Environment news

• Plans for the plains: the fight over harvesting floodwater in NSW is about to get real

  05-02-2021 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The state is on the cusp of granting $2bn or more in licences, but has no way of measuring how much water will be returned to parched river systemsIn the next week or two, the NSW government will reveal how many floodplain harvesting licences it intends to grant in the Gwydir valley, home to some of the biggest cotton producers in the country.It’s the next chapter in a process that will grant between $2bn and $4bn in water entitlements to farmers as part of a plan to control and regularise
  
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• It's not impossible for Morrison to land a grand emissions bargain. It's just very hard | Katharine Murphy

  05-02-2021 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  So far the PM’s new rhetoric on net zero doesn’t match the substance and the only way that will change is if he can corral the NationalsBack in the olden times, when circumstances required John Howard to backflip, he made a performance of it. Howard’s purpose was simple: the prime minister wanted everyone to notice the shift.Scott Morrison isn’t from the Howard backflip school. His style is more liquid. But I think Morrison wanted voters to notice when his language shifte
  
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• How kangaroos could be jeopardising conservation efforts across Australia

  05-02-2021 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  With its natural predator in decline, roo numbers are growing – and research suggests the marsupial is doing more damage than rabbits in the country’s interior The experimental fencing had gone up to keep the rabbits out, but the ground inside the conservation area at Yathong in central New South Wales had still been nibbled and munched bare.“It was completely denuded,” says Prof Mike Letnic. “It was like a moonscape.” Continue reading...
  
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• Anything but ordinary: the 81-year-old who has sailed around the world 11 times

  05-02-2021 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  When Jon Sanders left Australia on his latest circumnavigation, which was to raise awareness about microplastics, there was no coronavirusLike many people, 81-year-old Jon Sanders gets up and makes himself a coffee each morning. Instant, two sugars, milk. It’s a conventional start for a man who lives anything but an ordinary life.Sanders this week became the oldest person to sail single-handedly around the world – a voyage to raise awareness about plastic pollution and one plagued by
  
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• The Guardian view on valuing nature: priceless things sold cheap | Editorial

  05-02-2021 19:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Governments could be at the start of a slow but huge transformation in how they treat natural lifeOne of the most important things about this week’s landmark review into the value of nature may appear to be a footling detail: its publisher. The 600-page report was commissioned by the Treasury, headed by Rishi Sunak, rather than the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whose boss is George Eustice. The difference appears to be tiny – the two ministries are a mere 10-min
  
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• Study: Fleet electrification would halve Europe's road transport emissions

  05-02-2021 16:05
  
  Electrifying public and private fleets would cut around half of all road emissions in Europe, according to a new report by industry group Eurelectric and Ernst & Young (EY).
  
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• Cumbria coal mine: Climate tsar urged to quit over 'reckless' plan

  05-02-2021 16:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Alok Sharma should resign unless plans for a deep coal mine in Cumbria are dropped, Lib Dems say.
  
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• Carlsberg closes in on carbon reduction goals

  05-02-2021 15:05
  
  Brewing giant Carlsberg's latest sustainability report has revealed that the company has reduced carbon emissions by 39% since 2015, as it closes in on a goal to halve brewery emissions by 50% by 2022.
  
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• Artemis: Biden administration backs US Moon shot

  05-02-2021 13:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The White House gives its backing to Nasa's effort to return to the Moon.
  
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• Sustainable Business Covered podcast: Making 2021 the super year for climate action at the Sustainability Leaders Forum

  05-02-2021 13:25
  
  The new edie podcast episode is brought to you live from our virtual Sustainability Leaders Forum, a three-day conference designed to unite international corporate leaders, sustainability experts, government representatives, investors and NGOs on the shared mission to accelerate climate action.
  
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• 'Smallest reptile on earth' discovered in Madagascar

  05-02-2021 12:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The male Brookesia nana, or nano-chameleon, was discovered on Madagascar and is the size of a seed.
  
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• Nature calling: how can Sweden's success story help rewild London?

  05-02-2021 12:15 via theguardian.com
  
  The transformation of a Swedish shipyard into a leafy haven inspired the UK capital’s ‘urban greening factor’ plan
  If you want to see the best of what the city of Malmö’s “green points” system can achieve, head into a neighbourhood called Bo01, says landscape architect Anne Brontér. There, on the waterfront of the Western Harbour, you’ll find a cluster of housing blocks, each different from the next, but all centred on a nature-filled courtya
  
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• UK's green plan offers mixed hopes for post-Covid-19 jobs boom

  05-02-2021 11:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Only five green jobs on average are created per £1m spent, while most equipment is made abroadBritain’s homes are going green, says Derek Horrocks, who runs a home insulation business in Lancashire that has vacancies for architects, surveyors, administrators and accountants. Continue reading...
  
