Environment news

• Biden signs 'existential' executive orders on climate and environment

  27-01-2021 23:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Oil and gas extraction will be paused and wind energy will expand under Joe Biden's climate plan.
  
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• 'We can't wait any longer': Biden announces plan to tackle 'existential' climate crisis – video

  27-01-2021 23:00
  
  In a sharp 180-degree turn from the Trump administration, Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders to address the 'existential threat' of the climate crisis. Biden insisted his climate plan would create millions of new 'clean' jobs to replace those lost in the coal and oil industriesBiden signals radical shift from Trump era with executive orders on climate changeUS politics liveContinue reading...
  
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• Biden signals radical shift from Trump era with executive orders on climate change

  27-01-2021 21:18
  
  ‘We need to be bold,’ Biden says, signing orders to halt fossil fuel activity on public lands and transform the government’s fleet of cars into electric vehiclesUS politics – follow liveJoe Biden has warned the climate crisis poses an “existential threat” to the world as he unveiled a radical change in direction from the Trump era by halting fossil fuel activity on public lands and directing the US government to start a full-frontal effort to lower planet-heat
  
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• On Swampy ground: a brief history of protest tunnelling in the UK

  27-01-2021 19:30
  
  As HS2 protesters dig down in London, veteran activists explain why the tactic can be so effectiveHS2 protesters hope to occupy Euston tunnel for weeks Protest tunnelling, back in the spotlight thanks to subterranean anti-HS2 demonstrations in London, became a national preoccupation in the 90s when environmental activists dug a complex series of tunnels in the path of an extension to the A30 in Fairmile, Devon, resisting attempts at eviction by police. Swampy, the nickname of the well-known envi
  
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• Legal threat over bee-harming pesticide use

  27-01-2021 18:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The government faces legal action over its decision to allow the use of a pesticide that harms bees.
  
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• New mass badger culls to be banned after 2022, says minister

  27-01-2021 18:01
  
  Drive to eradicate TB in cattle will instead focus on vaccination and limiting livestock movementsNo new mass culls of badgers will be allowed in England after 2022, under government plans announced on Wednesday. Since 2013 more than 100,000 badgers have been killed in culls that are intended to reduce tuberculosis infections in cattle. About 30,000 cattle are slaughtered each year at a cost of £150m.Continue reading...
  
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• Extinction: 'Time is running out' to save sharks and rays

  27-01-2021 17:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists say sharks and rays are disappearing from the world's oceans at an "alarming" rate.
  
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• Global shark and ray population crashed more than 70% in past 50 years – study

  27-01-2021 17:00
  
  Increase in fishing since the 1970s has ravaged abundance of sharks and rays in oceansThe global population of sharks and rays has crashed by more than 70% in the past 50 years, researchers have determined for the first time, with massive ongoing losses pushing many species towards extinction.A huge increase in fishing since 1970 has ravaged the abundance of sharks and rays in our oceans, with previously widespread species such as hammerhead sharks now facing the threat of being wiped out, the s
  
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• Climate crisis: world now at its hottest for 12,000 years

  27-01-2021 17:00
  
  Scientists say temperatures globally at highest level since start of human civilisationThe planet is now hotter than it has been for at least 12,000 years, a period spanning the entire development of human civilisation, according to new research.The analysis of ocean surface temperatures shows human-driven climate change has put the world in “uncharted territory”, the scientists say. The planet may even be at its warmest for 125,000 years, although data from that period is less certa
  
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• Climate crisis: world is at its hottest for at least 12,000 years – study

  27-01-2021 17:00
  
  Scientists say temperatures globally at highest level since start of human civilisationThe planet is hotter now than it has been for at least 12,000 years, a period spanning the entire development of human civilisation, according to research.Analysis of ocean surface temperatures shows human-driven climate change has put the world in “uncharted territory”, the scientists say. The planet may even be at its warmest for 125,000 years, although data on that far back is less certain. Cont
  
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• Green groups raise concerns over Carney carbon credits plan

  27-01-2021 16:54
  
  Campaigners say system risks becoming greenwashing exercise unless loopholes closedThe leaders of two UK environmental charities have written to Mark Carney, the UN climate envoy and former governor of the Bank of England, to raise concerns over a blueprint for carbon offsetting that could result in billions of new carbon credits being sold around the world.Carney will present plans at the virtual Davos meeting of global business and political leaders on Wednesday evening for vast increases in t
  
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• HS2 protesters hope to occupy Euston tunnel for weeks

  27-01-2021 15:57
  
  Tunnel was secretly constructed to prevent next phase of work on HS2 high speed rail linkThe activists who secretly built a tunnel under a busy London square by Euston station have said they believe they can withstand eviction attempts and occupy it for weeks.Despite a number of police evictions from the protest site, at least four protesters remain inside the long tunnel which was constructed in order to try to prevent the next phase of work on the HS2 high speed rail link from taking place. Co
  
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• Joe Biden's 'climate day' of executive actions signals clean break with Trump

  27-01-2021 15:14
  
  Fossil fuel subsidies to end plus pause on drilling on public landEnvironmentalists hail ‘important step in right direction’US politics – follow liveJoe Biden is to instruct the US government to pause and review all oil and gas drilling on federal land, eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and transform the government’s vast fleet of cars and trucks into electric vehicles, in a sweeping new set of climate executive orders. Continue reading...
  
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• Mission Possible Partnership: Hundreds of transport and industrial businesses form climate coalition

  27-01-2021 14:24
  
  Some 400 heavy emitters from the transport and industrial sectors have formed a new collaborative partnership aimed at accelerating the low-carbon transition, with financial backing from Amazon's Jeff Bezos.
  
