Environment news

• Today at 1pm: edie's Net-Zero Carbon online event

  19-05-2020 23:51
  
  Former UK Energy Minister Lord Greg Barker, sustainability professionals from UPS and Skanska and the chief executives of green trade associations have all been confirmed to appear on edie's Net-Zero Carbon online event today (20 May).
  
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• Quarantine measures may lead to shortage of fruit pickers in Britain

  19-05-2020 21:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Food producers urge ministers to rethink immigration bill and coronavirus curbsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageQuarantine restrictions aimed at preventing overseas visitors bringing in new cases of Covid-19 and the government’s controversial immigration bill could lead to shortages of workers to harvest fields and pick fruit, representatives of the UK’s food producers have warned.Industry leaders called for ministers to think carefully before bringin
  
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• 'Not a mask in sight': thousands flock to Yellowstone as park reopens

  19-05-2020 20:01 via theguardian.com
  
  With support of the Trump administration, Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks have partially reopened after Covid-19 closuresLive global updates
  See all our coronavirus coverageOn Monday, thousands of visitors from across the country descended on Yellowstone national park, which opened for the first time since its closure in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.“We have been cooped up for weeks,” Jacob Willis told the Guardian near a crowd of onlookers at the Old Faithful Gey
  
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• Lockdown sees global emissions fall by 17%

  19-05-2020 18:20
  
  New research has suggested that daily global carbon emissions recorded in April 2020 were 17% lower compared to the same month last year, largely due to the coronavirus pandemic and forced lockdowns and postponement in production.
  
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• Climate change: Scientists fear car surge will see CO2 rebound

  19-05-2020 17:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An analysis shows a huge daily CO2 drop, but a return to car travel may see emissions rebound.
  
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• Lockdown sees global daily emissions fall by 17%

  19-05-2020 17:43
  
  New research has suggested that daily global carbon emissions recorded in April 2020 were 17% lower compared to the same month last year, largely due to the coronavirus pandemic and forced lockdowns and postponement in production.
  
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• The UK government was ready for this pandemic. Until it sabotaged its own system | George Monbiot

  19-05-2020 17:13 via theguardian.com
  
  We were second in the world for preparedness. Then Boris Johnson et al deliberately de-prepared usCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage We are trapped in a long, dark tunnel, all of whose known exits are blocked. There is no plausible route out of the UK’s coronavirus crisis that does not involve mass suffering and death. If, as some newspapers and Conservative MPs insist, the government eases the lockdown while the pandemic is still raging, the eventual death
  
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• Steep fall in emissions during coronavirus is no cause for celebration

  19-05-2020 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Brief hiatus will make little difference to catastrophic levels of global heating, experts sayLockdowns trigger dramatic fall in global carbon emissionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe sudden sharp fall in greenhouse gas emissions recorded in the early part of this year may seem like an environmental blessing, a breathing space as the world fights climate breakdown. Skies clear of aeroplanes and streets free of cars have encouraged the return of nature and br
  
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• Lockdowns trigger dramatic fall in global carbon emissions

  19-05-2020 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Responses to coronavirus crisis cause sharpest drop in carbon output since records beganSteep fall in emissions during coronavirus is no cause for celebrationCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageCarbon dioxide emissions have fallen dramatically since lockdowns were imposed around the world due to the coronavirus crisis, research has shown.Daily emissions of the greenhouse gas plunged 17% by early April compared with 2019 levels, according to the first definitive stud
  
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• #SustyTalk: Amcor's David Clark on strengthening the circular economy during lockdown

  19-05-2020 16:12
  
  edie's #SustyTalk interview series continues with packaging firm Amcor's vice president for sustainability David Clark discussing the role of the circular economy as part of a green economic response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  
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• EU plan for 3bn trees in 10 years to tackle biodiversity crisis

  19-05-2020 14:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Concern that new strategy, which also includes protecting primeval forests, ‘lacks tools’The European commission will launch a sweeping effort to tackle the global biodiversity crisis on Wednesday, including a call for 3 billion trees to be planted in the EU by 2030 and a plan to better protect the continent’s last primeval forests.The draft policy document, published online by an environmental NGO, admits that to date in the EU, “protection has been incomplete, restorati
  
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• Megaraptor: Fossils of 10m-long dinosaur found in Argentina

  19-05-2020 14:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Palaeontologists say the remains date back 70 million years, close to the end of the dinosaurs.
  
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• Can renewed interest in nature bring more funds to UK wildlife?

  19-05-2020 13:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Key to ensuring policymakers see nature’s relevance is to show its physical and mental health benefitsCoronavirus offers chance to create fairer UK food supply chainCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA perfect storm appears to loom over any attempt to restore wildlife and environmental health to one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.British conservationists were already facing the loss of EU funding and environmental regulations after Brexit.
  
