Category Archives: Climate crisis

Olaf Scholz says world must ‘avoid Putin’s trap’ and claims of discord

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German chancellor argues there is more unity in the west and support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said the world is more unified in its support for Ukraine than Russia suggests, as the war dominated a G7 meeting also tasked with crises in food supply, the climate emergency and a breakdown in global order.

“We must not walk into the trap Putin sets of asserting that the world is divided into the global west – the G7 and its friends in the north – and all the rest. That’s not true,” Scholz told Germany’s ZDF television.

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‘Get a real job’: NSW deputy premier lashes out at Blockade Australia protesters

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Ten arrested as direct action group starts week of ‘disruption’ to ‘resist climate destruction’ as NSW police pledge crackdown

The New South Wales deputy premier has told climate change protesters to “go and get a real job” after police made 10 arrests across Sydney.

Blockade Australia protesters were among a group of 50 to 60 activists who converged on Hyde Park about 8am on Monday, before marching towards the harbour, chanting, playing drums, with some pulling down signs, dragging wheelie bins onto the road and blocking intersections.

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Japanese told to turn off lights to save energy amid Tokyo heatwave

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Extreme temperatures forecast for capital this week after premature end to rainy season

Japan’s government has warned tens of millions of people in the Tokyo region to save energy or face power cuts, as the capital battles record June temperatures after a premature end to the rainy season.

Temperatures of 35C (95 degrees Fahrenheit) were forecast in the city throughout the day, with similarly extreme weather expected for the rest of the week, according to the Japanese meteorological agency.

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Thousands protest against G7 in Munich as leaders gather for summit

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Demands include end to fossil fuels, preservation of biodiversity and greater social justice

About 3,500 protesters have gathered in Munich as the G7 group of leading economic powers prepare to hold their annual gathering in the Bavarian Alps in Germany, which holds the rotating presidency this year.

Police said earlier that they were expecting a crowd of about 20,000, but initially fewer people showed up for the main protest, which started at midday on Saturday, the German news agency dpa reported.

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Energy treaty update fails to address climate crisis, activists say

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1994 agreement allows investors to sue governments for changes in energy policy that harm their profits

Climate activists have said a deal to update a “dangerous” energy treaty has failed to make the agreement compatible with the urgency of the climate crisis.

After more than four years of talks, 52 countries and the EU on Friday struck a deal to “modernise” the energy charter treaty, a 1994 agreement that allows investors to sue governments for changes in energy policy that harm their profits.

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Foetus fronts legal challenge over emissions in South Korea

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Lawyers representing 20-week-old foetus allege state is breaching rights of future generations

A 20-week-old foetus is fronting a legal challenge in South Korea that argues the state is breaching the rights of future generations by not doing enough to cut national emissions.

Parents and lawyers representing the foetus, as well as 61 babies and children under 11, claim national carbon targets do not go far enough to stop runaway climate change and that this is unconstitutional.

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California’s largest reservoirs at critically low levels – signaling a dry summer ahead

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Images from Lake Oroville and Lake Shasta compiled by the state show ‘a shocking drop in water levels’ compared to years past

California’s two largest reservoirs are at critically low levels, signaling that the state, like much of the US west, can expect a searing, dry summer ahead.

This week, officials confirmed that Lake Oroville, the state’s second-largest reservoir, was at just 55% of its total capacity when it reached its highest level for the year last month. Meanwhile, Shasta Lake, California’s largest reservoir, was at 40% capacity last month – after the state endured its driest start to a year since the late 19th century.

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Sussan Ley backs Peter Dutton’s decision to oppose emissions legislation but signals future room for change

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Deputy opposition leader criticises government’s 43% reduction target but says Liberal party’s climate position is not fixed

The deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has backed Peter Dutton’s decision to oppose government legislation to cut emissions by 43% by 2030, but signalled the Coalition’s climate policy could shift before the next federal election.

In an interview with Guardian Australia, the new deputy Liberal leader said it was “sensible” for the opposition not to jettison policies it took to the May election.

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Christians in Oxford asked to commit to protecting environment

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The addition to baptism and confirmation ceremonies thought to be first of its kind in UK

Christians being confirmed or baptised in the Oxford diocese will henceforth be asked to commit to protecting the environment as part of the church’s formal liturgy.

The addition to the ceremonies is supported by the Right Rev Steven Croft, bishop of Oxford, and asks people being baptised or confirmed to “strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the Earth”.

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Somalia: ‘The worst humanitarian crisis we’ve ever seen’

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Children starving to death ‘before our eyes’ say aid workers as G7 leaders warned only ‘massive’ and urgent funding will avert famine

Only a “massive” and immediate scaling-up of funds and humanitarian relief can save Somalia from famine, a UN spokesperson has warned, as aid workers report children starving to death “before our eyes” amid rapidly escalating levels of malnutrition.

In a message to G7 leaders who are meeting from Sunday in Germany, Michael Dunford, the World Food Programme’s (WFP) regional director for east Africa, said governments had to donate urgently and generously if there was to be any hope of avoiding catastrophe in the Horn of Africa country.

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US Forest Service admits ‘multiple miscalculations’ caused New Mexico fire

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In an 80-page review, the agency states missteps by its employees in setting prescribed burns led to explosive wildfire

Employees with the US Forest Service made multiple miscalculations, used inaccurate models and underestimated how dry conditions were in the south-west, causing a planned burn to reduce the threat of wildfires to explode into the largest blaze in New Mexico’s recorded history, the agency said on Tuesday.

