Environment news

• The Guardian view on plastics: reducing bag use is not enough | Editorial

  04-09-2020 18:58 via theguardian.com
  
  As the oil industry plans a big increase in the manufacture of packaging, the need for international action on waste has never been clearer From shocking footage of an albatross chick killed by a plastic toothpick to images of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and recent coverage of the increase in litter left behind by visitors to the British countryside during the pandemic, there is no shortage of evidence of the harm and ugliness caused by plastic. Public awareness of the problem has grown rap
  
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• Greta Thunberg says new film captures her 'shy, nerdy' personality – video

  04-09-2020 16:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Greta Thunberg praised the film I Am Greta, presented at the 2020 Venice film festival, for reflecting her as a ‘shy, nerdy person’, which she said ‘is the person that I am’.
  The Sweedish climate activist called for more action to be taken to address the climate crisis by adults and politicians when she appeared by video link at the film festival on Friday 4 September.In I am Greta, Nathan Grossman documents Thunberg’s life as one of the most famous teenagers in the
  
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• HS2 protesters glue themselves to DfT as construction begins

  04-09-2020 16:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaigners spray fake blood over building’s entrance in protest against high-speed lineAnti-HS2 protesters sprayed fake blood over the entrance to the Department for Transport and glued themselves to its doors, on the day it was announced formal construction of the controversial high-speed rail line will begin.The five activists chanted “HS2 is ecocide” and “HS2 has blood on their hands” as police attempted to remove them. Continue reading...
  
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• 5 top tips for tackling your organisation's Scope 3 emissions on the road to net-zero

  04-09-2020 16:30
  
  Most organisations will find that a majority of their total emissions footprint sits within the Scope 3 (indirect) category, making this area a key focus for the transition to net-zero. But how challenges measuring, reporting on and reducing emissions across the value chain be overcome?
  
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• Scotland commits £1.6bn for national green recovery

  04-09-2020 15:30
  
  The Scottish Government has outlined a new £1.6bn spending framework that will form part of an enhanced New Deal for the country that will improve biodiversity, slash emissions from heating and buildings and support 5,000 low-carbon jobs.
  
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• Greta Thunberg: don't dump climate crisis on children to fix

  04-09-2020 15:25 via theguardian.com
  
  World political leaders must step up on the environment, activist tells Venice film festival showing of documentary about herThe Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has called for more action to be taken to address the climate crisis, which she says has slipped dangerously off the political agenda.Thunberg appeared by video link at the Venice film festival where the film, I Am Greta, has been screened. It documents her life as one of the most famous teenagers in the world after she became the figure
  
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• Asda trials reusable fruit & veg bags as Aldi rolls out plastic-free packaging

  04-09-2020 13:58
  
  Asda has unveiled plans to remove single-use plastic bags for fruit and vegetables from stores, in favour of reusable alternatives made from recycled material, in the same week that Aldi confirmed a roll-out of cardboard meat trays.
  
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• New injunction bars protesters from HS2 site in west London

  04-09-2020 13:21 via theguardian.com
  
  High court ruling comes as work on high-speed rail line formally beginsHS2 has been granted a new injunction barring environmental protesters from land in west London where work on the high-speed rail link is being carried out.The high court ruling in HS2’s favour came as the company announced the formal start of the project. Preparation work has been taking place since 2017. Continue reading...
  
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• BEIS to review whether UK's oil and gas licencing regime is net-zero compatible

  04-09-2020 11:56
  
  The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will review whether its plans for the future oil and gas licencing regime are "aligned with tackling climate change" and compatible with the UK's 2050 net-zero target.
  
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• Report: World could reach peak plastic production in 2027, risking billions of dollars for oil majors

  04-09-2020 11:07
  
  Global oil majors are planning to invest $400bn in virgin plastic production within five years - but much of this investment is at risk as governments beef up plastics and climate targets, and as consumers continue to push for plastic-free products.
  
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• 'It’s going to be our way now': the guerrilla rewilder shaking up British farming

  04-09-2020 08:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Derek Gow is winning over doubters in his bid to reintroduce storks, beavers, wildcats, water voles and much, much moreI am sleeping in a shepherd’s hut 30 metres from a dozen wildcats. It’s an unusual way to spend a Monday night, especially in rural Devon. In the valley are the familiar sounds of dogs barking and foxes shrieking, as well as the unfamiliar sounds of storks clapping their beaks together, a noise that has been absent from Britain for 600 years. Beavers, iron age pigs,
  
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• Moths: Britain's under-threat nocturnal treasures – in pictures

  04-09-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Artist Sarah Gillespie’s prints of moths represent the culmination of an 18 months-long project designed to attract attention to the plight of the insect, whose numbers have dropped 60-70% since the 1970s, but whose survival is vital for numerous bird populations. Gillespie’s mezzotints and silverpoint drawings are exhibited at Kestle Barton in Cornwall, a venue that boasts more than 60 species of moths in its gardens, 12 September to 31 October. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: strewn corpses point to an eight-legged killer

  04-09-2020 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Langstone, Hampshire: Spider season is in full swing, and no woodlouse is safe from the fast and powerful hunter in the downstairs cloakroomSpider season is upon us. Cross spiders have strung sticky spirals of silken thread between shrubs and across the garden path, while missing-sector orb weaver webs bedeck my garage eaves. Noble false widows are lurking in every window and door frame, a gigantic house spider has taken up residence inside the hedgehog-feeding station beside my back door, and a
  
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• Under the cloak of Covid, the government is rushing ill-considered changes to Australia's environment laws | Geoff Cousins

  04-09-2020 02:01 via theguardian.com
  
  It seems our leaders don’t want tricky environmental matters elevated to them, so they plan to flick responsibility to the statesWhat a cruel irony it is that just when our prime minister is bemoaning the fact that state governments can adversely affect the economy by closing their borders, his government seeks to pass the health and welfare of our environment and natural world into the hands of these very same states.Despite the dramatic and tragic impacts of the last bushfire season on t
  
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• Higher price of electric cars a concern for more than half of UK consumers

  04-09-2020 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Cost deterrent ‘risks UK being in slow lane’ in transition from fossil fuel vehicles, says car industry bodyExpensive prices for electric cars could hold back the UK’s transition from fossil fuel vehicles, the industry has warned, amid signs that demand for electric vehicles (EVs) is waning. Related: Electric cars: five best buys, from new models to used bargainsContinue reading...
  
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