Environment news

• The Guardian view on Europe by train: virtue signalling | Editorial

  02-02-2021 19:48 via theguardian.com
  
  A continent-wide rail renaissance can play a vital part in the battle to meet net zero climate targetsThe avant garde German band Kraftwerk understood perfectly the special pleasures of cross-border train travel. The spare lyrics to their 1977 classic Trans-Europe Express celebrated the frissons that come with being stylishly on the move: “Rendezvous on Champs-Élysées / Leave Paris in the morning with T-E-E / In Vienna we sit in a late-night cafe / Straight connection T-E-E.&
  
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• Sea level rise could be worse than feared, warn researchers

  02-02-2021 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Danish team predict possible 1.35m rise by 2100 and highlight issues with previous modellingThe rise in the sea level is likely to be faster and greater than previously thought, according to researchers who say recent predictions are inconsistent with historical data.In its most recent assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said the sea level was unlikely to rise beyond 1.1 metre (3.6ft) by 2100. Continue reading...
  
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• Never too late: 'Running a wildlife park was a complete change and we were well past our sell-by date'

  02-02-2021 17:30 via theguardian.com
  
  From Benny Hill to Tasmania Devils, Bruce Englefield’s career transition from TV production to animal behaviour moved him to the other side of the world Name: Bruce Englefield
  Age: 77
  TV technical director turned animal behaviour expert, wildlife park ownerI ran TV studios in London on a day-to-day basis, which meant I was responsible for everything – from lighting, cameras and sound to health and safety. I was the whipping boy, basically!When I left school, in those days you were ba
  
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• How Biden is reversing Trump's assault on the environment

  02-02-2021 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The new president is focusing on seven key areas to reverse a legacy of environmental destruction and climate denialismFaced with an unfolding climate crisis that is fueling more powerful storms, enormous wildfires and scorching heatwaves in the US, Donald Trump unapologetically set about dismantling policies to cut planet-heating emissions, mocked or ignored climate science, and threw open vast tracts of American land and water to fossil fuel development.The systematic reversals in environmenta
  
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• Beyond net-zero targets: What role can businesses play in solving the climate emergency?

  02-02-2021 14:25
  
  Recent months have seen the numbers of businesses committed to net-zero climate targets expanding exponentially. But beyond these long-term, high-level ambitions, how can firms of all sizes and sectors deliver change on the ground?
  
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• ‘Big day for UK seas’ as bottom trawling ban in four protected areas proposed

  02-02-2021 14:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaigners welcome fishing restrictions to help restore habitats including Dogger Bank, but say government must go furtherGovernment proposals to ban destructive bottom trawling fishing in the Dogger Bank, announced on Monday, marked a “really big day” for Britain’s seas, conservationists said.Under proposed bylaws put out for consultation by Britain’s Marine Management Organisation (MMO), bottom trawling, which involves weighted nets being dragged over the sea bed, woul
  
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• Tom Rivett-Carnac: In the face of the climate emergency, we must all be stubborn optimists

  02-02-2021 12:22
  
  Paris Agreement architect Tom Rivett-Carnac used his platform at edie's Sustainability Leaders Forum to urge listeners to remain solutions-focussed, courageous and optimistic in the face of the world's biggest environmental challenges.
  
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• I represent children in Flint, Michigan. Here's what I'm asking Biden to do | Corey Stern

  02-02-2021 12:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Every single American has a right to live and work in a safe environment. President Biden can help ensure we canIn his first 100 days, President Biden is racing to secure comprehensive reforms that both address the immediate challenges of today’s concurrent crises and make our economy and society more resilient for the future. Next month, he’ll unveil the second part of his recovery plan which is expected to focus on infrastructure investment and job creation. It is crucial that this
  
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• ‘Reservoirs of life’: how hedgerows can help the UK reach net zero in 2050

  02-02-2021 12:15 via theguardian.com
  
  They store carbon and are havens for wildlife – it’s no wonder experts are calling for Britain’s hedge network to be extended
  One New Year’s Day, ecologist Rob Wolton came up with an unusual resolution – to spend the next 12 months studying a hedge 40 metres from his house in the middle of Devon. He wanted to make a list of every plant, animal and fungus that used it. Why? Because a wildlife-enthusiast friend challenged him to do it during a long car journey.“
  
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• Brexit: Millions of bees could be 'destroyed' over import rules

  02-02-2021 12:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Beekeeper Patrick Murfet says the "monumentally stupid situation" could cost him nearly £100,000.
  
