Environment news

• Roaming the British countryside is our right – we must fight to preserve it | Glen O'Hara

  17-02-2021 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Our rural rights of way need to be reclaimed and protected. But time is running out, and I urge people to join the cause
  As Covid lockdowns drag on, and full spring is still some way away, it’s inevitable that thoughts should turn to getting outdoors. That’s what is behind the constant questions about domestic or foreign holidays; and it’s what sells the seemingly endless stream of stories about cold water swimming or moving to “the country”.It’s not just a ma
  
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• Great Barrier Reef found to be in failing health as world heritage review looms

  17-02-2021 17:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Reef water quality report card gives condition of marine environment a ‘D’ grade relative to earlier reportsA government report card has found the marine environment along the Great Barrier Reef’s coastline remains in poor health, prompting conservationists to call for urgent action ahead of a world heritage committee meeting this year.The reef water quality report card, released on Wednesday, said the health of corals and seagrass meadows in inshore areas had not improved, but
  
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• Ford vows to only sell electric vehicles in Europe from 2030

  17-02-2021 15:23
  
  Just days after Jaguar confirmed plans to only offer electric cars from 2025, Ford has committed to stop selling petrol and diesel models in Europe by the end of the decade.
  
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• 'Put a big fat price on carbon': OECD chief bows out with climate rally cry

  17-02-2021 14:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Ángel Gurría says action on environmental crises must be defining focus of wealthy countries after CovidThe environment, climate change and the protection of nature must be the defining tasks of rich and major developing countries now and in the years to come, the outgoing head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has said, and the institutions that advise governments must take responsibility for keeping them focused on those tasks.Ángel G
  
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• Big businesses failing to protect human rights amid Covid-19, study reveals

  17-02-2021 13:04
  
  A study of the measures taken by more than 200 large businesses to safeguard human rights during the Covid-19 pandemic has found that most are taking little to no action.
  
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• Thai Union launches its first sustainability-linked loan package, priced at $400m

  17-02-2021 12:05
  
  The world's largest seafood firm, Thai Union, has announced a new $400m loan package with interest payments linked to climate, sustainability and due diligence targets.
  
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• The Jacksonville environmental groups trying to tackle racial disparities

  17-02-2021 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Local leaders shift from largely lackadaisical approach that allowed polluters to contaminate Black neighborhoods to working with and advocating for Black residentsHave you faced sanitation issues? We want to hear from youAt a meeting last spring, a climate action advocacy group in Jacksonville, Florida, acknowledged it has a problem. Continue reading...
  
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• Gone fishing: the fight to save one of the world's most elusive wild cats

  17-02-2021 11:30 via theguardian.com
  
  With webbed feet and a tail for a rudder, Asia’s fishing cats face shrinking habitats. But conservation efforts in West Bengal are helping it swim against the tide
  For more than a decade, wildlife biologist Tiasa Adhya has spent many a day (and night) in a small wooden boat, silently gliding through dense vegetation in the wetlands and mangroves of West Bengal, scanning the banks for signs of a rarely seen wild cat – the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus).“Fishing cats are f
  
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• BlackRock presses energy companies to set 'rigorous' emissions targets

  17-02-2021 11:22
  
  The world's largest investor, BlackRock, has urged energy firms and other high emitters to disclose the full extent of their emissions and set climate targets in line with science. It is warning that failure to do so could result in stranded assets.
  
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• Air pollution significantly raises risk of infertility, study finds

  17-02-2021 10:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: With 30% of infertility unexplained, pollution could be an ‘unignorable’ risk factor, scientists sayExposure to air pollution significantly increases the risk of infertility, according to the first study to examine the danger to the general population.The analysis of 18,000 couples in China found that those living with moderately higher levels of small-particle pollution had a 20% greater risk of infertility, defined as not becoming pregnant within a year of trying. Contin
  
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• Climate Pledge: 20 businesses including IBM and Iceland Foods join Amazon's net-zero commitment

  17-02-2021 10:45
  
  Tech giant IBM, supermarket Iceland Foods and food supplier Cranswick are among the 20 new signatories of Amazon and Global Optimism's Climate Pledge, which requires members to target net-zero by 2040 at the latest.
  
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• The government's relentless push for development is destroying rural England | Ros Coward

  17-02-2021 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Local action alone can’t fix the Tories’ broken planning system. We need a national fightbackIt would be easy to imagine the English countryside is a lovely place. Everyone has been talking about discovering the wonder of nature during lockdown and there are constant reports of droves moving out of towns and cities for more pastoral locations.In many ways, however, the opposite is true. Look around and you’ll find local actions groups protesting, petitioning and even praying to
  
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• Plantwatch: fungus creates fake fragrant flowers to fool bees

  17-02-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Fusarium xyrophilum hijacks yellow-eyed Xyris grasses from Guyana to create forgeries made of fungal tissueFungi have been discovered making fake flowers that look and even smell like the real thing, fooling bees and other pollinating insects into visiting them.The fungus Fusarium xyrophilum infects the beautiful yellow-eyed grasses of Xyris from Guyana in South America. The fungus stops the plant making its flowers and then hijacks the plant’s reproductive system to create its own forgeri
  
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• Crew of oil tanker beached off UAE to go home after four years at sea

  17-02-2021 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Five men abandoned without wages on ship that ran aground have received settlements and will be repatriated to their familiesThe crew of an oil tanker who have not set foot on dry land for nearly four years after being abandoned on board their ship, which later ran aground off the United Arab Emirates, are finally going home to see their families.The seafarers, who said they experienced “living hell” on board the 5,000-ton MT Iba after the tanker’s owner hit financial problems
  
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• Country diary: among the signs of spring are echoes of the past

  17-02-2021 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Willington, County Durham: A half-buried brick, stamped with the name Straker, is the last tangible evidence of one of the largest collieries in the countyThe longed-for, reassuring approach of spring seems more urgent than ever for the national psyche, scarred by the pandemic’s reminders of the tenuous nature of life and how quickly fortunes can change.Searching for signs of spring on this grassy hillside, we found a half-buried brick, stamped with the name Straker – the last tangib
  
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• Climate change: Don't raid home insulation scheme, MPs urge ministers

  17-02-2021 02:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The government hopes to claw back money from a £1.5bn fund to promote home insulation.
  
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• Mars landings that did (and didn't) go to plan

  17-02-2021 01:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  With two missions to land on Mars in 2021, Laura Foster looks back at all the previous attempts.
  
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• Green recovery: MPs call for VAT breaks for energy efficiency, electric vehicles and circular economy

  17-02-2021 01:01
  
  MPs are urging Boris Johnson's Government to take a broader "green recovery" approach, going beyond low-carbon electricity and transport to provide policy supports for nature restoration and the circular economy.
  
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• Cut VAT for green home improvements and repairs, MPs urge

  17-02-2021 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Environmental audit committee says chancellor must use budget to spur low-carbon growthMinisters should cut VAT on repairs for electrical goods and green home improvements, to help people reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their everyday lives, an influential committee of MPs has urged.Funding for green home grants to install insulation and low-carbon heating, should also be restored to kickstart a “green recovery” in the UK, said the environmental audit committee in a report on how
  
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• EV100: Businesses doubled electric vehicle roll-outs in 2020

  17-02-2021 00:02
  
  Businesses involved in The Climate Group's EV100 initiative have collectively rolled out more than 169,000 electric vehicles (EVs), with 89,000 having been rolled out in 2020 alone.
  
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