Environment news

• Environment secretary lambasts HS2’s £100m bat shelter

  25-01-2025 22:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Steve Reed says plans for 1km curved structure to protect bats from high-speed railway are ‘batshit crazy’A bat shelter costing more than £100m near HS2 has been described by the environment secretary as “batshit crazy”.
  HS2 Ltd is spending the sum on the protection structure in Buckinghamshire, it emerged last year. All bats are legally protected in the UK.
  The curved structure, which has been described by the HS2 Ltd chair, Sir Jon Thompson, as a “shed&rdquo
  
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• Launch natural history GCSE in England now, campaigners urge Labour

  25-01-2025 19:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Environmentalists say new course could be delayed until 2030 because it is viewed as Conservative party initiativeLeading environmentalists have called on the government to introduce a natural history GCSE immediately, amid fears it could be postponed until 2030.The previous Conservative administration had supported creating the GCSE, which would teach pupils how to observe, identify and classify plants and animals. Continue reading...
  
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• Labour risks ‘powder keg’ clash with environmentalists as it puts growth before going green

  25-01-2025 18:49 via theguardian.com
  
  As chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plan to expand London airports gains traction, the party is accused of back-pedalling on its green commitmentsLabour is being warned it is hurtling towards a “powder keg” confrontation with environmentalists, green groups and a swathe of its own supporters in the next few weeks, amid its claims that “blockers” are standing in the way of economic growth.A flurry of pro-growth measures have been announced by ministers in recent days as par
  
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• The Kyoto climate treaty is hailed on stage but reality tells a different story

  25-01-2025 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A gripping play in London’s West End tells how agreement of the first climate protocol in 1997 was a triumph, as scientists share new warnings about the scale of the crisisAs material for a West End show, the backroom machinations of an international climate conference sound unpromising.Pedantry, boredom and delegates fighting over the wording of treaty clauses do not sound like the stuff of high drama. Nevertheless, Kyoto, a Royal Shakespeare Company production by Joe Murphy and Joe Rober
  
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• Rachel Reeves has to realise she can’t plough on with the farm tax | Phillip Inman

  25-01-2025 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The chancellor’s attempt to get rich landowners to pay their fair share was correct in principle. But this measure has missed the markRachel Reeves needs to rid herself of ­troublesome farmers. It’s become obvious, if it wasn’t at the time of the budget, that they are not going to go away.Their shouts of protest are getting louder and the petition against proposals to tax inherited farms is growing longer. Continue reading...
  
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• Wes Streeting heckled by climate protesters at Fabian Society address

  25-01-2025 16:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Speech calling for unity against ‘populist right’ interrupted by two women opposed to Drax power plant subsidiesWes Streeting was heckled by climate protesters during a speech calling on progressives to stand up to the “populist right”.Two women shouted at the health secretary as he addressed the Fabian Society, urging the centre-left to take on the “miserablist, declinist vision” being offered by figures such as the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage. Continue re
  
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• I was jailed for four years for a non-violent climate protest – this is my prison diary

  25-01-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com
  I was one of a group of Just Stop Oil activists given the longest-ever UK sentences for peaceful protest after blocking a motorway. Six months into my incarceration, this is what I have learnedLocked in a tiny metal box in a prison transport van rattling its way to HMP Bronzefield, in Middlesex, I felt at peace. I was on trial with four other Just Stop Oil protesters over the group’s non-violent direct action on the M25 motorway in 2022. The judge had told the jury to ignore evidence of th
  
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• ‘The risk of extinction is accelerating’: world’s botanic gardens raise alarm with space to protect endangered plants running out

  25-01-2025 12:49 via theguardian.com
  
  University of Cambridge research suggests living collections have collectively reached peak capacityBotanic gardens around the world are failing to conserve the rarest and most threatened species growing in their living collections because they are running out of space, according to research from the University of Cambridge.Researchers analysed a century’s worth of records from 50 botanic gardens and arboreta, collectively growing half-a-million plants, to see how the world’s living
  
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• Young country diary: A rainbow … at nighttime? | Edward

  25-01-2025 12:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Reeth, North Yorkshire: On an evening walk, we had no idea that conditions were right for a rare and stunning moonbowOn a winter walk, the sun had long set, causing the air to accommodate a distinct chill. It would have been total darkness, except there was a full moon. We were beside the River Swale, gazing at reflections on the water that leapt like shimmering phantoms.The sky around the moon was almost as bright as day, so I turned to inspect the other side of the sky. Through the mist I
  
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• Fairtrade could help tackle exploitation in UK factories and farms, new boss says

  25-01-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Ethical trade body could ‘offer solutions’ in advising government on protecting workers, says Eleanor HarrisonFairtrade could help tackle exploitation in UK factories and farms – as well as those in developing countries – the incoming boss of the ethical trade body has said.Eleanor Harrison, who in March takes the reins of the group behind the Fairtrade mark which appears on products in shops, has said it could “offer solutions” in advising the UK government o
  
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• Just Stop Oil protester, 78, has jail term extended after no suitable tag found

  25-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Gaie Delap told she will have to serve 20 more days that correspond to period of time at home after recallA 78-year-old climate protester has had her prison term extended for being “unlawfully at large” when government contractors were unable to find the right-sized tag for her wrist, which would have allowed her to complete her sentence in the community.Gaie Delap, a retired teacher and Just Stop Oil protester, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for her participation in
  
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