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• Biden can repair Trump's legacy of environmental destruction. Here's where things stand

  02-02-2021 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The new president is focusing on seven key areas in which Trump allowed polluters to make America hotter and dirtierFaced with an unfolding climate crisis that is fueling more powerful storms, enormous wildfires and scorching heatwaves in the US, Donald Trump unapologetically set about dismantling policies to cut planet-heating emissions, mocked or ignored climate science, and threw open vast tracts of American land and water to fossil fuel development.The systematic reversals in environmental p
  
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• Aviva Investors warns it will divest from climate laggards

  02-02-2021 10:35
  
  Aviva Investors has warned that it will fully divest from companies that fail to decarbonise in alignment with net-zero climate science and will issue a new programme that engages with carbon-intensive companies to meet climate goals.
  
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• Smart Pension commits to net-zero emissions ahead of Government deadline

  02-02-2021 09:57
  
  Workplace pension provider Smart Pension has joined an initiative led by Comic Relief co-founder Richard Curtis that will see the company commit to net-zero emissions "well ahead" of the Government's 2050 deadline.
  
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• Prosperity comes at 'devastating' cost to nature

  02-02-2021 09:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Landmark review calls for fundamental change in our approach to economics to stem nature loss.
  
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• Ocado trials electric vehicles for rapid deliveries

  02-02-2021 09:36
  
  Ocado has launched a trial of electric vehicles (EVs) for its rapid grocery delivery service in the heart of London, as part of the retailer's ongoing commitment to reaching net-zero emissions.
  
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• Flooding risk rises as UK's wetlands lost

  02-02-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Homes being built in high-risk areas as swathes of wetlands are drained, dug up and built overThis has been another wet winter of big downpours and flooding, but that should come as no surprise. Winters in the UK are turning increasingly wet and climate change predictions point to even wetter winters and record-breaking rainfalls in the future.Flooding from these rains is not inevitable, though. More than 5m homes in England are at risk of flooding, and yet one in 10 new homes are being built in
  
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• Economics' failure over destruction of nature presents ‘extreme risks’

  02-02-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  New measures of success needed to avoid catastrophic breakdown, landmark review findsWhat does the UK’s biodiversity review recommend?The world is being put at “extreme risk” by the failure of economics to take account of the rapid depletion of the natural world and needs to find new measures of success to avoid a catastrophic breakdown, a landmark review has concluded.Prosperity was coming at a “devastating cost” to the ecosystems that provide humanity with food, w
  
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• Country diary: wrapped up in a spider's web

  02-02-2021 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Buxton, Derbyshire: When the house breathes I can see the web billow, suggesting how the structure retains its integrityIn our house we operate a spider-friendly regime that can feel at times too weighted towards the arachnids. Yet I’m a sucker for the beautiful symmetry in the webs of orb-weaver spiders. This individual, possibly one of the widespread species in the genus Metellina, built in our bedroom last summer.The web was sited between the window frame and its reveal so that it sprea
  
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• Landmark review calls for nature to be included in economic decision making

  02-02-2021 01:02
  
  A new landmark review has been launched today (2 February), outlining how businesses and policymakers can include and account for nature as part of economic decisions, with many claiming the findings could be as influential as the Stern review on climate change.
  
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• Which face mask or covering is best to wear?

  02-02-2021 01:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Germany and Austria have changed their advice about which face covering to wear in public spaces.
  
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• As influential as the Stern Review: Green economy reacts to the Dasgupta biodiversity study

  02-02-2021 01:01
  
  A new landmark review, commissioned by the Government, has suggested that services provided by nature should be assigned an economic value that is used to inform future policy decisions, a move that has been unanimously welcomed by green groups.
  
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• Report: UK needs to install five times as many EV charging points to meet climate goals

  02-02-2021 00:59
  
  In recent years, an average 7,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging points have been installed annually across the UK. But that rate will need to increase to 35,000 per year.
  
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