Environment news

• Boris Johnson announces 10-point green plan with 250,000 jobs

  17-11-2020 23:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Labour says proposals, some of which had already been trailed, are ‘deeply disappointing’The key areas of Boris Johnson’s ‘green industrial revolution’Boris Johnson has announced plans for the government’s self-styled green industrial revolution, bringing praise from environmental groups but also questions about the scale of new funding, and the planned expansion of nuclear and hydrogen power.In a move aimed at retaking the initiative after a politically turbu
  
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• Why the UK needs a full peat compost ban

  17-11-2020 22:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Bags are still on sale despite a phasing out in England for amateur usersGrowing plants, both in houses and gardens, has been hugely popular this year, helping to raise spirits during the coronavirus lockdowns. But gardeners and the horticulture industry often use peat compost from peatlands.Peatlands hold vast amounts of carbon that was absorbed by living sphagnum moss. When the moss dies it does not fully decompose in the waterlogged ground, and healthy peatlands can lock away the carbon for t
  
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• World's only known white giraffe fitted with tracker to deter poachers

  17-11-2020 21:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Rangers are tracking the giraffe in north-east Kenya, after poachers killed his family members.
  
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• 'An ambitious plan for a green industrial revolution': Reaction to Boris Johnson's Ten Point net-zero plan

  17-11-2020 21:35
  
  Green groups have welcomed a new Ten Point Llan from Prime Minister Boris Johnson to deliver a green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and build towards the net-zero emissions target, but the lack of a clear roadmap is dampening an otherwise monumental green policy moment.
  
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• Boris Johnson unveils £12bn Ten Point Plan for net-zero transition

  17-11-2020 20:14
  
  Clean hydrogen, carbon capture and storage (CCS), zero-carbon transport and offshore wind are all key pillars of Boris Johnson's Ten Point Plan to push the UK towards net-zero emissions, which will be backed by £12bn in Government investment and aim to create 250,000 new green jobs.
  
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• Inverted cables doom European Vega rocket

  17-11-2020 19:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Improperly installed wiring caused the rocket, with its satellite payloads, to veer off course.
  
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• What could a good green recovery plan actually look like?

  17-11-2020 18:09 via theguardian.com
  
  What do governments across the world need to do to shift economies away from fossil fuels?What does a green recovery look like? That is the question governments around the world are considering as they decide how to align their $12tn worth of economic rescue packages for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic with their obligations under the Paris climate accord.The UK is expected to announce a 10-point recovery plan this week, and observers have warned that if it lacks ambition, it could undermi
  
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• Australia drought: Capturing spectacular storms in the outback

  17-11-2020 18:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An Australian photographer says it feels "amazing" to capture spectacular images of long-absent storms.
  
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• Big oil and gas have a lot invested in Trump’s attack on the election system | Jonathan Watts

  17-11-2020 13:46 via theguardian.com
  
  This ‘climate coup’ shows how terrified far-right Republicans and their fossil-fuel donors are of losing power in the long termCalmer heads may yet talk Donald Trump down from caps-locked denial to lower-case concession, but the longer the defeated president flirts with a coup, the more the oil and gas industry must take a share of the blame.Fossil-fuel firms are among the biggest donors to the defeated US president and the Republican party leaders who have endorsed his legal challen
  
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• Which UK cities are leading on climate action - and how?

  17-11-2020 13:30
  
  CDP has this week published its Cities A List for 2020, revealing the global cities that are leading efforts to tackle climate challenges. Here, edie looks at the three UK cities to have made the cut, summarising their green plans and progress to date.
  
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• 1% of people cause half of global aviation emissions – study

  17-11-2020 12:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Researchers say Covid-19 hiatus is moment to tackle elite ‘super emitters’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageFrequent-flying “‘super emitters” who represent just 1% of the world’s population caused half of aviation’s carbon emissions in 2018, according to a study.Airlines produced a billion tonnes of CO2 and benefited from a $100bn (£75bn) subsidy by not paying for the climate damage they caused, the resear
  
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• Disclose climate risks or face divestment, investors warn Europe's largest companies

  17-11-2020 12:28
  
  A coalition of investors representing more than $9trn of assets has asked some of Europe's largest and highest-emitting companies, like Shell and Maersk, to prove they are aligning with the Paris Agreement and to improve climate risk disclosure.
  
