Environment news

• The Guardian view on new climate goals: a destination is not enough | Editorial

  20-04-2021 19:54
  
  Bad decisions are harming the UK’s green credentials. Boris Johnson must get beyond targets if he wants be taken seriouslyThe starting gun has been fired. With a pledge to cut the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by 78% by 2035 compared with 1990 levels, Boris Johnson’s government has begun the bidding process that will set the scene for the Cop26 climate talks. As Mr Johnson knows, November’s meeting in Glasgow is a chance for the host country and its leaders to shine. And
  
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• Australia’s ambition on climate change is held back by a toxic mix of rightwing politics, media and vested interests | Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull

  20-04-2021 19:30
  
  Two former prime ministers, Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull, write the world shouldn’t give up hope on Australia just yet
  It was always expected that Joe Biden’s election would be a massive shot in the arm for international climate action, but the scale of that boost has been genuinely surprising.The new president has now invited 40 world leaders to a virtual climate change summit coinciding with Earth Day this Thursday. China’s Xi Jinping will be there, following productive fa
  
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• Rishi Sunak urged to end hostility to green spending or miss net zero target

  20-04-2021 19:18
  
  Treasury review will help determine whether UK meets climate goals, and experts say radical change is required
  The UK chancellor, Rishi Sunak, must radically overhaul the Treasury’s response to the climate crisis, reforming the department’s longstanding hostility to green spending and resetting its priorities, experts said.The Treasury is poised to introduce its long-awaited review of the government’s net zero strategy, and its recommendations will help determine whether the UK
  
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• Russia plans its own space station in 2025

  20-04-2021 15:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The International Space Station is nearing the end of its life and Russia is working on a new module.
  
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• 'A credible path to net-zero': Green groups react to UK's Sixth Carbon Budget

  20-04-2021 15:11
  The Government will seek to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035 as part of a new Sixth Carbon Budget agreed today (20 April), a decision that has been welcomed by green groups, although some are calling for more detailed action plans.
  
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• New species of dinosaur unearthed in Chile's Atacama desert

  20-04-2021 13:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists found remains of the sauropod in rocks from what is today the Atacama desert.
  
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• Sixth Carbon Budget: UK to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035

  20-04-2021 13:12
  Prime Minister Boris Johnson has agreed to legislate a new target to reduce national emissions by 78% by 2035, including emissions from international shipping and aviation, following the Climate Change Committee's advice on the Sixth Carbon Budget.
  
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• Reports: UK to reduce emissions by 78% as part of 2035 carbon budget

  20-04-2021 12:28
  
  Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to legislate a new target to reduce national emissions by 78% by 2035, following the Climate Change Committee's advice on the Sixth Carbon Budget.
  
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• Rare bug spotted for first time in more than 30 years

  20-04-2021 12:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The discovery in the Cairngorms is only the eighth time a cow wheat shieldbug has been recorded in Scotland.
  
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• With climate anxiety on the rise, therapists are learning how to cope

  20-04-2021 12:00
  
  Many psychologists say they feel unequipped to handle a growing number of patients despairing over the state of the planet. A new contingent of mental health professionals aims to fix thatAndrew Bryant, a therapist based in Tacoma, Washington, felt helpless the first time climate change came up in his office. It was 2016, and a client was agonizing over whether to have a baby. His partner wanted one, but the young man couldn’t stop envisioning this hypothetical child growing up in an apoca
  
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• Climate anxiety and PTSD are on the rise. Therapists don’t always know how to cope

  20-04-2021 12:00
  
  Many psychologists say they feel unequipped to handle a growing number of patients despairing over the state of the planet. A new contingent of mental health professionals aims to fix thatAndrew Bryant, a therapist based in Tacoma, Washington, felt helpless the first time climate change came up in his office. It was 2016, and a client was agonizing over whether to have a baby. His partner wanted one, but the young man couldn’t stop envisioning this hypothetical child growing up in an apoca
  
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• Natural England: Biodiversity critical to reaching net-zero

  20-04-2021 11:53
  
  Peatlands, woodlands and coastal marine habitats are all vital in helping the UK reach net-zero emissions by 2050, but efforts need to be made to improve biodiversity conservation and restoration.
  
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• ‘Within minutes I was weeping’: the US pastor using scripture to mobilize climate action

  20-04-2021 11:00
  
  Religious leaders, who know how to relate to communities on an emotional level, may be best positioned to convince people to support climate activism, experts sayThe Rev Scott Hardin-Nieri regularly revisits the story of Noah’s ark. “People look at that story fondly, because they focus on all the animals that were saved,” the pastor says. But for Hardin-Nieri, Noah’s ark isn’t a simple story of hope; it is principally a story about human suffering amongst widespread
  
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• Green jobs primed to replace all jobs lost to Covid-19

  20-04-2021 10:42
  
  New research has found that more than 800,000 job losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the UK could be replaced by new green jobs, provided government and private investment is mobilised to push towards the 2050 net-zero target.
  
