Category Archives: Environment

Deadliest year on record as Phoenix heat fatalities rise by 50%

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Hottest US city, buffeted by extreme temperatures, sees 579 heat-related in 2023, with large proportion among unhoused people

Heat deaths surged by 50% in Phoenix in 2023 – the deadliest year on record after extreme temperatures pummeled America’s hottest city, official figures show.

At least 579 people lost their lives to heat this year, with senior citizens accounting for one in three deaths, according to the year’s final heat surveillance report by the medical examiner’s office in Maricopa county, where Phoenix is located. Another 56 suspected heat deaths are still under investigation.

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UK subsidies for offshore windfarms likely to increase amid rising costs

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Developers say higher prices across their supply chains mean costs have climbed by about 40%

The government is poised to offer higher subsidies for new offshore windfarms to avoid missing its green energy targets as developers grapple with a rise in supply chain costs.

Ministers are expected to set out within the next week a new starting price for the next subsidy auction, which is likely to offer higher levels of support to offshore wind developers.

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EU strikes landmark deal on law to restore and protect nature

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Legislation will set targets to restore 20% of EU land and seas by 2030, and 90% of degraded habitats by 2050

EU lawmakers and member states have struck a deal on a landmark law to protect nature after watering down rules that critics argued would trouble farmers.

The nature restoration law, a hotly contested pillar of the European green deal, will force EU countries to restore at least 20% of the bloc’s land and seas by the end of the decade. It contains binding targets to restore at least 30% of degraded habitats by then, rising to 60% by 2040 and 90% by 2050.

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Australia to offer residency to Tuvalu citizens displaced by climate change

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Anthony Albanese announces immigration plan with special visa category for people affected by rising sea levels in the vulnerable Pacific island nation

Australia will offer residency to people affected by climate change in the low-lying Pacific nation of Tuvalu, as part of a sweeping new treaty that also locks the two countries into close security ties.

At a time when many Pacific leaders are pressing Australia to take stronger action against its fossil fuel sector, the treaty explicitly recognises the vulnerability of Tuvalu to rising sea levels.

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‘Sea-country’ alliance could push traditional owners closer to mining industry, critics say

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National Sea Country Alliance Summit told that the agendas of environmental groups do not always align with First Nations priorities

An alliance formed by traditional owners to fight for their “sea-country” rights after court wins against Santos’s $5bn Barossa offshore gas project is set to sideline environmental groups, critics say.

More than 100 First Nations people met in Darwin for a two-day summit this week so traditional owner groups with responsibility for sea-country – particularly country that intersects with proposed offshore oil and gas projects – could discuss their rights and responsibilities “in the face of increased offshore energy proposals”.

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Small modular nuclear reactor that was hailed by Coalition as future cancelled due to rising costs

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Opposition climate and energy spokesperson had pointed to SMRs as a solution to Australia’s energy needs, but experts raise questions over price tag

The only small modular nuclear power plant approved in the US – cited by the Australian opposition as evidence of a “burgeoning” global nuclear industry – has been cancelled due to rising costs.

NuScale Power announced on Wednesday that it had dropped plans to build a long-promised “carbon free power project” in Idaho. It blamed the decision on a lack of subscribers for the plant’s electricity.

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Energy efficiency scheme for cold homes going at a glacial pace, says Labour

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Government’s Energy Company Obligation has managed to upgrade only 65,000 homes since April 2022, figures show

Labour has attacked the Conservatives over the speed of government efforts to upgrade Britain’s draughty housing stock, as analysis showed a leading household energy efficiency initiative was proceeding at what the party called a “glacial pace”.

Just 65,000 homes have been upgraded under the government’s Energy Company Obligation (Eco) scheme since it was relaunched in April last year, according to analysis of statistics released by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

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Sámi call to protect reindeer in Sweden after 10,000 road deaths in five years

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Indigenous people’s parliament says action required including lower speed limits and more fences

Sweden’s Sámi parliament is calling for more protection for reindeer after more than 10,000 were killed by motorists in the last five years, turning roadsides into “animal graveyards”.

According to police, between October 2018 and October 2023 there were more than 10,000 road accidents in northern Sweden involving at least one reindeer, meaning the number killed is likely to be far higher.

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Oil and gas ‘not the problem’ for climate, says UK’s net zero minister

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Campaigners call Graham Stuart’s comments ‘laughable’ and say Conservatives are weaponising climate action

Oil and gas are “not the problem” for the climate, but the carbon emissions arising from them are, the UK’s net zero minister has told MPs.

In words that suggested the UK could place yet more emphasis on technologies to capture and store carbon, Graham Stuart said fossil fuel production was not driving climate change, but demand for fossil fuels was.

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‘We are living in absolute fear’: call to stop Indigenous evictions in Rift Valley

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Human rights groups demand Kenyan government halt forced evictions of Ogiek community from Mau forest

Human rights groups are calling for the Kenyan government to halt forced evictions of the Indigenous Ogiek community from their ancestral land in the Rift Valley.

“We are calling for an immediate cessation of ongoing demolitions and the evictions,” said Cyrus Maweu, deputy director of Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).