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• #SustyTalk: Counting down to COP26 with Chapter Zero, the Green Alliance and Fundación Avin

  17-11-2020 12:15
  
  for Net-Zero November, edie hosts a special #SustyTalk video panel discussion on preparations for COP26 with the Green Alliance's Shaun Spiers, Chapter Zero's Susan Hooper and Fundación Avin and the UNFCCC's advisory panel's Ramiro Fernandez.
  
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• How would a Gigafactory contribute to the UK's green recovery?

  17-11-2020 11:17
  
  Reports have emerged that the UK is set to unveil funds for a national battery production centre in the UK, but efforts may still be required to ensure that battery production is aligned to the circular economy.
  
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• Aviation sector spells out plans to be at heart of UK's green recovery

  17-11-2020 10:31
  
  The chief executives from some of the largest organisations in the aviation sector have called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to deliver legislative and financial support to create a sustainable aviation fuels industry that would help the sector reach net-zero emissions and assist with a national green recovery.
  
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• Underwater museum: how 'Paolo the fisherman' made the Med's strangest sight

  17-11-2020 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In a bid to stop illegal trawling, an Italian fisherman persuaded sculptors to create huge marble artworks – then dropped them in the MediterraneanAs a child, Paolo Fanciulli was fascinated by underwater shipwrecks, particularly the fish and algae that lived in them. He became a fisherman in the Tuscan village of Talamone at 13 and still plies the waters at the age of 60 in his small boat, the Sirena. But in the past decade, his job has become harder, as trawling near the coast has been de
  
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• Nasa SpaceX mission: Dragon capsule docks with space station

  17-11-2020 09:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The four astronauts who left Earth on Monday have arrived at the 410-km orbiting outpost.
  
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• London hospital trust to pay £250k to install LTN for public health benefits

  17-11-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Guy’s and St Thomas’ charity will fund low-traffic neighbourhood to tackle air pollution and obesity in Lambeth and SouthwarkThe health and social benefits of reducing motor traffic are so substantial that a hospital charity is paying to install temporary low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) measures in a London borough.Southwark council will be given £250,000 by the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charitable Trust to install planters and removable bollards in three areas. Continue
  
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• Pet flea treatments poisoning rivers across England, scientists find

  17-11-2020 07:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Discovery is ‘extremely concerning’ for water insects, and fish and birds that depend on themHighly toxic insecticides used on cats and dogs to kill fleas are poisoning rivers across England, a study has revealed. The discovery is “extremely concerning” for water insects, and the fish and birds that depend on them, the scientists said, who expect significant environmental damage is being done.The research found fipronil in 99% of samples from 20 rivers and the average lev
  
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• Country diary: slow growth on the edge of oblivion

  17-11-2020 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Buxton, Derbyshire: Yews have steel-like strength and the ability to grow in unlikely places – even out of pure rockCorbar Woods holds a cluster of wonderful yew trees running round the top of an old 18th-century quarry. Nature has softened the vertical faces into a series of steep-sided but curved hollows, and the yews cleave to the edges, creating a permanent arcade of dense shadow. It gives the wood a gothic quality that the trees reinforce by throwing out a network of writhing root sto
  
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• Gold star for you: New Zealand council puts stickers on bins of best recyclers

  17-11-2020 03:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Recycling rates soar in Christchurch after council rewards the best households and confiscates bins of laggardsA recycling scheme in New Zealand modelled on rewards familiar to kindergarten children has seen tonnes of additional recycling head to the sorters every week, instead of landfill.Following the coronavirus lockdown in March and April, Christchurch city council saw recycling rates plummet, with material from only 48% of recycling trucks able to be processed in June due to frequent contam
  
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