Environment news

• The Guardian view on low-traffic neighbourhoods: streets ahead | Editorial

  16-11-2020 20:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Cleaner, safer cities are one good thing that could come out of the pandemic – if politicians hold their nerveSome good can come of even the worst disaster. Amid all the suffering and difficulty of the pandemic, environmentally minded people spied a chance. Could the enforced immobility of life under Covid-19, the rediscovery of neighbourhood shops, parks and walks brought about by the closure of workplaces and schools, lead to a longer-term adjustment – a new car/life balance?For de
  
  Read more

• Moderna: Covid vaccine shows nearly 95% protection

  16-11-2020 18:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The results add to growing confidence that vaccination can end the pandemic.
  
  Read more

• Common people: the New Forest women following ancient tradition

  16-11-2020 18:17 via theguardian.com
  Three commoners explain why keeping 1,000-year-old farming practices alive is worth more than moneyPhotographs by Peter FludeA five-inch stack of old Telegraph newspapers is perched on the front seat of the bashed-up Subaru, while in the back is a long stick for fending off cows. At the wheel is Ann Sevier, a 13th generation commoner whose family has lived in the New Forest since 1650.“Hello everybody!” she yells to the livestock as she pulls up in the car. We are in Latchmore valley
  
  Read more

• Launching the search for the Gretas of the future

  16-11-2020 16:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Can young people help solve the biggest problems facing the planet, given support and opportunity?
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Covid: Will there be more than one coronavirus vaccine?

  16-11-2020 16:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Hopes are rising that an effective vaccine against Covid-19 will be available soon.
  
  Read more

• Firms agree Scotland to England renewable energy 'superhighway'

  16-11-2020 14:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Scottish Power, National Grid and SSE project will support ‘hundreds of green jobs’
  Three of Britain’s biggest energy companies have agreed to build giant underwater power cables to bring Scotland’s vast reserves of renewable energy to millions of homes in England.The multibillion-pound energy “superhighway”, to be built by Scottish Power, National Grid and SSE, could help to unlock the potential of the prime minister’s plan to build enough offshore wind
  
  Read more

• Half of corporates unable to prove they are protecting human rights, report reveals

  16-11-2020 13:35
  
  A new analysis of 229 of the world's largest companies has found that almost half are unable to prove they are protecting human rights in line with the UN's requirements - with more than one-third scoring zero on due diligence.
  
  Read more

• Summit aims for clean-up of shipping industry

  16-11-2020 13:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Governments from around the world try to reach agreement on a deal to clean up shipping.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Utilities and banks: UK unveils first round of corporate COP26 sponsors

  16-11-2020 12:54
  
  The UK's COP26 secretariat has named utilities SSE and Scottish Power, along with National Grid and NatWest Group, as its first sponsors for the climate conference next year.
  
  Read more

• Infrastructure policy placing UK's net-zero target at risk, thinktank warns

  16-11-2020 12:51
  
  The UK's net-zero target is in jeopardy due to a lack of legislative requirements on key sectors and infrastructure, with thinktank the Green Alliance warning that there is currently an £11.4bn investment gap in reaching net-zero across transport, buildings, circular economy and natural infrastructure.
  
  Read more

• Bank of England needs more powers to decarbonise economy, say experts

  16-11-2020 12:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Academics call for urgent changes to Bank’s mandate to help UK hit carbon zero targetUrgent reforms of the Bank of England are needed to help decarbonise the financial system and boost green investment as Britain recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of leading academics has said.The New Economics Foundation thinktank and Positive Money campaign group said landmark changes needed to be made by the government to give Threadneedle Street more powers to cut carbon emissions. Continue r
  
  Read more

• Shocking footage of ‘severely injured’ pigs on Spanish farms released

  16-11-2020 12:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Calls for EU animal welfare rules to be enforced as country set to overtake Germany as Europe’s biggest pork producerFootage that appears to show newborn piglets lying in faeces, pigs with pus-covered wounds and pig carcasses in varying states of decomposition has been published by animal welfare campaigners in Spain.Spain is expected to overtake Germany this year as the EU’s biggest pork producer. In 2019, a record 53 million pigs were slaughtered across the country, fuelling demand
  
  Read more

• 'Heal the damage': Activists urge Joe Biden to move beyond ‘border security’

  16-11-2020 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Biden has said he will end construction of Trump’s wall, but activists say they hope for more than a return to the status quoAs Joe Biden prepares to take office, activists say the president-elect must not only take meaningful action to stabilize the US-Mexico border, but also reckon with his own history of militarizing the border landscape and communities.Biden has promised to end many of the Trump administration’s border policies, but has yet to unveil the kind of bold immigration
  
  Read more

• European Investment Bank unveils £1trn green investment plan through 2030

  16-11-2020 11:39
  
  EU member states have approved the European Investment Bank's (EIB) plans to spend €1trn on the green economy within a decade and to ban funding for fossil fuel projects and airport expansions.
  