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Plastic waste ‘spiralling out of control’ across Africa, analysis shows

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Predicted 116m tonnes of waste annually by 2060 is six times higher than in 2019, driven by demand in sub-Saharan Africa

Plastic waste is “spiralling out of control” across Africa, where it is growing faster than any other region, new analysis has shown.

At current levels, enough plastic waste to cover a football pitch is openly dumped or burned in sub-Saharan Africa every minute, according to the charity Tearfund.

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China releases methane plan as hopes rise for new climate agreement with US

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Two countries may soon break ground on a new climate agreement ahead of a presidential meeting next week and the UN’s climate conference, Cop28

China has published a long-awaited methane reduction plan, in a sign that the country is moving closer towards a new climate agreement with the US.

Beijing first committed to reducing its methane output at Cop26 in Glasgow in 2021, as part of a joint agreement with the US. But for two years the reduction plan failed to materialise. Its publication on Tuesday, as the US and Chinese climate envoys wrapped up four days of talks in Sunnylands, California, signalled that the two countries may soon break ground on a new climate agreement ahead of a presidential meeting next week and the UN’s climate conference, COP28, at the end of this month.

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Canada’s emissions cut plan insufficient to meet targets, official report finds

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Auditor general says key measures to cut emissions by 40-45% to meet Paris accord commitment delayed or not prioritized

Canada’s emissions reduction plan is insufficient to meet its target to cut emissions by 40% to 45% below the 2005 level by 2030, according to a new a report released by the country’s auditor general.

The audit found the government’s plan insufficient because key measures needed to meet the 2030 target were delayed or not prioritized, according to a statement from the office of the auditor general on Tuesday.

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Kenya makes 13 November nationwide tree planting day a public holiday

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Move announced by interior minister is part of ambitious Kenyan plan to plant 15bn trees by 2032

The Kenyan government has announced a surprise public holiday on 13 November for a nationwide tree planting day, part of its ambitious plan to plant 15bn trees by 2032

The interior minister, Kithure Kindiki, made the announcement via an official notice posted to social media.

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Allegations of extensive sexual abuse at Kenyan offsetting project used by Shell and Netflix

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NGOs report allegations of abuse and harassment at Kasigau Corridor conservation project in southern Kenya over 12 years

Male staff at a leading Kenyan carbon-offsetting project used by Netflix, Shell and other large companies have been accused of extensive sexual abuse and harassment over more than a decade, following an investigation by two NGOs.

The Kasigau Corridor conservation project in southern Kenya, operated by the California-based firm Wildlife Works, generates carbon credits by protecting dryland forests at risk of being destroyed in key elephant, lion and wildlife habitats west of Mombasa. The scheme was the first ever forest protection scheme approved by Verra, the world’s leading certifier of carbon offsets, and has also been accredited for its biodiversity and community benefits, probably generating millions of dollars in revenue in carbon-credit sales.

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Tired of waiting for a Queensland EPA, conservation group launches own ‘enforcement arm’

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The Queensland Conservation Council says new entity will take ‘proactive actions’ to ensure state’s environmental laws are enforced

Queensland’s peak conservation group says it will launch a new “enforcement arm”, amid frustration at stalled government promises to establish an independent environmental regulator.

Every Australian state or territory – except Queensland – has an independent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Beef, soy and palm oil products linked to deforestation still imported into UK

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Campaigners accuse government of failing to stick to promises made at Cop26 climate summit in 2021

Beef, soy and palm oil products driving deforestation are still being imported into the UK, despite government promises this practice would end, data has revealed.

Campaigners have criticised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for failing to put practices in place to stop the import of goods from areas with high deforestation rates. This is despite the government having promised at the Cop26 climate conference in 2021 to implement the rules.

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Thousands without water after Storm Ciarán disrupts Surrey treatment works

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Thames Water has provided bottled water to people in Guildford, Godalming and surrounding areas

Thousands of people have been left without water after Storm Ciarán caused problems at a treatment works in Surrey, Thames Water has said.

A major incident was declared as at least 13,500 homes in Guildford, Godalming and the surrounding areas were left without water or with low pressure by 2.50pm on Sunday, while a further 6,500 were expected to lose supply later in the day.

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‘Loss and damage’ deal struck to help countries worst hit by climate crisis

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Governments draw up blueprint for fund to be administered at first by World Bank after tense Abu Dhabi talks

Countries have agreed key measures to supply funds to the world’s most vulnerable people to repair the damage from climate breakdown.

Governments from richer and poorer countries drew up the blueprint for a new “loss and damage” fund after a tense two-day meeting under UN guidance in Abu Dhabi that ended late on Saturday night.

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Georgia homeowner finds 3ft tegu lizard hiding under porch

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Officials remind residents of rules and say non-native Argentine black and white tegus can pose threat to wildlife and people

An oblivious Georgia homeowner was unaware a huge 3ft tegu lizard had taken up residence under her porch until eagle-eyed children in the neighborhood spotted it and told her, state wildlife officials said.

The reptile was a non-native Argentine black and white tegu, the largest of its species that can grow up to 5ft and pose a threat to wildlife and people, the officials reported.

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