Report comes after neighbouring countries also register unprecedented highs during April heatwave
Vietnam has reported a record-high temperature of 44.1C (111.38F), as weather experts and authorities told the population to remain indoors during the hottest parts of the day.
Scientists have said global warming is aggravating adverse weather. Neighbouring countries registered record temperatures during a heatwave in Asia in April.
Continue reading...Twenty-two institutions have been shut down as part of proposed month-long campaign
A wave of student occupations has shut down schools and universities across Europe as part of a renewed youth protest campaign against inaction on climate breakdown. Twenty-two schools and universities across the continent have been occupied as part of a proposed month-long campaign.
In Germany, universities were occupied in Wolfenbüttel, Magdeburg, Münster, Bielefeld, Regensburg, Bremen and Berlin. In Spain, students in occupation at the Autonomous University of Barcelona organised teach-outs on the climate crisis. In Belgium, 40 students occupied the University of Ghent. In the Czech Republic, about 100 students camped outside the ministry of trade and industry. In the UK occupations were under way at the universities of Leeds, Exeter and Falmouth.
Continue reading...As campaigning hots up around the world once again, eyes have been turning to the country that is taking things further
In the UK, when climate activists want to block a road, they sit down on it. When their fellow activists in France want to do the same, they build a wall across one side, and set the other side on fire.
As Extinction Rebellion drew tens of thousands to their peaceful “Big One” protests in London last month, in the south of France 8,500 environmental protesters occupied the road from Toulouse to the town of Castres.
Continue reading...Research says mining boom to support renewable energy risks ‘significant social and environmental damage’
In the high-stakes quest to break China’s grip over minerals crucial to clean energy technology, Australia risks over-mining while ignoring alternatives such as improved battery recycling, according to a new report.
The release of the Jubilee Australia research, which questions mineral demand assumptions and warns against causing unnecessary environmental harm, comes as the federal government prepares a strategy to address China’s dominance of minerals seen as critical to a nation.
Continue reading...Lyrics of Stop changed to ‘stop right now, no more oil and gas’ because of bank’s fossil fuel funding
Barclays’ annual general meeting has been disrupted by climate activists condemning the bank’s role as one of Europe’s largest funders of fossil fuels – including a choir singing a Spice Girls hit with reworked lyrics.
Dozens of activists from groups including Fossil Free London and Extinction Rebellion UK began their action less than five minutes into the meeting where its chair, Nigel Higgins, was addressing shareholders at the QEII Centre in Westminster, central London.
Continue reading...Exclusive: YouGov survey in seven countries tested backing for government and individual action on crisis
Many Europeans are alarmed by the climate crisis and would willingly take personal steps and back government policies to help combat it, a survey suggests – but the more a measure would change their lifestyle, the less they support it.
The seven-country YouGov survey tested backing for state-level climate action, such as banning single-use plastics and scrapping fossil-fuel cars, and individual initiatives including buying only secondhand clothes and giving up meat and dairy products.
Continue reading...The country has recorded its hottest, driest April yet. For people working outdoors, it’s no joke
There are many better places to be in Spain than Madrid when recordbreaking temperatures bring summer’s ruthless heat in spring, prompting government health warnings, action plans from regional authorities and the familiar agonising wait for outdoor public pools to open.
There are also many better places to be in Madrid when the mercury nudges 30C (86F) than under a woolly hat inside a furry Sonic the Hedgehog costume in the elegant, shadeless air fryer that is the Spanish capital’s Plaza Mayor.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Projected emissions drop for agriculture and land use 58% below target in original net zero plan
The UK government’s pledges on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farming and land use fall short of promises made in its net zero strategy, analysis has found.
Using figures from the government’s carbon budget delivery plan, analysts from WWF found that the total projected emissions reductions from now until 2037 for agriculture and land use were 58% less than the emissions reductions figures underpinning the original net zero strategy. This gap is equivalent to the emissions of the entire UK building sector.
Continue reading...Record figures for month recorded in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, China and South Asia
Asia is experiencing weeks of “endless record heat”, with sweltering temperatures causing school closures and surges in energy use.
Record April temperatures have been recorded at monitoring stations across Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, as well as in China and South Asia.
Continue reading...Exclusive: US climate envoy says existing measures, such as shift to renewable energy, must be deployed faster to stop global warming
Relying on technology to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is “dangerous” and a cause for “alarm”, John Kerry has warned.
The US special presidential envoy for climate said in an interview that new technologies may not prevent the world from passing “tipping points”, key temperature thresholds that, once passed, could trigger a cascade of unstoppable physical effects.
Continue reading...Climate change and humanitarian crisis are calling on too many ADF resources which should be reserved for conflict, Tony Sheldon says
Australia needs to rethink how it uses its defence force for natural disasters, reserving its troops for conflict and limiting their deployment except for in the most extreme events, according to the government’s special envoy for disaster recovery, senator Tony Sheldon.