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• #SustyTalk: Enterprise's Iain Macbeth on fleet electrification in the time of Covid-19

  05-02-2021 10:28
  
  edie's #SustyTalk interview series continues with an exclusive discussion with Enterprise-Rent-A-Car's director of electric vehicle (EV) strategy, Iain Macbeth.
  
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• Business giants' climate disclosure 'clearly inadequate', lawyers warn

  05-02-2021 10:07
  
  Lawyers have warned that the majority of FTSE 100 and the largest companies on the FTSE 250 are failing to disclose adequate climate-related data as part of annual corporate reporting frameworks, with some potentially breaching UK law.
  
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• Jump: Sustainability engagement schemes prevent 4,200 tonnes of carbon emissions in 2020

  05-02-2021 09:59
  
  One of the UK's biggest sustainability engagement schemes captured three million positive changes from employees and students during 2020, which collectively mitigated 4,200 tonnes of CO2e emissions.
  
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• Jump: Sustainability engagement schemes prevent 4,200 tonnes of carbon emissions, despite Covid-19 challenges

  05-02-2021 09:59
  
  One of the UK's biggest sustainability engagement schemes captured three million positive changes from employees and students during 2020, which collectively mitigated 4,200 tonnes of CO2e emissions.
  
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• Firmenich targets 'carbon-positive' operations by 2030

  05-02-2021 09:05
  
  The world's largest perfume and taste company, Firmenich, has committed to reducing, sequestering and offsetting more carbon than it emits by 2030, as part of a sweeping new ESG strategy.
  
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• Live farm animal exports to mainland EU at a standstill post-Brexit

  05-02-2021 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Lucrative live shellfish trade also hit hard, with consultation over further restrictions on live animal exports ending soon Livestock and live shellfish exports from the UK to mainland Europe are at a standstill as producers struggle with post-Brexit transport conditions.In 2019, excluding lamb and cattle traded between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, a combined 31,000 cattle, sheep and goats were exported from the UK to the EU mainland. About 5% would have been exported for fatte
  
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• UK's green plan offers mixed hopes for post-Covid jobs boom

  05-02-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Only five green jobs on average are created per £1m spent, while most equipment is made abroadBritain’s homes are going green, says Derek Horrocks, who runs a home insulation business in Lancashire that has vacancies for architects, surveyors, administrators and accountants. Continue reading...
  
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• Spacewatch: Airbus to build three more moon mission modules

  05-02-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Three more European service modules will be made for use as part of Nasa’s Artemis programmeThe European Space Agency has contracted Airbus Defence and Space to build three more European service modules (ESM) to be used as part of the Artemis moon landing programme. The new contract adds to the three ESMs already in production. All three of the new modules will propel astronauts to the moon.The ESM provides power, propulsion and life support to Nasa’s Orion crew capsule. Each ESM is
  
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• Experts pile pressure on Boris Johnson over 'shocking' new coalmine

  05-02-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Bizarre’ decision to go ahead with Cumbrian mine criticised as the UK prepares to host vital climate summitPressure is growing on the government over its support for a new coalmine in Cumbria, as the UK prepares to host the most important UN climate summit since the Paris agreement was signed in 2015.Developing country experts, scientists, green campaigners and government advisers are increasingly concerned about the seeming contradiction of ministers backing the new mine – th
  
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• Country diary: from moss to the moon, this creature can survive anywhere

  05-02-2021 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Langstone, Hampshire: Despite their unassuming appearance, tardigrades are perhaps the most resilient organisms on EarthUntil I watched Star Trek: Discovery in this latest lockdown, I’d never heard of a tardigrade. But when I learned that the super-sized, space-travelling monster on screen was inspired by a real-life micro-animal, I had to see one in the flesh.There are over 1,000 known species of these intriguing invertebrates, and as they thrive in mosses, lichens and liverworts, finding
  
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• Health of 12 million Brits at risk from climate crisis

  05-02-2021 01:01
  
  More than 12 million people living in the UK are vulnerable to the physical, mental and health impacts of the climate crisis, a new report has warned.
  
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