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• Climate change: UK to speed up target to cut carbon emissions

  20-04-2021 10:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The PM says carbon emissions must fall by almost 80% by 2035 - 15 years earlier than previously planned.
  
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• Toyota to review industry associations as part of carbon-neutral target for 2050

  20-04-2021 09:56
  
  Japanese car manufacturer Toyota will review the industry associations it is part of to ensure they are compliant with the aims of the Paris Agreement, as part of a commitment to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
  
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• Regenerative and circular net-zero transition: Inside Mulberry's new sustainability strategy

  20-04-2021 09:00
  
  In an exclusive interview with edie, Mulberry's chief executive Thierry Andretta explains how its new ambitions to reach net-zero by 2035 and champion transparency, regeneration and circularity will be delivered.
  
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• Oxford University receives £11m from fossil fuel firms, report finds

  20-04-2021 08:00
  
  Figures from oil, gas and petrochemical companies does not include £100m from Ineos in 2021Oxford University has received more than £11m from oil, gas and petrochemical companies since 2015, according to a new report by students and alumni of the elite university who are calling for it to cut its ties to the fossil fuel industry.Oxford recently announced plans to eliminate the carbon footprint of its site and supply chain by 2035 to help tackle the climate crisis but, according to th
  
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• Ignore the rhetoric: the UK government still fails to grasp the climate crisis | Chris Venables

  20-04-2021 08:00
  
  Boris Johnson needs a coherent approach to meeting green targets that goes beyond Cop26It’s been a rollercoaster couple of years for anyone interested in the future of the planet. From thinking we’d forever shout from the sidelines at politicians who’d never listen, to 4 million of us, spurred on by schoolchildren, taking to the streets across the world to demand climate action. Then a pandemic that has reminded us how fragile and interwoven with nature our global communal life
  
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• Green stimulus plan could create 1.2m UK jobs in two years, research finds

  20-04-2021 08:00
  
  Every job lost to Covid pandemic could be replaced in upcoming recovery years, Green New Deal UK finds
  A stimulus programme focused on green and digital infrastructure, research and development, energy and care work could create more than 1.2m jobs within two years and more than 2.7m jobs during the next decade, according to research.Such a strategy alongside additional government investment could mean every job lost to the coronavirus pandemic would be replaced during vital upcoming recovery ye
  
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• Climate change: Carbon 'surge' expected in post-Covid energy boom

  20-04-2021 07:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  This year should see the second-biggest-ever rise in CO2 emissions as economies rebound from Covid.
  
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• Ocean rogue waves: a monster mystery finally solved?

  20-04-2021 07:00
  
  While it is tricky to observe rogue waves directly, it is now possible to measure wave height from spaceRogue waves, towering at least twice as high as the other waves present, seem to appear at random. Their rarity makes them difficult to study, and for years they were considered a sailors’ myth. They are especially common off the east coast of Africa, making this a fruitful area for rogue wave research.A key factor is the how the fast-running Agulhas current runs south and collides with
  
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• Carbon emissions to soar in 2021 by second highest rate in history

  20-04-2021 07:00
  
  Global economies forecast to pour stimulus money into fossil fuels as part of Covid recovery
  Carbon dioxide emissions are forecast to jump this year by the second biggest annual rise in history, as global economies pour stimulus cash into fossil fuels in the recovery from the Covid-19 recession.The leap will be second only to the massive rebound 10 years ago after the financial crisis, and will put climate hopes out of reach unless governments act quickly, the International Energy Agency has war
  
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• Country diary: the moors are a tale of loss, but the raptors bring hope

  20-04-2021 06:30
  
  Buxton, Derbyshire: On this denuded edge, stripped of so many species, a peregrine and four buzzards puncture the sterilityWood warbler, ring ouzel, common redstart, tree pipit, common sandpiper, twite, cuckoo and lapwing: these birds, whose names I jotted down on each spring visit to Lightwood in the 1970s, may seem insignificant, but to me they’re a skeleton summary of my childhood and my origins as a naturalist. Every day I would see at least one of them.In a way, the list also narrates
  
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• ‘Water warriors’: the US women banding together to fight for water justice

  20-04-2021 06:00
  
  Women have been deeply embedded in the movement for clean water and sanitation for decades, which has become even more pressing amid the pandemic
  Deanna Miller Berry first learned of the scores of complaints about Denmark, South Carolina’s water supply, during her 2017 mayoral campaign.For at least a decade, residents of the rural, predominantly Black and lower-income town “knew something was happening” and tried to sound the alarm, said Berry. “A lot of folks [were] comp
  
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• Green Alliance: Government 'complacency' risks UK's net-zero transition

  20-04-2021 01:59
  
  Green Alliance: Government 'complacency' risks UK's net-zero transition
  
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• Redonda: The Caribbean island transformed into an eco haven

  20-04-2021 01:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  After invasive rats and goats were removed from Redonda, the island's wildlife has been thriving.
  
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