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• Police remove HS2 protesters from Euston site – in pictures

  27-01-2021 13:22
  
  Police and bailiffs have started to clear protesters from HS2 Rebellion, an alliance of groups and individuals campaigning against the planned high-speed railway, from a site at Euston Square Gardens, a green space outside Euston stationHS2 protesters dig 100ft tunnel under London park Continue reading...
  
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• Mastercard commits to net-zero carbon by 2050

  27-01-2021 13:06
  
  Mastercard has pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, aiming to expand the use of onsite solar technology while also decarbonising its supply chain.
  
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• Humpback whales may be struggling to breed as climate crisis depletes food

  27-01-2021 12:30
  
  Scientists say decline in calves born in past 15 years due to diminishing herring stocks in warming north AtlanticHumpback whales could be struggling to breed due to rapid environmental change in the ocean caused by the climate crisis, a study suggests.Scientists have confirmed a significant decline in the number of calves born to female humpbacks over the past 15 years in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Canada, an important summer feeding ground for migrating whales. They said the climate crisis has l
  
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• edie's next online masterclass to focus on industrial energy efficiency

  27-01-2021 11:23
  
  edie's next online masterclass has been confirmed for Wednesday 10 March and will explore the role that energy efficiency will play on the road to net-zero for industrial business.
  
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• edie's next masterclass webinar to focus on industrial energy efficiency

  27-01-2021 11:23
  
  edie's next masterclass webinar has been confirmed for Wednesday 10 March and will explore the role that energy efficiency will play on the road to net-zero for industrial business.
  
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• 5 top tips for choosing onsite technologies on the road to net-zero

  27-01-2021 11:06
  
  With businesses under pressure to minimise energy costs, improve resilience and accelerate decarbonisation, what role can onsite technologies and systems play? Here, edie rounds up best-practice advice from the business leaders on this vitally important topic.
  
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• Jaguar Land Rover targets emissions reductions through faster, lighter electric vehicles

  27-01-2021 11:04
  
  Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will steer a consortium-led initiative to make electric vehicles (EVs) lighter while also enabling larger batteries to be fitted to increase range.
  
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• Nestlé reduces plastic from cereal packaging and rolls out paper Smarties packs worldwide

  27-01-2021 10:08
  
  Well-known cereal brands including Cheerios, Shreddies and Shredded Wheat are set to reduce the amount of plastic used in packaging by more than 600 tonnes annually, while Nestlé's Smarties brand is also switching to recyclable paper packaging worldwide.
  
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• EU revealed to be world's biggest live animal exporter

  27-01-2021 08:00
  
  Bloc exported more than 1.6 billion chickens, pigs, sheep, goats and cattle in 2019, but faces criticism over welfare failingsNew analysis suggests the EU could be responsible for up to 80% of the global trade in live farm animals, which continues to be linked to animal welfare failings.Global data provided to the Guardian by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) indicates that 1.8 billion live chickens, pigs, sheep, goats and cattle were moved across a border in 2019. The EU w
  
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• UK mayors urge Boris Johnson to commit to tougher air pollution targets

  27-01-2021 07:21
  
  Cross-party group sign joint letter after inquest into death of nine-year-old Ella Kissi-DebrahCity mayors representing more than 17 million people across the UK are urging Boris Johnson to commit to tougher air pollution targets after the inquest into the death of nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah.The cross-party group, including the Labour mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and the Conservative mayor of the West of England combined authority, Tim Bowles, have signed a joint letter along with city lead
  
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• Specieswatch: dexters – the small cattle breed that is booming

  27-01-2021 07:00
  
  These hardy animals, a third the size of a Friesian, are popular in conservation projectsDexters are the smallest breed of cattle in Europe and among the hardiest, which makes them popular in conservation and rewilding projects. They are a third the size of a Friesian milking cow and other European commercial breeds of cattle. All these varieties go by the same Latin name, Bos taurus taurus, to distinguish them from Asiatic and African species.Although they are now bred all over the world, dexte
  
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• Country diary: the camera captures a world curtained by fog

  27-01-2021 06:30
  
  Sandy, Bedfordshire: There are no edges, tree trunks are filmed in a milky wash and branches dissolve into the whiteThere is a vague hump shape, like a sleeping dinosaur under the trees and the camera is hunting for it. I catch the “tick-tick-tick” whirr of anguished electronics by my side as it struggles to find an edge on which to focus.My eyes learn from the camera about how we really see at a distance in freezing fog. Normally dark tree trunks are not dark at all but are filmed w
  
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• Climate change: Biggest global poll supports 'global emergency'

  27-01-2021 06:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  More than a million people in 50 countries take part in the biggest poll to date on climate change.
  
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• UN global climate poll: ‘The people’s voice is clear – they want action’

  27-01-2021 06:01
  
  Biggest ever survey finds two-thirds of people think climate change is a global emergencyThe biggest ever opinion poll on climate change has found two-thirds of people think it is a “global emergency”.The survey shows people across the world support climate action and gives politicians a clear mandate to take the major action needed, according to the UN organisation that carried out the poll. Continue reading...
  
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• Keystone XL: Why I fought for - or against - the pipeline

  27-01-2021 01:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  President Biden has cancelled the permit for the controversial US-Canada project.
  
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• The child environmentalist receiving death threats in Colombia

  27-01-2021 01:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Francisco Vera, 11, was threatened after calling for better access to education during the pandemic.
  
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