  Read more

• Defra doubles £40m green recovery fund for nature after huge demand

  16-11-2020 11:14
  
  The Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched a second £40m round of its Green Recovery Challenge Fund, designed to promote nature restoration and conservation, after the initial round proved to be massively oversubscribed.
  
  Read more

• Tesco targets net-zero by 2035, accelerating climate plan

  16-11-2020 10:20
  
  Tesco has set a 2035 net-zero target for its UK business, bringing the date forward from 2050 after fresh investment in renewable energy and electric vehicles (EV).
  
  Read more

• Tree of the week: a sycamore on Game of Thrones’ Slaver’s Bay

  16-11-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fantasy fans have flocked to Murlough Bay in County Antrim since it was used as a location for the epic drama. But Kieran Meeke has loved it all his lifeKieran Meeke’s favourite tree stands on a headland at Murlough Bay on the County Antrim coastline in Northern Ireland. The beauty spot was a key location in Game of Thrones and the TV show’s fans have since flocked to what they know as “Slaver’s Bay”. “But I’ve been coming here since I was a child,&rdquo
  
  Read more

• Tell us about your experiences of reducing traffic and creating green neighbourhoods

  16-11-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  We’d like to hear from local communities around the UK who’re trying to reduce traffic and create greener neighbourhoods. Share your stories Low-traffic neighbourhoods – areas where traffic has been reduced in order to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists - are springing up around the country. In their early stages they can be controversial – but research has shown that once the scheme has been around for a while, people don’t want to go back.As part of a new Guardia
  
  Read more

• Mythbusters: eight common objections to LTNs – and why they are wrong

  16-11-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Low-traffic neighbourhoods have existed for decades but plans often spark fierce debate. We look at some of the biggest concernsTell us about your experiences of reducing traffic and creating green neighbourhoodsRead more in our Green streets seriesLow-traffic schemes benefit everyone, not just the better-off, finds studyNot all low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) are perfect, or do exactly what is intended. But often the objections are based on assumptions that vary from the misplaced to the down
  
  Read more

• Low-traffic schemes benefit everyone, not just better-off, finds study

  16-11-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: authors find ‘no clear social equity problem related to low-traffic neighbourhoods’ after studying slew of projects sparked by Covid restrictionsTell us about your experiences of reducing traffic and creating green neighbourhoods‘I got it wrong. Since the changes it’s become more vibrant’: life in an LTNMythbusters: eight common objections to LTNs – and why they are wrongRead more in our Green streets seriesThere is no evidence schemes that try to l
  
  Read more

• Increase in burning of plastic 'driving up emissions from waste disposal'

  16-11-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Expansion of energy-from-waste incineration could stop UK hitting its net zero carbon target, campaigners warnCarbon emissions from waste disposal are increasing because of the expansion of energy-from-waste incineration plants, a coalition of campaigners has warned.By 2030 the government’s push to increase incineration of waste will increase CO2 emissions by 10m tonnes a year, mostly from the burning of plastics, the groups said. They argue that the growth in energy-from-waste incineratio
  
  Read more

• 'I got it wrong. Since the changes it's become more vibrant': life in an LTN

  16-11-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Three low-traffic neighbourhood schemes across the UK highlight the difficulties and benefits of curbing cars to encourage cycling and walkingTell us about your experiences of reducing traffic and creating green neighbourhoodsRead more in our Green streets seriesWhen Newcastle city council planned to reduce motorist access to Acorn Road in the leafy suburb of Jesmond back in 2014, hardware store owner Steve Robson helped to raise a petition against the £350,000 scheme, organised meetings t
  
  Read more

• From concrete to jungle: cartoonist puts Mumbai's wildlife on the map

  16-11-2020 07:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The Indian city is home to 20 million people but is also a place rich in biodiversity, with flamingos, leopards and black kites among its flora and faunaAn Indian Ocean humpback dolphin swims beneath an Indo-Pacific octopus close to the coast, a gargantuan atlas moth flutters above Sanjay Gandhi national park, while an Asian palm civet shins up a tree near Vasai Creek and a black kite soars over a banyan tree. All are part of a vibrant new map of Mumbai that showcases the Indian city’s ric
  
  Read more

• Global treaty to tackle plastic pollution gains steam without US and UK

  16-11-2020 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  More than two-thirds of UN member states have declared they are open to a new agreement to stem the rising tide of plastic wasteSupport is growing internationally for a new global treaty to tackle the plastic pollution crisis, it has emerged, though so far without the two biggest per capita waste producers – the US and the UK – which have yet to signal their participation.A UN working group on marine litter and microplastics met at a virtual conference last week to discuss the issue.
  
  Read more

• Why a plan to cut pollution is making people across England so angry

  16-11-2020 04:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A slew of initiatives from local councils have meant drivers being moved off residential streets and on to busier main roads. But while many residents support the schemes, the measures have provoked protestsAs England entered lockdown in the spring, there was a huge switch away from public transport and into private cars. The government, fearing gridlock and spikes in pollution, acted quickly to allocate powers and funding to local councils for implementing traffic restrictions. The move has res
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!