Environment news

• Ed Miliband says Labour will honour pledge of £11.6bn in overseas climate aid

  26-07-2024 18:14
  Energy secretary seeks to reestablish UK as a global leader on the climate crisis with meeting of Cop presidentsLabour will honour a pledge of £11.6bn in overseas aid for the climate crisis, the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, told an unusual meeting of Cop presidents past and present on Friday, as he sought to re-establish the UK at the heart of international climate discussions.As the Labour government prepares for this year’s climate-emergency summit in November, Miliband hosted Mu
  
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• ‘People would abuse me’: how a ‘climate capitalist’ learned to sell solar in Victoria’s coal country

  26-07-2024 17:00
  
  Andy McCarthy went from town pariah – being spat on and having his shop vandalised – to employing hundreds of peopleGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastWhen Andy McCarthy moved to the heart of Victoria’s coal country in 2010 to start selling rooftop solar panels he was greeted with “open ridicule”.But as his Gippsland Solar firm began “having a few wins and making a bit of a splash”, the response on the streets of his
  
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• Your food is more expensive – is it driven by US corporate profits?

  26-07-2024 16:00
  While you may be feeling the pain from high prices, many companies are seeing their profits jump as they continue raising prices, an analysis findsAs inflation shot to its peak around mid-2022, Chipotle’s prices also rose, pushing up what customers paid for burritos and bowls by as much as several dollars. Since then, the fast casual restaurant’s costs have broadly fallen. Prices have not.Chipotle’s decision to maintain high prices helped boost profits 110% in recent years, whi
  
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• Your food is more expensive – are US corporate profits to blame?

  26-07-2024 16:00
  Many companies such as Chipotle and McDonald’s are seeing profits jump as they continue raising prices, an analysis findsAs inflation shot to its peak around mid-2022, Chipotle’s prices also rose, pushing up what customers paid for burritos and bowls by as much as several dollars. Since then, the fast casual restaurant’s costs have broadly fallen. Prices have not.Chipotle’s decision to maintain high prices helped boost profits 110% in recent years, while its executives bo
  
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• Ed Miliband: people must be persuaded of need for pylons near homes

  26-07-2024 14:36
  Communities affected by construction of renewable energy infrastructure ‘have the right to see the benefits’UK politics live – latest updatesLabour will seek to persuade people living near proposed pylon routes and other renewable energy infrastructure that the developments are critical to bring down bills and tackle carbon emissions, the energy secretary said.Ed Miliband promised to consider new benefits for communities affected by the construction of renewable energy infrastr
  
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• Wildlife enthusiasts called on to help record dolphins and whales on UK coast

  26-07-2024 13:00
  National Whale and Dolphin Watch organisers say data collected will help with research into marine mammalsHundreds of wildlife enthusiasts are expected to gather along UK coastlines over the next 10 days to count and record whales and dolphins.The National Whale and Dolphin Watch, taking place from 26 July to 4 August, is hosted by the Sea Watch Foundation and aims to get volunteers to observe and record sightings of the UK’s most impressive marine mammals. Continue reading...
  
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• Scottish bog gets world heritage status

  26-07-2024 12:48 via bbc.com
  
  After an almost 40-year campaign, a little-known UK landscape has been awarded world heritage status.
  
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• Climate hero or villain? Fossil fuel frenzy challenges Norway’s green image

  26-07-2024 12:00
  As it rapidly adopts clean technologies while drilling furiously for oil and gas, the Nordic nation is a paradoxThe average Norwegian, better known for loving nature than destroying the planet, is more likely than anyone else to drive to work in an electric car and warm their home with a heat pump. When they turn on the kettle in the morning or charge their phone at night, Norwegians plug into an electricity grid that runs almost entirely on renewables. Their politicians write cheques to save tr
  
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• Backpack-wearing dogs enlisted to rewild urban nature reserve in Lewes

  26-07-2024 11:25
  Organisers hope dogs will mimic behaviour of wolves that in past would have helped disperse wildflower seeds Backpack-wearing dogs are being enlisted to “act like wolves” to help rewild an urban nature reserve in the East Sussex town of Lewes.Before wolves were persecuted to extinction in the UK in about 1760, they were known to roam large areas, typically covering 12 miles (20km) or more each night. Continue reading...
  
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• Week in wildlife – in pictures: an escaped tortoise, friendly harvest mice and a giraffe on the move

  26-07-2024 09:00
  The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• Roots and refuge: the year’s best mangrove images – in pictures

  26-07-2024 08:00
  
  From an unexpected glimpse of a silky anteater to a tagged terrapin, here is a selection of this year’s winning, runner-up and commended images from the 2024 Mangrove photography awards, run by the Mangrove Action Project Continue reading...
  
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• How will we solve the world’s water wars? An ancient Spanish court offers one answer | Roman Krznaric

  26-07-2024 08:00
  
  From Los Angeles to Cairo, the global water crisis is escalating – but Valencia’s Tribunal de les Aigües could inspire a solutionEvery Thursday at noon, outside the west door of Valencia’s cathedral, nine black-cloaked figures – one wearing a banded cap and with a ceremonial harpoon by their side – gather for their weekly meeting, as they have done for hundreds of years. This is the Tribunal de les Aigües (Tribunal of Waters) – a water court that may
  
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• Childhood air pollution directly linked to adult lung health, study says

  26-07-2024 07:00
  
  Connection found between early exposure and bronchitic symptoms in adults without previous lung problemsAir pollution breathed in during childhood is one of the factors in adult lung health, according to a new study.The origins of the study date back to 1992 when researchers began investigating the effects of air pollution on groups of children in California. Some of these children are now in their 40s. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: A one-man pilgrimage into some familiar hills | Rev Simon Lockett

  26-07-2024 06:30
  
  Golden Valley, Herefordshire: I venture out with just a sleeping bag, as part of a spiritual discipline that pivots on a deep affection for our flora and faunaAs a priest it’s easy to overdose on flat screens, emails and the bureaucracy of parish work. I have a good excuse to get outside though, as it is pilgrimage season. Furthermore, this part of Herefordshire – once the ancient kingdom of Ergyng – was one of the crucibles of Celtic Christianity, and it was in these hills whe
  
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• Olympic demand for ‘unproven’ ice therapy is unsustainable, scientists say

  26-07-2024 00:30
  Researchers say 650 tonnes on order for Paris Games is a potential stress on local and regional resourcesFrom cold-water swimming to ice baths, deliberately freezing yourself has been hailed as a panacea for everything from menopause symptoms to arthritis, headaches and immunity conditions.And for sportspeople, ice is widely used to aid recovery after exercise. But now researchers have said the clinical benefits of ice therapy are not evidence-based and its popularity is bad for the environment.
  
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