a vast opencast coal mine.If all the advantages of the rainbow nation – stunning landscape and wildlife, massive mineral resources and a youthful population – are represented here, then s
  
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• Ian Kiernan: The man who wanted to clean up the world

  17-10-2018 02:48 via bbc.co.uk
  Ian Kiernan's iconic anti-litter campaign, begun in Australia in the 1980s, became a global success.
  
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• A long walk: New insight into history of dogs and humans

  17-10-2018 01:53 via bbc.co.uk
  A study of ancient dog DNA shows man's best friend has been at our side for at least 9,000 years.
  
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