The agency quietly posted an 80-page review that details the planning missteps and the conditions on the ground as crews ignited the prescribed fire in early April. The report states officials who planned the operation underestimated the amount of timber and vegetation that was available to fuel the flames, the exceptional dry conditions and the rural villages and water supplies that would be threatened if things went awry.

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Australia should rejoin UN climate fund to prove commitment to Pacific neighbours, thinktank argues

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Report finds Australia’s ‘Pacific step-up’ could lack credibility if perceived to be only in response to China’s presence

Australia must move on from a “crisis mentality” as it seeks to reset its relationship with Pacific island countries, including by rejoining a key UN climate fund, a thinktank says.

Australia must do more than simply position itself as a first responder to natural disasters if it is to become “an effective climate ally with the Pacific”, according to a series of policy papers to be published on Tuesday.

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Vanuatu calls on Australia to back its UN bid to recognise climate change harm

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Pacific islands urge new Labor government to support push for international court of justice to issue climate advisory opinion

Australia’s new Labor government has been called on to prove its commitment to climate action and support for Pacific countries by backing a campaign led by Vanuatu to see international law changed to recognise climate change harm.

In a letter to the prime minister sent by leading Pacific and Australian NGOs, shared exclusively with Guardian Australia, the groups urged Anthony Albanese to support Vanuatu’s campaign for the international court of justice to issue an advisory opinion on the question of climate change.

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Heavy industries in Australia’s regions could cut emissions by 80% and create a jobs bonanza, report says

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Business leaders and decarbonisation experts say a high level of collaboration and coordination is needed for transition

The regional powerhouses of Australia’s industrial economy could slash their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% and become centres for multibillion-dollar investments in renewable energy, according to a report backed by some of the country’s biggest companies.

Bringing down emissions from producing iron, steel, aluminium, chemicals and liquefied natural gas is seen as one of the most challenging parts of Australia’s efforts to reach net zero.

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At least 59 dead and millions stranded as floods devastate India and Bangladesh

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Lightning kills 21 and millions of homes submerged while armed forces asked to help amid continuing storms

At least 59 people died as floods cut a swatch across north-eastern India and Bangladesh, leaving millions of homes underwater, authorities said on Saturday.

In India’s Assam state, 18 people died in the floods or landslides and 2 million others had seen their homes submerged in flood waters since Thursday, the state disaster management agency said.

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Europe heatwave: France braces for record-breaking temperatures as Spain battles forest fires

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Temperature could exceed 42C in parts of France as scientists warn heatwaves will hit earlier than usual due to climate change

France, Spain and other western European nations braced for a sweltering weekend that is set to break records and sparked concern about forest fires and the effects of climate change.

Temperatures already nudged over 40C (104F) in parts of France on Friday.

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Greenhouse gases must be legally phased out, US scientists argue

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A petition calls on the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate emissions under the Toxic Substances Control Act

Greenhouse gas emissions should be subject to legal controls in the US and phased out under the Toxic Substances Control Act, according to a group of scientists and former public officials, in a novel approach to the climate crisis.

“Using the TSCA would be one small step for [the US president] Joe Biden, but potentially a giant leap for humankind – as a first step towards making the polluters pay,” said James Hansen, a former Nasa scientist, who is a member of the group alongside Donn Viviani, a retired 35-year veteran of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Shortfall warnings cancelled as units come back online – as it happened

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Foreign minister says Australia ‘has ground to make up’ in Pacific region; jobless rate steady at 3.9%; nation records at least 73 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

So the below comes as both the NSW and Victorian government move to introduce an extra, free year of preschool in the next decade.

Both the NSW and Victorian premiers, Dominic Perrottet and Daniel Andrews, want to introduce a new year for four- and five-year-olds.

It will mean that, in the next 10 years, every child in Victoria and NSW will experience the benefits of a full year of play-based learning before their first year of school. At the same time, it will benefit hundreds of thousands of working families.

We want to expand our existing preschools. It’s a game changer and it’s exciting and there is big money behind it, because we have to do well for our kids.

They do an amazing job, our early childhood workforce, so this is our chance to invest in them and grow and set children up for that best start of life.

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Arizona wildfires: intense conditions send smoke plumes billowing into sky

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Crews battled the gusty winds as the Pipeline fire exploded to more than 24,000 acres by Tuesday morning

Fueled by gusty winds through drought-stricken remote terrain, wildfires burning north of Flagstaff, Arizona, exploded in size on Monday, with officials estimating more than 24,000 acres (9,700 hectares) had been blackened by Tuesday morning.

Fire crews battling the blaze have faced intense conditions that have caused extreme fire behavior and sent enormous smoke plumes swirling into the sky.

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India takes tough stand at climate talks as Delhi endures brutal heatwave

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As capital swelters, India urges rich countries to provide funds to help deal with effects of climate crisis

Throughout the day Virender Sharma splashes water from a bucket on to the sheet he has pulled over his lilies, tuberoses, carnations and gerberas in an attempt to protect them from the hot, dry wind sweeping through Delhi.

But the street flower seller’s attempts to protect his produce is futile. Since the onset of a brutal heatwave in mid-March, his income has dropped by 60%.

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