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• How renewable energy could power Britain's economic recovery

  19-05-2020 13:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Harnessing power from sun, wind and sea could spur UK’s post-pandemic economy while tackling climate crisis, say expertsIs the Covid-19 crisis the catalyst for greening the world’s airlines?Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIn the first months of 2020 Britain relied on renewable energy like never before. The power generated by clean energy projects eclipsed fossil fuels for the first time ever, making up almost half the electricity used to keep the lig
  
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• Millions of US farm animals to be culled by suffocation, drowning and shooting

  19-05-2020 11:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Closure of meat plants due to coronavirus means ‘depopulation’ of hens and pigs with methods experts say are inhumane, despite unprecedented demand at food banksMore than 10 million hens are estimated to have been culled due to Covid-19 related slaughterhouse shutdowns. The majority will have been smothered by a water-based foam, similar to fire-fighting foam, a method that animal welfare groups are calling “inhumane”.The pork industry has warned that more than 10 million
  
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• Business giants failing to disclose climate-related risks

  19-05-2020 11:29
  
  Europe's largest businesses are failing to provide relevant climate-related data to investors, which could jeopardise the European Union's aims to deliver a "just" carbon-neutral transition by 2050.
  
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• Report: UK manufacturers boosting profits by focusing on energy efficiency

  19-05-2020 10:57
  
  UK manufacturers that have taken steps to improve energy efficiency and decarbonise operations are reaping benefits, with 40% reporting increased profit margins and 30% experiencing increased competitiveness.
  
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• Achieving a green recovery: edie launches flagship Mission Possible 2020 report

  19-05-2020 10:37
  
  edie has today (19 May) published its flagship Mission Possible 2020 report which focuses on how businesses can lead a green recovery from Covid-19, featuring contributions from an array of climate leaders including John Elkington and Christiana Figueres, along with senior representatives from the likes of Carlsberg, WorldGBC and the Sustainable Restaurant Association.
  
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• ‘I'm not a quitter’: lobstermen turn to kelp farming in the face of global crises

  19-05-2020 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Climate breakdown is causing the Gulf of Maine to heat up and that effect – in addition to the pandemic – is being felt across the lobster industryRocky shorelines and weathered saltbox homes dot the landscape of South Thomaston on the coast of Maine. Lobster traps take up frontyard real estate and lobster shacks, still shuttered for the season, are common sightings. Back from a day of scalloping, lobsterman Bob Baines has docked his boat, the FV Thrasher, at the Spruce Head Fisherma
  
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• ‘I'm not a quitter’: lobstermen turn to kelp farming in the face of climate crisis

  19-05-2020 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Climate breakdown is causing the Gulf of Maine to heat up and that effect – in addition to the pandemic – is being felt across the lobster industryRocky shorelines and weathered saltbox homes dot the landscape of South Thomaston on the coast of Maine. Lobster traps take up frontyard real estate and lobster shacks, still shuttered for the season, are common sightings. Back from a day of scalloping, lobsterman Bob Baines has docked his boat, the FV Thrasher, at the Spruce Head Fisherma
  
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• Country diary: let's begin with the redstart

  19-05-2020 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Deep Dale, Derbyshire: These beautiful, vibrant birds inscribe their territory in song If there is a more beautiful summer bird in Britain than the common redstart then its name escapes me. The male’s back is the colour of dark limestone. There is a circle of basaltic grey around the face and a flake of quartz at the forecrown, but his breast is the warmest, softest orange in an English spring.In this county Phoenicurus phoenicurus is the genius loci of patchy scrub in limestone dales &nda
  
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• Covid-19: are pandemics becoming more common? – podcast

  19-05-2020 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Ian Sample talks to Prof Kate Jones about whether the current coronavirus pandemic is part of a wider picture of increasing animal-to-human virus transmission. Are we are looking at a future where outbreaks of new infectious diseases become more common? Continue reading...
  
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• Renewable energy investors increasingly look to UK, says report

  19-05-2020 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Decision to lift blocks on wind and solar projects has boosted ‘attractiveness’ ranking
  The UK has become more attractive to renewable energy investors following the government’s decision to lift its block on financial support for onshore wind and solar projects. Related: New renewable energy capacity hit record levels in 2019Continue reading...
  
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• Business giants call for science-based green economic recovery

  19-05-2020 01:01
  
  More than 150 business giants, including Carlsberg, H&M and Pernod Ricard, with a combined market capitalisation of more than $2.4trn, have signed a joint statement calling on all governments to align coronavirus economic responses to climate science.
  
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• Today at 1pm: Register for the Business Leadership online event

  19-05-2020 00:00
  
  Sustainability experts from L'Oreal, Microsoft, RBS and OVO Energy have all been confirmed for edie's Climate Action Business Leadership sessions, an afternoon of back-to-back online events focused on raising corporate sustainability actions.
  
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