After the release of the defence strategic review on Monday, the senator also said the government should help locals respond to emergencies before considering creating a new civilian agency.
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Continue reading...Anote Tong says that Australia needs to take responsibility for emissions caused by the export of its fossil fuels
A former Pacific Island president has backed a Torres-Strait Islander-led legal case to hold the Australian government accountable for climate crisis inaction.
On Monday, Anote Tong, the former president of Kiribati, signed a statement of solidarity with Paul Kabai and Pabai Pabai, who have taken the government to court, demanding further emissions reductions in line with science.
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Continue reading...Wildlife presenter urges people to join action on climate crisis during mass protest supported by more than 200 organisations
Wildlife presenter Chris Packham has made a rallying call for “every last person who cares” about the planet to join Extinction Rebellion after thousands took part in a demonstration on Saturday.
The 61-year-old broadcaster spoke to the crowd from a stage close to Parliament Square, Westminster, during the second day of a mass protest the climate group has called The Big One.
Continue reading...Denis Hayes, who coordinated the first event in 1970, denounces fossil fuel companies that use the event to get positive publicity
Corporate greenwashing should not undermine the message behind Earth Day and has nothing to do with its original aims, one of the founders of the annual environmental event has warned.
Denis Hayes, the American environmental activist who coordinated the first Earth Day in 1970, denounced the “appalling” environmental messaging by oil, gas and other extractive companies and said he hoped it did not distract attention from the threats posed by the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, which he compared to the threat of nuclear conflict during the cold war.
Continue reading...Canadian project plans to strengthen understanding of Arctic environment by drawing on Indigenous knowledge
Alexandre Langlois was surprised to learn that snow that has stayed on the ground for a couple days in the Arctic can be heard even before it is felt.
Margaret Kanayok, an Inuk elder from Ulukhaktok, an Inuit community in the neighbouring Northwest Territories, had come to speak to a group of scientists who had gathered to attend the world’s first Arctic snow school, being held in Nunavut, Canada.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed
Ed Husic says board appointments alone won’t guarantee RBA diversity
The ministry for industry, Ed Husic, says he believes new appointments to the RBA board alone isn’t enough to bring diversity to the central bank – he says there need to be “deeper structures” put in place.
As a government, I can give you this assurance. We do like to take into account people’s views from different vantage points. I do think it is important that where decisions have an impact – not just in terms of investors or industry but the people that work in them or the broader community – I think it’s a healthier decision …
Some people will fix on ‘well, someone should have a seat at the board’ for that to occur and I understand why they’ll make those arguments. I’m not necessarily convinced that that specifically guarantees that will occur, just having one person on the board. There need to be a lot deeper structures for people to have that sense that they’ve had a say and that they can have an ability to influence and inform decision making.
Continue reading...High-profile protests at the Grand National and the World Snooker Championships made headlines around the country; the London Marathon could be next. Sean Ingle and Damien Gayle report on what sporting stunts can achieve – and whether the authorities can stop them
It began with a protest at Britain’s biggest horse racing event. Members of the activist group Animal Rising scaled the fences at Aintree and attempted to stop the Grand National. As stewards and fans intervened, the protest managed only to delay the race for 14 minutes. As if to help prove the protesters’ point, one of the horses in the race was killed in a fall.
As chief sports reporter Sean Ingle tells Nosheen Iqbal, it was followed just days later by a stunt by another activist group. This time the target was the World Snooker Championship; play was postponed when a Just Stop Oil protester managed to clamber on to the the snooker table and launch an orange powder bomb over proceedings. This weekend, all eyes will be on the London Marathon.
Continue reading...Four activists, who sat in the road at Bishopsgate in London in October 2021, were found guilty of causing a public nuisance
One protester has been jailed for five weeks and three others given fines and community service for their part in a protest to demand government action on insulation.
Daphne Jackson, 72, Beatrice Pooley, 65, and two protesters who have outstanding court cases sat in the road at the Bishopsgate junction in London during an Insulate Britain protest on 25 October 2021. The four were convicted of causing a public nuisance earlier this year and sentenced on Thursday.
Continue reading...Continent set for further drought in 2023, scientists say, as unstoppable impacts of climate crisis mount
The climate crisis had “frightening” impacts in Europe last year, with heatwaves killing more than 20,000 people and drought withering crops, an EU report has found.
Its writers said drought was already baked in for many farmers in 2023. The only way to limit the rising damages of global heating was rapidly to cut carbon emissions, they said.
Continue reading...Judge says weak climate plans will increase risk of death for Canada’s young people but do not violate Charter rights
A judge has warned that Ontario’s weak climate plans will “increase the risk of death” for Canada’s young people – but dismissed a lawsuit brought by a group worried that government inaction on global heating threatens their futures.
Justice Marie-Andrée Vermette of Ontario superior court issued a decision on Tuesday that found that while both young people and Indigenous peoples bear the brunt of climate change, government failures to react were not a breach of their rights.
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