Environment news

• Asteroid contains building blocks of life, say scientists

  29-01-2025 17:07 via bbc.com
  
  Bennu contains minerals and thousands of organic molecules, including the chemical components that make up DNA.
  
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• Study of more than 600 animal and plant species finds genetic diversity has declined globally

  29-01-2025 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Analysis by dozens of scientists internationally notes urgent conservation efforts could halt or even reverse lossesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGenetic diversity in animals and plants has declined globally over the past three decades, an analysis of more than 600 species has found.The research, published in the journal Nature, found declines in two-thirds of the populations studied, but noted that urgent conservation efforts could halt or even reverse genetic diver
  
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• Environmentalists urge Reeves to rethink plans for airports and roads

  29-01-2025 12:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Critics say chancellor’s ‘growth at all costs’ plans are not compatible with UK’s climate targetsUK politics live – latest updatesRachel Reeves has been accused by environmental experts of putting the climate at risk with high carbon projects including the expansion of Heathrow airport.The chancellor made airports the central focus of her plan for growth, despite having previously promised to be the first green chancellor and having extolled the benefits of green gr
  
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• Five years in prison for nonviolent protest: it’s plain wrong, and Keir Starmer knows it | Caroline Lucas

  29-01-2025 11:00 via theguardian.com
  If the courts let 16 climate activist’s draconian sentences stand this week, we are no better than an authoritarian stateCaroline Lucas is an environmental activist and former Green MPSixteen jailed Just Stop Oil activists will appear in court this week in an appeal against their sentences, which were believed to be the harshest ever for peaceful protest in Britain. For damaging picture frames, obstructing the road, or just talking about obstructing the road, they have received punishments
  
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• Just one in 10 English streets and parks litter-free, report says

  29-01-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  During a decade-long project, researchers found that only nine in every 100 places were completely free of rubbishA wide-ranging survey of streets and parks around England has found that just one in 10 was litter-free, according to a new report.Between 2013 and 2024 researchers at Keep Britain Tidy walked 1,140 miles across a multitude of landscapes including rural villages, housing estates, parks and city centres to assess the amount of litter gathered on English streets. Continue reading...
  
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• Thousands of trees planted in Devon to start creation of Celtic rainforest

  29-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  More than 2,500 native trees have been planted to form a temperate rainforest in decades to comeThe first step towards creating a Celtic rainforest – a now extremely rare habitat that once covered large swathes of the west coast of Britain – has been completed in Devon.More than 2,500 native trees have been planted so far this winter at Devon Wildlife Trust’s Bowden Pillars site, above the Dart valley and close to the green-minded market town of Totnes. Continue reading...
  
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• Sixteen jailed UK climate activists to appeal against ‘unduly harsh’ sentences

  29-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Protesters will gather outside court of appeal in support of activists, who say judges defied decades of precedentSixteen environmental activists jailed in the past year will appear at the high court on Wednesday to ask England’s most senior judge to quash their “unduly harsh” sentences.The appellants, from four separate cases, will appear before a bench of judges led by Lady Carr, the Lady Chief Justice, in a full session of the court of appeal in which they will argue that ju
  
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• In this government's hands, big ideas always end up looking small. Just ask Ed Miliband | Rafael Behr

  29-01-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Labour is constantly torn between its self-image as a party of radical change and its fear of alienating voters with the wrong kind of radicalismWhen Keir Starmer became Labour leader he was unpractised in politics. For advice, he naturally turned to someone who had done his job before and with whom he had a good personal rapport: Ed Miliband.As Starmer grew in confidence he stayed friendly with Miliband, deferential to his status as a veteran of government and appreciative of his sincere enthus
  
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• Country diary: Nobody loses in the robin game | Josie George

  29-01-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire: We go out to see how long it takes until a robin comes close – really close. Thanks to their genetic memory, we don’t wait longIf I could get away with sleeping through January, I would. I envy the hedgehogs tucked up in their hibernacula; the bats in their secret winter places; the dormice in their cleverly woven, sealed nests; the ladybirds nestled in window frames. Hibernation seems like a very good idea. It doesn’t help that it’s that co
  
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• Water industry promises £22bn of environmental investment, funded by rising bills

  29-01-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The Environment Agency has secured a commitment to carry out 24,000 actions over the next five yearsWater companies must clean up the environment and reduce pollution in what the Environment Agency (EA) says is the biggest investment in protecting rivers and seas since privatisation.The agency has secured a commitment from the privatised water industry to carry out 24,000 targeted actions in a £22bn investment in the environment, according to details of the final water industry national en
  
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• Green transition should benefit ordinary Londoners, says deputy mayor

  29-01-2025 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Mete Coban, 32, says climate policy will bring ‘social, economic and racial justice’ to deprived communitiesWorking-class people and those from ethnic minorities will benefit most from a range of environmental policies being implemented in London, the capital’s deputy mayor has said.Mete Coban, 32, grew up in a council flat in the borough of Hackney and saw for himself the difficulties the lack of green space, poor or overcrowded housing and polluted air can cause. Continue rea
  
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